A little hope in the midst of tragedy.

"With all the chaos and destruction to hit Oklahoma in the last few weeks, I thought it a good idea to bring to light a shining moment of courage and perseverance in hopes to show at least one shining moment of goodness to come out of this heartwrenching story.

This last Friday, May 31, 2013, while Hell was reigning down on the emotionally and physically crippled state, the attack on the small town of El Reno was especially violent. Tornados ravaged the tiny town, leaving swathes of devestation scarring the landscape.

As one of the tornados, seeming more like a angry giant with a mind of it's own and a personal vendetta, chewed it's way across the small community, it crossed the major Interstate 40, and set its sights on the OKC West Stockyards, located on the old Route 66 highway. At the stockyards was the best food in town, found at Gilmore's Kitchen. In that small restaurant with the big reputation, business went on as usual.

That wouldn't be the case for long. As the monstrous multi-vortex monster came baring down on them, the employees of the kitchen found themselves hopelessly stranded in it's path.

Instinct led them to crowd into a small supply closet under a staircase across the hall by the small hair salon. Coming together and thinking of each other rather than themselves, they packed into the small space, barely large enough for two grown men and a child at best(There were SEVEN of them), and created a "Human Lego" stack, holding each other together and playing music off of a cell phone to keep spirits up and have something to focus on instead of the sounds of chaos swirling around them, and to calm the nerves of those in the closet, which were on the verge of breakdown... a sea of emotions sending some into a near state of shock at their situation. Though only one song would play, they listened. And prayed. And prayed.

And He heard them. As the massive structure around them, built to last, built of good steel, came crashing down around them, as it was ripped away from around them and carried off into oblivion, that staircase held steadfast. Almost as if it knew it purpose. As if it knew it's destiny was to protect those mothers, and brothers, fathers, and sisters from the Hell around them. God would not let them be taken... not today. Not His children.

What makes this story especially amazing to me is that, although the staircase itself was made if solid, strong steel, the walls were mere half inch thick sheetrock with little more than a couple boards holding it up. The door was a hollow balsa wood door, the kind which a child would have little trouble putting a hole through. One of the sheetrock walls, in fact, was seperated from the stairwell, allowing the occupants of that would-be tomb a direct view of the beast tearing at them. They could actually see the tornado overhead. Though He couldn't protect all that day, he did cup his hands down over them and keep the Hell around them from consuming every last one.

These are my friends. Some of them as close as family. And I am still thanking God for sparing them that day. Mary Yelton, Tracy Szymanski, Chanel Daniels, Micah Renshaw, Amber Higgons, Shelton Bryan III, and Chuck Schauwandt.

I drove 14 hours to get home to El Reno when I heard of the disaster, and upon arriving at the site where the Stockyard once proudly stood, I saw the faces of those who had survived the event. As I was thanking God for every face I recognized, I saw something that really struck me at the core. There was a broken tree standing in the grassy knoll in front of the debris. Someone had found an American flag and driven it into the top od the stump. This was such an awe inspiring sight, that I saw two different news channel camera crews set their equipment up to record photos of it. It may just be a battered little flag, which probably presided over the pencils on someone's desk, but in it new home atop that tree stump, it took on a new meaning. It showed that no matter the Hell and devestation they faced, this small community. .. MY community... would persevere. They had too much heart not to..."

This passage was written by my friend, John. It describes what his friends (and close 'family') endured on Friday, May 31st, when a violent twister hit his home of El Reno, Oklahoma. When I first read this last night, my mouth dropped. Not only at these people's story, but at just how well-written and beautiful it was (he asked me to forgive the typos; he typed this from his phone, I believe). How perfect I could picture everything in my mind (not just the fact that I've been there and know what it's like), those people crowded into that small room, hanging on for their lives. I've gone back and read it several times, and tear up every time. This guy should be a journalist or writer. But more importantly, it speaks of his passion for his hometown, and his love for his friends and family, and how they will rise up, dust themselves off, and start the process of rebuilding. I'm still very saddened by those who were lost in the storm, but so thankful, because it could have been much, much worse. 

If you took a minute or two out of your busy lives to read this beautiful story, you have my thanks. I was asked to help spread this story around, to show that amidst all the tragedy lately, there is a glimmer of hope. A happy ending where there are so many dead-ends. 

And these people continue on.....