The last thing I was expecting was to come in from the beach late afternoon to crazy storm reports to my current home in Birmingham,AL. At first I didn't think anything of it, because southerners are uber paranoid it seems of storms. Sometimes I wait for a darkish clouds just to run errands because no one is on the roads.
Anyhow, we watched and waited as Twitter was blowing up with pictures and tweets of people finding debris from a hundred miles away in their yard. One picture sealed the deal, as we saw a whole street literally shaved off the face of the Earth. It was apparent that this was a record breaking,mean,ugly storm. Throughout the afternoon there was over 100 tornados reported that touched down all across the SouthEast.
My friends and I packed up a little earlier than planned to help with relief efforts that my incredible Church of the Highlands began initiating immediately.
FLASH FORWARD
Sunday was the first day that I arrived on the scene in Tuscaloosa. You can't even fathom the size of trees that had been flat-out uprooted. AND THEN MOVED. It was a waste land as I drove through commercial and residential areas. Church had a base at a nearby park with supplies up the wazoo that people were coming to collect for free. A small step in the major rebuilding process.
Monday, my fellow Highlands College crew and I headed to Hueytown which was another town ravanged by the tornado monster. The first day we did a lot of driving around to asses the needs and get a strategy. (The needs were glaringly obvious...houses! Food! Drinks! Because there were neighborhoods completely obliterated.) We came across a lady named Mrs.Terry,she was there with her 2 children and a few other family members trying to salvage anything they could find. She walked out of the bared open basement and greeted these strangers (us) with hugs and tears. She was overwhelmed. One of her first comments was "But do you know how good God is?" I asked her if she would let me take pictures as she told me of her and her families survival.
Her husband and 2 grandchildren were the only ones home. They heard the tornado coming like a thousand freight trains. The only place in the house that remained somewhat stable was the corner of the basement where they ran too. The grand daughter Kate slipped under a wooden structure as her brother Chase was right beside her. Mrs. Terry and her husband got down in the corner just second before the tornado plucked their home from existence. The two cars in the driveway flew and landed just a few feet beside them in the basement! Bricks them crumbled all around them. And within 20 seconds and a quick "whoosh" sound. It was over. They crawled out with nothing but bruises! They crawled out and found them standing in a pile of rubble, all that was standing was the front concrete steps.
Mrs.Terry recounts walking around her house and found a page of her Bible sticking to a broken tree. Matthew 6...
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?"
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself."
She held this precious page in her hands...her eyes filled with beautiful brokeness, at peace trusting in her Jesus. He confirmed His promise to take care of her and her family.
It seems unfair that some of the people around her did not make it, where was God for them?? I don't know. But I do know that whatever happens He promises to turn for good. And I do know that He knows what excruciating,"lose everything you have" feeling. And I do know that He makes everything work for good for those who love him. I ask God often that I would be able to "see" with my heart. Because lots of the times what I see with my eyes...well it's not always perfect. When we see with our hearts if you will...we see who He is, and what He is capeable of doing. That is hope my friends. You see I don't trust my eyes. I trust His heart in me.
The front steps is all that remains...
Chase pointed where him and his sister hid. Note the car next to him that flew from the driveway to the basement!
He walked out of the rubble with only bruises.
This was the page of her personal Bible she plucked from a tree after the storm.
"Do not worry..."
No comments:
Post a Comment