SAFE ROOM

[Lavon Lewis]

Oklahoma and Kansas has had more than their share of tornados the last few years, with several towns having almost total destruction. Storms are inevitable in Tornado Alley, as this area is called.

In May 10 years ago, the town of Midwest City, a suburb of Oklahoma City, experienced a devastating tornado that destroyed many homes. A day or two later, Vinita experienced a downpour of rain, which caused a flashflood, resulting in 3 feet of water in my mother’s home, as well as other homes in Vinita.

The newspaper later reported that she said, “I feel so sorry for those people who lost everything. I still have my things; they are just wet.”

Since I grew up in Oklahoma, with the threat of tornados looming over my head, it is really easy to ignore the many National Weather Service warnings every spring. We natives tend to go on with our duties of life, oblivious to the impending storm, then we nonchalantly find an interior bathroom or room with no windows and read a magazine until it is all over.

Many older homes in this area are built with storm cellars, but they are so nasty when not used often, with spider webs and other critters. Some new homes are now being built with a Safe Room, an enclosed steel-reinforced box with no windows and only one door.

The one thing our family has learned to do is pray when the storms approach. We ask the Lord to protect the town, the townspeople, our homes and property, our families. We remember that Jesus spoke to the storm and said, “Peace, be still,” and we ask Him to still the storm for us.

And Psalms 144:1-2, “Blessed be the Lord my Rock, ….my high tower and my deliverer, my shield and the One in whom I take refuge.”

Whether it is the weather, financial troubles, illness, death, God is the one we can run to for shelter. The Lord is my Safe Room, when the storms of life come. We turn to the One who has never failed us yet.