Song of the Ovulum Book Review

This review contains slight spoilers but nothing that should ruin the story for you.

Synopsis
It has been fifteen years since Billy, Bonnie, and the rest of the gang discovered the truth about their dragon heritage and went on a dangerous and amazing adventure. After saving the word and even other worlds with it they thought it was finally time to settle down and live the rest of their life in peace. Unfortunately, they were wrong.

The world put up with the idea of dragons and humans with dragon traits for a while, but soon began seeing them as a threat. Now the people enslave all those with dragon blood, leaving these old heroes separated from their loved ones, or imprisoned and tortured.

After struggling through turmoil in foster care, 16 year old Matt joined military school where he proved to be one of the best. Now a strange man comes up to him claiming Matt has dragon traits and asking for help to save Matt’s parents he never even knew he had. Can Matt use his military training to help these odd people who are supposedly his parents?

Lauren, after going through foster care herself, finally had adoptive loving parents and a seemingly normal life. In one night all that crashes around her when a winged man and ghost-like woman capture her and destroy everything she knew and loved, claiming she has a mysterious gift that they need use of. Something she does not even know about herself.

In a tight, secure base the characters struggle to release their loved ones and put right all the wrong that was done. But is it possible within a base filled with guards, guns, spotlights, and even tanks?

From Bible times to present day, odd humans with even stranger special traits, old foes and new, faith and newfound love, and a raging battle against dragons and high-tech machinery, Song of the Ovulum is a fast paced novel you will get dragged into immediately.

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Summary
Song of the Ovulum is a contemporary, Christian, fantasy novel and is the first book in the Children of the Bard series, a continuation of the Dragons in Our Midst and Oracles of Fire series by Bryan Davis. This series takes place fifteen years after the last series ends, introducing new characters while also reuniting with old.

If you have not read the Dragons in Our Midst and Oracles of Fire series I highly suggest you do before picking this book up. While there is a summary of the last series in the back of Song of the Ovulum there is still some confusion that might take place for the reader. Nearly all the old characters return while very many mentions from old events are referred to. Besides, the other series are fantastic! A review for the Dragons in Our Midst and Oracles of Fire series can be seen two posts under this one, in the ‘Book Reviews’ link on the side, or you can click Here.

Plot
As the synopsis suggests, Song of the Ovulum is mainly set in a high secure, military base specially designed for imprisoning dragons and “anthrozils”, humans with dragon traits. While many old characters appear, the main characters you see are Matt and Lauren as they try to help the others free Billy, Bonnie, and Ashley (three anthrozils themselves) from this dangerous prison while attempt not being captured themselves. Not only is this a near impossible task because of the many armed guards, fences, and spotlights, there is also unearthly villains stalking their paths and causing much trouble.

While the heroes in present day are going through great lengths and struggles within the dangerous facility, the story also jumps back to Bible times, starting all the way to a couple of days before the flood. Here the reader is introduced to Joran and Selah, a brother and sister who are known as Listeners, having the unique ability to make barriers from song and music with the use of a special lyre. They know that the flood is coming and are dreading being swept up into its waters and drown with the rest. Both are quite surprised when they are instead swept inside a strange object known as an Ovulum, a glass orb of sorts. As the siblings attempt to find their key of escape from this curious place, they step through events in time, from the great flood to medieval days all the way to the present, learning many lesson with each step.

Just as all of Bryan Davis’s other stories, this book pulls the readers in immediately and will not allow them to let go. Excitement, danger, heartache, and love are all woven into Song of the Ovulum that makes one beg for more.

Characters
Being a continuation of the other series, Song of the Ovulum brings in many old characters as well as introduces new ones. I found this most exciting. I got a thrill every time one of the old characters appeared and kept anticipating seeing more and more, they were all as lovable as before and make for wonderful story telling. Then you have your new characters. Bryan Davis proves his amazing talent for character making once more. I loved every single new character introduced right from the start and that love just grew more and more as the story continued. Mr. Davis never makes for flat characters, which is one of the many reason why all his stories as so wonderful.

