It is being considered the worst year of tornadoes in history. So far, there have been four F5 tornadoes (the highest power rating), and eleven F4 tornadoes. About 875 tornadoes formed in April, which makes it the most active month ever (the previous record was 542 tornadoes in May of 2003). The "Super Outbreak" of tornadoes on April 27-28 spurred a record-breaking 312 tornadoes in one 24-hour period. One of those was about a mile wide and traveled for almost 300 miles across Alabama and Georgia. Then, less than a month later, an enormous F5 twister destroyed the Midwestern town of Joplin, taking more lives than any other tornado in more than 60 years of record.

With these staggering facts about this year's tornado season, we can still see the hand of the Lord upon His people. We received the following testimony from a sister who both remembered her family and even her neighbors in her prayer during a desperate time.

First I want to say "what a wonderful God we serve, and HE IS a present help in a time of trouble!" The other day, I got a phone call from my mother-in-law, telling me to get to the basement because there's a tornado watch in effect. As soon as I got off the phone, I headed to the window to see black clouds rolling in, and heard a noise like thunder that didn't end.

I got my kids together (I have four, ages 4, 3, 2, and 1) and took them to the basement, which also happens to be the playroom. At first I didn't want to scare the kids, so I told them that I was going to play with them for a while. Within thirty seconds the lights went out, and my kids were screaming. I pulled them all to me as I sat on the floor, and told them that a really bad storm was here, but if they prayed to Jesus, He'd make everything okay.

I started to pray out loud that the Lord would send the storm around us, and our neighbors would be okay. My two oldest ones (Paul 4, and Mary 3) started to cry out loud for Jesus to "keep me safe...keep me safe from the tomato!" (I had a chuckle over that).

We sang some songs for a while afterward, until I thought it was over. As I stepped out my front door, I saw a beautiful rainbow and my first thought was of "God's Covenant." I had no way of knowing, at first, what had happened, but my neighbor came to tell me that a tornado had touched down less than half a mile away, right along our road. Then it just jumped over a field and went around us! Another neighbor asked me later on if I realized that that tornado just missed us, so I told him I did, and that my kids and I had prayed for that very thing.

There is no doubt in my mind that God heard our prayers, sent the tornado around us, and He also kept our neighbors safe. There were several houses and barns damaged, but no one was hurt. They said on the news that they were "amazed that nobody was hurt." I just wanted to pass on this praise testimony, and say "Thank you, Jesus!"