Thank the Lord

Wow. I just got back from driving through the worst rain storm of my life. It was scary! Though I tried not to let on to the kids at the time.

We all went up to visit Loren today. He provided entertainment in the form of a movie on his VCR. The nurses brought in three more chairs and we were able to accommodate everyone, barely. With all those bodies, the room was a toasty 80 degrees by the end of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." Trevor finally sacked out across Loren's legs on the bed. The giant squid and the cannibals were a hit with pretty much everyone, though the lame special effects (by today's standards) were noted by the older kids. But they didn't complain, having lobbied for it over "Mary Poppins."

The cafeteria experience was a little more organized this time. We sat down at two booths before eating and the little kids were given a couple of options ahead of time. Then we attacked the line in two separate waves. It was all a smashing success until Trevor spilled his chocolate milk, somehow managing to get very little of it on himself, a bit on me, and most of it on Kendra. She was a fairly good sport, though. It's hard to stay mad at Trevor the Guileless.

I'm not sure which created more of a stir: eight children walking down the hospital halls, or three boxes of computer speakers being carried in. Loren needed something decent and wanted to test several different ones. Jason gets his pick of the leftovers. We did get a few looks, but then, we're used to that.

Storm clouds threatened as we started back home, but I thought there was a chance we could outrun it. I'm thinking, now, that it works better when you are not heading into the storm. We were perfectly situated to hit the leading edge of the storm through half the journey. Tremendous amounts of sheet lightning. Then the rain started. A few blasts of downdraft air hit the van broadside. "Can that tip the van over?" queried Jason who was sitting up in front. "Nah," I replied. "I doubt it." (funny, I had just been wondering the same thing.......)

What had been light rain suddenly turned into a downpour, such as I have never seen. Visibility was very low, and I saw a car stop and turn around which had been ahead of me. I'm thinking he had heard something on the radio. (of course, this is purely supposition, but it sure makes for good drama) We crept along at 20-30 mph in some places. No shoulder of decent width to pull off to, without risking ending in the ditch. I think the kids were sorta scared, but I felt it would be just as safe to proceed slowly as to stop and get hit.

I did dally at a stop sign for awhile, until a car came up behind me. When I finally reached a decent town I pulled over again. It just didn't let up for a long time. After we'd recommenced travel we got a call from Loren on the cell phone urging caution since there had been tornadoes sighted running parallel with the storm. But by that time, the worst was over.

So, we are very thankful to God for keeping us safe. (Oh yes, those new windshield wipers came in very handy, Pastor John :-) :-)

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