TORNADOES, that is. And lots of them! Peter just couldn't remember this new word, and so kept calling them tomatoes. It's a good thing too, because as we were driving in the middle of the tornadoes, his cute voice helped calm me down. "Daddy, did the tomato knock down those trees?" Not quite as scary when you put it in that perspective...
We were on our way back from a 5 day trip from a family member's beach house, just the 3 of us. We have not been alone in I don't know how long, so this was a long-overdue vacation for us. For some reason, we hadn't watched the news and knew nothing of the insane storms that had been sweeping across the country and was headed straight for our area the afternoon we decided to drive back. I noticed it was extremely windy and even quite gusty as we left Morehead City on Saturday after lunch. Then we stopped about 45 minutes down the road for gas, and the awning over the gas pumps were about to fall down on us from the wind gusts, which obviously got our attention. Matt went to change CD's and the radio came on, where our local Raleigh weather anchor was talking about the chaos that was now sweeping thru our area and he was issuing warnings to everyone in the path of the many twisters.
When I heard the announcement, immediately I remembered my dream from the night before: a giant tornado was coming toward us. We were in a building with glass on all sides. We kept trying to find somewhere to take cover, but there was nowhere to go that was safe; no interior room without glass.
And basically that's what happened to us in real life. We drove on, thinking the worst of it would be over by the time we got to Matt's mom's house in Raleigh. But instead, it got worse all around us. We kept listening to the radio broadcast as the weatherman was literally putting his life on the line to stay and direct people that were immediately in harms way. A big one came right for the TV station, but the essential crew stayed to help others know to take cover; fortunately the tornado turned and did not hit him directly, but it was an intense thing to hear. They literally knew the streets it was going down, all in our home town, and it was crazy to hear them issue the warnings to people that we know live on those streets. We never have tornadoes in our area, it is an extremely rare event. And here we were in the middle of it. About 62 tornadoes touched down that day in NC, one of which we missed by minutes if not less.
I don't know when I have prayed that hard and long lately. The entire trip back was basically a prayer. For others in the middle of it, then for us when we were in the middle of it. The storms and twisters were all around us, so we could not turn around. We just had to press on, praying for Jesus to open the way in front of us. Thinking of them like "tomatoes" to Jesus, really put the storm into perspective. Jesus had authority over the winds and the waves, and He gave all authority to us, which means we have authority over winds too. This logic came to me in the middle of the storm, I believe from the Holy Spirit, and so I prayed accordingly. I felt the Lord give me words to say through His Spirit, commanding the tornadoes to move out of our way in the name of Jesus. The Lord gave me an unusual boldness in my prayers, even though I was scared.
I kid you not, we missed one by minutes. We came right up on the destruction after it had just passed by. We were some of the first cars to come upon the scene after it hit. You could see the trees down and debris getting close to it, then suddenly there was a path from 1 side of Hwy 40 straight across to the other side, continuing on after that. You could see the roofs off houses and everything tossed out of the way in a straight line, appearing like a bulldozer had just cut a path thru the farmland, across the highway, knocking over an 18 wheeler as it crossed the main interstate, and continuing on to the other side of the highway through another farm. Absolutely insane. All I could do was praise the name of Jesus. If it knocked over that 18 wheeler like it was nothing, it would have slung us like a blade of grass. God is so good. He protected our family and brought us safely back.
We did not feel out of harms way until we were back at the house in Raleigh, as the tornadoes were literally popping up all around us on the way back. As we came into town, the destruction was evident. You could see the path the twisters had taken, tearing up everything in its path in random lines around the city. At least 22 people have been found dead as a result of the tornadoes in our area and toward the east of our state. I don't know why the Lord protected us, but He did. And I praise His Name. Looking at the destruction, it's hard to understand why 1 home was hit and another right beside it missed. My heart goes out to all those that lost loved one's or their homes in the storms. Yet I know the hand of my Father is at work. He protected some and took others to their eternal destination that day. Heavy thoughts. But real thoughts. Minding your own business and enjoying the last minutes of vacation, to praying for your lives the next minute. One minute here, the next in eternity. Are we ready?
Peter learned that day what it means when we hear "tomatoes" are coming: that means it is time to pray. If only I had been as calm as He was. He prayed and that was it. Knowing and trusting that he would be okay. I, on the other hand, cannot say my faith was that strong. Oh to have the faith of a 4 year old, believing like a child... But again, all I can do is praise Jesus. His hand guided and shielded us all the way. I know His hand was on us. I could feel it. Thank You, Jesus.
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