Its just the weather...

We had some scary weather today. I went home for lunch today, and when I left it was just kind of hazy outside. A weather bulliten came on while I was watching Passions and enjoying the tomato, mushroom, egg, and cheese scramble I made for lunch (with a side of sausage). Within minutes the sky had gone dark. I decided to get in my car and beat the storm and get back to work. Well, while I was driving the wind picked up to 65 mph, trees started coming down, and it was pouring rain so hard my wipers couldn't keep up and I could barely see. I heard that 2-inch hail was also coming, as well as power outages (both of which, thankfully, we didn't get in downtown Minneapolis).

Bad weather scares me. But It does remind me of a miraculous answer to prayer that completely blew me away, and does so to this day.

I'm originally from Green Bay, Wisconsin (go Pack!). My family still lives there. On Labor Day Weekend of 2002, while I was on the way back to Minneapolis (its a four-hour drive), I got word (while in Wausau) that there was some really bad weather to the North-west of me. In fact, there were tornado warnings everywhere. I could look up through my sunroof and see swirling clouds overhead. I was really afraid, and I prayed to God not just for my safety, but for the safety of everyone in the path of those tornados. I prayed that no one would be killed, or even hurt from this weather.

I made it back to the Twin Cities safely. When I turned on the TV that night to see the news, I was very surprised to see the devastation that I had been spared from. First, a tornado had passed within four miles of me while I was driving through Wausau. You can read about that one here

The Wasau tornado was no match, however, for the second tornado that hit Wisconsin that day. This tornado did decimate an entire town in Northwestern Wisconsin, called Ladysmith. You can read here that the tornado leveled 40 buildings, bent flagpoles in half, and churned a path of destruction about 14 blocks long by four blocks wide in downtown Ladysmith. It was traveling about 206 mph.

Where does the miracle come in?? NOT A SINGLE PERSON WAS KILLED IN THIS DISASTER!! No one was even seriously injured - just a few broken bones and bruises. This tornado AHNILIATED this town, and only a few broken bones?

Now some will undoubtedly say that it was because it was a holiday, or something. But I believe that God heard my prayer (and probably others') and protected the lives of those people. I believe that God can and would have done that if it had only been me to pray for it. It was so humbling, and honoring to know that God heard me and made this miracle happen because I asked for it. Its done alot for my faith in prayer.

"You just thank God nobody was killed," Gov. Scott McCallum said.

I hope he does.