Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Home and Religion
Gratitude, Amidst Angst and Empathy, in the Storms Aftermath

Gratitude, Amidst Angst and Empathy, in the Storms Aftermath

Last updated on: March 17, 2025 at 4:20 pm by Teresa Nichols

0 Comments

Gratitude, Amidst Angst and Empathy, in the Storms Aftermath 2025-03-17T16:20:30-04:00 Teresa Nichols

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

AI Generated photo of multiple tornados on the ground.

AI-generated image of multiple tornados on the ground… This sadly became a reality for many families during the March 2025 Storm outbreak. ~ Image created with PIXLR-image-generator by author.

As I awakened this morning, it was with a heart full of gratitude, though it seemed I barely rested at all. The impending warnings of possible tornados and damaging winds for the night before, made it extremely difficult to sleep soundly.

You see, for many days, the news was pre warning residents in multiple states that a terrible weather pattern was taking shape. Conditions were gearing up for it to be unlike anything we had ever seen in our lifetimes. This storm was predicted to be catastrophic, encompassing the possibility of hundreds of tornados, and very high wind speeds along its path.

While this storm did cause major destruction, and loss of life, which truly breaks my heart for those affected, my hometown was spared. So, with mixed feelings of sadness for those suffering, and gratitude for having been spared, I am writing my story.

Map of March 2025 Predicted Storm Path ~ Heading Straight for my hometown in Upstate SC. | Image courtesy of NOAA.gov.

“Eerie Parallels: This Forecast Mirrors a Past Storm Prediction”

Alarmingly, this storm was heading directly towards my hometown during the overnight hours. This awakened memories from another time, not so long ago, when tornados followed a very similar path, hitting our area with a EF3 tornado. This took place on April 13, 2020. The timeline was also familiar as this tornado touched down at 3:21 a.m. and dissipated at 3:36 a.m. The devastation from that night has not been forgotten!

Nor have I forgotten the gratefulness I felt for God’s protection amidst the horrific scenes that we awoke to on that fateful day! On either side of my home, and the homes of my children, family and friends, the tornado tore a path of destruction through my hometown. It made it feel like I was seeing something from one of those scary movie scenes about tornados, but this was the real thing. Indescribable images remain in my mind, and some of the evidence of this tornado touching down remains even now.

“A Resounding Feeling of Uneasiness Ignited an Urgent Call: Pray Without Delay!”

Nerves were on edge as I watched this storm form almost exactly as predicted in Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas on Friday. Saturday had it continuing along the devastating path through Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia with its sights set on the upstate of South Carolina, where I call home. The timeline had it arriving between the hours of midnight to approximately 7 a.m.

As I busied myself throughout the day, I would whisper little prayers for the storm to dissipate, while simultaneously hoping for forecasts to be wrong. By the late evening however, the urgency to pray more boldly was on tap.

Obediently, I held the hand of my sweet one year old granddaughter and walked around outside my home praying! As we walked, I prayed specifically over her, my children, other grandchildren, parents, siblings, friends and family. I also held my Bible with little Lincoln and called out names, asking Jesus to protect us all.

“I Asked Jesus to ‘Calm the Storm,’ and He Answered!”

While this storm did cause major destruction, and loss of life along it’s path, my hometown was spared. I knew throughout the night that Jesus was indeed answering my heartfelt prayers, as well as those of so many others. The storm dissipated dramatically and was reduced to thunder and lightning, rain and wind. Nothing like was predicted!

So, with mixed feelings of sadness for those suffering, and extreme gratitude for having been spared, I am sharing my story, my testimony of God’s faithfulness!

“Gratefulness Overwhelms Me”

The storm’s fury raged, as predicted for several days, leaving me untouched physically and materially, but deeply moved nevertheless. As I look around at the familiar comforts of home, I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for God’s protection. But that thankfulness is also laced with the awareness that not everyone was so fortunate.

There’s a strange tension between overwhelming relief and sorrow—a pull between gratitude for safety and empathy for those whose worlds were turned upside down. The desire to share my praise, mingles with an urgency to pray, asking Jesus to help those facing loss and heartbreak.

“Is It Callous to Proclaim God’s Goodness Amid Others’ Pain?”

As I tried to steer away from writing about this topic altogether, my heart kept returning to my immense feelings of gratitude for how Jesus heard, and answered my prayers. Jesus protected me! Jesus also protected my family, and my friends! But, was it wrong to share praise while so many others were in pain?

