Tornado Extension

We were just talking about how this spring has been a little more quiet than others - that is to say, there haven't been the extensive tornado warnings that we sometimes get.

And not much later on, we heard the sirens.  We haven't heard them in a while, but loud and clear.  And pretty ominous too.  The weather was sunny and cool for most of the day, although we started things out with a heavy downpour.

But just before Madison was supposed to come home on the bus, the sirens were blaring.  Daddy checked out the radar, and down in Alpharetta there was a pretty bad patch of weather.  In fact, we saw some photos of a tornado near the Mall of Georgia - Daddy was outside checking out the swirling darkness looming above.

So with all that going on, the ensuing schedule got completely messed up.  The kids were kept at the school, rather than risk any trouble out on the roads in the school buses.  Madison admitted she was scared, although not as much as others!  Their teachers read stories to the kids in the hallway safe zones.  The parents waiting in the car line were all brought inside, along with the bus drivers.  And for one hour, they waited it out.  And everything turned out okay.  Throughout the area, there was wind damage, trees down, and hail damage too.  Thankfully, we didn't see any more hail - I can imagine those roofing companies are jumping up and down with excitement!

But we were very blessed.  Madison came home about an hour later than she usually does, ready to tell us all about it.  Did you know why I came home late, she asked?  We let her tell us, and we gave her a hug.  Daddy and Mommy had been watching the radar, so we were never really too worried about the storm.  Slightly concerned, but as we watched the storm move northwest, we saw that things were going to be okay.  And elsewhere, though there was a lot of hail, it seemed to be okay.

It was too late to go to ballet.  We're not even sure if there was ballet tonight, as Hall County was under similar warnings.  But we could not have made it due to the delay at school - so that's that.  We're cool!

The rest of the day was not very eventful, comparitively speaking.  We finished all the piano homework and are ready for class tomorrow.  We also did some writing for homework, and some math tests.  Madison is doing so well with math - she got all her math problems right in a timed test.  Smart kid!

Here's our next entry in the element-themed devotional:

“You are the salt of the earth.” Matthew 5:13 NIrV

SODIUM

Na 11

     Chances are, you’ve eaten something with sodium recently.  You’ve probably washed with it too!  By itself, sodium is a soft, silvery white metal.  But when chemically combined with other elements, you can actually make a bar of soap!

      But the easiest place to find it naturally is in a compound called NaCl.  That’s just fancy talk for salt.

      Salt is pretty important stuff!  The ocean is filled with so much of it that if you were to remove the salt and put it on dry land, it would make a layer about 500 feet thick.  That’s the height of a 40-story tall building!

      Salt is used for many purposes – to heal, to preserve, and even used as payment.  The word ‘salary’ actually comes from the Romans, and how they were paid.  And of course, it’s used on food too!

     Some time ago, Jesus called us the salt of the earth.  Did he mean we were like something that could be added to food?  No, not at all!  Consider what salt can do:  it is used to help heal and preserve.  It has value.
     But suppose it loses its saltiness.  At that point, it’s pretty much worthless, right?  It can’t heal and it can’t help.  It might as well be thrown out.
     What Jesus was saying is this:  don’t lose your saltiness.  Don’t stop helping people.  Don’t stop healing them.  Don’t stop praying for others.  Don’t stop studying His word, and stay fresh. 
     You are the salt of the earth!