Being a Responsible Parent

I've always thought I was a fairly responsible parent. The kids' are always bathed and clean, teeth are brushed, not too many sweets or sugary drinks, I watch them like a hawk . . . but I discovered that I've been slacking in one important area- severe weather safety.

Living in "tornado alley" has kind of dulled me to the seriousness associated with severe weather. We get a lot of severe storms and possible tornadoes in Arkansas and I tend to just take note of what's going on and then go about my business. I've never even come close to being in a tornado and I guess I was suffering from the "it can't happen to me" mentality.

Last night a dear friend and her family lost their home to a tornado. In fact, its estimated that 60-80 homes were destroyed in their little town. Thankfully God was watching over my friends and their little family is safe and sound, but there were others who were not so lucky. I can't imagine how scary it must have been to watch as a tornado destroyed the house around you.

While this was happening I was blissfully unaware and giving the kids a bath. Stupid on my part to not be paying closer attention to the weather. An hour after the tornado hit I heard about it on the news and started praying hard while I tried to find out if they were ok. I can honestly say that those 5 minutes where I didn't know if they were safe ranked right up there in the top scariest moments of my life.

After things settled down for the night I started thinking about what could have happened if it had been my house in the path of a tornado. Would I have paid enough attention to the weather advisories to know to seek shelter? Would my little family have been safe and sound this morning? Scary thoughts when you have kids.

So today I'm thanking God for the safety of my friends and the well deserved wake-up call.