I live near Omaha, in southeastern Nebraska. If I ran to the basement every time I heard a tornado si-ren go off, I’d never get anything done. So when a siren wailed one Friday in June, just two days before Father’s Day, I didn’t pay it much mind. I wanted to get my dusting done before settling down for the day. Besides, it wasn’t even raining, with barely a cloud in the early-evening sky. Maybe they’re testing the system, I thought. They do that a lot around here.
Asher, our 12-year-old grandson who lived with us, winced at the insistent wail. “Are we going downstairs?” he asked.
I looked out the window, the sky still blue. “Let me do a little more work,” I said. “Then we can get a snack and go downstairs and turn on the TV.”
“Maybe we should pray?”
I nodded but stubbornly polished a spot on the bookcase. Truth was, I’d been feeling spiritually stuck lately. I used to wake up early every morning and devote the first half-hour of my day to prayer and Scripture reading. But it had been months since I’d prayed intentionally. I barely opened my Bible anymore.
It’s not as if I were angry at God. I’d simply fallen into the habit of checking my Facebook feed first thing in the morning, then checking my e-mail. By then it was time for breakfast with my husband, Jake, seeing Asher, getting the chores underway.
Over the din of the siren, I could hear another sound, distant yet unmistakable. A speeding freight train. There were no railroad tracks anywhere near our home.
Continue reading your story on the app
Continue reading your story in the magazine
The Legacy of Flight 93
An Army officer remembers his cousin Rich Guadagno and the other 39 heroes who died in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 11
The List
After two divorces, did I really know what I wanted in a relationship? Did I even know who I needed to be?
“God Will Bless Your Business
George Turner was sure the pandemic would spell the end of his struggling bike shop. His pastor had other ideas
The 46th Peak
We decided to do this last hike of the challenge together. Partway down, I heard my husband scream
Challenge Yourself to...Connect More!
Eager to emerge from the loneliness of lockdown and socialize again? We’ve put together a list of 15 challenges for reconnecting with the people you care about—and making new friends too. Focus on a few activities, or pick one each day to try over the next two months. Pay attention to how your relationships flourish!
Reason for Hope
I feared my son would never get off drugs. Until an art class changed my heart
Pistol
He was the dog I always wanted. But he came with baggage, a little like me
ALONE WITH MY FAITH
The pandemic left a lot of us feeling isolated. Including me. But it opened the door to something deeper in my music and in my soul
Brought Together
How two strangers found friendship and healing as they came to terms with the legacy of slavery
70 Years of Hope & Inspiration
Elizabeth Sherrill’s life as a writer has been a journey of the soul, a journey that also became the very soul of Guideposts magazine
Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti Incoming
WHEN NVIDIA OFFICIALLY announced its Ada Lovelace architecture, it revealed plans for three graphics cards: RTX 4090 as the king of the hill at $1,599; RTX 4080 16GB as the step-down prince for $1,199; and the RTX 4080 12GB at $899. To say people weren’t pleased with the pricing and specs would be an understatement. Nvidia “unlaunched” the 4080 12GB, stating that “having two GPUs with the 4080 designation is confusing.”
Becoming more flexible
A love letter to the most versatile gadget around
Razer Basilisk V3 Pro + Mouse Dock Pro Bundle
Is this the peripheral combo your desktop needs?
RAPTOR LAKE GETS A REFRESH
Intel to get one iteration in before Meteor Lake
GIGABYTE EMBRACES ARC
ANOTHER GRAPHICS PARTNER FOR INTEL OFFERS SUPPORT
LG'S CURVED BEAUTY
240Hz of gaming perfection
New GeForce Cards
Three new ones have landed, plus a retread
Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Red Leader, standing by
Need for Speed Unbound
The venerable racer returns in zoomer regalia
THE RETURN OF V-CACHE
Ryzen set to reclaim gaming CPU crown