The villains introduced, old and new, were just what I want a villain to be, scary but intriguing. Bryan Davis does not make your run-of-the-mill villains. From a winged-man, an ancient mad scientist, to a near ghost lady, the readers are captivated by these strange people and absorbed into the story wanting to know more and more what these evil beings’ plans really are.

Other Material
Song of the Ovulum is a Christian story with many Christian values written expertly within it. The biggest theme of this book is God’s great mercy, and is told in a beautiful way that brought tears to my eyes.

The love the characters showed one another in Dragons and Our Midst and Oracles of Fire was one of the greatest reasons I loved those books, and this series is proving to be no different. Such self-sacrificing and willingness to do anything for one another helped put that same passion within my own heart.

I loved this book intensely, and it was amazing to see all those characters I love so much back again, but there is one thing negative about it. While it is great to read about all the characters again and have even more books from the Dragons and Our Midst and Oracles of Fire series, it is also rather sad. After reading the last series I think most readers wanted the dear characters to finally live ‘happily every after’ after all they had been through. Unfortunately, that is far from what they got. While, yes, I was glued to the pages and hypnotized with the story, as well as squeeing for joy every time another old character made an appearance, I was also rather sad throughout it for their sakes. Nevertheless, I still highly suggest reading this new series if you enjoyed the others.

Appropriate Ages
Though love and mercy flow within the pages of Song of the Ovulum, this book is filled with imprisonment and suffering, making it not the best read for younger ones. Though not seen often, there is much mention of ‘science’ experiments done on the anthrozils and torture in the terrifying prison. Things get rather intense as the characters attempt to sneak around the secure facility. Then you have guns, tanks, and fire breathing dragons battling together.

I am making this sound graphic, it is not really, but I would not suggest it for young people. Teens and adults alike, on the other hand, will find it most enjoyable.

Just as the Dragons and Our Midst and Oracles of Fire series, I would suggest the very least be 14 years in age.

Conclusion
Bryan Davis did it again, bringing back his old beloved series and making it new and exciting. This book was spectacularly written, with an exciting plot and amazing characters, old and new. If you have read the Dragons and Our Midst and Oracles of Fire series and enjoyed them then Song of the Ovulum should be your next book purchase.

I cannot wait for the next book!!

Random Musing – Time Wasting in a Trillion Years?

Since I am me with all my randomness (which is a lot, let me tell you), I thought occasionally I will have sessions called ‘Random Musings’ where, you know, I post one of my many, many, many random musings that pops into my head. So here is my blogs first Random Musing.

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So, the other day I was watching one of my most favorite TV shows, Doctor Who. In this show they travel through time. In one episode there was a mention of the year 5 billion, so that got me thinking, say the world goes on for trillions and trillions of years. Okay, the world is really old, we have robot servants (that will of course become too smart and enslave mankind some years later, naturally), hovering cars, and toothbrushes that brush your teeth in your sleep, cool, but here is my thought…

What on earth do they do when someone asks the year? Say the year is 5135237972234? Let’s picture this for a moment.

Random dude named Dudevarlio (this is the future, of course their names are different) who is trying to write the date on a check: “Hey, Boblarg, what is the year again?”

Random robot named Boblarg: “It is the year five trillion, one hundred   thirty-five billion, two hundred thirty-seven million, nine hundred seventy-  two thousand, two hundred thirty-four, duh!

Dudevarlio: “Oh right.” *Begins writing date on check*

Ten minutes later.

Dudevarlio: *Hands check to cashier*

Cashier: “You put five trillion, one hundred thirty-five billion, two hundred thirty-seven million, nine hundred seventy-two thousand, two hundred thirty-three on the year; it is five trillion, one hundred thirty-five billion, two hundred thirty-seven million, nine hundred seventy-two thousand, two hundred thirty-four.”

Dudevarlio: *Facepalm*

Do you see the problem here? Tongue twisters and time wasters to the maximum.

