21 Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 Then you can tell them, ‘This is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the Lord your God dried up the river right before your eyes, and he kept it dry until you were all across, just as he did at the Red Sea when he dried it up until we had all crossed over. 24 He did this so all the nations of the earth might know that the Lord’s hand is powerful, and so you might fear the Lord your God forever.”
This year in Bible I had the privilege of teaching my 6th graders some great biblical truths. One of them was this story from Joshua. After God brought the Israelites across the Jordan, Joshua instructed them on the importance of setting up memorials or monuments to the goodness and faithfulness of God in our lives.
6 years ago on a Friday night our lives changed in an instant. Here is what I wrote the next day... These pictures are our monument stones, our remembrance that God in his mercy saved our family
from heartache, injury and death.
Our God is Mighty to Save
Forgive me in advance if this post is hard to follow. Last night while I was taking my algebra test online the internet went out and a few minutes later, Boo (our oldest) called and said "Mom are you listening to the radio?" I said yeah we are trying to but it wasn't real clear. She said they are saying a tornado is in your area. I jumped up and grabbed Nik Nak, Luke got Kloe and Jordan and Mark handed me Baby Nathan and they brought the dining room table into the hallway. We huddled under it and heard the radio say that we had 2 minutes before it would be right in our area.
You never really think it will hit YOU. Luke wanted to look out the window for it and I told him he would never have time to get safe if he saw it coming. He listened to me for once and got under with us. Next thing we heard this low rumbling noise and Mark said "pressure" and he and Luke felt their ears pop. Luke yelled PRAY!. the house started to shake, we heard a loud explosion (later realized it was the roof coming off) and then we were in the air and in that 5 seconds we did not know if we would live or die. It was over so fast and the kids started screaming, we were all covered in insulation, the table was gone from over our heads and stuff from the kitchen was in my lap. Wall hangings were broken and in our laps, one was over Nik Nak's neck but there was no glass left in it to hurt her. The only way out was straight down the hallway and out a window. We climbed through glass and the broken window in our bare feet and stood in the rain for a bit. We could smell gas from the neighbors house. We decided to walk to our van and get in. The windshield was busted and glass all over the front seats. We climbed in the back while Mark went to see if he could help anyone else on our street.
You never really think it will hit YOU. Luke wanted to look out the window for it and I told him he would never have time to get safe if he saw it coming. He listened to me for once and got under with us. Next thing we heard this low rumbling noise and Mark said "pressure" and he and Luke felt their ears pop. Luke yelled PRAY!. the house started to shake, we heard a loud explosion (later realized it was the roof coming off) and then we were in the air and in that 5 seconds we did not know if we would live or die. It was over so fast and the kids started screaming, we were all covered in insulation, the table was gone from over our heads and stuff from the kitchen was in my lap. Wall hangings were broken and in our laps, one was over Nik Nak's neck but there was no glass left in it to hurt her. The only way out was straight down the hallway and out a window. We climbed through glass and the broken window in our bare feet and stood in the rain for a bit. We could smell gas from the neighbors house. We decided to walk to our van and get in. The windshield was busted and glass all over the front seats. We climbed in the back while Mark went to see if he could help anyone else on our street.
Luke sat in the back and prayed with the kids and praised God over and over for his awesome power in keeping us safe. He actually got the kids to be almost happy, praising God and singing songs to Him. Our friend Mike Pendergrass got as close as he could and Katie came from the friends house. Mike took us all back to his house and we got the insulation cleaned off and there was NOT A SCRATCH on any of the younger kids!!! Mark and Luke have some minor cuts and I have a pretty nasty one on my ankle that should probably be stitched, but I don't care if it scars so I will probably just let it heal.
Mark said he went back and the front wall of our mobile home is in the yard. No roof over much of it. The only place we would have been okay was in the hall where we all were. Our God is MIGHTY TO SAVE.
Kloe girl kept crying "our hooooouse is broooooken". The kids are doing real well now... but only got about 6 hours of sleep. I only got an hour and a half. I am so incredibly thankful to our God for the miracle that He has done!! EACH ONE OF US IS SAFE!! I did not have to see one of my kids injured or die, and they did not have to see that either. Thank you LORD!!! I will post pictures when I can, you won't believe it. Not sure I believe it!! Thanks for your prayers, we will need it in the days and weeks to come!
Edited to attach a picture to this post... the first time I saw our house post tornado and realized exactly what we had been saved from!
