Star Wars Day, 2020
Happy Star Wars Monday! May the 4th be with you this fine Monday morning! May your lightsaber be green and your grasses be greener!
May 4th has unique meaning to me for a couple of reasons beyond the pop culture reference that has assumed the date in the last few years. Flash back to 5/4/03, a delicious looking day to a numberphile like me, and the day was extraordinary.
Timeline:
8am: Headed to Stockton, Missouri from our home in Battlefield, Mo. with my family to look at the home my brother had picked out and investigate the shopping center that was to be the location to our new Radio Shack dealer store. My brother, some time before, had found a small farm dubbed Silver Creek Ranch and put down earnest money to buy it, then headed back to Saudi Arabia to give notice, pack up, and move back to join me in the business endeavor.
9am: Arrived in Stockton and did my thing, visiting the ranch, the school, the grocery store, and the park. They typical stuff folks investigating a town do. We looked for a Wal-Mart and McDonald’s, and were sad. We did some work, we had some fun. You know the drill. We visited the lake and enjoyed how pretty it was, lamenting that it wasn’t quite swimming season although it was certianly warm enough that day.
Around 2pm: My dad calls and strongly suggests we head home, that it was going to storm in the area and that there was a tornado outbreak predicted. We head home by 3pm and get to Springfield. Our daughter had children’s choir practice at our church that we wee considering taking her to, but the news reports sounded a little scary, so we bailed and headed to our home in Battlefield.
Between 6-9 pm an enormous tornado cluster reaches our area, dotting tornadoes throughout the Kansas and Missouri. In a hyperactive bout of tornadoes not frequently seen at that number, amazingly there were over 500 twisters in May 2003, over 400 that week alone. An F-3 tornado, on the ground for an incredible 86 miles (!!!), reaches Stockton, destroying much of the downtown area and many houses. More tornadoes strike Pierce City and Battlefield, Mo., destroying dozens of homes and businesses. In all, over 3,000 homes and businesses were damaged in the outbreak and 25 were killed. Here is some great links detailing stories and showing pictures: Link Link Link Link Link Link
One amazing story from the event involves the picture above. The employees in Subway, knowing the tornado was behind the building, hopped in the walk-out freezer. They survived while the building…the same building that would house our Radio Shack two doors down…was utterly destroyed. I called my brother in Saudi and told him there was a picture of our building on Fox News’s website (I hadn’t told him about the tornado yet).
Here are some videos of the damage to Stockton, Pierce City, and Battlefield:
Link Link Link Link Link Link Link Link
I was in 2 of the 3 areas with the most damage that day, and it missed me both times. What was supposed to be a fun Sunday, touring a few places that would become key to my next ten years turned out to be bobbing and weaving storms. What a day!
Unmet, or ill-met, expectations are some of the most frustrating parts of adulting. Sometimes we enter a day hoping for a day trip to the park and end up with massive tornado outbreak. Such is life. The longer I live, I more I realize that how we manage our expectations is critical to our happiness. The Apostle Paul discussed this stuff a lot. He didn’t sugar-coat/TV evangelist it at all. Here is what he said in Philippians Chapter 4:4-12…let it soak in (especially verses 11-12) before I do a big reveal of verse 13:
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
10 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”
So, how does Paul suggest we summon the strength to think this way? Pretty straightforward:
13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Paul knew the secret…he talked about it often. Christ and Him crucified was his key to his expectations. Life is hard. Adulting is hard. However, if we expect the unexpected…if we stay positive, but realistic…if we don’t count on “Living our best life now”, but lean in to the heaven that awaits, we will fix our expectations. We will be surprised and more thankful than ever when things go right, especially if we remember that bad stuff happens a lot, and sometimes really bad stuff happens. Maybe life has been too easy the last few years? COVID-19 put a stop on that for many with grandiose expectations.
I wish mom didn’t have the disease. I really, really do. I would trade her places in a heartbeat. However, I had a wonderful nearly 50 years with her and our hope was, and is still heaven. Is this too good to be true? It seems like it when I don’t remember the source of my strength, my faith and my future.
I hate storms. I am the disaster response/recovery person for my 17 counties. I get them…I really do. I do frequent presentations reminding people, even as it is sunny outside, to prepare for storms. Expect storms. Expect the unexpected. And, lean in to your Creator, not a tired Jedi knight, in your time of need.
#EndALZ
Update: No change with mom. She is happy as always. I look forward to the visiting ban being lifted. 🙂