Eventually, if God chooses to keep Earth around that long of course, there are going to be way to many numbers in the year. What will people do? All of everyone’s time in the future will be taken up just trying to say what year it is. New Year’s celebrations will have to wait as the new year number is being called out because it could take five minutes to even say the year.

Can you picture it? The clock strikes midnight and someone calls it, “Hurray! It is the year five trillion, one hundred thirty-five billion, two hundred thirty-seven million, nine hundred seventy-two thousand, two hundred thirty-five!” *deep breath*

Everyone else: ZZZZzzzzzz….

Yeah, this could be a problem.

Maybe they could just say the single numbers, as in: The year five one three five two three seven nine seven two two three four. That takes a little less time, but it is still rather difficult.

So, what do they do?

Nothing, there are robot servants and self-working toothbrushes, who cares about the year?

Dragons in Our Midst/Oracles of Fire Series Book Review

This review is near spoiler free and should not ruin your reading experience of this series.

Synopsis 
When Billy discovers he has dragon genes and finds that dragons slayers still exist in the current modern times, he is thrust into an adventure that changes his life forever.

Bonnie has known of her dragon past for a long time, and has suffered greatly for it already; but when she transfers to a new school her life takes an ever more dangerous turn and is never the same again.

A boy with the ability to breathe fire. A girl with astounding dragon wings on her back. A crazed dragon slayer who will stop and nothing to kill them. Why do these humans have dragon genes in the first place?

Amazing adventures, puzzling riddles, impossible mysteries, endearing characters, and a strong faith that takes them every step of the way—the Dragons in Our Midst and Oracles of Fire series are definitely not something you will want to miss out on.

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Summary
The Dragons in our Midst/Oracles of Fire series is a contemporary, Christian, fantasy series set in 8 books written by Bryan Davis. The first four are known as the Dragons in Our Midst series, while the last four changes to Oracles of Fire. Though the name changes halfway through, they are all still very much one series and not something you would want to read separately or stop halfway through.

Now, you must know, I read a lot and love many books, but this series is, without any doubt, my absolute favorite of all time. I am not even sure I can put in one review how good these books really are, but I shall do my best.

Plot
One of Bryan Davis’s most gifted talents is being able to weave a plot. Many stories we read are often very cliché and predictable. Sometimes it is too easy to guess what is going to happen next which makes for boring reading. Bryan Davis has no such fault. His plots get so utterly deep, impossibly complicated, and near heart-pounding exciting that you will find yourself staying up at atrocious hours turning page after page (I know I do!). There is no cliché plot to be found in this series nor is there anything predictable about it. These books are not something you grow tired of because it is not moving on quickly enough or your just getting wary of it. Each turn of the page brings yet another wave of excitement and mystery.

Material
As far as material of the plot, this series has quite a range of interesting things. Though I read like a mad person, I am actually very picky with what I read. Firstly, I want clean books, but also I really do not like much else but fantasy. I am not big on things set in the real world or in modern times, preferring captivating fantasy worlds with enchanting creatures instead. Yet the Dragons in Our Midst/Oracles of Fire series is set in the real world and modern times. So why do I love it so much? Well, because these books are just too amazing for words!

As the name obviously suggests, dragons are a very big part of this story, and what’s cooler than dragons on Earth in modern times? Then you have humans with dragon traits. I mean, a girl with dragon wings? Wow. Why do people have dragon traits you ask? You have to read the books to find out, silly. Anyways, other than the greatness of dragons (I am a huge dragon fan, by the way), there is a good deal of Arthurian Legend woven into the story, to which I am very fond of. Connecting King Arthur to modern day people is a very interesting plotline. You even have a great deal of epic battles and swordfights, and did I mention Excalibur?

There is also the factor that these books are not strictly fantasy, there is also a little bit of sci-fi thrown in that gives it a very interesting flair. If, on the other hand, you are not a sci-fi sort of person, I assure you that you will still enjoy these books. I will tell you a secret, I rather hate sci-fi myself, or at least I used to (I’ve very recently delved into a bit more now), but that did not waver me from my love of these books in the slightest.

