Hi all, it’s me again.
I don’t want to blow this out of proportion but I feel like it’s a story that needs to be told.
My mom and I were out of town on business and had been for nearly a month. It was our last night in an Air bnb. Our normal last night routine would have been to go to “On the Border” one last time because it’s my favorite restaurant and the chain doesn’t have any locations where we live now. It’s about 20 minutes away from where we were staying, but this night I was getting over the flu and just didn’t have the energy to go. On the drive home it was cloudy and windy but it had been the last few days so we didn’t pay the weather much mind. We stopped and got dinner at Sonic and settled in to watch TV. We’d been home about 30 minutes when our phones go off. I pick it up expecting it to be something for another county that doesn’t apply to us. Unfortunately, my phone said “tornado warning take shelter immediately” and at the same time I hear the tornado sirens start to go off.
Now let me just give you a little background; my mom is terrified of tornadoes. I remember sitting in our under-the-stairs closet several times as a kid because the clouds were swirling and we’d rather be safe then sorry. And because my mom is terrified of them, tornadoes really freak me out!
We were in a house that had no basement, no storm cellar, and a window in literally every room, even the bathrooms. So we sat in the one hall with the bedroom doors all closed for maybe 3 minutes before the power goes out. I messaged all my group chats and asked people to pray for us. We heard the storm raging and got an alert that the tornado had touched down one exit before ours, less than 10 miles away, and was heading straight for us. We pulled a mattress into the hall and waited for it to hit. But instead of feeling fear, I felt this peace wash over me and all I wanted to do was praise my Creator.
The tornado went back into the sky before it reached us and I realized that if we had gone out to eat like we planned, we would have been on the road when the storm hit and likely passing that exit where the tornado touched down. The next morning we discovered that our house and the houses 6 down on either side of us were untouched. But the rest of the neighborhood had trees down and random things (like a shed!) dropped in front yards.
There are two things I’d like you to take away from this little story. One: God is so good and completely in control. He is all powerful and nothing comes as a surprise to Him. Two: Prayer really, really works! I have no doubt in my mind that our peace and safety were largely due to people’s prayers.
Thank you for reading my story! If you haven’t already I’d like to invite you to join my team of prayer warriors and financial supporters as I prepare for and embark on a trip to the Philippines.
In Jesus,
Rebekah Sartain
