Little Sioux Boy Scout Ranch

I have been through many severe thunderstorms in my life. I've heard the tornado sirens go off several times. Once, while we were in Missouri, there was a massive storm that produced 97 confirmed tornados in about a two day period. Through all of that, I have felt an air of invincibility. Maybe because I have been through so many without every being really scathed, I have just thought of these storms as part of life and no big deal.

Today, though, I am accutely aware of my mortality and the devestation that can come with a tornado. The boy scout ranch in Iowa where four scouts were killed was the same campground where I stayed last week. The building where the chimney collapsed and the four scouts were killed? That was the building were I had worked on crafts only days before. When we had storms at night, we used that building as our "safe" place to gather all the girls in. Those campers could have easily been me or any of my precious young women.

How grateful I am that we were protected. While at the time, I knew we were taken care of because the storm had split around us, I think I didn't then fully comprehend the horrors that could have occured. I can only imagine how I would feel if any one of those teenage girls that were in our care had gotten hurt or killed last week. My heart goes out to those parents who sent their children to camp and never got to see them alive again. I will keep them in my prayers.