It’s Memorial Box Monday and I cannot wait to tell you this story of God’s sovereign protection. His hand of protection has been shown over and over in our lives and we are so thankful.This story goes back to May of 2003. We were pastoring in Virginia at the time. I had been teaching a women’s morning Bible study and as a thank you from the ladies I taught they had given me a special treat. The whole group had pitched in and given me a gift certificate to get a pedicure and also a gift certificate to have lunch at a restaurant in Richmond with Dw. They set it up so that we could go to Richmond for that special time and at the same time they went to our home and cleaned my house. How amazingly wonderful was that??So off I went to Richmond had a pedicure (never had had one before) and then Dw came and met up with me for a sweet lunch together. He was going to head to do some errands and I was going to head home to the kids.
As I was heading home I felt a very strong urge that I needed to stop at the cleaners and pick up some clothes we had there. I didn’t really want to as I really am a homebody. I don’t mind being gone for a little bit, but really I just wanted to get home to my favorite little people. BUT the Lord was urging me. I knew it was Him. So I pulled in and went inside the cleaners. The place, which was normally empty was full of people waiting. I wanted to turn around and leave, but the urge had been so strong, that I just stood there behind a bunch of people waiting my turn. I even noticed that there were two girls working behind the counter. There were never two girls behind the counter. So weird.
The cleaners little area where you wait your turn is small, but there were probably about 12 people in there waiting. All of a sudden, in the midst of the busyness of that shop and all the people waiting I heard the one girl working behind the counter, turn to the other girl also working behind the counter and say, “I AM SOOOO SCARED.”
Now what you have to understand about me is that I am truly a shy person. Hard to believe that I write about our lives on a very public blog and that I do lots of public speaking, but really, down deep – I am shy. But here I was standing behind a group of people waiting my turn and hearing that girl say she was scared. I was like, “HUH?”
And in the midst of my complete shyness I said overtop of everyone in front of me, “What are you scared of?” I guess you will just have to take my word for it, but really, truly, it was completely out of character for me to say, “What are you scared of?” in a crowd of people that I do not know and when it was not my turn at all.
The girl heard me and turned towards me and looking overtop the people in front of me said, “Didn’t you hear? There is a tornado supposed to hit Amelia in 20 minutes and it’s supposed to hit here in 30 minutes.”
Sweet bloggy friends, our home was in Amelia. My kids were home, alone and I was 35 minutes from our home. When she said that I kind of freaked out and said, “OH MY GRACIOUS! I live in Amelia and my kids are home alone.” I ran out of the cleaners. Thankfully I had a cell phone and Tyler was working at Ukrops (a grocery store) right next to the cleaners. He was a bagger and at Ukrops they walk the customers out to their car and load their groceries for them.
I dialed Dw and told him about the tornado. I asked him if he would please come to Ukrops so he could be near Tyler if the tornado did indeed come. I would speed home. Best case I could be home in 30 minutes, but that was still past the time for the tornado to hit.
I then dialed Autumn. She was 13 and had Emma, Graham and Liberty that she was babysitting. (My friends had finished cleaning our home and were all gone.) I said, “Autumn, you have to be calm. You must listen. There is a tornado coming toward Amelia. It is supposed to hit in 20 minutes. Take the kids to the basement to play. Take some water in a jug. Take some crackers. Take some blankets. Get under the stairs. Do it now!!! Do not freak the kids out. Just tell them to come quickly. Take the house phone downstairs with you.” Autumn did a great job gathering the supplies and the kids.
I started heading down 360 toward Amelia. In the distance I could see the clouds getting darker. Soon the sky became a gross brown color. The wind was intense. I was talking to Dw on the cell as I drove. I was panicked, no doubt. I was praying. Dw was praying. I called my friend in Colorado to pray. I am not a speeder, it’s just not in my DNA. BUT I was pushing the envelope that day. And as I drove the wind got even more powerful. I began to cry as I drove. I was crying out to the Lord to spare my kids. Move the tornado. Do something!! Anything!!
