MAJOR STORM . . . NOT good news!

In a very real way, my heart is breaking as I write this. We had a very brief but MAJOR storm come through our area this morning. I was already at work, and Greg had just recently come out of the camper. Storms were predicted last night, but nothing was supposed to be bad this morning. When I looked at the radar, after a storm warning was issued, the "purple" part of the radar was clearly going north of our house. About 15 minutes later, Erica came to find me in the greenhouse at work to tell me that Greg had called and told her that the camper had been knocked over in the storm. I thought it was a joke. So did Erica, apparently. 

He said that it got VERY dark out, and the winds kicked up REALLY BAD, and it got VERY loud. He figured it was a tornado. A minute or so later, it was over, and when he went outside to open up the chicken coop, he realized something to his left wasn't right, so when he looked, he realized it wasn't right, because the camper was laying on it's SIDE!  The slides had been open, so when it was knocked over, they were quite unceremoniously shoved in.   I'm sure it's a complete loss, especially after seeing it when I got home today.

I know that when God takes something away, He has a reason for it, and He's making room for something even bigger and better. I praise God that Greg was not in the camper when it happened. If he had been in there, I'm fairly certain that he would have been killed.  

The camper was fully insured, but it was my baby. My pride and joy and sometimes during the rough times, it was the only thing that kept me going -- knowing that at the very least we could go camping, even if it was only a few miles away. It's not the camper itself that was so beloved, but even though we're going through difficult times financially, it was the idea behind the camper -- what it represented to me.  I always felt so blessed to have the camper so that we could spend time together as a family. We had heard of other families whose kids didn't want to go with them when they became teenagers.  But even as teenagers and young adults, our kids always wanted to go with us.  It was always knowing that someday we could pack up and just go and see this beautiful country of ours on our terms and on our own schedule.Many of you are campers, so I believe you understand what I'm getting at. I feel like I'm writing a eulogy . . . and I guess I sort of am.  I doubt that anyone that doesn't love camping and traveling the way we do will truly understand.  

Of course, I had a bit of a pity party for myself when I came home.  Truth be told, it wasn't just a "bit" of a pity party.  I totally and completely lost it.  It's one thing to see a picture of it, and it's totally another to actually see it in person and be standing next to it.  I could hardly even breathe because I was crying so hard, and actually ended up hyperventilating -- something which I've never done before!  

 As I said, I know God has great things planned for us, I just don't know what it is and am waiting for Him to show me. I know that great blessings are on the way!  It doesn't make it any easier, at this early stage, that's for sure.  At this point, I just have to cling to my faith even harder.  I didn't have my Bible at work, but I did have a book that gives passages to look to for different trying times in our lives.  I also took a few minutes to re-read parts of the Book of Job, because I'm kinda-sorta starting to feel like Job.  That may sound a little odd, or that I'm trying to compare myself to a Biblical figure, but I know we've all felt like Job at one time or another.  The thing is, I'm NOT going to lose my salvation over this! 


Here's a few pictures . . . .

Our little "monkey girl" had to climb in and see if she could get some pics . . . it wasn't easy for her to get in there, and took two ladders.  Here's the best picture of the inside . . . 

Abby (a/k/a Monkey Girl) had to climb inside -- it only took two ladders!  I rotated this picture to show what it would look like if the camper were "upright."  The white thing in the upper right center is one of the "drawers" from the fridge.  The other one is below the wooden shelf, that I'm pretty sure is from below the stove.  We had one of our nice campfire chairs stored in there -- that's the plaid one that many of you have seen at the campfires.    The door in the back leads to the bunkhouse.  

So, that's my news for today.  Obviously, wishing I didn't have to post this.  It's getting late, and I need to get to bed and pray for this nightmare to soon be over.  God has awesome blessings in store for me and this is all part of His plan.  He knew this was going to happen and is going to shower us with bigger and better blessings.   I'm not going to lose my salvation over this.  I'm not going to lose my salvation over this.  I'm not going to lose my salvation over this . . .   

Julie