Today was move out of the dorm day. Due to the old saying, "Like Mother, Like Daughter" it required one mini van, one Honda civic and one Infinity SUV to unload one-half of a very small dorm room. It also required one father, one boyfriend and one very tired young lady to make a dozen or so trips from the third floor of Carter Hall to the said vehicles. Once the keys had been turned in, the young lady and boyfriend went with me to eat pizza for dinner. After enjoying our food, they had to make a quick trip back to his apartment to ready it for the next tenants. I on the other hand was ready to go home! Before I left the parking lot of the pizza place, the radio came on with breaking news, a tornado had touched down in Rogersville, which is just northwest (18 miles or so) of our home. My location was southeast (16 miles)of our home.
I immediately called and told my "baby" to be safe and listen to the news and please not drive if the weather was very bad. She assured me she wouldn't. I continued on my journey, with the radio announcer coming on every minute or so and giving the weather update and to remind people they should be seeking shelter. It was at this point, I began praying. Not that I hadn't already sent up a quick plea that my children would be safe, but I began to realize I was headed straight for the storm. I was praying I could get home before I met the storm.
You can see where this story is going. I was about 10 miles from my exit when the hail, and rain became so heavy, cars were pulling off the road. I debated, but I was afraid to sit in the van on the side of the road. When I came upon an exit sign, I decided to get off the interstate and see what shelter I could find. Naturally, it was an exit without any regular establishments. You know, McDonald's, Gas Stations, Burger King, etc. It was dark, raining very hard and I couldn't see one place to pull over to for shelter. When I had just about given up hope, I saw a building and two people standing on the front porch. I wasn't sure what the nature of business was, but I decided, if I was going up in a tornado I didn't want to go alone! :0)
I pulled up almost onto the porch and jumped out. They were standing there and talking about the tunnel looking cloud that was in the sky. They looked at me and said something about it possibly being a tornado. I told them the radio had just said one had set down not too far and was headed this way. The next thing I know, several other people come out of the building and one has a camera. I'm standing there thinking, shouldn't we be inside? I can't remember all the rules on tornado safety, but standing outside on a porch taking pictures of it as it goes by, is not one, I AM SURE! One of the ladies could tell I was pretty shaken and she came over next to me and asked me if I was ok. I told her I was, but would it be ok if I went inside? They were so nice. It turns out, I had stopped at a small BBQ restaurant, Phil's Dream Pit. They were closed and were cleaning up. I asked them if I could wait for a few minutes for the storm to go on by. They offered me something to drink and began talking to me. I realize they were trying to take my mind off of the torrential rain hitting that tin roof. It worked. The storm went through quickly, lasted maybe 20 minutes total, but I will be forever grateful for the crew at Phil's Dream Pit and their kindness as they provided shelter from a very scary storm. As I got back in the van to leave, they told me to come back and have dinner. I assured them I would!
Turns out, they have a web site and if you click here you can see a picture of the beautiful front porch and tin roof and that sweet couple standing in front of the building were the ones that provided a comforting word to a stranger.
Hebrews 13:2 (New International Version)
2Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
Phil & Dianna Pipkin Owners
Thank You!
XOXO
Theresa
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