After a very lazy Monday morning, Kinley, Case, and I had just come home from the grocery store in the middle of a storm. We were on the edge of it most of the way home and were hoping to get groceries unloaded and get inside before it hit here. However, when we got out of the car in the garage there were two huge claps of thunder and Kinley begged to go in, since her latest fear has been lightning strikes causing fires. I told her to go in, and after the third loud clap of thunder, I followed quickly behind her! She did tell me on the way in, "Mama, do you know one of my favorite things about our new house? It's close to the fire place (the fire department)!"
We came in and sat down in the living room. The satellite was out, so I had my iPhone trying to check the radar and she was playing on the iPad in Zeke's recliner, three feet from the back windows. We took a picture of our backyard to send to Zeke at work, to tell him not to worry about yard work tonight. So this is the before:
Not long after we sat down, the sound of the storm changed and I told Kinley to look out and see if it was hailing. About the time we both looked out we heard a huge crack and crash and the leaves hit the window. We stood up and she says I grabbed her hand and ran, although I really don't remember that part! We ended up at the front door--I didn't know if it was a limb and the rest of the tree was coming down, or if it was a tornado, or what had really happened, and I wanted to be as far away from the tree as possible. We looked back and didn't see anything moving, and looked out front and just saw the storm, so I called Zeke to tell him the top of the tree came down and we went to our bathroom and closet where there were no windows. We were both shaking uncontrollably! I finally calmed Kinley down, and we prayed and I thanked God for His protection, while she implored Him to make it stop raining :). I convinced Kinley to stay with Case for a minute so I could go check things out, and saw that it was the whole hickory tree that had fallen--not just a branch! I called Zeke again and then went back to calm Kinley down for a second time.
Our backyard is now a mess! The leaves are right against the back windows and back door. The trim is coming down from around the dining room eaves, and our patio chairs are driven into the ground. The window in the dining room is broken, and we can't really tell what the roof damage is yet. The insurance adjuster is coming tomorrow afternoon to take a look and see if we need to make a claim.
We were blessed to be checked on by numerous family and friends tonight, and once we had all calmed down and had no visitors, we went to Logan's to eat. I had my phone out, and just happened to hit the Bible app. Today's verse popped up:
You are my refuge and shield. Psalm 119:114a
We took a moment to reflect...He was truly our shield today. Kinley was only about three feet away from where the tree landed. Case and I were barely eighteen inches farther from the windows. Had the tree been any taller, or fallen any further to the left, our babies or our house could have been badly hurt. When I read the verse, I imagined those Photoshopped pictures of transparent angels catching the tree as it fell :) There were two things that Kinley wanted when the tree fell and she was afraid--her Daddy, and praying. Her refuge--what she clung to when she was afraid--was crying out to her Jesus to calm the storm, even as I was praying aloud for Him to calm my child. She told me at bedtime tonight that, "God knew that tree was gonna fall, so he made it shaped just that rectangle triangle shape so it would fit in that hole and not hurt us or our house." So, although there is cleaning up to be done and repairs to make, when the tree fell today a little girl's faith got stronger. I'll take it.
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