Earthquake

How crazy was yesterday's earthquake in Virginia?!

My husband is a San Diego boy and we lived in California for the first 12 years of our marriage.

I've lived through this:

The 1992 Landers earthquake was a magnitude 7.3 earthquake that occurred on June 28, 1992 with an epicenter near the town of Landers, California. The quake was described at the time as the largest earthquake to have occurred in the contiguous United States in 40 years. At 04:57 local time on June 28, 1992, a large quake awoke much of Southern California. Though it turned out to not be the so-called "Big One," it was nonetheless a very powerful earthquake. The shaking lasted for two to three minutes. Although this earthquake was much more powerful than the 1994 Northridge earthquake, its location out in the Mojave Desert meant that damage and loss of life were significantly less than what they could have been. (Wikipedia)

The morning of the Landers quake I awoke from my bed feeling the earth ROLL under my feet. It was terrifying! I was a Midwest girl who had sought shelter from many tornadoes in her lifetime, but there was no preparing for this. My natural instinct was to run! I ran screaming and grabbed my sleeping two year-old out of her crib. I ran to the front door and stood screaming in the doorway. From there I watched the earth roll under the street and stood glued in my spot as the power lines swayed ominously. I didn't want to be INSIDE, but I didn't want to go OUTSIDE either.

On the other hand, my husband, who had lived through many quakes, awoke as I ran frantically from the bedroom and looked up to see if anything on the wall would fall on his head (his first response from a near-miss as a child.) As my hysteria continued he thought, "Well, I guess I'll have to get up!" Such compassion! Needless to say, I was shaken after that earthquake. An aftershock later that morning made my washing machine "walk" toward me and I was hysterical again.

It's only funny now.

All over the local news and Facebook people were talking about yesterday's 5.8 quake in Virginia. The big question - where were you when it happened? Uh...in the bathroom. How embarrassing! As the house started to shake, I thought calmly, "Oh a quake!" I thought I'd just wait it out. Then it really started to shake and I thought about the structural issues of our townhouse and blurted out loud, "Oh, Lord, please, don't let our house come down!" I ran down the stairs shouting for my family members who had already congregated in the backyard. My husband exclaimed, "That was a good one for Virginia!" (like he was so proud of our state!) He makes me laugh. I was again shaken and started crying, "I HATE those things!" I was not so proud of our state!

Earthquakes are a poignant reminder that our life is not our own. At a moment's notice it could change and I was reminded again about priorities. At the dinner table we talked about the spiritual condition of our neighbors and felt the impetus to do more in sharing Christ, because we just don't know when things will change. Sometimes a natural disaster is good for reminding us that God is in control. I'm so glad I KNOW HIM and can TRUST HIM, no matter the outcome.