Good Friday

Our last day in Texas was diverse and interesting.  Peg felt the urge to drive out to a nearby town where a tornado had touched down about ten days prior.  The big storm that hit Dallas while we were in Texas was actually supposed to hit San Antonio, but it blew further north so we were spared.  Apparently some other folks weren’t so lucky the week before we arrived, so Peg loaded up gloves, garbage bags, shovels and who knows what all and off we went.

It was a lovely drive east as we stopped a few times to see if anyone knew the location of the damage.  We got the directions and headed on down the street.  It was hard to tell a tornado had gone through there though because all the damage had been cleaned up already.  Even the trees had been limbed and all the debris hauled away.  It was incredible how efficient people had been in the clean up process.

The only way we could tell we had the right spot was because several houses had blue tarps where their roofs used to be.  We saw a few concrete slabs where we assume houses used to be, too, but there wasn’t even a stick in the yard that was out of place.  They work fast!

We passed all the houses that were damaged then turned around and went back by them again just to see if there was anything we could do to help.  An elderly Hispanic man was walking like he was in a daze around his driveway.  Peg pulled in and asked him if he spoke English and if there was anything we could do to help.  His house lost one outside wall, the chimney was down and all the windows had blown out.  He said we could ask his wife, so we knocked on the door and waited.  She had been going through things in the house, looking for what she wanted to salvage.  Apparently many, many volunteers had come right after the storm and bagged up all their personal items in huge garbage bags and placed them in the house.  She invited us in and the destruction was sad to see.  All the floors were covered in broken glass.  I asked if we could pick that up and she said they would be tearing down the house so there was no point.

Julia was her name and she told us she was so thankful her son, who lived in the house behind her, was with them when the storm hit.  His house isn’t there anymore.  Either is her neighbor’s house.  A few people died in the storm but Julia and Ernesto and family just huddled in a corner of their living room – kind of like an alcove – with no windows.  She said they stayed below the guardian angel on the wall and the picture of Jesus, and they all made it through.  It was easy to see she had shell shock as both her and her husband were dazed and confused.  So sad.

Peg, who wears a pin every time she leaves her house that says, "How can I PRAY for you?",  offered to pray for them and they didn’t turn her down.  We formed a circle in their driveway and as we prayed we asked God’s favor on them and quick response from the insurance company so they wouldn’t have to live in the hotel for too long before a new house is built.  We asked God to open their eyes to see the good in the situation and what Satan meant for harm, we asked God to turn it for good.   It would have been nice to do something tangible for them besides pray, but I’ve been praying for them every day since then and I trust God will see them through.

We headed back to Peg and Don’s house for lunch and Don was feeling well enough to finally join us on a little outing.  We went over to see the Japanese Gardens and it was the perfect day for such a thing as the sun was shining brightly and the flowers were in bloom.  We walked around the park and then back to the car to head down by the riverside again and walk along the trail system they have there – checking out some of the cool artwork they hand from under the overpasses.  It was all very nice.

We had a relaxing afternoon and there was no final mad dash to the airport to catch our plane home – everything just happened according to it’s own time. 

I discovered I’d left my coat on the airplane on the trip to Texas so we said a prayer it would be in the lost and found – and sure enough – it was.  I was also concerned about carrying on a bottle of liquid smoke and a rake that I bought, but those items were allowed.  I’ve never traveled on Good Friday before and it was kinda eerie as to how few people were in the entire airport.  We had no problems with anything and the flight home was smack dab on time.  Perfect trip in every way.  We felt so blessed to have such a wonderful time with Peg and Don, to see the city from a local’s’ perspective and to be able to do a little volunteer work in the midst of having so much fun.  It really was one of our best family vacations.  Hallelujah!