This was posted by a young man on another hunting site, after the recent rash of tornadoes here in MS.
"""Louisville, MS is totaled on the southeast side of town going out to the country. It passed less than half a mile from where we were hunkered down. We left out to go help our neighbors but had to leave because we were put under another warning. It was hard to do because upon arrival there were three homes where the occupants were known to be home but were missing. One of those persons was still missing this morning. And I am not talking about persons who you are "familiar" with.- I am talking about folks who we shook hands with Sunday morning at church. We got out to the destruction zone around 7:00 to help.
Around 9:00 we cleared a road and arrived at a place where we started to search for a missing family. It was in a trailer park and we looked for a couple hours and gave up because the damage was too much to sift through in the dark. I also had to go check on my grandmother who's neighborhood was in the outer zone of the destruction area and many others had amassed to help search. They found them today, the parents are dead, their child is still missing- last I heard. I felt a feeling of dread when I heard this, but in a situation of mass chaos like that there are others who may need help- who NEEDED help. And backup had arrived. Something, (my conscious or mere brain matter as modern science calls it; I call it the Holy Spirit- stupid, I know) told me to move on. And for reasons I will not mention, I know it was the right move. For things I saw and experienced on the way as I searched for those in need as I dreadfully tried to clear my mind of what I would find when I got within sight of my grandma's house, I know it was the right thing to do. As evil on earth surrounded me in that darkness and the sounds of sirens, helicopters, screams, hollering from search parties looking for the missing filled my ears; as I walked through a neighborhood I rode bikes in, had bottle rocket wars in, played in: the signs of His presence were everywhere. Because evil is given authority on this earth but only so much (if it had full and unchecked authority it would destroy us all at first chance), the signs of Him were literally everywhere. I felt dread upon hearing they were found dead, that I left after a couple of hours, but I know I needed to move on for the reason- and only for the reason- to strengthen my own walk.
Whole neighborhoods are gone. The whole damn neighborhood. Our neighbors down the road have nothing in terms of possessions as do many others.
Our hospital is officially inoperable and closed down. My girlfriend and others who worked there are without jobs. The doctor's offices are gone, the E.R. is gone and the hospital itself is totaled. We managed to get my girlfriend and her mother to triage and went from there helping out. First place I went and checked was duckiller's parents' house. The structure is there, but it is devastated. Keep them in your prayers. Their neighbor's house 75 yards to the north is gone.
A lot of stories about miracles. We went to help a neighbor clean up and the only thing left standing was a section of his house where his kitchen was. On top of the cabinets were all sorts of decorative type stuff. It was all gone, except a cross. What, in those 200 mph winds, kept that item in place? The closet he was in was untouched. It hadn't moved. A very good friend of ours and her mother and brother were hunkered down in their bathtub- it was the only thing left on the slab. There are too many other miraculous stories of coincidence, luck, physics, chemistry, etc that are relived every day across this planet. Most of us choose not to pay much, if any, attention to them (I got that t-shirt, thank you). If we do, we attribute the events to the above-mentioned ways of reasoning. But as Romans 1:20 explains to us all: ignore at our own peril. I am here to tell the scientists, the skeptics, the fools who call me a fool: what I saw and experienced starting days before, during and after this event, were not of this world and cannot be explained away. In your minds, I will always be an enemy; in my mind, you will always be an opportunity. But you will know that no matter what, I KNOW what is the Truth. I thought I knew, now I know.
I cannot understate how devastating it was to the southeast side of the city/county.
I also cannot understate how glad I am that me and Jesus came to terms in recent times. I was glad as I watched that radar, as I heard the radio call the Mill Creek community as being a direct target for a tornado emergency, as I heard it outside while it snapped trees and shook the house, as I heard the massive noise of the rain fall silent as it was sucked up- almost as if it (the tornado) cleared the air of noise so it wouldn't have any of its horrific characteristics dulled by the rain- I was glad for the first time in life that I had Jesus.
And ironically, the 6 of us who were hunkered down were all true believers (and you will find out if you ever go through such). And ironically, as the hour of reckoning came and it (the tornado aka death) was no doubt in our midst, we all, as if simultaneously, were overcome with a feeling of comfort and peace. Through deep, deeeeeep prayer, we were comforted. And from there, we went from a feeling of utmost terror and horrific realization of our humanity to, as if instantly, a feeling of utmost peace and acceptance. I said, as it was close to passing over (or so we thought), "I am not scared anymore." and everyone else said, "I'm not either!" Make no mistake: we were sure that we were headed for death, but it didn't matter.
It's like watching a murderer march across your yard, slowly, with a intent to kill you in an extremely violent way- and not be able to do a DAMN thing about it. When you are put under a tornado warning and you know it is on the ground and marching across your town and you have updates from a spotter on the ground and you know...you know, that your neighbors are going through pure and evil hell on earth and you are next: is one of helpless fear. The only thing Louisville had that increased that fear was the fact that we were under a tornado emergency- so then we KNEW that we were in trouble. We KNEW that monster was killing people we were friends and family with. And that helpless fear was shed in the last few minutes of what we thought were our lives by nothing less than our faith in Him.
So praise be to Jesus for our time we have been granted here on earth. I thought I knew, but now I KNOW: on this earth, all is futile.
Every bit of this life is futile. And it is a wonderful thing to know."""
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(Seriously, I do not know the details of the origin of the Universe, nor does my lack of knowing disturb my Belief in any way!!)
Originally Posted by Buckrub
