Shield of Armor

Dave & I had planned to take the kids up to visit their grandparent’s lake home over the Fourth of July weekend. With two little kids and me working Saturdays we don’t make it up there very often. We were excited to go & so were the kids. We left here around 3:15pm on Friday afternoon. We were in a Thunderstorm Watch & so we glanced at the radar before we left town. It was clear so we preceded on our way. As we neared the town of Hutchinson (just over a hour from our house) the skies were looking pretty gloomy. I called my mom & Dave called his dad. We asked them both to keep an eye on things for us. We also listened intently to the radio. There were storms in the area but no additional warnings had been issued. We felt safe to continue on our trip because it sounded like the most severe storms were going to South & we were driving away from them. The clouds were looking rather green & the winds rapidly picked up. We debated on whether or not to turn back so we wouldn’t be caught in the middle of nowhere in a storm- but decided if we did we’d be driving right back into it. We made it about 15 minutes out of Hutchinson and a massive downpour of rain started. There were cars pulled over to the side of the highway. Dave couldn’t see a thing & so we pulled over too. We weren’t there more than a minute when it started to hail. Probably about quarter sized hail. The hail didn’t last long & the rain let up a bit so we started driving. We made it another few minutes & hit a downpour more massive than the first. Dave quickly pulled off onto a driveway. Just then we heard the loud crash of hail slamming against our van. I saw golf ball sized hail bouncing on the highway in front of us. Then came a huge CRASH & a blood curdling scream from Breena. I turned around to find a big hole in the corner of her window. She was holding her the side of her head crying hysterically. I jumped back in the van, unhooked her from her seatbelt & threw her over the bench to the back of the van where all of our luggage was. I hopped back as well & started to check her out. She had three small cuts her head- one on each side & one in the back. It was hard to tell how deep they were because she has blonde hair which makes a tiny drop of blood look like a gallon. I felt pieces of glass entwined in her hair. At this point Dave had gotten Eli out & handed him back to get everyone away from the shattering window. He had gotten a cut on his forehead near his hairline. The blood was starting to drip down his nose. I covered both of my screaming babies with blankets and hovered over them in an effort to protect them in case any other hail chunks came flying through. Thankfully it wasn’t long before the hail stopped and the rain lightened immensely. Breena’s carseat was covered in glass but Eli’s was safe. We strapped Eli back in. Breena & I stayed in the back of the van as we turned around to head back into Hutchinson. I called my mom to tell her what had happened. Despite my husband’s instance that “we were okay & didn’t need help” she & my dad jumped into their car & started on the hour long drive to help us. It took us twenty minutes to get back to Hutchinson. I spent the time holding a very shook up little girl tightly with one arm all while trying to get the pieces of glass out of her hair with the other. My hands were literally trembling as I poked through her hair. I have never been terrified to the point of physically shaking before. We had originally planned that Dave would drop the kids & I off at a restaurant to feed them supper & wait for my parents while he went a crossed the street to Menards to pick up some thing to clean up the van. But the skies were turning ugly again. The winds had started to whip. We decided it was best to stick together. We pulled up to the parking lot, each grabbed a kid and ran like heck into the store. We put the kids in a cart and pushed them to a center isle away from the glass doors which at this point had begun shaking due to the wind. We checked them over for injuries once again. Thank God they only had a few cuts. We weren't at Menards more than 5 minutes and the power went out. And then the tornado sirens blew. We were all ushered into the middle of the store where there was more coverage in the ceiling area. We were locked in Menards for almost a hour. Eli was barefoot. They were both starving because it was their normal suppertime. Breena was terrified. We went to the toy isle & let the kids bounce balls around to try to take her mind off of things. When the latest storm had passed we battled some strong winds to load the kids back into the van & drove across the parking lot to Culvers. Dave & I had NO appetite. But we needed to feed the kids. My parents made it just a couple of minutes after we arrived at Culvers. They told us more nasty weather was on it’s way and we needed to head home quickly. The kids barely ate anything, I don’t think they had much of an appetite anymore either. Dave & my dad swapped car seats & tried to cover up the open window. It didn’t work. And we needed to leave asap. I jumped into the car with my parents & kids. Dave drove the van alone in front of us. We started driving South. We saw lots of downed branches & a power line. Maybe twenty minutes in to our drive the skies started to look even nastier than the first two storms. My sister kept an eye on the rader for us and before long we knew we were about to get nailed. We had passed through the tiny town of Brownton just a few minutes before. We made the decision to turn around and look for some shelter. Anything was going to be safer than our vehicles. Dave led the way & we followed. At one point I saw the speedometer reach 75 mph in a 55 mph zone. We were flying! We made it to Brownton in the nick of time. The fire station was open as the emergency crews prepared for the imending storm. We ran up to the building and they welcomed us in to safety. It was maybe 7pm or so but looked like midnight. The fire house had lost power. We were standing against the wall with several huge & very loud fire trucks waiting to be called out. It down poured. The winds whipped. But no hail this time. Eli was in a daze- he laid his head on everyone’s shoulder as he was passed around. Breena was terrified. She pleaded with me to take her home. I sang songs to her to try to keep her calm but she was still scared. I am honestly not sure how long we were at the fire station. I am sure it was under a half hour but it felt like an eternity. Just as quickly as it came the storm had passed. We loaded back up into our vehicles and headed for home. This time was thankfully uneventful. We made it safe and sound.

In hindsight I am able to see how lucky we are. This should have been so much worse. I truly believe there was an Angel next to Breena on Friday night holding up a shield of armor. Dave later told me he saw two very large pieces of hail on the floor next the Breena’s carseat. They should have hit her. It was almost like the hail split into two and went around my two year old’s head. She told my mom on our final drive home that “the lady said I was okay”. She told me that a few different times later that night. I am not sure who “the lady” is. It could have been an acquaintance we ran into at the restaurant or some people we chatted with at Menards. Or it could be someone that maybe just Breena saw. We will never know. But I do know with every bit of my being that we were not alone in our trip. Someone was definitely looking out for my family & protecting my children. I used to be so quick at getting mad at God when things go wrong. It would be so easy to scream “Where were you!?! You deserted us when we needed you!”. I have definitely started to learn to look at the big picture. I have indeed NEVER been left alone. This experience reminded me of that. We SHOULD have spent Friday night in the ER having my daughter checked out for head injuries & possibly getting her head stitched. Instead I spent the rest of Friday night by her bedside stroking her freshly washed hair as she fell asleep. Thank you to my parents for coming to our rescue. And to my sister for being our weather lady. To my husband for remaining calm. And to the Angel who shielded my Breena.