Shepherds Heart Ministries – A Non-Profit Disaster Response Ministry

What an incredible moment I witnessed last week!

Ed—one of the homeowners we were blessed to serve the last week—stood in his driveway, reflecting on the past three days. It was a blessing to watch him evolve throughout the three days I got to know him.

He said, “At first, I was overwhelmed that I survived. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for my daughters yelling at me to get in the basement. (They were on their way out of town for a concert at the time and called him.) Then I was overwhelmed by all the work ahead. And today, I’m overwhelmed by all the people helping me.”

Resurrection Theology is what I like to call it. On the third day, hope was restored…

Anyway, as we were talking, a lady walked up. Her name was Natalie. It seemed as if it she had appeared out of thin air. We later realized her car was parked literally in the middle of the road about 50 feet past Ed’s house. She was on her way home from the grocery store, but she had to stop and meet him.

She had driven by his house for years – living less than a mile down the road. And perhaps she would have driven by his house for many more years without meeting him if it had not been for the events of Friday, April 17.

On that fate-filled afternoon, around 4:45, she was driving down the street she had driven hundreds, if not thousands of times when she saw a funnel cloud forming, coming up from her left. Instead of hitting the gas pedal and fleeing, she turned around and started filming on her phone. She lived East of there. She knew it was heading in the general direction of her home, and she wanted to film it. Perhaps there’s a little of a storm-chaser in her blood.

As she did, she watched the funnel cloud tear a path of destruction across River Rd. Homes were being destroyed before her very eyes.

As she continued to slowly drive East, her thoughts were not just toward her own home. She couldn’t help but think there could be people underneath the rubble left behind.

She decided to call 911. But she didn’t just call and keep driving to her home, she continued to worry about those whose homes she could see were destroyed, including Ed’s.

Her concern was partly because she knew Ed had 2 daughters. She had seen them outside for years as she drove by on her way to and from. She couldn’t bear the thought that something couldn’t have happened to those two young souls. So, she stopped. As she stopped, she realized the other neighbor, Kevin, had already come up from his basement, ran across the road, and started yelling: “Ed! Ed! Are you in there?!”

“Yeah! I’m in the basement and I’m OK, but I can’t get the door open!”

Minutes later, police arrived – due in part to Natalie’s call to 911 – and began to pry the debris away to free Ed.

As Natalie watched them work feverishly to free him, she knew the first responders could handle it, so she left to check on her own home. She had damage, but her house is livable. However, since Friday, she’s wondered how her neighbor with the 2 girls was.

And today, Tuesday, as she drove home from the grocery store, she got a chance to meet him.

She got to meet Kevin too, another neighbor who cared. And the three of them stood there sharing their version of an event that will forever be engrained in their minds.

And I, like Ed, am overwhelmed.

I’m overwhelmed at how God continues to show up in the aftermath of this destruction. I’m overwhelmed at how God continues to work through the volunteers. I’m overwhelmed by God’s hand of protection. I’m overwhelmed that I got to witness such a display of neighborly love…

I think Jesus and the Good Samaritan would have been proud of Kevin and Natalie for the love they’ve shown this this past week…

But I’m mostly overwhelmed that Jesus loves everyone I’ve mentioned in this story, including me. He even loves everyone who reads this story, including those you might share this article with…and he loved each of us enough to give His one only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

WOW!

Yes, Ed, I’m overwhelmed too.

Shepherd’s Heart Ministry is a faithful partner of The Bolick Foundation