Front Porch Conversations: Storms

Storms -- whether physical, spiritual, or emotional -- are a part of our existence. In the physical sense, there is nothing I enjoy more than a good thunderstorm with a front row seat on my porch. But here in Georgia, a thunderstorm can go from spectacular to devastating in a matter of seconds.

As I write this blog, at the end of February, Georgia is in that dangerous transition stage between winter and spring. Atmospherically it is one of the most turbulent times of the year as cold and warm air masses clash in spectacular display. This atmospheric battle results in our spring tornado season. But as last year showed us, it doesn't matter whether you live in the South or the north -- storms will affect you. However, for me I can find peace in the middle of the storm knowing that God is in control. This was played out in a fascinating way during last April's super tornado outbreak.

As is often the case in Georgia, the severe weather moved through during the overnight. Severe weather at night makes it difficult to physically see tornadoes, so we were huddled in our guest bathroom watching the weather radar on my blackberry. At one point I knew there was a tornado tracking in our general area and I went out on the front porch to see if I could catch a visual in between lighting flashes. (okay so I'm the type of guy that runs to storms, not away)

While on the front porch the storm got eerily still...little did I know that just a couple miles away an EF-3 was tracking through the town to our south. The next morning I actually found ripped shingles in our front yard from the tornado. The tornado had hopped skipped and jumped for several miles. Not only did that tornado come too close for comfort, but another one had touched down a just a couple hundred yards from one of my station's radio towers. It was a miracle we didn't get any damage.

Still another tornado from that night hit the town in which I work. This tornado destroyed the Christian Women's Center -- a home for abused women -- but miraculously no one was seriously injured. Recently I had the ministry's founder on the radio and we were talking about the recovery process. That in itself is another miracle and story of God's protection and provision. The community rallied around the Christian Women's Center and now they are building a brand new facility that will house even more hurting women and greatly expand their outreach.

So yes, living in the south you have your fair share of storms. But your safety during such turbulent times depends not on your location as much as it does who is sheltering you. Even in the middle of one of the worst tornado outbreaks in the history of the U.S., I felt completely safe knowing that God was watching out for us. And the stories of people I know who did get hit only point to the awesome restoring nature of that same God.