I suddenly remembered that my mom lived about 15 minutes from our home so maybe, just maybe, she could get to the kids quickly. I phoned her. She had not heard about the tornado either but jumped in her car and sped toward our home. I was so relieved that they would not be alone.
The weather got even more intense as I continued to head right into it. It was one of the scariest times in my life. I talked to Dw and told him how horrible the weather was. I was crying as it started hailing hail balls the size of true baseballs. He told me to pull over and lay down in the ditch. I had lived in the Southeast the last 13 years and I know that there are plenty of snakes…..copperheads for starters….so there was not a chance on God’s beautiful green Earth that I was climbing in a ditch. Tornado? Copperhead? I’ll take the tornado.
It was getting almost impossible to see as I crossed the line into Amelia County. There was stuff swirling and the sky was browner than brown. The hail balls were slamming the car. I was praying outloud at a furious rate! I then remembered that a little girl who played on Emma’s soccer team lived with her family not far from this Hwy 360 I was on. I had heard she lived on a little side road just a bit from Hwy 360. Her parents had visited our church once before and I had spoken to them a bit at the soccer games. I realized that I was probably not going to get home because I could not see much anymore, so I wondered if I could take shelter at their home. Again, being a shy person, this was not my normal thoughts.
I wasn’t sure which little side road they were on. I saw one road to the right and slowed down to turn. I heard the Lord clearly say, “Not this one.” I continued on. Soon I came to the next side road and the Lord said, “Turn here.” I turned right and went over the railroad tracks. There I saw what I believed to be their home in the distance. It was so hard to see, but all of a sudden I saw their SUV coming down their long, long driveway. I turned in their driveway.
We met part way. I rolled down my passenger window and it turns out that the dad (Gary) was driving and Debbie (the mom) was in the passenger side of their car. Their two girls were in the back with 2 of their little girlfriends.
I didn’t know this family, really, not at all. I shouted over the powerful sounds, “Where are you going?” Debbie shouted back, “We are going to check on Gary’s parents.” I said, “Do you have a basement?” She said they didn’t. I said, “We have to get to an interior room.”
The sound outside sounded like a freight train, and I am truly welling with tears as I type. It was horrible!! What I didn’t know was that Gary and Debbie had no clue that there was a tornado coming. They just thought it was a bad thunderstorm. Tornadoes had not come to Amelia for over 40 years (I think).
All of a sudden, while Debbie and I were shouting back and forth, Gary screamed at the top of his lungs, “GET TO THE HOUSE!!!” as he threw his car into reverse and sped backward out of sight. I wanted to get to their house, but the swirling items and storm prevented me from seeing their home at all. It was just swirling blackness. I remember inching my way along. I wasn’t sure if they had an in ground pool or anything else, I just didn’t want to hit anything at all, and I sure didn’t want to hit their house.
Inch by inch I moved. It took what seemed forever and all the while my car was pelted with debris and hail balls. Finally, I stopped the car and through the brown swirling wind I could see the house. Gary was in the garage waiting for me. I put the car into park and went to get out of the car, but the Multiple Sclerosis had shut my arms and hands down. I could not open the car door. I cried out to the Lord, “Please, please, open my door.” I was able to use my fists to open the door handle as my hands would not function. I fell out of the car and stumbled toward Gary. Gary hugged me and said, “It’s going to be all right.” He is a giant sweet teddy bear and his words of comfort were a gift from the Lord. The sound of the freight train wind was unbelievable!!
I got into their house and Debbie was laying the girls down on the floor in their family room and covering them with pillows from the couch. I said, “Don’t you have an inner room?” We were shouting back and forth because the sound of the freight train wind was unbelievable. She said they only had the 1/2 bath under the stairs. I said, “Get the girls in the 1/2 bath then.” She, the four girls and I went in together. We prayed aloud. We prayed louder. We sang some. We prayed more. It was definitely one of the scariest times in my life.
