Ed's note: Hope, Trenton and Doc Brian have taken up the slack for the temporarily defunct Yellowstone since Roger Thibault had his airplane accident on October 14, 2000. They started Mary's Yellowstone soon after the accident in an effort to calm the panic that those who'd been so dependant for so long on Roger's site were experiencing.
Their work has been amazing! They not only gave Roger's lost "flock" a place to come, but they now even have a thriving chat room where traditional Catholics can meet and support each other in these difficult times.
Hope and Trenton call Washington State "home" ... and so it was with great fear and dismay that all of us who know and love them (not to mention *rely* on them) absorbed the news of the Seattle Ash Wednesday Earthquake. Hope agreed to share her experience with us, and it's a powerful one. St. Michael is showing us all, through Hope, that he watches over us and protects us.
Hope, thank you so much for this witness! God bless you and please don't stop what you're doing with Mary's Yellowstone! We need you.
Trenton was in the kitchen, heating up some water in the microwave, and I was in my room working on the web site staring at the computer. My children were in their rooms with their doors slightly shut. A small jolt got our attention at exactly 10:54 am PST. This small jolt was not from the microwave nor from anything else inside out apartment, it was the apartment itself. Shortly after that our senses perked up and we detected an audible BOOM, and then the shaking began. Not in a fierce, violent shaking, but rather a crescendo that began like a moan from the depths of the Earth.
As I realized suddenly with the jolt and the boom, we were now heading into a full force earthquake. As I sat at the computer digesting in my mind what was occurring, I hear my husband holler, "What was that!" I immediatley respond, "EARTHQUAKE, GET INTO THE DOORWAY! Without thought we grabbed the children and stood perched into the doorway as the earthquake rolled through. I immediatley started repeating the prayer to St. Michael over and over again until the quake came to a stop.
We have the unfortunate luck of living on a third floor which adds to the tremendous movement of the earthquake. The earthquake did not start as a normal earthquake that I am used to you. Normally, previous intense earthquakes I have been through start with a big Jolt and is already it seems at its peak, unlike this one of 2001. The earthquake picked up in intensity as it hit and what seemed like forever the force and intensity grew. Once the quake peaked and started to come back down is when all the craziness begins.
Once the quake was through, my son approached the front door, and hollered to me that a few of our neighbors were freaking out and needed me. I dropped my thoughts and ran outside to let them know, "Yes it was an earthquake, not to worry, and I would be with them shortly." We grabbed our coats as it was cool outside, and flew down the steps it seems to the outside frontway. There we immediatley were trying our house phones and cell phones to make some calls. They were all down. My first thought was we needed to find out a little bit of really what had just occurred. I settled my neighbors down, they are all carrying their children and animals alike, I turned my car on for warmth and there the children and animals stayed warm. Meanwhile, Trenton used a two way radio to contact a co-worker to see what damage and if we could get word of what was happening or to happen. I attended to various neighbors coming out scared and not being able to use there phones etc. We were having difficulty with the reports we were getting and were trying to ensure everyone was alright at the same time.
My son of age 15, in trying to keep his head about him, chose to check our mail to give him something to do. He returns a few moments later with a package in his hands. Awhile ago, I had been informed that a friend had a relic of st. Michaels from the rock where he stood in Garabandal and that she knew that It was suppose to be in my hands. When I had questioned why, she said she did not know but that she had a strong feeling I needed it. To my surprise, in my hands was now the very St. Michaels relic that she had mentioned. I knew at that moment their was no coincendence here it was a God-incident, as now I understood that St. Michael was with us as we stood in the doorway during the quake calling on his help and he was letting me know by this Relic.
Never before had I had such a peace come over me. There was no doubt in our minds that God was sending a message, and yet at the same time, St.Michael was telling me that he was protecting us through it all. I always have my blessed Candle lit, sitting next to my statue of Our Lady and this candle had not fallen or budged and inch either.
When phone lines are down, people are scared, and reports are sketchy one does not always know what to do next. We started assessing the damage around and thank you Lord, minimal damage had occurred. Now the effort was to keep folks calm until we could determine to go back inside. As we prayed with eachother, talked things through and phone lines and cell lines came up we were able to gather more and more information, fears were set aside.
The reports were serious as there was a lot of damage, but remarkably not a single death from this great earthquake. I later asked my children their thoughts on this report, my daughter replied, "Mom, you said Our Lady warned of this!" This was true indeed, and we thanked Our Lord and Our Lady for protecting us and keeping us safe. I have no doubts that we were clothed by heaven during this quake and that it is a clear reminder to all, that we are in need of waking up and listening to the Lord. My son of 15, claims the event to be cool. Whether scary for us or cool for him, I do realize we were blessed to have our family together in such an event, and I will never ever take my family for granted again. We could have been separated and lost.
God Bless,
hope
JMJ