Thursday, April 19, 2012

Try New "Adventures" Thursday - Hiding Out


It was kind of a crazy weekend here in Oklahoma. If you watched any portion of the weather, then you heard about all of the tornadoes that ravaged through towns, 2 of which were pretty close to where we live. Scary! Since we just moved here a little over a year ago, I am not used to living in a place that could so easily get a tornado. But the funny thing is that people who are from here don't really get phased about the threat of tornado. Some people do, but a lot of people just roll their eyes when I express my extreme concern!
We ended up packing up and spending the weekend with my in-laws, since they have 4 bedrooms in their basement. We slept there so we would be safer, and the kids were soundly sleeping during the storm instead of being woken up to hide in the closet or drive to Grandma's. We didn't hear much of anything down there. I heard a couple rumbles of thunder during the late-night feedings, but that's all.
We had just gone to the town of Woodward a couple weeks ago for a field trip. That's the town that got hit with tornadoes that destroyed about 89 homes, killed 5 people, injured a lot, and destroyed 13 businesses. They were taking volunteers on Sunday at church to head over to that town to help clean up the mess and move things. That's how real the threat was. That's how scary it was to live where the warnings were.
I guess I am really struggling with God being in control of the chaos. It doesn't mean that bad things won't happen, or that the tornado won't hit your town, or your house, or your kids. I am scared for my 3 kids and their safety, and my responsibility to keep them safe. And I know that this is just the beginning of tornado season. Basically our plan is to be at Grandma's with the basement during the really bad storms. I'd rather be safe there than sorry here in our house where we would all have to hide in our walk in closet. With 3 kids. Involving a newborn. No, thank you!
So, maybe God is really testing my trust in Him. It's hard for me to give this over to Him. To have peace in the midst of storms. I'm not sure what that looks like, releasing my kids to Him no matter what might happen to them. I am so sad for the 2 little kids who were killed in Woodward by the storms. It's real. I've got to get a hold on some peace or I might be a wreck every Spring that we live here! God will really have to work on me!

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7 comments:

  1. Stephanie I can so relate to you! God has been working on me trusting Him for a LONG time now. Iv'e made slight progress, but SO far to go. I have lived here for 13 years now and I still freak out during tornado season (and you are so right...Steven always rolls his eyes at me lol!). But I freak out about ALOT of things and I know that is not God's plan for me. I am working on memorizing scripture regarding fear. That seems to bring more peace than anything else I've tried. My issue (at least with tornadoes) is where do you draw the line between stupidity and trust? I am still going to take every precaution possible to keep my family safe, no matter how many rolling of the eyes I get!

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  2. I'll for sure be praying with you on this--I know for Ella while we were in SA, it was the fear of being broken into because it happened all the time and what that would do to the kids and if they had guns and all that stuff that comes along with it. I love ya! Remember 2 Cor 12:9

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  3. Just stopping by from TNAT. We lived in OK for 3 years and I know how you feel. Try not to panic too much. Take comfort from the unconcerned comments of the locals. They have lived through much of it before, and know when to take the warnings seriously.

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  4. Thank you all for your encouraging words! It is definitely a challenge, but I will continue to walk through it and hopefully learn to lean on God more and less on my "control."

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  5. I will be praying for you with this! It is scary and brings the thought of losing your kids to the forefront of your mind...reminds me of how I often thought of what it would be like if I lost my husband during the year he was deployed to Iraq.
    Trust God! Our lives are in His hands...we can depend completely on His control.
    Love, Alicia

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  6. Oh girl, I am so glad you guys were all safe! That must have been so scary!

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  7. What a real life situation where you need peace in the midst of a storm! I am remembering the story of Jesus on the boat and he slept as the storm raged on. I will be praying for that type of peace for you.

    And how awesome your inlaws have a basement with 4 bedrooms. That sounds so cool. We don't have tornadoes or hurricanes here, so very few houses have basements.

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