The Columbus Day Storm of 1962

Tis' getting cloudy and windy outside, herald of a storm moving in tonight. It won't be near as bad as the storm which hit the Pacific Coast Columbus Day, October 12, 1962.

I was only four, but I remember the sky overhead bubbling like a pot of stew. The clouds were an odd yellowish green color, and the trees swished with a peculiar swinging motion.

Then Mom whisked my baby sister, little brother and me, with Zat the Canary, into the house to stand in a corner next to our big oak China buffet. 

As the wind began to howl, Mom remembers she said, "Let's pray." My little brother and I instantly dropped to our knees.  I don't remember praying, but I do remember feeling totally safe--as though we were in a place where harm could not stray.  

In the living room, we watched the wind bend the glass of the wall-sized window inward, until it shattered into a million pieces. All that glass flew past us, crashing out through the big kitchen window. Miraculously we weren't touched.   

Thinking back on my memories from my child's eye view, I strongly remember the sense we were inside a warm bubble of protection. I wasn't afraid one bit.

Then there was a lull in the storm. We crawled out the back window of the bedroom and walked to the middle of the field between our house and my grandparent's home.  The wind must have began again, but I don't remember feeling it against my face.  From my child's perspective, though I could see the wind bending the trees so their tops nearly touched the earth, we were still standing inside a bubble of still air.

We remained in the middle of the field for a long time.  Poor Mumsie was afraid to go inside my grandparents' place, because of what had just happened inside our house.  Then we watched as Grandpa's two-story barn sagged to its knees. Tons of hay blew out of the peak to hang in a giant hay ball in the sky--it looked just like a huge bristling baseball. Then the top of our house peeled back like a can of sardines and flew away.

It is amazing that everyone, including Zat the Canary came through that storm in one piece.  As a kid, standing inside that warm bubble, I loved it all.

After the storm, Mom and Grandma cooked dinner on the old wood stove.  They had found meat in the freezer and had pulled fresh vegetables from the garden.  The stew was hot and good.

In the days after the storm, I have memories of sleeping in the living room listening to the music of rain dripping into cans everywhere on the floor. We didn't get our electricity back for quite awhile as I recall.

I hope we never have another storm like that one--I think I would have more sense to be afraid now that I'm an adult!!  Thinking back, I am grateful for that wonderful sense of protection.  I am convinced God's mighty power kept us from harm that stormy day.

Funny thing, I've loved storms every since.  I suppose my heart still remembers how I felt as a child during that wild storm.

Here's a link to a great website with some extraordinary stories of survival during the great Columbus Day Storm:  Memories of the Storm of 1962.

Hometown Miracle -Beating the Odds

This morning, I read about a miracle in our own hometown. It was in our local weekly newspaper, The Polk County Itemizer-Observer.  The article was written by Jolene Guzman.

In January of 2008, Tim visited his family doctor for routine physical.  Seemingly healthy, as a last minute thought, he asked the doctor to check his lungs because he'd recently developed a small persistent cough.  

Tim says, "He put his stethoscope on my chest, on my back, on my chest and on my back again.  And then he told me, 'You need to go to the hospital.'"

Tests and Cat scans revealed more than 20 tumors in his lungs.  Most were the size of dimes, nickels and quarters, but others were much larger. One tumor was even decomposing and was poisoning his body with toxins.

His diagnosis was illusive.  Because the doctors couldn't pinpoint the actual cause for the tumors, there was no treatment for Tim.  His wife remembers thinking that her husband was a dead man walking. 

"Right at the beginning we began to pray and ask God for healing."  For months, Tim, a tall athletic man who doesn't like to sit still, rested and waited upon God.

Tim called his doctor again in June.  He felt just fine.  A few days earlier he'd even stopped taking the pain medications he'd been forced to take to control his intense pain. 

Baffled, the doctor sent him in for another CAT scan.  The couple didn't get a phone call with the outcome for several days.  

The incredible reason for the delay?  Tim's doctor couldn't believe what he was seeing and had the entire case reviewed to make sure the results were real.  "The tumors have resolved," his Pulmonologist told him over the phone.  "You are getting better."

"God in His mercy reached down and touched my life and healed me," Tim says.

Miracles are happening all around us.  This dear couple's prayers and faith, resulted in God's mighty intervention.  Tim was healed.

What would happen if we sincerely prayed over the impossible things in our lives?  What if we prayed about what we see happening overseas, in our own country and communities?  Sometimes I forget to do that.  Reading this miraculous story in today's newspaper, I felt new inspiration to bring everything to God in prayer as I walk through each day.  

Then I shall look up and watch what He will do.  

Have a lovely day, sweet Friends!  Don't forget to bring all things--even seemingly impossible things--to God in prayer.  He is listening.

(Original News story, Miracle Man Keeps Beating Odds, was published in the August 20, 2014 issue of the Polk County Itemizer-Observer.  The article was written by Jolene Guzman.) 

Grammie's Precious Prayers

With Mother's Day so close, I thought a story from my talented Mom about her own dear Mother, would be a delightful way to celebrate the Holiday.

