"Just when you think you've seen it all..."

In the steamy cool night air on the front porch, Hope Force deployment team members sat swapping stories from the day?s adventures in Louisville, Mississippi. As we began to pray for the tornado survivors, I jumped as my phone flashed with a call from my Dad?s retirement home. ?Hello??  I whispered, bracing myself for bad news.

On the other end of the line, Bookkeeper Kim cheerily greeted me and asked a simple question about a bill. She added, ?Are you in Louisville? That?s where I grew up!!!? An emotional flurry of details followed... her brother-in-law David?s near loss of life, total destruction of his rental property and the deaths of childhood friends. All from the F-4 tornado which led Hope Force to Mississippi. She added, ?Gravestones in the cemetery where my first husband is buried were toppled. I don?t even know where he is! David works at the lumberyard and it was OK?. After further conversation, I immediately knew our marching orders for the following day.

The next morning, I grabbed Chuck and blurted out in a frenzied tone, ?We have to go find David!? A short drive later, we found ourselves at the lumberyard. Winding back through the aisles to a small workroom filled with broken down chain saws, we discovered David chatting to a customer. When they finished, I thrust out my hand and said, ?Hi, I?m Sue... I?m here to say hi from your sister-in- law Kim in Seattle!?

David grinned and let out a sigh. After a few warm up bits of chatter, David reached for his phone, gave it a quick tap and began scrolling through pictures of the massive tornado before touchdown and the devastation afterwards. We listened, and listened some more. For most disaster survivors, telling their story provides one way to ?defuse?, heal and begin to make sense of chaos.

 As we were about to leave, David paused and said, ?Oh... and that?s not all... I have a big mass on my kidney and I have surgery in 3 days.? He reached for a brochure from the doctor explaining the procedure and looked visibly shaken. When he finished, we asked if we could pray for him. ?Absolutely!? We grabbed a quiet moment in the middle of the lumber store. After hugs and a photo, we decided to head out of town to find his property.

Just when we think we?ve ?seen it all? from tornadoes, hurricanes and floods, a new scene leaves us speechless. This was one. A few piles of brick marked the former location of the house. The tornado lifted the entire structure, carried it 150 yards, and dumped it in a pile of debris on top of 6 cows. A few timbers stood as remnants of three barns. A fishing boat sat eerily in the middle of the pasture. A massive hay bailer lay sideways near a child?s riding toy.

As we shook our heads, a pickup truck approached. A gray-haired farmer gave his dusty ball cap a tug and cautiously walked toward us. Quickly, I greeted him. ?Hi! I?m Sue. We just met David at the lumberyard. I know his sister-in-law in Seattle. We came to see the damage on the property.? His shoulders relaxed as he thrust out his hand to greet each of us.

Ray began to tell his own story. ?David rents from me. I grew up on this place. 92 acres. I remember that pecan tree over yonder. 700 pounds of nuts my folks pulled down one year. Over there...that oak tree lying there... 4 men couldn?t wrap their arms around that thing when it was standing. This place will never be the same in my lifetime? A pause, then a sigh. ?I don?t even know where to start...?

Chuck gently asked, ?I?ll bet you?ve had some tough conversations with God the past few days?? Ray shook his head. ?You know, the good Lord has been with me for a long, long time. He saved me from a wreck in 2009 -- a head-on collision. I saw a white light, so peaceful... then woke up in a ditch. But I?m alive. I can never replace all this, but it?s all His anyway.? As we offered to pray for Ray, he took off his ball cap and bowed his head. We followed, cried and hugged. After a few moments of laughter and joking, we waved and headed back to the Hope Force team.

It?s a mystery... trying to understand how a tapestry of events and people can so strangely weave together in ways we could never dream. While I will be checking news on David?s progress after his surgery in Mississippi, Kim will be in Seattle watching out for my elderly Dad. Both of us ache, being far from family, but smile knowing that we?d never want to change the journey?!