Twister. (not the game)

I love storms. Here, let me say that again. I love storms. The bigger, the better. Have I told you that one of my dreams is to go on a storm chase? Mm-Hmm..it is. I really, really want to see a Tornado. Don't judge me! I live in 'Tornado Alley' for Pete's sake. Seriously, to truly signify the beginning of storm season, I have a tradition. I break out the best movie ever, 'Twister'! OK. Maybe it's not the best movie ever, but it's a 'must watch' during a severe weather advisory.

OK. So when I say I want to see a tornado, you must understand that I do not mean that I wish to see a tornado over my house! I'm talking open field. Nothing being destroyed. No debris. You get the picture.

Last night? Too close for comfort. At approximately 6:45pm the sirens began to sound. I hurried home and found that a tornado was a few miles outside of our town and it was headed in our direction. As I looked to the West, the sky was black. The wind began to pick up slightly and we were told to take cover.

Now, since I love storms, there was no way I was taking cover. I wasn't too worried about it. I was more concerned for a friend of mine who lives out in the country not too far from where the tornado was spotted. Besides, in the 12 years I have lived here, we have never had a tornado come through town. As a matter of fact, to my knowledge, this town has never been hit by a tornado. We did have one touch down on the outskirts of town once, but that's about it. No worries. Until............................

The tornado siren had been continuously wailing for approximately 15 mins when I heard the sounds of other 'sirens'. Fire trucks, police, and ambulances. In 12 years, I have heard the sirens sounded, maybe, 3 times. I had never heard other sirens join into the chilling coronation. I was on my porch when it dawned on me: my daughter, Amber, was working. Alone. She must have felt my thoughts because not a minute later she sent me a text message saying: 'Mom, I'm scared.' Just then an officer raced by our house and told me to get inside and take cover. My daughter wanted me to come get her, but I couldn't. They weren't allowing people to be on the streets. I told her to run across the street and go to the nearest house. She went to Burger King instead, but at least she wasn't alone.

I went down to the basement and as we looked out the window we could see nothing but black. The darkness was reminiscent of the pitch black you find at midnight. Mind you....it was only around 8pm. As we waited, we received word that the tornado subsided and, miraculously, only one house was damaged by it. Nobody lost their life, thank God.

Storms. They are so big and powerful. They remind me of God. They remind me of how small and out of control I really am. Maybe that's why I love them. As the thunder roared and the lightning cracked, my heart was rejoicing at the magnitude of His power and might.

We are bracing for more storms tonight and they are supposed to be worse than last night. I pray for everyones safety and ask you to please send one up, too:)