Monday's Moment (October 3rd, 2011)

Today's Monday's Moment is not one of my fondest memories but one I will never forget. We are coming up on our one year mark since our house was hit by a tornado. I've never been so excited for winter to come, which is saying something since fall is my favorite season.

The last year I've had more fear and anxieties whenever a thunderstorm, hail, or wind storm passes through but I'm reminded of all the little miracles that happened on that October morning.

I could write a whole book on that morning so I will just highlight some of those blessings and things I've learned.

A small prompting to get up out of bed to check the weather online: I am not a morning person but that morning I had the thought as I lay in the wee hours, "I wonder what the signs of a tornado are?" We do NOT live in tornado country so this was not a normal thought pattern. I found the warning just in time to run up and tell my husband, decide where the safest place was, and get to safety. Had I not checked the weather to find the warning my husband, who was getting up super early to study for his CPA exam, would have either been badly hurt or worse. His office had shards of glass stuck in the wall and had the most debris from outside.

The tornado that bounced: We were hit with an F1 tornado and while that is the smallest they come it still causes a lot of damage. It started by raging through an RV park, crossed the freeway, and headed towards our small community. Later we found that the tornado had touched down around the RV park but had bounced over our neighborhood only to touch down just behind the last house. We would have had a lot more damage had it not bounced!

The train that changed the second tornado's path: Yes you read that right, about an hour later a second tornado touched down just south of us and was once again heading towards the neighborhood. It was bigger than the first and probably would have destroyed even more houses. However, it hit a cargo train which changed its course just enough to skip past the populated part of our community. The second miracle was that a passenger train had just gone through minutes before.

The safety of friends and neighbors: Each one has a miraculous story to tell from kids sleeping in different bedrooms than normal to walls collapsing in a child's room everywhere except for the little cavity where the child slept. There were minor injuries and no one died.

The men who came to board up windows: A storm doesn't just necessarily stop after a tornado. For the rest of the morning it continued to rain and hail... into our homes that were without windows, separated walls, and parts of roofs missing. As soon as the freeway was opened up again there were several men who had stopped at Home Depot and boarded up our windows in the freezing cold rain to save what was left of our properties.

The generosity of family members: My in-laws, brother-in-law and sister-in-law came and helped us pack up our belongings and put them into storage. My other sister-in-law and her family let us live with them for two months while our house was fixed.

I could go on and on. I know we were watched over that morning. I've walked away from this experience grateful for all the little miracles that occurred and have a greater appreciation for life.

What are some of your life-changing memories? If you'd like to join in my Monday's Moment please leave a link! I'd love to read some of your most memorable moments.

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