On my 5-day trip to Hattiesburg, MS, I met and talked to others affected by the tornado and every one was grateful for their lives, and for all the help and compassion shown to them by complete strangers. But no one, considering her saga, had the attitude of Linda. She is a working single mother (her husband left her 7 years ago) taking care of five children two of them grandkids aged 1 and 3. First thing she told me was how the “Holy Spirit put a hedge of protection” over her son. They all had gone to bed early and her oldest son had gone out. She thought he was staying with friends but he came back without her knowing. When around 3:30 a.m. the tornado started hitting, she woke up all the others and went to the bathroom in the basement. It was after she heard a window blown out that her son walked into the bathroom as he woke up, face covered with glass. She let a cry out thinking his face was all “ruined” but as they pulled each piece of glass in the darkness she noticed not a single cut… AND SHE PRAISED GOD. Then after digging herself out of the mess and getting the little ones out through one of the broken windows, she noticed all her house upstairs was gone. Only her front door was still hanging from a single standing wall. She said that as they walked up the street to find some refuge in the middle of the rain she started thanking God that all her kids were alive and well… once again she said, “But God… All can be replaced and I know this is already working for good for my family.” She told me she was a Katrina survivor. It was then when they relocated to Hattiesburg with only their clothes on their backs. A few years later, their “new, temporary house” burnt to the ground – a kitchen fire. No one was hurt. Now, the tornado totally destroys her house and no one was hurt. It is definitely God. She has gone through three death-threatening disasters and she can still have a great attitude and disposition that only can come from a strong faith in God. Knowing who is your redeemer makes all the difference.
As we look around, all her personal things lying everywhere wet and damaged, she smiles and says, “God is making a way; He has before and will do it again, I have no doubt about that.” One of the volunteers tells her she found a few things that can be salvaged, and she said, “Forget it; nothing is important.” She wasn’t like crying and complaining. All her children are living with different relatives as not all of them can stay together in one place and she will be back to work in a few days. Her immediate goal is to find a place where she can gather all her kids in one place and have dinner “together again”. She said the house rebuilding can wait. She understands that once again her life has been interrupted “but GOD is in control”. We prayed and she left. I went back to work and look again at all her stuff all over the place and I thought, “Only a true follower of Christ Jesus can look at this mess and have peace.” The words of the apostle Paul came to mind, “…nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
