So a brief update is in order. And it will certainly have to be brief as I think it was around Easter when I last posted and entry. (yes, Kelly, I'm criminal - some day I will grow up to be just like you - an efficient, reliable, virtuous blogger).
Spring rolled around after a very long, cold, painful winter that didn't wouldn't go away. I think by the end of May we saw our first 70-degree day. And it came and went quickly. But the tornadoes were in abundance in the Midwest, and I discovered www.tornadovideos.net. That was my first mistake. With live updates from storm chasers and a live webcam in their chase vehicles, it's like being in the car with them!! Along with the live updates on the message boards are links to local live webcasting. Some of these online broadcasts included live video on the road AND in the air. Wow. Is this heaven? I watched a tornado tear up the Oklahoma countryside! Please don't think of me as a blood-thirsty savage. I am merely in awe at the power and violence of the atmosphere. And some think there is no God?!
Around the end of May, we had many of our own tornado scares with hail, fierce winds, pounding rain, and much "tunner and lighting" (a much despised nighttime ritual for several nights in a row - Arielle would wake up in such a panic, her entire body would tremble with fright). Each time an afternoon storm would roll through with a potential tornado risk, I watched with a wary eye, camera in hand! But after many false alarms, I had given up hope. And then the night of June 7th...
The watches were out. Storms were rolling in. I had stayed awake until 2 in the morning fearing the worst of the storms heading in our directions. Yes, believe it or not, my tornado obsession turns to panic in the evening hours. The meteorologists had cried wolf so many nights, and this being a Saturday night and church the next day, I decided to can the idea of staying up late and figured this storm would be like the rest - it would break up and dissipate just before it reached the west side of Omaha. I closed my weather page and shut down my computer (do you think I have a problem? Is there therapy for my addiction?). Around midnight I shrugged my shoulders, asked God to keep us safe without my watchful eyes on the Doppler radar, and fell asleep. It was quiet. Just past 2:15 a.m., Doug and I nearly simultaneously sat up in bed, hearts racing. We live right on the edge of the city and in fact have corn fields across the street. Being at the top of a hill and few trees to block the Midwest howling wind, we have heard many, many a high wind slam against our 2-story home (the sound is deafening on the second floor). This was not wind we heard. This was the classic freight train coming right at us. By the time we had our senses about us and grabbed the kids and headed for shelter in the basement (where Mom & Dad were fast asleep...until we arrived of course), the worst of the wind was past and it was now hailing and raining with a vengeance. We both thought surely this was a tornado. But upon tuning into the weather guy, who had been up reporting without interruption for a couple of hours as the storms approached the Metro area, he did not seem in the slightest concerned for tornadic activity other than a watch, though clearly there was heavy circulation in the SW corner of the city. Ten minutes later, completely after the tornado had lifted and reeked its havoc, he announced that confirmed reports were coming in of a tornado sighting, and then suddenly the sirens sounded. Nearly 20 minutes AFTER the tornado started, and just about the time it finally lifted. That was great planning :)
After many phone calls from church family who either lived in the region of the tornado or were worried about our safety, we laid down to sleep - only to receive the heart sinking phone call - the church building had been hit. In the night it was difficult to tell how badly, so we caught a few more winks of sleep, and headed over to assess the damage around 7 the next morning. Our church is in a storefront and several of the occupants (one of them being another church) received much greater and devastating damage than did we. Our HVAC unit was destroyed and pulled the roof back enough to allow the water to flow freely inside causing much wall, ceiling, and carpet damage. Fortunately we did not lose any personal belongings (ie., pulpit, chairs, instruments, only a few hymnals, etc). After canceling services for the day, we started the cleanup.
Amazing that this tornado started just southwest of our home, and it lifted as it traveled over our immediate neighborhood, leaving debris in our backyard as well as the yards of our neighbors on both sides (including a large trampoline that was literally dropped into a fenced backyard, a shredded resin deck chair, a fence, and a kiddie pool), but did not scathe a single home within several blocks of our house. It then dropped back down in the adjoining neighborhood and continued to bounce along a northeasterly path until it reached our church, traveled another half mile or so and then lifted back into the sky, covering about a 5 mile stretch. Thank God I prayed for HIS safety before closing my eyes rather than trusting in my own judgment of the oncoming storm on radar this time. And some people say there’s no God…
Again the hand of God was evident in the events that followed. We were planning an expansion and remodel of our building by leasing the vacant space next to us. In doing so, it was necessary to knock out the walls of our current building to create an open and much larger auditorium. This would require some electric work, ceiling adjustments, new carpet, and paint. When the tornado performed it's dance over the building, it destroyed all of those things we needed to remove. Our remodeling task was now a project for insurance! Though the church provided the labor, all of the supplies were free of charge (to us anyway). And some people say there’s no God.
Though the above cleanup and remodel project was simply put, it was not a quick or easy project. And I was just beginning to enjoy my summer. Suddenly it was August, and my summer was nearly over.
But the building was finished the first of August (2 months later), and we were able to move from our temporary location back into our new and revised church, with a much larger and more official auditorium, a larger nursery, and much greater space for children’s ministries. 
Though the tornado episode was the most noteworthy item on our agenda for the summer, I did manage to score some free rock for landscaping my yard (an answer to much prayer and also another score from the blessings of the tornado – 100 tons of rock compiled part of the roofing at the church and with the tornado came a new roof – one that did not require rocks…need I say more??) And some say there is no God.
Some time just before the tornado, we were blessed with a church music director who is very talented and a great addition to our small group. With a masters in vocal performance and some study in a doctorate as well as much experience with the opera, our music has taken on a whole new level. We have several talented vocalists in our church and they are being put to good use!
We celebrated our second anniversary at the church in September with a special service that Sunday followed by 3 nights of revival meetings. It was our young church’s first experience with special meetings and it was well attended and much appreciated by all.
