Taken for Granted

[00:00:00] After a harrowing experience, a reminder about the things we often take for granted.

[00:00:07] Tune in.

[00:00:08] Hello and welcome to MoMo634, The Daily Podcast Chalk Full of Faithful, Inspiration and Motivation.

[00:00:19] MoMo634, Motivational Moments, Just for today.

[00:00:42] Welcome to a new episode.

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[00:00:52] In the recent episode Early Warning Systems, I discussed that it's tornado season across many parts of Texas and the South.

[00:01:01] There are days with numerous warnings and advisories.

[00:01:05] Yesterday was one such day.

[00:01:08] Little did I know what the warnings would ultimately portend.

[00:01:14] We had thunderstorm watches and warnings all day, flash flood advisories and the like.

[00:01:21] In the late afternoon my oldest went to pick up his sister from work,

[00:01:25] and shortly afterward a tornado warning was issued.

[00:01:29] I've alluded to the humorous way our meteorologists teach about the difference between watches and warnings.

[00:01:37] And trust me, after the last 36 hours I will never forget the difference.

[00:01:44] They use the metaphor of a taco.

[00:01:47] A watch means all the ingredients are available.

[00:01:51] A warning means they're assembled and it's time to sit down now to the table to eat.

[00:01:58] So knowing my son and daughter were out there we followed their progress on their phones,

[00:02:03] telling them to take shelter if needed.

[00:02:07] We noticed our son deviated from his normal path.

[00:02:10] We later learned it was because the street he chose, though far slower than his normal path,

[00:02:16] is heavily trafficked because there are a number of stores in other words lots of places to shelter.

[00:02:25] They looked like they were going to pull off at one point,

[00:02:29] but later my son said, he saw a gap in the weather and since it was a few minutes from our home they went for it.

[00:02:36] My daughter, who suffers from extreme anxiety due to issues prior to our adoption of her,

[00:02:42] said the truck is they near to our home was shaking.

[00:02:46] She flew out of our SUV and straight into the room we used to hunker down in.

[00:02:52] Since it was the night we normally have midweek services, and of course services were canceled.

[00:02:58] We prayed in our shelter, listened to him's, red scripture, and kept an eye on weather reports and others in our church family.

[00:03:08] What we heard and saw was harrowing.

[00:03:12] One family from church was traveling with their three small children when they pulled over just like my son and daughter had done,

[00:03:20] except this location ended with smashed and flipped over cars.

[00:03:25] This family, however, went unscathed.

[00:03:28] They had to pull over again before ultimately making it home.

[00:03:32] This morning the news began blasting images, horrific images, my county declared disaster.

[00:03:42] The tornado was classified as an EF2, not the worst certainly, but with winds up to 120 miles per hour,

[00:03:51] not a walk in the park and not without a lot of damage and destruction.

[00:03:56] Many homes were without power for hours on end.

[00:04:01] Though our lights flickered several times, we never lost it.

[00:04:06] Though many had flying debris in their yards and damaged defenses and roofs, flooding in the like, we escaped.

[00:04:14] So often we take simple acts like flipping the lights on for granted.

[00:04:20] There were a number of things in the last 36 hours that I have learned not to take for granted.

[00:04:27] Just as recounted in the episode The Cycle, we know after God would show up in a mighty way and deliver them,

[00:04:34] the Israelites would often go back to their ways.

[00:04:37] I am prayerful that I never take these everyday mercies for granted ever again.

[00:04:45] All of this is the backstory for this morning's devotional reading of Psalm 91.4.

[00:04:51] If you haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, please do.

[00:04:56] Our meme for today says, we ask God for big things as we should, but we often discount the near constant daily blessings he bestows upon us.

[00:05:07] Let's change that, starting today.

[00:05:13] Thanks for listening to Momo 634.

[00:05:16] Motivational Moments, just for today.

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