Thoughts On Bin Laden's Death

I would be really interested to hear your thoughts on the death of bin laden. Does it make our country safer? Do we celebrate? Was it (killing him) worth it? How do you feel about it personally?

Hail Storm, 2011

I thought I would share our experience with the storm from last week. It was definitely an experience I won’t soon forget!

Michelle and I knew we were going to get hit hard, but we didn’t know how hard. After making sure we had candles, flashlights, etc., we went to get some sandwiches. Returning home, we had a picnic in the garage, watching the clouds go by and the trees beginning to move.

Even after church sent out that services had been canceled for the evening, we weren’t completely convinced we were going to get hit real hard, because all we were seeing was rain. At one point, David runs out into the drive way, running around in the rain, no care in the world…..

Around 7, we cut off the computer and TV. We were sitting around the dining room table: Michelle and Abby scrap booking, me paying bills, and David running from window to window, giving us a status update every 5 minutes. Still, we had no real concern. We had yet to hear about the storms hitting Alabama…..By 7:30pm, I had decided that it was all for nothing. It was just rain! All we were getting was rain! Michelle and I are responsible for our children’s programs on Sunday mornings, and we use Wednesday as our night to practice with other volunteers. I actually thought to myself, “what a waste. When are we going to practice???”

A little after 8, David and I had just walked inside from throwing some baseball (the rain was hit and miss), when "IT" hit. At first, it was just massive rain. Then the lightning came through. But when the hail hit, we headed for the hall! David had his flashlight, Abby her stuffed animals. I had never heard hail that loud before. Michelle and I lived in Memphis for 4 years, and never experienced anything like this. The hail only lasted 3-5 minutes, but it was amazingly intense! We couldn't hear each other, because the hail was hitting our house so hard.

After it was over, we walked outside in the backyard, stepping on golf ball sized hail stones. It looked like a war zone. Limbs and leaves were lying on the ground from where they were ripped out of the trees! I checked the weather channel on my phone, and notice the second storm cell coming through. We headed in doors, and hunkered down once more.

The second storm was just as severe and just as quick! However, this time it knocked out our power. During this storm, Abby starts getting a little upset, and my son looks over at her and says, “its ok, I prayed to God, so He will keep us safe.” Abby looks at him then with this, “oh, ok” kind of look. Her entire demeanor changes and she begins playing with her stuffed animals, while the golf ball sized hail stones pummel our house. Michelle and I look at each other with a strange mixture of disbelief and pride…..

After the second storm passed over, we went back outside to check the damage. Thankfully, no structural damage to the house! Well, we would find out the next day our siding had been damaged as well as the roof. But at the time, the only noticeable damage was Michelle’s hostas.

I took the kids to bed, and said a prayer of thanksgiving over them. They went to sleep, soundly, and peacefully.

Michelle and I started calling our family in Chattanooga, checking in to make sure they are ok. Sitting in the dark, we sat there in conversation about the evening. It was part open prayer of thankfulness to God and another part of awe in the powerfulness of nature. We were in the middle of talking about what we wer going to do about the hostas that got destroyed when Michelle gets a phone call from one of our college students: “I am heading to your house. Our house got hit bad, and my back window of my car is knocked out.” Turns out, the college student’s house had received massive structural damage, and they had to leave it, not knowing its fate until the morning.

It seems the estimated damage in Knox County alone was over 10 million dollars. I have no doubt it will only rise as the weeks go by. Michelle and I are amazingly blessed. We are going to need some new siding, a roof, and some gutters. But I know of others that may have lost their entire house. Many have lost there cars. I know of one lady that got her head cut open, trying to cover her car! What this experience taught me was that nothing is sacred. We can not hold on to anything! A wise man once told me, "the harder you hold on to something, the more it hurts when it is wripped out of your hands." Thsi statement has so much more meaning to me now after experience this storm.