Sirens were wailing as my little family of five huddled together in the basement. With both daughters in my lap, I wrapped my arms around them and held on tight. “Mommy, I’m scared,” my 7-year-old, Elise, confessed. “Yeah, me too,” my 4-year-old son, Casey, admitted. My husband, Eric, was entranced watching live updates of the storm on his phone.

“You know what?” I said. “Let’s just pray right now.” So, that’s exactly what we did. We prayed for a hedge of protection for ourselves, our family members and our neighbors. At my children’s request, we kept doing this until the threat was over.

This was the scene taking place at my house just mere hours ago. In that moment, it seemed so unreal. Was this really happening?! Surely God wouldn’t let our home be hit by a tornado … would He?

And then yesterday morning, I saw the reality we were dealing with. Schools were closed. Power lines were down. Bits of debris were scattered across town. But this paled in comparison to the destruction I saw near Indian Lake, about an hour east of where I live.

I watched a video of someone walking through Lakeview capturing the catastrophic damage in the light of day. It was both heartbreaking and horrifying. The news outlets had deemed it a “mass casualty” incident, meaning there was loss of life and severe injuries, as well as several people who had lost their homes and everything they owned.

I had thanked God for his protection several times that morning already, but as I began to take in the tragedy of what had happened in Indian Lake, I thought to myself, “Why them and not us?”

It was a chilling question, and I had seen the proof. Eric Anderson, the pastor of the Nazarene Church literally just down the street in plain sight from my house, had taken a video showing the forming funnel cloud still high in the sky, floating over our town. It was hovering up high over the heart of town and, thankfully, did not descend to the ground, but rather kept moving east.

I had seen the hand of God spare much of my community from severe harm … only to unleash the violent wrath of a deadly tornado on an entire trailer park and much of the community around it in Lakeview.

Of course, there is no answer to the question of Why? that we will ever be able to understand this side of heaven. The why and the how is out of our control, but what is in our control is what we can do now to help our neighbors. It’s what God told us to do. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2).

That’s exactly what I saw happen. Dozens of surrounding communities banded together, donating hundreds of supplies, from clothes to paper towels to diapers. The response was so strong and so quick that Indian Lake High School actually asked for a pause on donations. Their gymnasium was overflowing with supplies, and there was no more room! This all happened in less than 24 hours after the disaster occurred.

I have to wonder – were there others who had the same thought that I did. “It could have been us.” Perhaps that’s one reason so many sprang into action, serving and giving in whatever way they could.

That’s what it looks like to be the Church.

I’m so incredibly proud of my community and my region. Thank you to any and all of you who have already helped in some way, and please keep the victims, and those assisting in cleanup efforts, in your prayers. It’s going to be a long road to recovery, but we’re in this together, by the grace of God.

My church, Wayne Street Church of St. Marys, is organizing the collection and distribution of food, clothes and other items to the communities hit by the recent tornadoes, and we will be contributing monetary donations to the local relief effort as well. Many other churches and organizations are doing the same. Please pray for those affected and consider helping out in whatever way you can.