[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
March 31, 2023 was just another normal Friday for Annsley Garner, as for most people in Little Rock \u2014\u00a0until it wasn\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n THE DAY OF: \u201cIT SOUNDED LIKE WE WERE IN A BLENDER IN A CAR ACCIDENT\u201d<\/b> After her peaceful reflection, she went to sleep and was later woken up by the sounds of alerts on her phone and sirens in the city.<\/span><\/p>\n On Facebook, she found a video informing viewers that a tornado had touched down. \u201cIt was at Chenal, and it was heading towards Rodney Parham and then Reservoir,\u201d Annsley recalls. \u201cAnd then in my head, I was kind of like, \u2018Well, that means if it keeps going the same direction, that I\u2019m next.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Annsley lives with her sister Kippin and their two dogs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Kippin wasn\u2019t home when Annsley woke up, so she grew worried.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo I called her and she was like, \u2018I’m at the dog park, but I\u2019m leaving,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cIt was a very long 10 minutes waiting on her to get home.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Kippin returned in the nick of time. Annsley quickly got everyone in the downstairs bathroom, put pillows over their heads, and kept watching the weather reports.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd then the news lady was literally circling our neighborhood. And then the power went out. The door flew open in the bathroom. The house started shaking. It sounded like we were in a blender in a car accident at the same time. And it lasted like 8 seconds, and then it stopped. […] And so then we came out, and everything looked okay on the bottom floor. […] And then when we went up the stairs, I noticed this huge hole in the ceiling in my living room, and all the insulation falling all over the furniture, and water coming in, because it was pouring rain. And I just remember thinking, \u2018well, that is not good.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_video src=”https:\/\/fbclr.blob.core.windows.net\/kaitygraphics\/20230910_-_annsley_garner_god_story (1080p).mp4″ image_src=”http:\/\/fellowshipadev.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Annsley-Thumbnail-1200×628-1.jpg” play_icon_color=”#FFFFFF” _builder_version=”4.22.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_video][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.22.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n THE DAMAGE: IF HE TAKES CARE OF THE BIRDS\u2026 Now, all those trees are gone.<\/span><\/p>\n Well, all but one.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe left the bird feeder here and the tree that the birds sit on, so […] I thought of, like, that He even takes care of the birds. So, why would He not take care of me?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Matthew 6:26, \u201c<\/i><\/b>Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/i><\/b>Not only was she thankful for the reminder from Matthew, Annsley also knows circumstances could have been a lot worse. <\/span>\u201cComing out for the first time, I just felt grateful that what had happened there didn\u2019t happen six feet this way to the house when we were in it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n She adds that while the scene was shocking and \u201cvery traumatic to look at,\u201d her eyes have adjusted in the months since, and she has the perspective that \u201cother people had a lot more damage, and I was blessed to just have the hole in the roof and that\u2019s it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery gallery_ids=”27601,27596,27597,27588,27586,27589,27585,27593,27594,27591,27590,27592,27599,27595,27600,27598″ fullwidth=”on” module_class=”lwp-arrow-color” _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” width=”75%” max_width=”75%” module_alignment=”center” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_gallery][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n THE CLEANUP:\u00a0\u201cDIDN\u2019T EVEN HAVE TO ASK\u2026\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cSomeone in the [D-Group] had texted in our GroupMe like, \u2018is everyone okay?\u2019 And I just sent one picture, and I didn\u2019t say anything else,\u201d Annsley recalls. \u201cAnd then I lost service. Um, and it was the picture of my roof.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Before she knew it \u2014\u00a0and before she even had the chance to ask \u2014\u00a0members of her Discipleship Group (D-Group) were arriving at her house to help clean up.<\/span><\/p>\n Actually, they arrived about a mile away. The neighborhoods were blocked off, so they walked a bit to get to her house and then immediately hit the ground running. \u201c…they just started doing things without me even telling them to, which was like really relieving, because I didn\u2019t know what to do,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Annsley was overwhelmed with gratitude. \u201c[It] felt like a gift from God that they came and started taking pictures and stuff for me and just like being my brain because […] I still hadn\u2019t eaten from like 48 hours ago, because I worked and then went straight to sleep when I got home. [I] didn\u2019t have my teeth brushed; my hair was a mess, and all sorts of stuff. I was in my pajamas. So it was very comforting to have like familiar faces that went out of their way to, like, come straight here \u2014\u00a0even before they went to their own houses, because some of them couldn\u2019t even get into their own neighborhoods.