One of the biggest things that kept my interest was the fact that these characters are not actually on Earth throughout the entire series. You read that right, there is actually a number of most intriguing places they visit all throughout it.

There is just so much fascinating material in this book that I could probably go on and on about it, but as to not completely spoil it I will stop here.

Characters
Personally, I think that when writing one should make their characters strong, lovable, and all around liked by the majority of your audience. I have to say, Bryan Davis did this better than any author I have ever known. There is not one character in this entire series of books (and there are many characters) that I do not like, no, let me say love. Each character, though completely different and utterly unique, is just as lovable as the other. Their strong faith and love for one another makes you cry every tear they cry, sympathize with their losses, and smile at their victories. Not once have a read a fictional book with such endearing characters as these.

As mentioned before, this series has quite a few characters throughout it. Like most books, it does not have just one or two main characters. Nearly every character introduced eventually has quite a large part within. Though Billy and Bonnie are the main characters from the start, others take the limelight as the series moves on. The entire series is not from the point of view of a single character. Throughout it nearly everyone gets their point of view. Most of them are often in different places and adventures of their own, so this keeps it exciting, while also keeping the reader interested and not growing bored.

Other Material
What I really love about this series is its messages. Being a Christian series it brings much heartwarming and faith rising. The love and faith of the characters helped strengthen my own love and faith. It taught me many great things and helped strengthen my relationship with God. There are such great messages woven through it without it sounding the least bit preachy.

Length
I am probably not the best judge on lengths of books. I like long books and series. I am the kind of crazy person that thinks Lord of the Rings is a perfectly fine size and love its length. I want things to be long, especially if I love them. Personally, I think this series is the perfect size. Each book ranges roughly around 100k words each, with 8 books in the series. It is probably not something you will read just within a couple of days, yet it is also not something you are probably going to spend a year reading either. I say for an epic series like this, they are the perfect size—not short, but not so long that you are growing utterly wary of reading them and ready for something new.

Appropriate Ages
There are quite a few battle scenes and many swordfights within these books. Evil villains, dangerous creatures, and hazardous scenery throw the characters into many death defying perils. While these things make the books greatly exciting, I would not recommend them to younger children. Not to mention the complicated plot and length. In the first book, the characters are 14 years old I believe (but do grow older as the books go on), and that would probably be the youngest I would read them.

Though the series is made for teens, I personally believe adults will also adore these books just as much as their children. These are no little kiddie books or silly teen novels. This is an in-depth story that can tug the hearts of many.

In conclusion, around 14 and up would be my suggestion.

Conclusion
With its complicated plots, lovable characters, excitement, and amazing adventures, the Dragons in Our Midst/Oracles of Fire series is worth every penny and more. You will find yourself delving deep into the adventures, caring greatly for the characters, strengthening your faith and relationship with the Lord, and wanting to read these books over and over and over again. Bryan Davis is an astonishing author that can weave a story like no other.

If you are looking for something to read, this series would be my number one pick.

If you are interesting in this series the books go in the following order-

Dragons in our Midst-
1)Raising Dragons
2)The Candlestone
3)Circles of Seven
4)Tears of a Dragon

Oracles of Fire-
5)Eye of the Oracle
6)Enoch’s Ghost
7)The Last of the Nephilim
8)The Bones of Makaidos

And trust me when I say, you are going to want to read them in that order.

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I recently read this series for the third time through because Bryan Davis has started a continuation of this story and characters’ lives that takes place some years after these end. My excitement upon hearing this may have resulted in jumping up and down and squealing like a four year old. This new series is called Children of the Bard and the first book, Song of the Ovulum, has already been released. Once I have read it, I hope to write a review.

This was my first book/series review to write, so I hope it was helpful and made sense. If you like how I sectioned it or think I should add something please let me know. Comments are always welcomed.^_^

Navi – My Beloved

I am a terrible blogger, I really am. You actually have to blog if you are going to have a blog and I have only made three posts since I made this in March. I need to do better. I shall try my best.