I had the privilege and honor of living in my Grandmother's basement for nearly three years.  She and I became best friends.  I still miss her with all my heart.  This amazing event happened in the weeks before she flew away to heaven--it is one of those miraculous things one cannot explain.

Here is my Mother's wonderful story:

As I chopped vegetables into little pieces for the soup, the phone rang. It was my friend Jane.  "I tried calling everybody on the prayer chain," she cried, "but you were the only one who answered.  Please, will you pray for my daughter, Alicia?  She's been in a car accident and she's in the hospital with a broken hip.  Her baby girl, due in three weeks, is coming right now.  Oh, Eva, please, please pray. They're doing a C-section."

We prayed together on the phone.  Afterwards I went into the kitchen and finished putting together mother's lunch. Alicia and her baby were still heavy on my mind as I walked across the field to mother's house and opened the door.  

There Mom sat in her wheel chair, wandering in her own little world, a folded piece of paper on the tray in front of her, a pencil poised in her hand.

She looked up, smiled, then handed me the paper.  I put her food on the table and took the paper, curious as to what she'd been writing. But this list was different from the one where she'd listed chocolate pudding ten times.  On this one was written just three words, "Alicia, Emerg. Pray."

Sudden goose bumps popped up on my arms.  "Did the phone ring," I asked my brother Dale as he came into the room. "Did she answer it?"

He looked at me strangely.  "She hasn't answered the phone in months, you know that.  Nobody called."

But I couldn't figure it out.  "Did someone come to visit?"

Another strange look.  He shook his head.  "She's just been sitting there all morning with me."

I told him about my friend Jane, whose daughter Alicia had been brought to the hospital and who, even as we spoke, was having an emergency C-section.  "She asked me to pray and I did."  

Then I pointed at the paper with the words only God could have given my mother, "Alicia, emerg. Pray."  

Later, when I told my pastor what had happened he shook his head in wonderment.  "God isn't through with your mother yet," he marveled.  "Just think, God loved Alicia so much He asked a little 95 year old lady with Alzheimers to pray for this girl and her unborn baby. And when she prayed, God worked a miracle of love and healing."

God's call is a very real thing; consider the coincidence of a frightened soon-to-be grandmother, calling her friend in another town who was preparing lunch for her shut-in mother.  Think about the little old white haired lady sitting alone in her chair, who, without talking to anyone, was moved by God to pray specifically for Alicia, a young woman injured in an accident and whose unborn child was in danger. 

Miraculous, amazing--there are times when God calls us to pray--Sometimes we don't even know why--but the burden is so heavy we fall to our knees.  It is only later we see His miraculous hand.  Our loving Creator reaches out through us and works His will and way in the heart of that one for whom we pray. 

Today Alicia's little girl is a happy eight-year old with shiny brown curls and a happy smile.

The Blessing of answered prayer continues on--moving outward like ripples on a pond.

Sissy is SAFE!

I am posting today to celebrate my darling Sister Clytie's release from the hospital!  Saturday, September 24, my sweet little sis Clytie was rushed to emergency.  She was in tremendous pain.  This was the second time she'd gone into emergency over the past few weeks.  Turns out what the doctors from local urgent care thought might be acid reflux disease--was in reality a blockage in her heart.   

God protected her! The tests they did  for heart related problems had came back as normal, or just a tiny bit high.

So many of you were Praying for Clytie. I am so glad--because I'm sure as a result of your prayers, the emergency room doctor got a bee in his bonnet--he was convinced there was a blockage -- he would not give up looking for one.

This wonderful doctor even asked for two-year old data from another hospital, in order to compare the tests.  Thank  GOD!  Because of this doctor's dogged persistence Sissy is going to be just fine.

Clytie had an angiogram, during which the actual blockage was discovered.  They cleared the vein and installed a stent.

I know there was an angel hanging over that doctor's shoulder, urging him to look further, even though the tests came back as normal.

You can visit Clytie at Random Hearts.  She tells me she can hardly wait to go walking!!!

Sissy has had two brushes with the great beyond.  First the stroke from which she was healed and then a near heart attack.  I know she has something important to do.

Her Darkest Hours

This morning I was praying for one of my Best Friends. She is dearer to me than life. My Friend is facing hardships I can only guess at. She feels the darkness closing around her. I have been so burdened and grieved for her sake. 

As I brought my most precious Friend to my Lord, the sun broke through the clouds. Gasping in awe, I snapped this photo. Though I enhanced it a little so you could see what I saw, I didn't need to change much.

The Shepherd Who loves my Friend sends a gift--a message--He brings the light. Light will ALWAYS triumph over darkness. "And the darkest hour of the night, is just before the Dawning light, and now before this moment is gone--get ready! Here comes the Sunrise!"

Light is always stronger than darkness...Our loving Shepherd Who weeps, He Who understands sorrow like no other, comforts and leads His flock. He gently holds the wounded ones close to His heart and tends to their hurts with His own hands.