Photo taken at about the same time, in about the same part of Iowaas the storm described in this story,
shows a mesocyclone with a wall cloud; photo by Lori Mehmen of Orchard, Iowa
Blown Away
Hereby perceive we the love of God,
because he laid down his life for us:
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
But whoso hath this world’s good,
and seeth his brother have need,
and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him,
how dwelleth the love of God in him?
My little children,
let us not love in word,
neither in tongue;
but in deed and in truth.
-- 1 John 3:16-18
because he laid down his life for us:
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
But whoso hath this world’s good,
and seeth his brother have need,
and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him,
how dwelleth the love of God in him?
My little children,
let us not love in word,
neither in tongue;
but in deed and in truth.
-- 1 John 3:16-18
My friend’s sister survived a tornado that devastated a small town in Iowa earlier this summer. They say it looks like a gigantic weedeater took out nearly half of the town. The 200 mph winds caused eight deaths and $160 million in insurance claims.
Her husband was not at home, but her best friend was there with a couple of children. They crouched down in an area of the basement that the cat slept in. The tornado roared upon them – and literally scooped the house and all its contents up and away.
To everyone’s horror, the homeowner’s young daughter started rising up, sucked into the vortex. Screaming, the mom jumped to her feet and grabbed the girl by her hips, pulling her back down. The eye of the tornado was then upon them, giving them a moment to grab onto a pipe, and then the back end of the twister roared by.
When it was over, they just kept huddling, whimpering, for a few minutes, and then got up and looked around.
Not a stick was left of the house.
The boat was gone. The jet-ski was gone.
They never found any of their furniture, and what they did find was mostly ruined.
But praise God! No one was hurt.
And it wasn’t too long before people they didn’t even know started coming around. These volunteers just appeared, giving them food and water and material goods to tide them over until they could get back on their feet.
The family couldn’t get over how kind these strangers were, and how eager they were to help with the cleanup. Some of them were college students and church youth group members who had headed out just as soon as they heard about the tornado. They knew their help would be needed. These volunteers literally would have given them the shirts off their backs.
Which would have been nice, since the family didn’t have any clothes now. They didn’t have any anything.
And worst of all, without a house, where would they live?
In the days after the tornado, the mom had been on TV a couple of times, detailing the ordeal, and her gratitude for all the help shone through. However, the fact that the family was now homeless also was clear.
Then boom! They got a call from a doctor who lived a few miles away. He had seen the TV report, and he wanted to make them an incredibly nice offer:
Would they like to live in his house, rent-free, for a year?
It turns out that the doctor and his wife were going through a divorce – devastation of another kind. Neither wanted to live in the house any more: too many memories. But it was a bad real-estate market, so they didn’t want to sell it. It was just going to sit empty.
Why not share it with this devastated family?
Why not create something good in a situation that was so bad, for both families?
It’s a gorgeous home. The family joke is that the tornado victims were “blown away” by this kindness, and accepted gratefully on the spot. It had to feel good to that hurting couple, too.
You know, God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16) because of how it hurts. But He loves generosity in all its forms, because of its sweet and refreshing healing. Both couples experienced it, for their mutual good.
What a lesson for us all. In the aftermath of disaster, peace comes through the gifts of others. If you want to operate straight out of God’s heart, you’ll look around and see who needs help, and how you can deliver it.
We all go through many storms in life. The best way through them is to put one hand in God’s . . . and give your other hand in friendship and service to someone else. †
Her husband was not at home, but her best friend was there with a couple of children. They crouched down in an area of the basement that the cat slept in. The tornado roared upon them – and literally scooped the house and all its contents up and away.
To everyone’s horror, the homeowner’s young daughter started rising up, sucked into the vortex. Screaming, the mom jumped to her feet and grabbed the girl by her hips, pulling her back down. The eye of the tornado was then upon them, giving them a moment to grab onto a pipe, and then the back end of the twister roared by.
When it was over, they just kept huddling, whimpering, for a few minutes, and then got up and looked around.
Not a stick was left of the house.
The boat was gone. The jet-ski was gone.
They never found any of their furniture, and what they did find was mostly ruined.
But praise God! No one was hurt.
And it wasn’t too long before people they didn’t even know started coming around. These volunteers just appeared, giving them food and water and material goods to tide them over until they could get back on their feet.
The family couldn’t get over how kind these strangers were, and how eager they were to help with the cleanup. Some of them were college students and church youth group members who had headed out just as soon as they heard about the tornado. They knew their help would be needed. These volunteers literally would have given them the shirts off their backs.
Which would have been nice, since the family didn’t have any clothes now. They didn’t have any anything.
And worst of all, without a house, where would they live?
In the days after the tornado, the mom had been on TV a couple of times, detailing the ordeal, and her gratitude for all the help shone through. However, the fact that the family was now homeless also was clear.
Then boom! They got a call from a doctor who lived a few miles away. He had seen the TV report, and he wanted to make them an incredibly nice offer:
Would they like to live in his house, rent-free, for a year?
It turns out that the doctor and his wife were going through a divorce – devastation of another kind. Neither wanted to live in the house any more: too many memories. But it was a bad real-estate market, so they didn’t want to sell it. It was just going to sit empty.
Why not share it with this devastated family?
Why not create something good in a situation that was so bad, for both families?
It’s a gorgeous home. The family joke is that the tornado victims were “blown away” by this kindness, and accepted gratefully on the spot. It had to feel good to that hurting couple, too.
You know, God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16) because of how it hurts. But He loves generosity in all its forms, because of its sweet and refreshing healing. Both couples experienced it, for their mutual good.
What a lesson for us all. In the aftermath of disaster, peace comes through the gifts of others. If you want to operate straight out of God’s heart, you’ll look around and see who needs help, and how you can deliver it.
We all go through many storms in life. The best way through them is to put one hand in God’s . . . and give your other hand in friendship and service to someone else. †
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