5.04.2011

Sweet Home Alabama

As many of you know, much of the Southeast got hit by multiple tornadoes last Wednesday.
Alabama was hit the hardest.
I remember thinking on Wednesday morning (as it was raining), that usually the weather men overreact to storms and always freak out over storms. They were saying this was one of the biggest storms they had ever seen in their lives. 'Yeah. Okay...I'll go to the basement when it gets bad enough.'

That's what I did.
We then lost power for a few days.

I found out that the family that inspired mine to homeschool had lost their father.
I found out a friend of ours lost everything they owned.
I found out about friends of friends who had lost everything.
I found out about friends of who had LOST their friends.

I couldn't see the horrifying images of what had happened until Thursday afternoon. I nanny 3 days a week and the second I got to the family's home, I immediately turned on their television. (They had power.)
There it was.
Complete and utter devastation.
I was safe. I was sound. I was okay.
Others have lost everything.
The little cities around me were hit. They were hit HARD.
I'm talking about cities within a single-digit radius from me.

I'll tell you something...I trust the weathermen more than I used to.
I freaked out because I had no cell service during the storm and I couldn't check on my friends.
They kept calling out cities where my friends lived.
Thankfully they were all safe.

I can't say that for many, many others in the state.

Here are some photos of the areas around me:
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This past Sunday, I went to Brook Hills (The Church at Brook Hills) and Dr. David Platt spoke on 'Tornadoes and the Trustworthiness of God' (download video or podcast of this sermon here).
As usual, he made some really good points.
Here are a few:
-These tornadoes remind us that this world is unpredictable.
-Life is never safe.
-These tornadoes remind us of the penalty of sin which plagues all of us.
-These tornadoes remind us to repent and be reconciled to God.
-These tornadoes remind us of the sovereignty of our God.
-The sovereignty of our God is the ONLY foundation for worship in the midst of tragedy.
-God is with us.
-God is FOR us.
-God's sovereignty reminds us that Satan has been CONQUERED.
(many more wonderful statements like this are made...just watch the sermon. you won't regret it)

And this is what we all need to do:
-Pray (and praise!)
-Give (Laken over at Farmhouse has set up a way to give: here)
-Go (Hands on Birmingham is one of the many ways to volunteer)

This song seems to be going around...and absolutely fitting of the time:

We serve an awesome God. He deserves our everything, especially in the midst of tragedy.

3 comments:

mary kate said...

so glad to hear you are okay! the pictures break my heart everytime i look at them.

Annie said...

our thoughts and prayers are with the entire state ~ it holds a special place in our hearts since we have so many friends and family living there. i hope we can come together and help the cities rebuild and families move back into their homes soon... thanks for spreading the word about what's needed. we appreciate it!

Laken said...

This has been such a long week. Going to listen to that sermon now.

Glad you're safe!