Tornado Tale (25 years later)

"Surely there is a future and a reward,

and your hope and expectation will not be cut off."
~Proverbs 23:18

I'm writing this one from my hotel room again. =) Mom is watching the basketball game and the weather for tomorrow, and I'm watching reels of cute corgi puppies and now writing this blog...

I meant to write this morning, but got into scrapbooking and couldn't pull myself away. =)  I've made it to 2022, so yay for getting closer to catching up!!

Anyway, today is the 25-year anniversary of the May 3, 1999 tornado, (the worst in our state's history, and it hit Moore especially hard).  I was a freshman and Rach was in 7th grade.  Mom, me, Rach, and Kate had dinner at Boomerang in OKC that night.  Others had left while we were obliviously chatting, then as the storm moved closer and sirens were going off, everyone left in that restaurant (including us) crowded into their walk-in freezer to wait out the storm -- mostly, I remember that feeling kinda fun.  Kate and Rachael were panicking a bit, but we were with Mom and the storms weren’t close to Dad, and I never truly felt unsafe, which may have been more ignorance than wisdom - I don't know.  But I do remember our drive home being insanely long with so many roads closed down and blocked off, and seeing glimpses of the devastation but not understanding how bad it was until later.  So that's my memory of it.  

Our favorite seniors from the Class of 1999 were on their senior trip to Boston, watching the news from their hotel rooms and worrying about their families.  My good friend, Heather, and her family lost their home that day... I remember shopping to help them re-stock on basic everyday items like socks and underwear and toiletries... and really thinking a lot about everything you lose when your home is destroyed.  Looking at this photo of the aftermath of those destructive tornadoes, what stands out most to me is that First Moore Baptist Church is there in the background... (the largest building at the top right, and my current church home).  They started a care ministry that spring that will celebrate 25 years later this month.

And years later, after several other bad tornadoes hit there, I remember promising myself I would never move to Moore. lol  Ahh, the irony!  So that's my photo post for this Friday.  Thankful for rebuilding and restoration... for God's protection then and now, and for storm shelters and sirens and all the things that help keep us safe in this crazy state!!

The verse at the top was not chosen to fit with this topic, but it's been encouraging to me lately, so I threw it in!

Hope you have a lovely weekend ahead, friends. ❤