Saturday, June 13, 2009

Caught by Surprise!

We had a very eventful evening yesterday (Friday evening).
About 7:00pm while picking in the garden I noticed a dark sky. As the boys continued to pick it started thundering and lightening (No big deal...just a thunderstorm, Right?). As the lightening seemed to move closer my adorable husband had the boys start making their way indoors. While waiting on the boys we noticed some low clouds moving in...I turned inside and as I did my adorable husband called for me to turn on the TV as the wind started to pick up. About that time there was a loud BOOM and the electricity went out and it started hailing!!!...we swoop up the boys and head for the closet. We had my adorable husband's laptop in the closet and as we were reading about the tornado warning for our area the house starts to creek and rattle. I slid my fingers out under the closet door to hold the door from rattling and scaring the boys- As I do I feel a weird sucking like breeze and we hear a grumbling like noise and my adorable husband asks me if that sounds like thunder...NOPE! We remain in the closet for what seems like forever! My adorable husband finally makes his way around the house. He returns with a look on his face and says..."It's gone."
Do you know what is missing?
Yep! The Tree Set .
When K-man was told about their Tree Set he just started sobbing and asking why God makes "Big Storms". We spent some time while we were getting over the initial shock of things talking about our faith and how thankful we were to all be alright (still a bit heart sad).

From start (the hail) to finish I think the storm/tornado lasted a total of 10 minutes, but felt like an hour. A little side note that makes me nervous is how close the Tree Set was to where we were in the closet...still bothers me to think about it.


From what we can gather, the Tree Set was lifted and twisted and then thrown down into our garden in about 100 pieces! After talking to our neighbor, our trampoline had to have been lifted up and flown through the air, hitting his storage building and then landing in the next yard over completely destroyed with springs and poles driven into the ground in several yards.


Our well staked windmill was also damaged.
The "only" damage we had was: the Tree Set, the trampoline, the windmill, our wooden fence is a bit loose, our deck is loose, a little water damage in the hall way, the garden is flat (but we are hopeful)...Oh, I have to add in here that I was in the middle of canning a batch of green beans before the electricity went out- grrr!
Bottom line- we feel very blessed and lucky!

Here are some pictures as we made our way around our loop to check on all the neighbors.
The sky was a bit strange until it grew dark.

Here are some neighbors checking on each other and making phone call to neighbors that were out of town. We had no electricity for about 4 hours (not really too bad considering the storm).






Around our loop the damages included roofs, chimney's blown down, play sets gone, trees down and twisted, barns and shops destroyed, car ports down..BLESSING -no one was hurt!
When the electricity finally came back on we bathed the boys and then they slept in the living room, because understandably they were a bit anxious. When we woke up, the Tree Set was still gone- Bummer! But the day was sunny and we were glad to have slept in a undamaged cozy home. We did venture out into our small community to see what other areas were hit. Here is some of what we saw.






















Today, around our community there were neighbors helping neighbors trying to clean up and manage all the damage. There will be long days ahead for some of our neighbors. We are still not sure if there was one tornado or multiple (we were all in closets!) However, I feel blessed we are all safe.

While we were in the closet and K-man was trying to understand why God created storms and why He would let things like this happen...he paused to ask us if God would make a rainbow after the storm was over, "just like for Noah". Oh, my sweet boy! God heard you and knew your tender heart, and He gave you your rainbow! As soon as we stepped out on our front porch this is what we saw. Thank You, Our Father, for Your promises!
Tucking Little Bit in tonight he asked, "thunder tonight?...big storm?...Going in closet?" Yes, I think we all might be a little more nervous the next time a thunderstorm blows through.

13 comments:

Kim said...

Bless. Bless. Bless! I am so sorry that the tree set is gone, but SO glad that all 4 of you are OK. That must have been scary..I can't imagine! I LOVE the rainbow at the end...PRaise the Lord for his protection, promises and shelter! We love you!

Holly said...

Oh, my goodness!! I can't believe how quickly the storm came through--it must have been SO scary to scramble into the closet and wait it out (hearing and feeling everything). I'm so sorry the tree set was destroyed (and scattered here and there). Thankfully y'all were safe and your home was not damaged!!

Love, love, love the rainbow at the end of your story. Perfect! (Of course)

Should I call you Dorothy now? :)

Charlton said...

So glad everyone is safe. We stayed in our closet during hurricane Ike for a couple of hours, but I think I would have been more scared in your 10 minute stay in the closet! Maybe the boys won't be too scared in the next thunderstorm.

Rochelleht said...

OH MY GOSH!!! WOW! You guys really got it big! I'm so sad about the tree set! But so glad your house and family were safe. I can't believe you only lost power for 4 hours. We lost it for 14.

I was with my Young Women from church at a swimming party when the storm came through here, We ran into the closets, but the worst damage for us were trees.

penguinette said...

I had to read this post outloud to B across from me on the couch. I am sorry about the things losts, but so thankful you guys are OK. While watching the radar on the news, we were wondering if you were affected. The rainbw pic is beautiful and a beautiful reminder. What is the plan on the playhouse and trampoline? Was it insured?

Heather's House said...

Oh Lacie....I know yall were so scared! I am so sorry about the tree set and having to "hunker" down in the closet. I'm glad you just had minor damage. I am SO glad all of you are all ok! God was truly watching out for you and your sweet family. Love you guys!!!

Miss you!

silken said...

oh....so glad all are safe! love the rainbow...thank you Lord!

Whitney said...

Oh my goodness- I am so glad you guys are all safe! We've been having such yucky weather lately! I'm sorry to hear about the damage you had, but glad it was nothing more serious!

Perks said...

Wow!! Praise God that you are all okay! I can't imagine...

Linda said...

I was a little teary knowing how scared all of you must have been! Never easy to loose anything. What a hard lesson for the boys.....they lost something very precious to them. Of course the tears are tears of joy that you were able to see how blessed you all truly were! God cares Kannon and he feels your pain!!!

Daesha said...

We are so very thankful that you and your family are safe! I love, love, love the rainbow at the end of the story - that's just right. I hope you don't have to "hunker" down anymore this tornado season.

RetroLeeTX said...

Hey Lacie! - I'm so glad you all are ok - I too got a little choked up thinking of how scared you must have been. Poor babies lost their playset! How scary - we were out of town - but had heard that there had been some bad storms.
I just read Gray Noah's Ark again last night and he asked about the rainbows - thank God for rainbows!

Lynn said...

I know that was scary! I used to be so afraid of storms too. I hope the boys conquer their fears which are very understandable. It looks the storm just went right through, huh? Glad that the things you lost are replaceable.Our God is good..all the time. Do you know a good insurance guy? LOL!