So, on that note, I am going to blog about the love of my life: My Dog.

Yep! I have a toy poodle named Navi (pronounced with a short A, not long like Navy). Navi is a grey female poodle who is spoiled to no bounds whom I love to death.

We have always been dog people, not once in my life have I ever lived and we not own at least one dog (usually many more than one). The thing about that is, you never have one of your own, they are always just family dogs. I love dogs, and having family dogs is great! But one day, four years ago, I got in my head that I wanted a dog of my own. Not long after this thought, a Saturday in May that year, my parents came home with a dark colored, fluff ball in their possession. My very own dog. Not only that, a poodle, my favorite breed of dog.

I was ecstatic, to say the least. My mom said when she went to go look at a group of puppies a lady owned, this one just stood out to her and she knew it was the one. She had no idea how right she was.

At first Navi was a bit quiet, natural for a young puppy in a new home and with strange people. It did not take her long though to adjust; within about three days, she was as hyper and rambunctious as ever. My biggest problem was a name. I am known to be the biggest worst decision maker ever, not that I make bad decisions all the time (hopefully), but that I am terrible at actually making the decision. I take indecisive to a whole new level. Not only that, but I have an odd obsession with names (I even own a baby name book just because I love looking through it). Names are very important to me and I always want them to be good. So having to make a permanent name for this dog was quite a dilemma.

I had always been fond of the name Lacy and thought it would be a cute name for a dog, but this dark-colored poodle did not look much like a Lacy. After scrounging through my baby name book and driving my family crazy asking for suggestions and in my indecisive mode every minute, I finally narrowed it down to two.

The Legend of Zelda video games are some of my most favorite games there are. In one, there is a girl named Midna, in another there is a fairy named Navi, and thus those were the decisions. (Yes, I can be a geek at times.) I thought Midna seemed like a pretty neat name, but it sounded a bit more harsh than Navi and not quite as cutesy. So, after much quandary, I settled on Navi. My parents to this day still do not like that name. I do not think they like all the made up, fantasy-type names that I love. But I had finally made a decision and wanted to stick with it. Navi would not be Navi without being Navi. Hehe.

Only within probably a few days of having her, Navi became known to be the “Navi Monster” for she was most hyper and often appeared to be a fuzzy little monster. As one friend put it, “She is sweet but bad.” That was Navi for you. Adorable and very sweet and cuddly, but she was also not trained yet and could make a lot of trouble if she set her mind to it. Nevertheless, I loved her with all my heart.

As time went on, her bad habits went away. She proved to be very, very smart and really did not give me any more trouble. My love for her only grew more and more. We became bonded. A bond so close I did not even know it was possible for a human and dog. She came to be known by many different nicknames—Nav, Nav-Nav, Navi Monster, the Navigator, Navi-gator (like an alligator), the Navi-gator under the bed, ect.

When she was little, she used to sleep in a crate in my room. I do not remember when the change transpired, but after a while, the crate was put away and my bed became hers. I had always loved the idea of sleeping with a snuggly dog all my life, and I finally had one. Navi still sleeps with me every single night. I cannot even sleep well if she is not there.

Eventually, the dark hair started to lighten. Growing lighter and lighter the older she became. Finally, the little Navi Monster became a lovely silvery poodle, rather dainty in her ways. With her long legs and somewhat feminine ways, she often made us think of a deer. She really became quite beautiful.

I was very pleased with her color, having not really seen many grey poodles before. They were apparently somewhat rare, so her color was a pleasant treat.

Navi’s personality did not take long to grow. First of all, she became so spoiled that I refer to myself as her slave instead of her owner, and enjoy every minute of it! For example, each night around 8 or 9 she takes on a paralyzed state, as in, she refuses to move and walk to bed and instead I must carry her to bed, which, of course, I acquiesce to every time. As mentioned before, she sleeps in my bed, usually taking up more room than I do somehow, and my room is often referred to as her room.

