Whitney is a now college graduate and a Nurse!!! She is also a Pastor's wife, a worship leader, and an inspiration to many!!! We are so proud of her! We spent the last several days with she and her husband, and Deanna got to "pin" her in the nursing ceremony!!! (in the pics... Jared, Deanna, Whitney and me)


I know we are not the only state affected, but tornado's have been shredding Oklahoma! We left Tulsa for Denton, Texas, where Whitney lives, on Wednesday afternoon of last week.

Thunderstorms blew into Texas after our arrival, and I knew severe weather was forecast for Tulsa.

We were on our way to Whitney's pinning ceremony, when I received a call from a friend. He said, "a tornado ripped the roof from the school across the street from your house last night... but we checked your house, and it is fine!"

I was so thankful that our house had been spared, but found myself wondering throughout the weekend what the back side of our lot looked like. It was reported that power lines were down as well as stockade fences and much more.

I was rather anxious to see our property.

Our trip home was an eventful one. Fifty minutes before arriving in Oklahoma City (which we pass through on our way to Tulsa), I heard news reports of a hail storm. These often precede tornado's. We were headed right for it!

I began to pray for wisdom as to whether or not we should pull off the road and let it pass, take a different route back, or forge ahead.

They broke into the radio program and said the interstate we were on had become a parking lot and that the ground looked like a snow storm had just blown through... completely covered with hail!

Damage reports of broken windows on cars and homes were being conveyed.

We drew closer.

As I neared the highway I considered cutting off on to avoid this, they began to report that this highway was now the corridor of the hail storm. We continued on our original course.

We were on the back side of this storm and could see the hail falling out our window. It was fierce to behold. Many stopped to hide under overpasses or take photos, as the area we were in was hail-free.

We traveled through Oklahoma City not fifteen minutes after the reports of an interstate parking lot, to find them passable, the hail mostly melted and no more traffic than normal! Praise the Lord!!!

Once through here, the storm was south of us, so we did not have to fight it any further.

We arrived home last evening, just before dark. Our lawn was littered with limbs and leaves.

I have found no damage!!! Even our wind chimes were still hanging and offering their melodies.

I have some clean up to do, but what a blessing!

I went home at lunch and saw the path of the tornado as the houses just to the east of ours and to the north of the school, all had blue tarps on their roofs. Disaster relief crews were cleaning up the school.

The school is a Turkish owned and operated school, called, Discovery. It is home to many Muslim children, and others.

This tornado ravaged school was chronicled in the paper by photos and an article.

We are most thankful for our home being spared. We are equally thankful for the Lord's provision and protection on our trip home.

We are praying for the administration, teachers and students of the Turkish school.


We are so proud of Whitney! Her degree was delayed by a year, because of her brother's journey and other obstacles that befell her. She is finished! We are so thankful and proud of her!!!


dad