May 25, 2011

Even in the Storm

Available for hire: one experienced storm chaser and live shot reporter.

I woke up thinking about a 15-month old baby missing after the Midwest tornadoes. News reports say the father had used his own body to shield his son and wife but the tornado ripped the child away. Reports said the hospitalized parents were too injured to know their baby is gone.

So here I am again, ready to head back if I get an assignment. Why? Why give up comfort and security for a story? Why face danger for potentially no reward?

I grew up in tornado alley and went to work at a rural TV station after grad school. Racing down dirt roads, chasing funnel clouds, tracking a path of twisted trees and flattened corn stalks...just another day's work.

"Please don't go," said my friend Esther when I told her about my plan. 

"It's not the risk or the adrenaline," I struggled to explain. "I know the child's probably dead but there's something about that family's story..."

After reflecting a minute, Esther began to speak. "It's because the father covering his child with his body - it points to God," she said. "Even in tragedy, the father was there. The tragedy doesn't discredit the father's love. That is the true character of God."

A father's love - that is the story worth telling.  A love that cannot be quenched...even in the storm.

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