Navi’s strongest and most amusing trait is her deep, deep, deep passion for food, our food in particular. I am Navi’s most loved person, but when there is human food within her reach or someone is eating it is as if I did not exist. It is hard to put into words how much this ridiculous dog loves food. Come meal time she is sitting right next to us giving her puppy dog eyes, very, very intently. Her concentration cannot be broken while food is nearby. This dog has literally learned how to squeeze tears out (or perhaps they are real tears…) while begging for food. Her begging methods are like no other…and it always works. Usually a third of my meal ends up in her stomach and not mine. Food is almost always her only train of thought, chicken especially. I have never seen anything she will not eat save for one, A1 steak sauce. For some unexplained reason she cannot stand A1 steak sauce. But she sure makes up for it with her love for everything else.

Navi’s life consists of sleeping, eating (lots and lots of eating), and being petted. Barely ten minutes of the day goes by without Navi being petted and pampered by one of us. It is a common thing around here to say, “Oh, I wish I were Navi.” Like I said, spoiled. But I would not have it any other way!

The strange thing about Navi is her hatred for everyone else. She loves all of us just fine, but whenever a visitor comes she gets very upset. She cannot stand others. She makes me look bad because she is so mean to other people. No one knows how wonderful she really is because she is so untrustworthy of others. I find it odd since all she knows is humans that love her. I would assume she would see others as slaves to pamper over her as well. That is far from the case though.

We all decided after Navi had grown older that she was not a dog at all, just a human trapped in a dog’s body. We had never seen a dog that was capable of being so expressive. She could say so much with just one look; it is never any question what she wants or is trying to tell you, you just know. She is also very intelligent and, I believe, thinks herself to be the queen (of course, she probably is). She has taken on a status of one of the family and not just a pet. Every night we all pray together, and when our parents call us to came pray she is the first one up, having learned the words, “Time to pray.” She eats with us at each meal time (of course), and is just all around the fourth child. Although I, being her owner, am her ‘mother’ while my brother and sister are the ‘uncle and aunt’, and our parents are of course the ‘grandparents’, and we often refer each other to such when Navi is around. We talk to her like any other human (me especially), and you just know she is listening, and often it seems like she is responding. So no, Navi is not just a dog in my eyes.

I love Navi so much just her scent fills me with a sense of comfort. She is like my child; I never knew it was possible to love a dog so much as I do her. And my love for her is very much returned. Navi has this way of being perfectly snuggly and sweet. When we pet her she responds with love of her own. She makes me feel so very loved. I don’t know how I ever survived without her.

Destruction and Light

I have felt really bad that I have not written anything in ages. I did not know what to write about. Well, I finally have something to write. And it is quite something.

As you probably know, tornadoes have swept across a good bit of America causing destruction in their wake. Over 100 have hit, causing terrible havoc and damage. Entire neighborhoods are nothing but rubble now and many lives were lost. We had are own bit of destruction.

Wednesday, April 27th, it was a somewhat stormy day, though I had no idea a great tornado was rushing towards us. That evening, our mom told us we needed to come downstairs. I did not think the weather was that bad, it was really just kind of rainy, but it was a good thing I came. About five minutes after we congregated downstairs, our ears started to feel this really deep pressure in them, like we were going up a mountain. We all huddled in a little hall under the stairs, which seems to be the safest spot in the house during storms, and then, around 6:30 that evening, it came. As the pressure in our ears just grew worse and worse, this large swooshing noise sounding from outside, loud and terrifying. We huddled there with fear as a great tornado rushed past our house. We could hear its destructive power and even feel the floor vibrating. It was a terrifying moment, but it truly only was just a moment for it came and gone in seconds.