Eventually it passed. When we came out of the bathroom we found out what else had happened. When we had been talking from our cars back and forth and Gary had shouted, “Get to the house!”?? Gary had looked at that moment in his rear view mirror and saw the funnel cloud heading right toward us. It was that close!! It was coming down their tree line snapping off trees. We were right in it’s path. It was unbelievable. If we had not moved our cars from the driveway we would have been hit by it!! We probably missed being hit by 150 feet because Gary saw that funnel coming toward us. 150 feet!!!
The tree tops were all gone on that driveway. Their home looked like someone had taken a baseball bat and hit all the siding full of huge holes. My little white shirt that I had been wearing was covered in brown debris stains just from running from my car to their garage.
Of course all I could think was that I needed to get home to our kids. I jumped in my car and started going for home, which was still 15 minutes away. As I turned back onto 360 there was destruction everywhere. Trees were down blocking the road. I could not reach the kids on my cell.
Dw had taken Tyler and was heading now for Amelia. My cell phone was dying and I didn’t have a charger with me. My gas was running on fumes, I had forgotten to get gas!! Once I saw the downed trees I remembered a back road I could take. I went toward the back road. It must be part of denial, because it never crossed my mind that there would be trees down on that road as well. They were down everywhere!!
I eventually had to wait at a little convenience store for Tyler and Dw to pick me up and head home. The destruction was incredible. Our church offices had been hit bad. If Dw had been sitting at his desk, he probably would have been killed as a gigantic oak had been uprooted and fell on the roof landing right on top of his desk.
We were able to finally reach the kids. They were all fine, but our home had been hit pretty hard. There was over $17,000 in damage to our home.
As it turns out Debbie and I had to process the events of that day and talked on the phone all the time. Our meeting, although the circumstances were less than ideal, was an absolute blessing from the Lord – He knew I needed her!! She became one of my closest friends of all time. We would sit on my porch sipping cold coffee concoctions I invented. We’d make pies together. She came over once, when the MS was bad and planted a bunch of flowers out front for me. She is a treasure and we call each other: Twister Sister!
God’s protection was profound that day. Had I continued driving down 360 one of those downed trees could have landed on me. Had Gary not seen that funnel coming down the tree row I would not be typing this. Had Dw been in his office…..and the list goes on…. Again, He is: Our Miracle-working, Mountain-moving, Awe-inspiring, Gasp-giving God….and we praise His name!! So what do you have in your Memorial Box or what would you put in your Memorial Box if you had one? If you don’t understand what a Memorial Box is all about, it’s explained here.
Wow! I think you could turn this into a thriller! I couldn't stop reading even though I knew in the end you would all survive the tornado. God is our Protector!
I never met someone who has had more wild experiences in their whole lives…. I mean, we've lived in Africa and all over the place and been in some interesting predicaments, but you guys take the cake…. all I can think of is either you have 9 lives or your are ancient!! = )
Whatever the case may be the Lord Loves you. That's all I can say.
Blessings,
Angela
Unbelievable story of protection! God is truly in the details! Thankful for His wings around each member of your family!
(And yes, I about peed my pants reading your story!)
This is an amazing story of a few mountain moving miracles…your stories continue to inspire me and also nudge me to remember my own and share them with others.
God bless you on the Memorial Box Monday.
OH,Linny!!!! I usually wait with excitement for your Memorial Box Monday's but this one was like watching a movie. I don't think I was breathing as i was reading! Wow, that is scary!
But a true miracle!!
what an amazing post!!!
Hi, Linny. I have followed your blog for about a year now and it's the first one I read each day. I just wanted to share my very first Memorial Box posting on my blog. Like yours today it is about a time when God covered our family with his protection. Our story involves snakes instead of tornados!
Barbara http://blessingsfromacrossthesea.blogspot.com/
Linny, this is SO crazy but I have to share. Just today we were in Amelia looking at properties. We are just waiting for God to say "GO!" We are from Georgia and followed God here (8.5 hours away from everything we know collectively) to Richmond for my husband's work. 25 days after we got here his work added an adoption benefit and that turned out to be the sign we needed to officially start our adoption. We were placed 3 weeks after our homestudy was final, with a 1 week old baby boy the first time our profile was shown. This is SOOOOO cool!
You had me on the edge of my seat reading your story. God is so very good to us!
