When I was a sophomore in La Junta High School the son of our Superintendent of Schools, Kent McCauley Jr. was killed. Kent was a good looking, friendly town boy who came to the big city of Denver to go to college. His life came to an end when lightning struck and killed him while he was practicing football. Most of the students in the High School attended his funeral because he was well liked.

From that time on I was scared of lightning.

After I went to live with my sister, Lois and her husband, Ray in Hedrick I discovered that Iowa lightning is very fierce. Because it is much louder it feels closer than lightning in Colorado.

Lois and Ray lived on a farm northwest of Hedrick in a big white two-story house. My bedroom was upstairs. One night I was sound asleep when a loud crash startled me. I was awake instantly and nearly wild with fear as the light flashed in my room. It was my first taste of Iowa lightning.

I grabbed the blanket and my pillow from my bed, nearly flew down those stairs and fell on the couch to try to sleep. Suddenly a bright flash came through the old-fashioned wall telephone and a peal of thunder made my hair stand on end. That stuff was following me, I was sure it was going to get me. I began to think I better hide under a table. Suddenly the rain started pouring outside. It was a long night. The next day everything was fine, but it was warm and humid.

As I was growing up I often slept outside on hot nights so shortly afterwards I decided to sleep on the cement back porch. It was cooler out there so I made up a bed in the open air and breathing the sweet evening fragrance I slept like a baby for a short time. That is I slept good until a loud crash woke me up. It was thundering and the sky was filled with light. As I lay there I heard a voice calling my name from the Heavens.

"Dotty, Dotty," the voice said. I cringed and pulled up the covers as the voice continued. "I am going to use you. You will work for me," it said.

I was scared to death. I scrambled out of that bed and bolted into the house.

I don't know if I ate too much for supper that night or what it was but 50 years later I still think I heard the voice of God speaking out of that lightning.

I haven't told anyone about the voice I heard that stormy Iowa night because I didn't want anyone to think I was a crackpot, but now that I'm a senior citizen I think I can talk about it. People will only think that I'm getting a bit senile. As I look back I realize that from that time on I was never too scared of lightning. I figured if God had something He wanted me to do for Him I wasn't going to get struck too soon by some deadly bolt of light.