\u201d In that immediate aftermath, Annsley says, \u201cI couldn\u2019t have even known what to ask for.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Starting on the day of the tornado, and then for a week and a half straight, her friends consistently showed up to:<\/span><\/p>\n Annsley felt the weight of their self-sacrificial service. \u201cI know that their life, you know, didn\u2019t stop. They still had jobs to go to or things to take care of.\u201d Thinking back on that time, she says the one word she\u2019d use to describe her D-Group is <\/span>\u201cthere.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n AN UNEXPECTED BLESSING<\/b><\/p>\n Much like in the early days of the pandemic, when quarantine prompted many folks to spend more time outdoors on walks and meet their neighbors for the first time, so it was with Annsley during this time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThings just all worked out in a way that I couldn\u2019t have orchestrated. And this isn\u2019t something that, like, I would have planned at all for my life, but I got to know my neighbors better,\u201d she says. \u201cLike I know every one that lives in all of the houses. […] I feel like we all went through something together that I would have never met them or, you know, cared about what they were going through, unless this happened.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/b>POV ON COMMUNITY: A RELUCTANT ROLE REVERSAL <\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For the entire year prior to the tornado, Annsley had welcomed her friends into her home for regular D-Group gatherings. \u201c…I felt like it was a blessing to get to host them here and cook for them and serve them and become close with people.\u201d (This was a far cry from two years ago, when she didn\u2019t even want to <\/span>be<\/span><\/i> in a D-Group, let alone host <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> lead one, something she never expected to do.)<\/span><\/p>\n So, Annsley said she certainly had a fun community of fellow believers in which she was regularly engaging, but it took this citywide natural disaster for her to feel its value in such a profound way. \u201cI was used to taking care of them. I don\u2019t really like to be taking care of myself. So it was a little like a role reversal and that I guess I needed to learn something, and I did.\u201d She adds that it broke down her resistance to asking for help. \u201cIt\u2019s okay for you to not always be the one taking care of other people.\u201d Indeed, on the other side of a traumatic event, Annsley has realized that a D-Group serves as a built-in support system, ready to be mobilized whenever a member is in need.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n More than that, though, has been the realization that community is God\u2019s design. \u201cAny time you\u2019re thinking, or I\u2019ve thought, \u2018I\u2019m better off by myself,\u2019 that has just been a lie from the devil,\u201d she says. \u201c[…] you might be able to be alone and things are going good, and you might be able to be self-sufficient on a normal day. But on one of the worst days of your year? […] if you don’t already have that network or community built up, then it might feel unbearable. And God doesn\u2019t want us to be alone, He wants us to be in community.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Annsley\u2019s word to the wise? Join a D-Group, \u201cbecause you never know when a tornado might hit your house.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":" March 31, 2023 was just another normal Friday for Annsley Garner, as for most people in Little Rock \u2014\u00a0until it wasn\u2019t. THE DAY OF: \u201cIT SOUNDED LIKE WE WERE IN A BLENDER IN A CAR ACCIDENT\u201dThat morning, Annsley had come off of one of several night shifts in a row at the University of Arkansas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":16,"featured_media":27848,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[494],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-written"],"acf":[],"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"link","format":"url"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fellowshipar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fellowshipar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fellowshipar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fellowshipar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fellowshipar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fellowshipar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fellowshipar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fellowshipar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fellowshipar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fellowshipar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/span>That morning, Annsley had come off of one of several night shifts in a row at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), where she was an Anesthesiology Resident Physician at the time. \u201cI got off work at 7 a.m., came [and] sat on my deck \u2014\u00a0which I almost never do\u00a0\u2014\u00a0but I sat out here, because it was really nice [\u2026] the sun was coming up, the birds were chirping, and I just prayed and thank[ed] God that I got to live here. And it was so beautiful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
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Annsley described their back deck pre-tornado as \u201ca peaceful sanctuary.\u201d Annsley and Kippin keep it regularly adorned with several potted plants and vibrant flowers. It sits above a steep dropoff, and there were so many lush trees densely packed together that one couldn\u2019t see any of the houses that were across the ravine.<\/span><\/p>\n\n