When Janet and I grew up, both of our families used to frequent Melody Lane, a local restaurant near our childhood homes in Chicago – for dinner. It was several miles from where we lived. We have great memories of that place. Both of us remember those old fashioned juke boxes at each booth where you could choose the music that was played throughout the restaurant. There was a Greek pastry shop across the parking lot and Dad used to always stop there to pick up Baklava or Halvah for our dessert. Dad had served in Greece during WWII and he absolutely loved the sweet delicacies. As with many other things, I developed a taste for them as well and still, from time to time, I will purchase a piece or two when Janet and I order gyros from a local place here in Indianapolis. Old habits die hard…
So imagine our surprise when Dad announced one night that Melody Lane had been destroyed by a tornado. It happened on March 4, 1961 when I was eight years old. Gone… and as I recall, rebuilt but never quite the same. We had never experienced near misses with weather before. Although the path of the storm missed us by several miles, it troubled us to see the damage that it suffered as a result of excessive wind, rain and hail.
Throughout our lives, Janet and I have experienced heavy rains, and even had a roof replaced five years ago as a result of hail damage, but that’s about it. Until this past Tuesday night…
It was the evening of Janet’s birthday, after dinner, and we started getting warnings about severe weather rolling in. Things had been great all day, but that’s wasn’t the case Tuesday evening. The rain started, and then the sirens, announcing dangerous conditions in the area. We headed to the lower level and barricaded ourselves in the workshop. The wind was fierce and the rain was unrelenting, coming down faster than our outside drains around the patio could handle it.
We had the TV on and were watching the path of destruction with winds moving the storm along at more than 60 mph. It was surreal. Based on the weather reports, we were right in the path of the storm and I admit that it was tense there for a while. When the worst of it was over, we headed back upstairs. Thankfully, we didn’t suffer any direct damage. There was a huge branch broken from an old tree across the street in a small park area; and two large pine trees several doors down were uprooted and broken into pieces.
The next neighborhood over sustained severe damage and less than a mile from our home, houses had roofs ripped off, trees snapped in half and there were buildings that had walls totally destroyed. Streets were closed by police barricades and crews were already trying to clear debris in the hope of re-opening roads to traffic.
While we have heard of storms and know folks, including our kids, who have experienced tornadoes and near misses, this was probably the closest Janet and I have ever come to experiencing such devastation first hand. When the police, fire and operational response teams published their official findings, they confirmed that our home was directly in the path of the tornado. Thankfully, it had lifted off the ground, went over us and turned north. Neighbors to the west weren’t so fortunate.
The Bible has quite a bit to say about severe storms. We know that Jesus calmed the storm by speaking to it, and God questioned Job about where Job was when God created the storehouses for the snow, the abyss of the sea and the huge creatures that inhabit the earth. It is clear that even weather is under the control of God. And, no, I can’t answer the questions about why God lets destruction from storms happen – or the loss of life that sometimes accompanies these events.
We certainly know that storms can be scary but we are assured that God is with us. Tonight’s verse is from the psalms. Psalm 107 is about the merciful loving kindness of God – “Hosad”. This psalm speaks to God’s people crying out to Him for help. We are told in Psalm 107:29-31, “Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men. Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders.”
My encouragement this evening is that God is always with us, even in times of great distress. My prayer is that we will continue to put our trust in Him and that He will carry us through the storms our our lives. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…