13 days have passed.....

since our area & surrounding states were devastated by some nasty weather {COMPLETE understatement}. Last I heard about 350 people were killed & this was considered the 2nd worst storm in U.S. History......possibly now the 1st but I've stopped listening to news updates. I know it's bad & I haven't even seen the worst of it......there is endless amount of work to be done yet it will take years for some to recoup & some areas {& peoples hearts} will NEVER be the same again. I've let my mind wander down that road of "why were our lives spared", "why did we not even loose a minute of electricity", "why did we only loose 1 tree" {which didn't even hurt a thing but one section of a chain link fence}, "why did people, who already had sooooo little, loose all of the little they had"?????

Oh the why's of life......I will never get my answers here on this earth but what we CAN DO and HAVE DONE is help. I wish we could help more. You WANT to help more when you drive through certain areas that were hit so hard. You hear stories & your heart breaks......a family of 3......12 y/o boy slung up into a tree.....killed instantly.....his mom lies in an ICU bed, her family unsure if she will live......her husband alive but left with only pain over the loss of his son & hoping his wife lives another day. Gun shots firing left & right early Thursday morning {post storm} due to animals being injured beyond healing. Lifeless bodies found in a state they weren't even living in.

Yet I know that God is SO VERY GOOD ALL THE TIME. He is with us even through the darkest scariest storms. The Saturday morning after the storms miracles took place at our church as we came together as a church family to prepare a warm meal for our community. We prayed that God would bless our efforts & GLORIFY him in bringing a simple warm meal to hundreds of suffering families. What started out as an effort to feed about 3 to 4 hundred people on $275 turned into feeding upwards of 1500 people!!!

I was reminded over & over about the story of 5 loaves & 2 fishes!! God worked through sooooo many people that day in dropping food off or donating money so that more food could be purchased......we ran out of food at one point.....had 300 more people to serve food to & out of the blue someone shows up to church with enough lasagna to feed 300 people!!!! If that doesn't give you chills at the miracles God can perform I don't know what will!! Sunday afternoon after dropping off food to the Apison command center they begged for Gatorade & worried people would stop bringing food during the weeks to come......I sent out a couple texts & posted a Facebook status regarding the needs of Apison......within hours God worked through a handful of friends & family.....$900 is the total brought in!!! GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME. When I dropped off food that a church had requested in Trenton, Ga Monday afternoon they were overjoyed stating...."oh this came JUST IN TIME....we were JUST ABOUT TO RUN OUT"!!! GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME.

I heard about a family of 4....2 small kids, mom & dad. The only place they could take refuge from the storm was the bathtub.....the 2 kids laid in the tub, the mom laid on top of them & dad on top of mom......the storm came, drywall fell on dad.....the storm left. He got up, pushing drywall off himself, when he looked around, the tub & his family was the ONLY thing left of his home. GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME. I have stood back in amazement to see & hear about our community & surrounding areas pull together......setting aside all prejudices & helping mend a home, a hungry belly, a hurting heart. If we could just do this EVERY DAY & not just during devastating times. I want the world to stop for all these people who are suffering & yet it keeps turning....busily turning.....unfairly turning. I pray for clear sunny skies and we've been blessed with lots of that in the 13 days that have followed the storms. I pray for healing on soooo many levels for all those affected. I pray that people will turn to God.....HE IS in fact the only one who can truly mend our breaking hearts & bodies.

So much more on my mind & in my heart but yet my words seem so unclear. Pray, while it appears small it's HUGE. I know that I personally am feeling EXTRA grateful for ALL I have.....trying less to complain or more to give thanks.....