My older brother and I got up to look out the back window and were surprised at the mess it made. We had no idea. Our dad told us to look out the front, and so we did. It was a most shocking sight. Our entire front yard was completely destroyed. We live out in the country surrounded by trees, but every big tree out there was on the ground. There was so much destruction it was hard to take it all in. Our fence was a bit torn, we had no clue what happened to the trampoline for it was no where in sight, fallen and broken trees covered the entire area, we had a tree house that is now a pile of broken wood, it was shocking. The worst part was that our long driveway was completely and utterly covered with trees piled up very high, so much that it was impossible even to walk to it. There was no way to get out if we needed to.

Within seconds our front yard turned from this-

To this-

While this used to be my window’s view-

I now see this-

The most amazing thing, though, was that the house really got no damage. A screen porch on the side got a bit torn and a small bit of siding came off the house, but other than that it stayed perfectly intact. Not even one window busted. My Paw Paw (my dad’s father) is quite the carpenter and actually built the house some years back. I have to say, he really did a wonderful job!

The other amazing thing was our van. Right in the midst of all that destruction it sat, most would think it would have been totaled.

Trees surrounded every single side of it, yet not even the faintest of scratch can be found. The trees were literally inches away from it, but it still stands in perfect condition. My dad’s truck was also fine. The Lord really took care of us!

Where we live there is family—grandparents, cousins, uncles and aunts--all around us within walking distance. We were terrified some of them may have gotten hurt after all that. Unfortunately, there was of course no power, no phone service, and our cell phones kept going dead when we tried to call. But it was nearly impossible to get anywhere with all the mess. Somehow, my dad and brother hiked and climbed through all the trees, brush, and rubble, with a bit of drizzling rain making their climb harder, to go see if everyone was all right. Amazingly, everyone was. We even had a cousin in a trailer and he was fine! There was tons of destruction, but no one was even injured.

The next morning was beautiful. It was amazing to see the blue, blue sky and sun shining after all the destruction of the previous night. It was also much cooler than it is normally this time of year, making the work everyone was going to have to do much easier. It was going to be a busy day. We knew we were going to have to have a clear driveway. If there was any form of emergency we would not be able to get out. Most everyone else, though had great destruction around their house, still was not quite as far down in the woods as we were and could get out. We, on the other hand, could barely leave the house. Thus the work began. Paw Paw, being a carpenter, has all sorts of tools for situations like these, so if something like this had to happen to us, we were certainly blessed. It was amazing. Dozens of people came to help clear away the driveway, family, friends, and, strangely, others no one even knew who were. Something that I suspected would take about three days to clear, was cleared out by two o’ clock that day! There were so many hands helping, it took no time at all and we once again had a driveway.

But there was still havoc everywhere.

My Maw Maw and Paw Paw’s (my dad’s parents) house got a couple of broken windows and most of their chimney tore off. The biggest thing that got destroyed was their garage-

A rather large tree fell right on top of it. Thankfully, it did not fall on the house! The house is on the left there, so, as you can see, it was very close. The garage falling is a bit of a joke now though, for my Paw Paw planned on pulling it down anyway. He got saved some work.

A cousin of mine and his girlfriend were in a trailer near Maw Maw and Paw Paw’s house when it happened. It is a complete miracle they were okay-

A tree fell on it, the back is greatly torn, yet they were perfectly fine.

One of my great uncles was in a very old house which got some really bad damage, even the roof in the bathroom was torn off, but he was fine.

Some other cousins’ house got deeply destroyed-

Out of everyone around here, they seemed to have gotten the most damage. The back is torn, the inside is ruined, it is unlivable. Yet, again, they were all perfectly fine.

It amazes me how something so quick could cause so much damage. We all saw that God is most definitely powerful, but it also showed He is merciful and loving. From no tree falling on our house down to not a single scratch on our van, I saw how amazing he really is. He truly loves us; more deeply than any of us can even fathom.

No matter how terrible, how destructive, how hopeless, how dark things may seem, the Lord is always there. He is shining His light upon us, and, no matter what happens, I know He is caring for us. Even after the storms swept through and it seemed all was lost, God showed us His light and the hope, mercy, and unfathomable love he brings.

Over all the destruction His light shined down on us; a promise of His love.