In the Midst of the storm

Alabama was hit hard by tornadoes on April 27, 2011.  We are still in the clean up mode and will be for quite some time.  As a chaplain who covers emergency and trauma patients at a hospital in Birmingham, I have had the opportunity to meet many people who have lost home, livelihood and loved ones secondary to those devastating tornadoes.  It is amazing how many places were destroyed and yet how many lives were spared.  There has been a tremendous outpouring of love and support for one another.  Those of us who weren't directly hit by the tornadoes received fallout--shingles, insulation, a page from a book, a piece of crown molding all appeared in my yard.  Neighbors received a newspaper from Mississippi or mail from Tuscaloosa.  We've all heard stories and have our own stories. 

One thing that has really touched me through this has been the stories of children.  I met a patient at work who gave me permission to share part of her story.  Her home was hit by a tornado and she and her husband and her four year old son were all swept up in the air and over pine trees for a distance of 1-2 football fields.  In preparation for the tornado warning, this mother had put her son's bike helmet on him and wrapped him tightly in her arms.  As they flew through the air she held tightly to her son.  She saw that they were headed towards a tree as they came down to land.  She turned her body so that she hit the tree and was able to gently place her son on the ground.  The little boy walked away and stayed at his grandmother's house while mom and dad both got to spend some time at the hospital.  I met the mom while she was in the ICU (she has gone home now).  The grandmother was there visiting the mother and she shared what her grandson had told her which gave the four year old's perspective of the storm.  "Nana, I know how to fly now."

I saw an ABC News piece where children were being interviewed.  One family had three little girls standing next to what one would assume was the remains of their home.  I would guess the oldest one to be somewhere between 9-11 years old.  The reporter asked them, "How afraid were you?"  The oldest little girl responded, "I was 100 percent afraid."   They interviewed another family of three children in front of a concrete slab that had been the foundation of their home.  The oldest little boy was 5-8 years old.  The reporter asked them, "What did you think was going to happen?"  This little boy responded, "I thought we were going to wake up with Jesus.  I thought we were going to die."  It brought tears to my eyes as I heard him say it.  There was no evidence of fear in his voice.

As I face the various difficulties that life brings my way, how afraid am I, and what do I do with that fear.  I was probably 50 percent afraid with all those tornados everywhere and not knowing if that big one was going to hit the hospital where I work, or choose to come up the valley where I live and obliterate everything that I know.

Jesus told us in scripture that we must be like the little children to inherit the kingdom of heaven.  How fitting that the little boy leads us when he tells us that he thought he would wake up with Jesus.  The disciples in the boat with Jesus became afraid, yet he was able to calm the storm.  When we are trusting in Jesus, it doesn't matter what happens, we will wake up with him.  We may wake up to a world that has been changed, but God has not.  We may wake up, no longer a part of this world but face to face with God.  We may wake up to a new day that seems not that different from the one just past.  No matter what trials come our way, we can face our moments of being anywhere from 1-100 percent afraid with the assurance that everything’s going to be OK because we are going to wake up with Jesus.  And as we learn to trust in God, and God's secure arms around us, we may even come to say in the midst of those storms, "Nana, I know how to fly now."