Celebrating beautiful {non - tornadic} weather in Tennessee

Storms, floods, and tornadoes.

Tennessee has seen it's fair share of all three in the past few weeks.

The rain alone has been enough to nearly send a person spiraling into a depression but add the tornadoes and it is almost too much for the nervous system to bear.

On Easter Sunday we left church and were eating lunch at our local Mexican spot. The sky became VERY black and my spirit uneasy. I told my husband that I had a really bad feeling about the clouds moving our way.

I could not take my eyes off the window and could not bring myself to eat.

Someone came in and said there was a tornado 5 miles out, headed straight for us.

I knew it was true. No need to check my phone. The ominous clouds, the rotation I could see, and the sudden desire to vomit said it all.

Tornado.



A local photographer captured these shots. And he gave permission to share. Thanks Murray.

We happened to be on East Main St. so this is as close as it gets to seeing what we actually witnessed that day.

Something snapped and I went into crazy momma bear mode.

Our church was a mile away with a basement.

I went outside to see how far away it was and decided we could make it.

We left our fajitas and all on the table.

My husband is still a little bitter about those I think.

To say I drove like a NASCAR finalist would be the understatement of the year.

As we made it into the church I looked to my left and saw this funnel cloud headed straight for us.



We ran in and got inside a closet in the basement and prayed.

Hard and loud.

Thankfully the funnel cloud never got below treetop level and we were safe.

Physically.

Emotionally not so much.

Tornadoes make for a great diet though.

Fast forward a couple of days and we have the largest tornado outbreak since 1974 across Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia.

Destruction.

Loss.

Death.

Heartbreak.

It is almost too much to take in.

All of this hitting at a time of the year when Satan loves to comes knocking with an armload of "end of the homeschool year fear and doubt" for sale.

Half price.

My nerves have been literally shot.

So yesterday when we woke up to glorious rays of the golden stuff I knew my soul and mind needed to be out in it.

Soakin it up.



I think we covered Math, Writing and maybe Spelling???

Who knows...who cares...some things can't be found in books.

Like sanity.

We loaded Bo in the van with us and headed for the walking trail at the park.



The contrast in these clouds and the ones above are simply stunning.

Just in case you were wondering Lord...I prefer blue skies and white puffy clouds.



I let the kids do whatever they wanted.

No worries of mud or wet clothes.

Ok, so I worried...but I didn't let on at least.



We explored every little flower, spider, bird, bee, etc. that we could find.



First honeysuckles of the summer.

I remember thinking these were the coolest things ever as a kid.



Aidan noticed our shadows so we had to get a cool group picture.

"The shadow proves the sunshine" - Switchfoot



The walking trail passes by the playground so we stopped a little while for some fun.



Words cannot express how good this day was for my soul.

It felt so good to be spontaneous and not care about one single thing for at least a couple of hours.

Not weather. Not school.

Nothing but the sun on my face, sweet laughter in my ears, and a momentary hand holding or two.

Joy.

Too often I let worry and anxiety creep in and steal my joy.

How easily I forget...

He is the God of storms.

The God of tornadoes.

The God of unfinished curriculum.

The God of blue skies and big puffy clouds.






"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"