Shaken

I was sitting at the computer in my kitchen reading an email from the church about the Wednesday night service. Tiffany and I were discussing the topic as she was picking up the top of my entertainment center. The next thing I knew the ground was shaking. And then the walls. Everything was rattling and I kept waiting for it to stop. And it didn't. I ran down the hallway covering the expanse of the entire house to get Dillon and it was still shaking. I didn't know I could run as fast as I did. I opened his door and he was standing in his crib screaming with the look of terror on his face. I scooped him up in my arms and ran to the office doorway so that I was near my niece. My heart pounding I asked her if it was still moving and she said yes. I thought it was, but I also thought I was crazy and my mind was playing tricks on me. It was the longest, hardest earthquake I remember and she and I were both shaking. It measured five point four. And it turns out that I live only a little more than five miles from the epicenter.

After it stopped, we decided to go out into the front yard - just in case. We sat on the front lawn trying desperately to call Jason and Susan but no phones were working. We sat outside for what felt like forever, but was really only a few minutes and decided that we were safe. The house was still in one piece. No sooner had we gotten back inside and the aftershock hit, this time it was a three point six. Again we made a beeline for the front yard. This time we saw quite a few neighbors mingling outside too. As we sat in the grass, I saw smoke rising in the distance, but not that far away. We heard the sirens of the firetrucks and after a bit the thick, black, billowy smoke dissipated. After getting phone calls from my brother, my mother-in-law, my dad, Susan and finally Jason we went back in to survey the damage. Nothing to bad - Our wedding picture and Jason's baby picture fell off of a shelf, our family picture fell off of the fireplace, a picture of Dillon was hanging by only one of it's two nails. Stuff fell of the closet shelf and out of the bathroom medicine cabinets. A bunch of drawers and doors had opened in the kitchen. My cereal bowls all fell over, but luckily not out of the cabinet. Some glasses also fell over and a corner shelf came dislodged. The worst damage was outside - a chunk of concrete fell off of the top of the fireplace and it looks like a brick or two might be loose.

Last night I hardly slept and my nerves are still on edge. With every little noise or creak, my mind decides that it's another earthquake. While I am not necessarily fearful of earthquakes, they still scare me a bit, who and I kidding? The scare me a lot. I know that God is ultimately in control of the situation and that brings me an unmeasurable amount of peace.