“Jesus Prompts My Heart to Share His Faithfulness”

The dilemma had me thinking that maybe the timing wasn’t right for sharing praise. However, every time I thought of not writing about it, I felt a nudge, guiding me right back to it!

The thought occurred to me that Jesus was questioning my willingness to obey. It was like a gentle whispering inside my soul, asking, “Teresa, Will You Praise Me?” And the real questions became:

Am I willing to Praise Him after the storm?
Am I willing to be bold?
Am I willing to testify of His goodness to me?
Am I willing to tell the world all about His Faithfulness toward me?

I felt like I was being tested on some level. Could I, or would I, give my testimony, proclaiming Jesus as the one who protected me through the storm?

I suddenly sensed that maybe, just maybe, the enemy of my soul, didn’t want me to give this heartfelt praise to My Savior! The deceiver is sly, but not sly enough, as I recognize his tactics and I choose to not let him win. Not today Satan! Not today!

“A Shift in Perspective Became Crucial”

As I pondered my own turbulent feelings, I began to think of those who were in the midst of dealing with the worst parts of the storm. Many lost much, no doubt! Yet, surprisingly you’ll often hear them speaking gratitude for God’s protection, in the worst of times. Without a doubt, the importance of “material things” has taken a hind seat along the way.

Perhaps the significance of truth hits home at some point along the way. The realization must arise as an inevitable fact, their lives have been spared, while others were not. That soon becomes the focus that they cling to, and emerges as the thing of greatest overall importance. Hence, an unusual feeling now takes root. In the midst of it all, gratitude emerges within their hearts quite unexpectedly!

It’s true that none of us may never understand the answers for why things happen as they do, I believe it’s imperative that we give credit where credit is due!

“Thoughts of Past Trauma Stir Once More”

Again, visions from the devastating tornado of 2020, stirred feelings of dread and concern, as another storm was likely on its way. The damage from the past storm was horrific and as I mentioned before, and the landscape was forever changed as a result of that event.

2020 ~ Easter Tornado in Seneca, SC

Map of tornados during April 2020.

Map of 2020 Violent Weather… one of these tornados devasted my hometown in Seneca, SC. Photo courtesy of TheAustinMan – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,

A Wikipedia ar ticle lends credence to the devastation of my past, and I am sharing a couple of excerpts here:

“…EF1 damage continued as the tornado approached and crossed Brown Farm Road and Radisson Road. Damage rapidly became more severe and widespread as the tornado continued to the northeast and moved into more populated areas in the southwestern part of Seneca. Reaching EF3 strength, the tornado first struck a BorgWarner plant at the end of Evalona Drive, inflicting major structural damage to the facility and scattering large amounts of debris throughout the area. A security guard on the property was killed when the concrete-block guard shack he was in was obliterated. A block-foundation house in this area was also swept away at high-end EF3 strength, and a vehicle parked at this residence was blown into the basement. Other vehicles were flipped or damaged at the plant, and the large letter “B” from the BorgWarner sign was found in the yard of a residence in Liberty, 18 mi (29 km) away.”

“The tornado was on the ground for 15 minutes, traveled 16.71 miles (26.89 km), and reached a maximum width of 1,000 yards (910 m). There was one fatality and five injuries. Damages in Seneca alone were reported as being in excess of $100 million. This was the strongest tornado to strike Upstate South Carolina in over 25 years.”

{Author’s Note: Brown Farm Road is directly behind my home. Radisson Rd is directly in front of my home. The block house swept away, and BorgWarner mentioned in the article are both within 2-3 miles of my home. All 3 of our married children’s homes are also within that same radius– Scary night for sure!}

“Immense Gratitude Still Fills My Heart for God’s Protection from that Particular Storm”

I still recall the amazement of how the storm seemed to lift up, right above our home that night. The next morning, we couldn’t leave our driveway to go left or right until trees were cut and removed from the roads. Gratefulness doesn’t truly describe the emotional feelings from those memories!

Simply put, I know just how much worse it could have been! And to be completely honest, I am all the more grateful now! Our family has grown, with the addition of two precious grandchildren, and we have shared 5 more blessed years together! We looked for, and found our gratitude back then, and I still feel it emphatically today! Grateful beyond measure, is all that I can say!

As I conclude my story, I’m grateful for the reminders of God’s provision through my life’s experience with storm devastation. The parallels with those affected by this current outbreak are many. For me, it confirms that I should share this story. Maybe this will help others see hope in the aftermath, and reason to look and hold onto the good.