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I’ve noticed that the Central Texas weather has been getting a lot of news coverage recently. I’ve had several friends from out of state text me and ask if I’m alright, since I live in Austin. And thankfully, I am. My home suffered no damage and even though my family was caught driving in one of the bad storms, we made it home safely. But a lot of other people didn’t get out of these series of storms unscathed. So if you feel compelled to help them out through a donation, I suggest giving to the Austin Disaster Relief Network. They are already deploying in San Marcos and Wimberly and will also be helping in Round Rock and other areas affected by the flooding and storms. Here is their website: http://www.adrntx.org/

But as for me, here was my scariest experience…

IN THE STORM

The weekend had been fun, even though we’d had a bad storm Saturday night, the skies had cleared on Sunday and my family enjoyed the outdoor attractions at our hotel. We had drifted around the lazy river for hours and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. But now the 3 day weekend was over, and we needed to get home.

In San Antonio it was hot and humid with a few sprinkles occasionally falling from the sky. But the radar showed a big storm further north. Maybe we should have waited longer, but we were ready to go home and tired of the delays. So we decided to go for it. The mini van was soon loaded and we hit the road that would take us home. The weather stayed fairly good while we were still in San Antonio, but we could see the storm clouds ahead. As we hit I-35 North, the rain began. Lightning flashed all around and water streamed over the windows. The windshield wipers flapped constantly. As we continued north, we’d get breaks every once in awhile when the rain slowed and we could see the dark clouds that surrounded us more clearly. The tension in the van rose, so I put on some calming music to relax us.

As we neared San Marcos, the skies began to get a green tint to them, and my brother watched the skies closely for signs of tornadoes. I started texting friends and family to pray for us. It seemed better to me if we just keep driving and got out of the storm, then if we pulled over to wait it out. When we stopped for a bathroom break, my brother checked the radar again and decided we could keep going. As we continued on our way, we passed the waterlogged streets of San Marcos and saw drainage ditches filled to the brim with water. We kept moving and finally made it back to Austin. Then just as we entered our neighborhood, I got a text from a friend warning us to stay away from San Marcos because a tornado had just touched down. I was so thankful that we were already home at that point, but it sent chills down my back to know we had been in San Marcos only 30 minutes before.

I thank God for His protection in that storm, but I also thank Him for His protection in all of my life’s storms. Sometimes going through a death in the family or a really tough semester at school can feel just as overwhelming and scary as driving through a Texas thunderstorm. But God is faithful and He’s helped me through each of the struggles I’ve had to face. He is strong when I am weak, He sees the big picture of how everything will work out, and I trust Him to bring good even out of the harrowing circumstances of life. I hope you too will trust God in your life’s storms and join me in praying for the victims of the central Texas floods who’ve survived the literal storm, but now have to weather the storm of rebuilding and putting their life back together.