What Would Dorothy Have Done?

It seems that Miss Lilly has been invited to Homecoming and for the past week she has bribed, begged and harassed me about going dress shopping.

Finally I ran out of excuses and took her to the mall on Friday after school.

Believe it or not we hit pay dirt in the first store we tried. She found a dress that was exactly what she wanted; short, purple with rhinestones on the straps and approved of by Mom. It really looked beautiful on her but in order to make sure there wasn't an "even better dress" out there we walked down the mall to look in one more store.

As I sat in the dressing room my husband called my cell phone to tell me we were under a tornado warning and his buddy the storm chaser said it seemed to be "the real thing!" About that time they announced over the Department Store loud speaker, "The city has just issued a tornado warning, please take shelter immediately or exit the building."

As you can imagine panic ensued, at least for my daughter. She began wailing, "I need to go back and get that dress!!"

The other customers were hurriedly walking toward the exits but we made a beeline back to store #1. Even if it meant being wiped out in a tornado there was no way I was going to take a chance we would ever find another dress that would be acceptable to my "particular" daughter.

As we walked the length of the mall it struck me as a really an odd scene. You could hear the announcement repeating the instructions to seek shelter or evacuate, and yet the guy at the spa kiosk was continuing to hand out samples & people were still waiting in the smoothie line. Maybe our quest for the dress wasn't so absurd after all!

We finally reached the store where the dress was being held and apparently they had not heard the announcement. Neither the clerk nor the other customers knew anything about a tornado warning.

I made Lilly stop at a table on the way out of the store because they were handing out $10.00 cash coupons for every $50.00 you spent. When the woman at the table tried to get me to stay and shop some more (in order to earn another coupon) I had to tell her "As much as I would love to there is a tornado warning and I must get home to my children. Priorities you know?"

With dress (and coupon) in hand Lilly and I ran across the parking lot and jumped in the car. By then the sirens were blaring and the rain was pounding. Traffic was heavy, as it was rush hour anyway and everyone just wanted to get home!

Finally we pulled into the driveway and a short time later my husband arrived home. Sirens continued to go off for about another half hour as we all watched the rain and clouds shift in the sky. By then we knew the tornado threat was over and we were relieved to have everyone safe and together!

For the rest of the evening my husband and I played in the rain with the kids, Lilly called everyone she knew (in order to brag on her dress), and my college girl (along with her boyfriend) came into town for a visit (completely unaffected by the bad weather).



Looking back I would say Friday night was just another ordinary piece of the puzzle that makes up an extraordinary family! A simple reminder of how blessed I am!!

"Who am I, my Master God, and what is my family, that you have brought me to this place in life? But that's nothing compared to what's coming, for you've also spoken of my family far into the future, given me a glimpse into tomorrow, my Master God! What can I possibly say in the face of all this? You know me, Master God, just as I am. You've done all this not because of who I am but because of who you are—out of your very heart!—but you've let me in on it"
2 Samuel 7:18 (MSG)