Monday, June 3, 2019

Memorial Day tornadoes

As you probably know, Brookville, Trotwood, Harrison Township, Celina and surrounding areas in Ohio were hit by a series of tornados (18 at last count) this past Memorial Day, ranging in force from an EF0 to an EF4. I can't even find the words sufficient to describe the devastation. One life was lost that night.

In our house, we went to the basement grabbing only our purses and watched on a cellphone as it was reported that a tornado was passing over us; it didn't touch down, thankfully. There were other things that I didn't take with me though, that, had we been hit, I would have wanted to have like prescription medicines, water, cellphone charger, batteries, a change of clothing (I had been asleep when they hit), a leash for the dog (I saw a man walking down the street with his dog, using a shirt tied to his dog's collar as a leash); necessary things that we don't think of in a moment of panic. I never prepared for a tornado because we've never had one here. I only remember one other time in my life that we even went to the basement and that was 1974 when the severe weather passed over us and hit Xenia.

We called loved ones to make sure they knew about the tornados, but few took it seriously because it had never happened here before. After this, they will heed the warnings in the future.

How often does God give us advanced warnings and we ignore them? He may not use tornado sirens, news media, and emergency alerts on our cellphones, but He does place things on our hearts and use His followers and His word to communicate with us. We need to open our eyes and our ears to what He is telling us.

God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
Psalm 46:1-2 NIV

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Please join me this week in praying for those who have been affected by natural disasters, particularly the latest victims from the Memorial Day tornadoes. This includes areas of Missouri, Iowa and Illinois also.
I'll post daily reminders on:
twitter @7DegreesOfMe
instagram @archadia27
facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

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