Just in awe of God’s timeline…

If only we could view life this way.

“What if blessings come through rain drops…”

(I posted the above song and comment, which mentions the storms that come in the night and blessings that come in raindrops, on June 17, 2011. My iPod was paused on this song during the tornado no January 23, 2012. I found the iPod sitting in my bedroom with all the furniture gone but the nightstand that purse was sitting on.)

What Will You Pour Out Today, Sky?

(I wrote this poem January 21, 2012…the tornado was January 23, 2012. I just today on February 13, 2017 realized this timeline.)

The sky pours out rays of sunshine

That warm the soul, and stop time

The sky pours out raindrops

That flood like tears, and I think my heart stops

The sky pours out fog

And vision is clogged

The sky pours out dew

That butterflies drink when at the sunrise hue

The sky pours out snow

Pure as the soul that God knows

The sky pours out hail

That cause turtles to go in their shells

The sky pours out a tornado, like a freight train

Changing life in an instant, bringing blessing or pain?

The sky pours out colorful rainbows above

Through it all, God’s promise of everlasting love

The sky pours out a bird

He is free to soar back into the sky.

copyright jan 21, 2012  kim crawford

(Below is our story of the storm that came in the night, January 23, 2012. Our blessings in raindrops. Life is full of hardship but it is how we handle that hardship that counts. God allows us to be real. We are allowed to express pain, suffering, anger, sadness, and grief, but still in the midst of it all remain in relationship with Him. He wants us to cast all of our care on Him. That is where the blessings come in raindrops. Give Him the glory and take the time to see what blessings come through trials. They always do.)

Tornado number 5 of 10 hit our home at 150 mph, it was 800 yards wide, Monday, January 23, 2012.

There were miracles.

My friend sent a text asking if we were awake and then apologized for waking me, because she thought only our coworkers who lived in Fultondale needed the warning.  I got up and helped her contact everyone.  I heard the local meteorologist state roof had been removed and there was unconfirmed damage in Tuscaloosa.  God impressed on my heart there was a tornado and we should take shelter.  I awakened everyone and eventually convinced them to go to the basement.  We still had electricity, thankfully, because we did not have batteries for our radio.  I plugged it in and heard “It is now in Pinson heading toward Springville/Argo.”  I knew it was headed for us with the intensity of a freight train – or worse.   I stretched my arms up and thanked God for the protection He was going to give us.  It seemed we were in the belly of the whale just like Jonah.  Jonah thanked God for salvation while in the belly of that big fish.  I attended a women’s conference that week-end where we talked a lot about faith.  At the conference a woman said that storms were coming, and one of us could be hit this week-end.  I had watched Rev. Charles Stanley preach about perfect faith the night before. It was time to practice what I learned.

The electricity went out, and we heard a whirring wind.  You could tell it was a circular wind.  The house shook like a giant picked it up and slammed it on the ground.  It crumbled like crackers on top of us.  It took only seconds for our house to turn to rubble.  The stairwell collapsed on my back, and I was doubled over on the bottom of the stack of people. Makenzi and Brooks were on top of me and completely buried, and Ken was on top of them and looking out at the garage.  I asked Makenzi and Brooks if they were ok and could they breathe.  They popped their heads up like birds in a nest.  I asked if they could move because I could not.  I told Ken to breathe and not panic because we needed him to move so that we could get out.  He was screaming for Brady and we finally heard Brady screaming “Daddy!” from somewhere in the house.  Ken and Makenzi got out from under the stairwell and a plastic tote lodged in the opening.  Brooks looked at me and asked “Kim, are we going to get out?”  I said “Oh, yes we are.”  God blessed me with the strength of Samson for a second I guess.  I reached up and grabbed the tote and shoved them behind me where there was no space at all.  Brooks and I got out and I heard Makenzi screaming “I’m trapped!”  Gas was pouring on all of us.  It was darkness and we were weaving through wood, wires, pipes and debris.  I screamed for Ken to find Makenzi then finally realized she was really saying “I’m out.”  I sent Brooks out, and Brady popped up from underneath the car and we got out of the garage.  The garage had a wall covering it, and Ken’s truck was against it.  There was a small opening for us to get out.

I almost parked the car outside the night before, but Ken drove it in.  The cars being in the garage held the floor up enough to give us space to get out and gave Brady shelter.  I believe if Brady had been under the stairwell also we would have died, or would have been seriously injured, because there would not have been enough room.

All day afterward I envisioned myself standing and walking through a door to get out.  Later I found out Makenzi had the same thought.  When getting back to the house, I realized that was not true at all.  That was Jesus telling us that He is the door and we walked through Him to get out.  I raised my hands and praised God for His protection out in the pouring rain.  I shouted, Praise God, we have lost nothing!  We have our family and we have Jesus!  God please use our lives!

The only room remaining upstairs was the inside bath.  The foyer wall was attached to that bath, and a plaque of the word FAMILY still hung on the wall.

The things we prayed to find were found.  I wanted my ESV Bible which has all my notes for several years.  I asked for our laptops because of school.  I also have hundreds of books, but asked for the four specific ones I am using currently for my classes at Liberty.  All four were  found.  God blessed above what we asked for and gave us all of our wallets, some photos, and some clothes.

We also found an unbroken egg under our rose bushes after the storm.  It wasn’t our egg.  Our eggs were also unbroken and in the fridge rolled down the hill. This unbroken egg came through the tornado from someone else’s fridge.  This was God saying, “I’m with you.  I have a plan.  I have you in my hands!”

Our house was the worst on the street.  While many were destroyed; ours was gone.  Our roof was never found, nor much of anything of the top floor.  The lady next door was trapped for hours and has a broken back.  The man across the street has multiple breaks.  We only have bruises and scrapes.

God has allowed Psalm 23:4 to come alive for me on many occasions “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”  We were in the shadow of death, but once again God was with us.

We love you,

For God’s Glory,
kim

Who is Jesus?  What did He do?  Why does it matter?
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

jan 27, 2012