When a tornado hit Greensburg, Kansas just before Mother's Day, it devastated the entire town.  I was amazed by the pictures my friend MajorMom posted on her blog.  You can view them here:

Greensburg. 

I pray that the community is beginning to rebuild from their devastation. 


On Friday June 22nd, I was in our basement cleaning and rearranging our homeschool room.  Jennifer had left for her dad's house, which is one block behind our home.  The two little girls were at my parents about two hours away.  My husband was in Africa.  I had been lost in my own world.  I didn't even have the radio on, which I usually do in the afternoon.  

Suddenly the tornado sirens went off.  I ran upstairs and looked outside.  It was so dark outside it was almost green.  I grabbed my tennis shoes, purse, cell phone, flash light and quilt.  While I was upstairs I pulled all of my shades closed.  Usually I keep them pulled during the afternoon, but Jennifer had left a few up.  Then the wind began to blow and the electricity went off.  To confuse things, the sirens stopped, then restarted. 

In our basement we have a beautiful bathroom, it is kind of sad that it is in the basement.  But I quickly headed to the shower stall that is down there.  Then I called my mother-in-law who lives close but not in the path of the storm.  She had electricity and I asked her to turn on the local TV news.  I could hear it in the background, the trusty weather man was talking about the path of the storm.  Following it on his radar, he kept  discussing where it was and then where it was next.  It had touched down two miles to the west of our town.  I kept thinking of Greensburg, the vision of my home looking like those homes haunted me.  And I prayed, like I haven't prayed in a long time.   Next I heard the weather man say that it was on a street two blocks away from where we live, I REALLY prayed then, and told my mother-in-law to please be quiet.  I couldn't hear anything outside.  Then the house creaked and creaked while the wind blew!  I never did hear anything resembling a train, just a lot of wind.  About five minutes later I did go and look out the window. The wind was blowing the rain horizontal.  After thirty minutes I came upstairs and looked outside.  I praise the Lord for what I saw. 

This is the front of our house.  This tree was only five years old, but she was a great tree.  I felt sorry for the sparrows, they kept flying into the downed tree. 

This is our trampoline, it got picked and moved about twenty-five feet.  It was also a little bent up.  The tether ball went missing in action, and the garden well...it was flat, but has made a great come back.

I'm so grateful again for God's protection and Mighty Hand moving.  The tornado hit two blocks to the north/west then lifted up and touched down again half-a-mile to the south/east of my home. Here is a picture to the north of us.

Thankfully this home was unoccupied.  The occupants had moved out two weeks before. 


I'm so grateful again for His protection.  We will be getting a beautiful new tree this week. 

~~doing my best,

trusting God with the rest,

Linda