A Sound Like a Train Engline--Yikes, It's a Tornado!

One of the first things that happened to us in Lexington, Kentucky, was the tornado. Remember, we’d just moved from Oklahoma, the land of tornadoes? Yet we had never seen or heard one before. It all happened so fast, but we took pics afterward to show how we were affected.

Here's the play-by-play: Every day after school, Joseph and Grace Wu came home from school with us til their mom came and picked them up. One stormy afternoon around 4:30, Jonathan, Jenny, Joseph and Grace were playing contentedly when we heard a loud noise that sounded like a train was heading straight for our duplex.

This noise was so startling that I hurried the kids downstairs into a closet where we closed the door and just waited until the noise stopped. When the noise stopped, I cautiously looked out to be sure everything was OK. The kids followed closely. What we saw was pretty shocking. Out the back patio doors we saw the garages next door at a scary angle, ready to fall down. There was debris everywhere. All our patio furniture was scattered for blocks around us.

The most impressive thing was the large tree outside our bedroom had fallen right on the roof! The roof was broken, but if it had been any worse, our bedroom would have been gone too. What we knew right away was that God had spared us each, remarkable. One of the houses across the street was leveled. We gave thanks to Him for sparing lives. And we took pictures. Isaac also drew his version of what happened to us.

Soon afterward, Bill came home from work, not knowing what had happened. He says, "it was late dusk in the day when I came back. As I entered the neighborhood, something seemed odd but I couldn't put my finger on it. Then I realized, the power had gone off. A little further in and I saw the damage."

Well, with electricity out, we took out our camp stove and invited neighbors over while we cooked up dinner with food from all our fridges, now starting to defrost. This was one way to meet neighbors we never thought of! No one we knew was killed or seriously injured. Like Bill, many were still on their way home from work. So again, we saw God's hand of protection and gave thanks.

A Promise about Aging as We Move to Lexington

First, a quote from a Hallmark card that Bill gave me--with a picture of two cute dogs: “In life, it’s not where you go, it’s who you travel with.” I was grateful for “who I moved and traveled with.” I had an amazing family and church friends, yet this move was not easy, even when I, the nomad, had moved so many times before. Guess who is the taller dog (carrying the bigger suitcase) and who is the shorter one.

During the summer as we prepared to move, I became sick with new and old body aches, pains and problems from our years abroad. I ended up spending 8 days in the hospital and survived many tests. It was a time of healing in body and soul; the best part was the relational healing with those we were leaving behind, and the new joining with those who would soon be our school and church family.

When I asked the Lord about all the physical ailments, He said, “You are getting old. Your body will do many strange and unexpected things in the process of aging. Receive these as aging and not illness. If there are no symptoms of real illness, you may rest. Recognize your body as decaying with all creation. Long for its completion in Me, to be set free. But for now, know and receive these changes and strangeness as a normal part of your life on earth—not to be feared or dreaded. But walk in life and the good I am doing and putting before you. Let this be your focus. I am the Lord God, Creator and Sustainer of the universe.” (Remember I was just 40 years old and now am 71!)

So, with God’s grace and help, we planned and executed this move. As soon as the doctor gave the OK, the kids and I went ahead in July to find rental housing. Bill came a couple weeks later, finishing up his work at the university first.

When we left Nepal, we left with 2 kids and 3 suitcases. When we left Mexico, we left with 2 kids and everything in one VW van. This time was totally different. We were leaving Oklahoma with a U-Haul truck hauling six years of furniture and belongings, 2 cars and 2 kids.

After the move, I wrote, “Seems like a year since Bill came, not 2 weeks. We moved in and I was shocked at what an effort it was. 2 weeks later we’re still unpacking. We’ve never made such a big move before. But it is a joy to be in our own home in Lexington where there is God’s grace for our daily needs.

Yet, even before we finished unpacking, we took off for California to celebrate Bill’s parents’ 50th anniversary. “When we first got there we were given tickets to the Hollywood Bowl to hear Itzhack Perlman. It was beautiful, though we were tired. It was 4 a.m. eastern time when we got to sleep.”

The celebration of their life was a great time for them to be honored by so many family, friends, missionaries and indigenous Zapotecos of Mexico, among whom they lived and worked doing Bible translation for so many decades. In this family photo, Dad and Mom are dressed in typical Zapoteco dress.

Bill gave a word in the service on investing in people, not projects, and commended his parents. It was good. That's our life theme song today. Then, after the celebration, we left for Santa Barbara for a “joyous time with Bobgans, and later visited Aunt Hazel and Uncle Bert who don’t seem to have aged at all.” That Saturday we had picnic day with the Leal family, including an evening with Al and Mary Ellen (Bill’s sister) and bill's parents. We have an amazing family and heritage.

So then it was back to Lexington, to settle in to our new assignment. In September I wrote from our rented duplex: “So many new things so fast: a lovely duplex close to school; new school for the kids; new school for me and new job for Bill who is away [as an instructor with SAS Institute] so much these days. Thank You, Lord, for Jonathan’s and Jenny’s being settled and helpful.”

So life in Lexington had begun with so much more than we could have imagined or hoped for....including living through our first ever tornado!