Protected

This past Wednesday evening, with Douglas out of town and the kids all in bed, I settled in for the night with the computer and snack, only to find myself headed for the kitchen with no good reason. I was greeted by an overwhelmingly loud crash and extremely bright burst of light. A flashlight turned on all by itself and an electrical outlet spit sparks. One breaker blew...

Then came the screams. The girls were beyond hysterical and came flying downstairs- I'm not sure they even touched the steps. Londyn, who wasn't yet asleep, started crying. Zander sat up in bed, dazed and upset because he was wakened. Kyzer didn't even break snore. Lightning had just struck somewhere REALLY close.

Trying not to make the girls any more upset than they already were, I ran outside to make sure the house wasn't on fire. It was pouring rain and dark. I couldn't see where the lightning had hit, I just knew it was too close for comfort. With no flames in sight, I came back inside and calmed everyone down. Meanwhile, Kyzer slept on. I fixed the blown breaker, got the girls bedded down on the back porch and the twins back to sleep. I had a restless night...

The next morning dawned beautifully, the way it does after a terrific storm. I went outside to see what had been hit by the lightning. The only thing I could see out of the ordinary was one of our maple trees looked like the bark had exploded off it. Bark was up to 20 feet away in all directions. It wasn't leaning or split and there was no scorch marks. But, that's where the lightning struck- a tree in my backyard.

I also called my brother-in-law. (Thank God for electricians in the family!!) I asked him about the outlets that didn't work and if it was safe to use electricity in the house. (I don't know much about electricity, but the one thing I do know is that it's dangerous. Having been thru one house fire, I didn't want to be the cause of another.) He said the lightning had travelled in the wires to that specific GFI plug, which had done it's job and blown, protecting the rest of the electrical system in the house. The other two plug ins that didn't work were on the same circuit as that GFI. Because the GFI had blown, the rest of the house was safe.

I can't begin to tell you how thankful I am that God was there that night. There are so many could have been's. The tree could have fallen on the house; the house could have been hit and caught fire; the tree could have caught fire; the house could have caught fire from the electrical surge. If the tree had fallen, it would have hit the house and the van. I'd have been without a vehicle. That's not so bad if you're alone, but with 5 kids...

Basically, God put His hands around that tree, holding it tight, then allowed the lightning to strike. So far, the tree looks fine. The poison ivy vine that had grown up the tree looks rather wilted, but I can't really say I'm upset about that! Those protecting Hands were so powerful that night, keeping us safe and sound. I shudder to think what could have been if it weren't for Him... Thank God for His Hands of protection!!