Wow, Linny! God's provisions were powerful and plentiful in this story. You painted such a vivid picture with your words, I could see it all. I know exactly of where you speak- I live just off 360 about 6 miles toward Amelia from the Harbor Pointe Ukrops. I always love your Memorial Box Monday stories, but this one, with it's intensity (weather and God's goodness) really captivated me. Wow! God is good– all the time!
Blessings,
Kelly (in Chesterfield)
Great story!
Mine isn't quite so exciting, but it's about hearing God's voice. I have been unhappy with my daughter's current preschool (it's a long story, but I was unhappy with the way some of the kids were treating her). I had been praying about it quite a bit, and asking friends to pray about it and give me advice.
I had gotten to a place where I was at peace with the situation, and felt like keeping her in the class was the right choice. Then one day out of the blue I heard an almost audible voice telling me to call the preschool at the church we had recently started attending. I knew it was full, so I had never bothered with it, but the voice was urging me to make the call.
So, I called the next morning right when the office opened, and we went in for our tour, LOVED it, but it was full and there was a waiting list. I won't go into all of the details, but God moved and allowed her to get a spot 2 days later, which the admissions director told me was unheard of (people wait on that list for months!).
I know that voice was God urging me to make the call because He had a spot open for her. Today was her first day at the school, and already I know it is where she is supposed to be. I'm so thankful she will be getting a Christian education!
~Amy
Wow. What an amazing story. It's neat how God's hand is seen in so many different circumstances, from big tornadoes to a small contact lens.
Mine is seeming really trite right now, but I posted my first Memorial Box Monday on my blog. I was even able to attach your great bloggy button so my readers can find your sweet stories (that's a miracle in itself because I'm technologically challenged).
My item is an "ultrasound photo" of the little boy we are adopting (which was tricky because we didn't start the adoption until he was 7). Brevity is not my strength so I won't try to explain here, but if you want to see the pics and read the story it's at http://goodnessandmercyshallfollow.blogspot.com .
Thanks, Linny, for sharing your stories and for inspiring us to start our own Memorial Box.
God bless,
Kathie from Georgia
Just think because of God's provision for you during that Memorial Box Monday Tornado you are able to celebrate another birthday today!!!
Happy Birthday! I love ya!
I am so amazed at all God's brought you through. You NEED to write a book. It would be a best seller.
Oh this is a goooooooood one! I love your stories! God is so good. But what item did you place in your Memorial Box for this one? I have to know!
Amazing!
Oh Linny, Such a gripping story-thank you for sharing it. I have a similar one-Windsor's tornado in 2008. I was out at the grocery store and driving home in it-didn't didn't know it was a tornado but praying in the Spirit as the tornado destroyed much of our area. God's hand of protection kept me safe.
Hugs and belated birthday wishes.
Noreen
You sure brought back memories. We also went through a tornado and mom and I were away shopping while it hit our town that while the rest of our family was home. It took our barn but God protected our home and family.
That is an amzing story you have!
Hey, you need to get over to my blog and enter my giveaway!!! Duncan's family found him!
Oh my Goodness! I cannot get over the excitement in your life!!! I have seen my share of tornados but not like that! The worst was not even one I actually saw with my own eyes. I was on my way to my grandparents house in Berea, KY. My mom was already there. She had a couple of brain aneurisms and can't drive so I was going for the weekend and then bringing her home. When I hit Cincinnati I heard that a tornado had touched down in Berea and the national guard had been deployed. It was the LONGEST 2 hours of my life. I couldn't get through to them! When I arrived in Berea they were not letting people drive really anywhere in town. Very scary. My cousin had been trapped in his car on the college campus with a power line over his car for more than 3 hours before they could safely get him out. My grandparents and mom were totally oblivous. Not kidding! They said they heard a frieght train but really didn't register that it was an actual tornado. Just across the field from their house 2 houses were destroyed and there was extensive damage to several of the college buildings. If it had hit at 8 am Friday morning instead of Saturday morning there would have been casualties I am sure. As it was no one was hurt! Truly a miracle!