Praising God.

Well, I don't even know how to find the words for this post. I, safely in my standing home with my unharmed child, feel so rattled, I cannot find a way to describe yesterday's events. I guess we can start with this video.



This was taken from the mall parking lot in Tuscaloosa, AL. I shopped at this mall very frequently when I lived in Demopolis. I have a lot of friends that currently live in Tuscaloosa and the surrounding areas. So far, everyone is safe. Praise God. The scariest part, for me, about all of this is that this exact storm passed directly over my parents and family in Demopolis as well as our house in West Point, GA. We are unbelievably blessed this morning to have life and a home.

I guess I will start with my Mom. I was on the phone with her a good bit yesterday, talking about the weather. Last night, Brad and I happened to be watching the weather while also checking the National Weather Service online. They kept saying areas around Demopolis were in danger. Then, they announced a tornado was on the ground just south of my parents home. After about four phone calls of me begging, Mom and Dad decided to leave. Mom stayed at my Aunt Debroah's until it passed, while Dad went into work to help the crews get ready to restore power (Dad works at Alabama Power). Thank God, the tornado remained just south of them and didn't harm their home.

Well, within about an hour or so, we noticed that another tornado was forming across the state, near the GA/AL line....heading directly for us. We waited and waited. After the tornado passed Auburn, they projected West Point to be in the center of it's path. My mom returned the favor asking us to leave for safer ground at Brad's parent's basement. After much reluctance, we decided that 3 rounds of tornado sirens and the news had convinced us. The main reason I was so hesitant was because of Frank. He had been asleep since 7:30pm. It was now around 10. I didn't want to wake and startle him unless I knew we were going to take cover somewhere else. Finally, I didn't care if we were up all night. My baby needed to be safe! So, I got him up and said "We're going to see Nannie!". Well, he was thrilled!

Thanks to my sweet in-laws, we rushed in their home at 10pm and headed straight to the basement. After waiting it out until the storm passed, we decided it was mainly clear and safe to return home. When we got home, I headed for Frank's room to put him back down. It was then that Frank responded to Daddy's "I love you, buddy" with "luv uuuuuu". SOOO precious! It made my night.

Another siren sounded around midnight, just after I put Frank back to bed. After watching a little more TV, we saw that the new tornado was going to go just north of us. Again, another dodged disaster. So, after many prayers sent to our Lord and a night of unknown, we are all safe and have no damage to our home. All from the hands of our Lord, he has spared us.

I tell you all of this to say that I was scared to death. Storms do not usually scare me, but with Frank, I am terrified. I was so afraid we were going to wake up to a home of rubble today....or much worse. I feel so much grief and pain for the families that have suffered so much tragedy as a result of these storms. Our prayers and thoughts are with you all.