My Tornado Story Part 2

Part I ended with this: ...Eventually, my dad was shouting prayers at the top of his lungs, but all we could hear was the deafening sound of the tornado outside. The noise competition was over and my dad's screaming voice had lost......

When the tornado was over, 28 windows in our home had been blown out. I do not recall hearing the glass break. All I could hear was the deafening sound of the tornado. There was glass buried deep in the carpet throughout our home.

I remember looking out and seeing furniture and a variety of other debris in our front lawn. I do not recall hearing things flying around outside. All I could hear was the deafening sound of the tornado.

Although we had damage to our home, it was left standing. Other homes in our neighborhood were not as fortunate.

Homes next to us were completely flattened. Our neighbor three doors from us lost her life in her home during that tornado. It was complete devastation.

For months after that, when we as neighborhood children would gather to play, it was not the typical play of children. Instead of playing house, or school, or other type of game, we would play... tornado.


FEAR

I did not know it at the time, but this experience planted a seed of fear deep in my heart that would affect me in the days, weeks and years ahead.

Signs of a dark sky would send my heart and mind spiraling into panic. As time went by, it wasn't just the weather that this fear took hold of, it was any situation in my life that I felt my safety and security being threatened.

I learned something a few years ago that has revolutionized what I think and how I respond to anxiety. Join me tomorrow as I share what I have discovered, learned and applied to my own heart.