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Edith Ruffin is no stranger to disaster response.

She serves as the Vice President of the South Central Conference of Adventist Disaster Relief. When tragedy strikes, she springs into action.

This time, however, she had to depend on others to come to her rescue.

“I’m usually the one giving out the disaster assistance,” Ruffin said after finishing her boxed meal from Valley Grande Mexican Restaurant. “This time, I am the one receiving it. You have to sow your seeds so that you will get help in your time of need.”

Ruffin was home when a violent tornado, which formed minutes earlier, raced toward her home on County Road 63 in Plantersville.

Huddled with her grandson, Travelle Hunter, on the north end of her house, Ruffin was within a football field-length of where the two people killed.

While the two were fine, the trees blocked them from getting out of the house. They were there until about 10:30 p.m. when police officers knocked on the door for a welfare check.

A couple of hours later, those seeds of giving paid off. Dallas County Sheriff’s deputies and Sheriff Mike Granthum were able to kick in the door to help the family escape.

“The Sheriff was the one who came to the door and got us out there,” Ruffin said. “We are so thankful that they were there, and that we survived the storm.”

And even after she got out of her home, she was already thinking of others.

“I told my neighbors if they need anything to let me know,” Ruffin said. “So, I am going to go get a load of shoes and other things as soon as I get the chance.”

While others are helping move trees out of the way so she can get out of her driveway, she is using that time to reflect on God’s provision.

“Without a doubt, I know God brought us through this,” she said.