Danny and all Doves,

 

You letter on the 17th was wonderful. It inspired me to share some of the great things the Lord has done for my family. I live in SW Missouri within 50 miles of Joplin, MO, and everyone knows about the monster tornado we had there last year. The Sunday afternoon of the tornado the Lord confirmed to me that the musical harmony of the saints affects our weather and many other aspects of our lives. Just a few hours before that storm I sang an old song with a trio at church, and here are some of the words we sang, “I’m standing on the Rock of Ages, SAFE FROM ALL THE STORM THAT RAGES, rich but not from Satan’s wages, I’m standing on the solid rock.”

 

A couple hours later the tornado warning sirens sounded and my granddaughter and I went outside to look at the sky. We could tell the storm was passing south of us. We felt the terrific back draft of the wind when it hit Joplin. We live NE of Joplin and the usual path of tornadoes is from the SW to the NE. It came from the west going through Joplin then turned SE as we watched the sky. In that back draft wind were medical records from the hospital that was demolished, papers and pictures and all sorts of things from people’s homes. We picked them up in our yards 40 some miles away. They were found up to 90 miles away. A neighbor of mine four miles east found church pews from one of the churches in their pasture.

 

A few years ago my daughter who lives a few miles east of Kansas City had a neighbor witness a tornado on the ground until it got to the west fence line of their property. It then went aloft over their property and came back down east of them. This spring my granddaughter and her family who live 20 miles west of me were aroused in the night with the tornado sirens blaring and they don’t have a basement. They got the children out of bed and into the bathtub then kneeled beside the tub and put the torsos of their bodies across the children and prayed while the freight train sound of the tornado passed overhead. A tree crashed down on their roof and they sustained water and wind damage, but it was across the house from where they were sheltered from the storm. I was there before the damage was cleared and on the outskirts of town there were farm buildings destroyed, implements scattered around and dead horses and cows.

 

Within the past couple weeks we’ve had another terrific storm this time with very strong straight line winds. I had two of my great grandchildren with me at the time. It topped out a huge walnut tree near my driveway and flung it across the road blocking it. A big catalpa tree in front of my garage split in half and came down within a few feet of my back door and a big branch of another tree scuffed up against the west side of the house. A hackberry tree near the gate to the barn lot is leaning just a bit and the sidewalk near it has been raised almost six inches. Two oak trees that stood close together, one about three feet in diameter and the other one considerably bigger were uprooted in the field just west of the barn lot. Three hedge trees were uprooted across the road from me. The barn roof was lifted up but didn’t come off. All the nails had to be hammered back down and we also used screws to reinforce it. Not one farm animal was even scratched. It took two full days of tractor and chainsaw work to clear the yard and another half day’s work on the barn roof. My neighbors all had roof damage to their houses and water damage. We had no water damage. The insurance adjuster found one shingle off the ridge of the roof of the house and one shingle off the garage. We got four inches of very badly needed rain with the storm. The storm happened so fast the grandchildren and I were not frightened but we were in awe of the damage and felt so protected by the Lord it was truly amazing.

 

In the Old Testament one of Israel’s battle strategies was to send the singers before the army singing, shouting, and being clamorous and foolishly crazy while praising the Lord. This confused their enemies who thought they had come to fight, but here was their opponent already celebrating the victory. Moses and his sister Miriam sang victory songs. The walls of Jericho came down with shouts and trumpet blasts. King David sang and praised the Lord wildly at times and in the book of Judges Deborah had a song of victory. Many of the prophets were singers also and Ezekiel was an actor also portraying the judgments and captivity of the people.

 

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord He is my refuge and my fortress; my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shall thou trust…A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.  Psalm 91

 

THE VICTORY IS OURS; THE BATTLE IS THE LORDS--LIFT UP THE BANNER OF PRAISE!!!

 

Yours in Christ Jesus our Lord,

Kathy S.