All Hail Broke Loose!

Last Saturday morning, we had the worst hail I’ve ever seen in my life!

I know it’s lame that I don’t have pictures, but it was honestly almost the size of golf balls.

The storm came through about 6:30 a.m. Of course the incredible noise woke us up. It took a while to figure out what was going on. It sounded like the slats to the back fence were being hurled at our windows. The whole house was under siege and being pelted from all sides. I finally looked out the window. What the hail?? It was unbelievable! By then a thick white blanket covered the ground.

Luckily the hailstorm didn’t last too long. All I could think of was the car parked out in the driveway and how helpless we felt.

We seemed to survive the storm, so I went to work and forgot about it.


A couple of days later I got an email from my neighbor who had had her roof checked by a roofer, and they needed a new roof!

So I had the roofer come to my house, and I need a new roof too!
The hail even chipped the brick on my house.
And the car?—it now has dimples. But the sun roof is intact.


As I drive around my neighborhood, there are no obvious signs of damage. But everyone I know who has had their roof checked needs a new roof. It's not enough to patch it; the whole thing must be changed. There must be a morality lesson in that.

What I do see in my neighborhood are a lot of signs for roofers, and trucks with roofers in them. Some of them are hail-chasers; they aren’t even from around here. But they know there is work here.


I thought about another storm in my life: an Arctic storm when trees fell through our roof.

I thought again about the lessons I’ve learned from storms:

They do pass.
They can cause damage, seen and unseen.
It’s better to assess the damage than ignore it.
It’s better to fix the damage sooner than later.
Things won’t ever be exactly the same; there always will be remnants.
Some things get better; some are just different.
Good friends are a great help.


We have other storms in life too. They can be financial, social, emotional, or physical.

Sometimes we can see the damage; sometimes it shows up later.

It’s better to fix all you can, and to have good friends to help.


And don’t ever forget the storms.

Be prepared.

Stay close to God.

Appreciate calm skies and sunny days when you have them.

For they too shall pass.