Faithful!!!

Dark storm clouds rolling in, a stillness that can be heard for miles, then a sudden gust of wind begins to blow, the snapping of branches and heavy thuds can be heard outside........ You wait silently, praying that God protects you as this storm rolls overhead, then there is silence once more. As you come out from you hiding spot you see a ray of sun light. You fear to even walk much further not knowing what you will see; will your home still be there? Will your neighbors? What kind of destruction will you find after this tornado passed?

This was an experience that was felt by many recently on April 27th, 2011. I still remember calling my mom who works at a school in Oxford. They had been sitting out in the hallways and she was fine, but she was not sure what she would find when she got home. Several hours later, when she got to the end of her street, she called me and said, "Well, I do not know if I will have a home! The two homes at the end of my street are completely gone!" Now, I thought she was exaggerating a little bit, so I told her to drive down the street, but she told me she couldn't because there were limbs all in the street. When she did finally make it to her home, she found that the tornado had danced around her home and it had been spared.

Now, you may ask, "Why are you reliving such a sad day?" Well, if you remember the point of this blog is to share about some heroes that we encounter a long the way. I want to do just that. They are a small group of men and WOMEN who live in the Yocona community and the surrounding area. I had the honor of hearing some incredibly stories shared to me by some wonderfully wise women.

You see the WMU group at New Prospect Baptist Church in Yocona had asked me several weeks before the tornado to come and speak with their group about "us" going to Brazil. And of course, I was honored! The date had been set for May 10th. Well, honestly after the tornados, I had been so worried about everyone in that area that I had figured that we would reschedule. But NO, not these sweet ladies, Mrs. Cherry, called me several times the week prior to May 10th and told me that it was still on. She told me that they had just recently gotten their power back on and that they had been working diligently to get their home cleaned up.  She shared with me stories of how right after the storm men from the community came down their long road and began clearing their road.  These men didn’t have to do this, I am sure they had some of their own clean up that they had to do around their own homes, BUT they volunteered their time to come and help others.  You see this is how small communities work.  People come together to help each other.  Everyone knows each other on a first name basis.  Mrs. Cherry even had a FULL COURSE meal prepared for the men that came and help cut up trees in her yard.  I heard the meatloaf was AWESOME!!! 

Mrs. Cherry told me that it may be a little dusty at her house because of all the tree dust that had fallen. I was just so completely humbled that even though the sweet families had gone through SO MUCH they wanted to stop cleaning up, repairing, and honestly, STOP… to hear what God was doing in our lives! So, the date was set. That evening at dusk as I rode down 334 and down Mrs. Cherry's road I became so OVERWHELMED with emotions because even though it had been almost a week and half there was still SO MUCH destruction! I began to just cry and PRAISE GOD for sparing people's lives in this area. It could have been SO BAD, but it was NOT! When I got to the house I could tell that there were SO MANY trees missing, but as Mrs. Cherry pointed out that there was NOT any structural damage! WOW!!!! About 15 women came to her house and just seeing them after such a long week, OH, I was overwhelmed by their LOVE! One lady even shared that her husband got caught out in the storm and had to hold onto a pole and his stomach and ribs were still bruised from holding on so tight. Well, these sweet ladies full of wisdom and grace just BLESSED my heart. I left there so filled with joy!!! I have known many of these ladies for years and I was so grateful for their faithful prayers and support. I left there even MORE motivated to be faithful friend like them.

In my prayers MANY times I pray that God will make me faithful. I pray that he will find me to be His faithful servant. I pray that I will be faithful to my husband, my children, my family, and my friends. BUT today as I was doing my quiet time something "clicked"....Have you ever had one of those "spiritual" clicks? Today, I prayed..."LORD, thank YOU for being FAITHFUL to ME!!!!!" Oh, I am so grateful to a God who has been Faithful to me ALL of these YEARS!!!!! Even when I have NOT been my BEST...HE has still been FAITHFUL! Well, as I finished my prayer time I was reading His Word and then...Oh, don't you LOVE THIS...WHEN GOD JUST SPEAKS RIGHT BACK TO YOU...confirming ....YES, I AM FAITHFUL TO YOU....Psalms 89:1-2 "I will sing of the LORD's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you establish your faithfulness in heaven itself." vs.5 "The heavens praise your wonders, O LORDS, your faithfulness too, ...." Oh, I could keep going and going!!!!! I am just so excited about HOW mighty OUR GOD IS...HOW FAITHFUL HE IS!!! May you too....THIS DAY, REJOICE with ME in HIS FAITHFULNESS!!!



I want to share with you some pics of the tornado damage around the Yocona area....Keep in mind these are pics that I just took in June. Over a month and half later!!!!

Notice the metal chair sitting next to the tree on the right.

Driving around Yocona area

The home at the end of my mom's road.

The sweet ladies at NPBC restocked our First Aid Kit so that we would be ready for Brazil!  :)  We are so thankful because we didn't have the funds to get all of these little extras that we needed!  :)  THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!