Pray for Oklahoma

(all images from stock photos)

I’m an Oklahoman therefore I’m used to our severe storm season – a.k.a. Tornado Season. But nothing could prepare me for today’s storms that have claimed the lives of dozens and dozens of people, many of them children from the Plaza Towers Elementary School or the devastating amount of destruction that some are labeling as “the worst tornado damage in the history of the world.”

This shot is when the tornado was only about 1/4 mile wide (it would grow to 1 mile wide and slow down to 10 mph creating a very deadly combination).

But as I sat crying for the children, teachers and parents of Plaza Towers Elementary, I was once again reminded of what makes this state so great – its people. The same people who rose to the call when our way of life was attacked by a madman or the ones who worked tirelessly in the aftermath of the past two tornadoes that took almost the same exact path as today’s horrific storm. The same people who sent aid to New York, New Orleans and survivors of Hurricane Sandy. A people who work, cry and heal together.

We are strong; we are Oklahomans!

A child being rescued from one of the two schools completely destroyed by todays tornado. These two, Plaza Tower and Briarwood Elementary, were just two of five schools to suffer damage)

But we are not alone in the category of selfless people. Already teams are pouring in from all over the United States. And from our sister countries of Great Britain and Australia! To these people, I say thank you!

A small sampling of the total destruction.

An image of Briarwood Elementary School

The image from Tower Plaza Elementary was like a war zone.

During times like this, my faith in people is always restored, renewed, invigorated. When things are at its worst, humankind always steps up. For this I am thankful. In the midst of heartache, there is love. In tragedy – kindness. In despair – hope.

A main highway, I-35, was littered with debris and vehicles when the tornado crossed it in Moore, Oklahoma.

I can not even begin to understand the why; why God allows things like this to happen. Some religious fanatics (not true Christ followers – nuts) would say its God’s punishment for some (fill in your own blank here). But even though we do live in a world full of sin and unspeakable acts, I know God has a plan and He uses these events for good rather than orchestrates them. I won’t get into a big theological debate here, because this is about the awesomeness of people, people God created. A people who have already given over $20,000 for relief in just a few short hours following the storm. A people who will work through the night, days, months and even years to help rebuild and restore communities, homes, lives.

At this point, the more than 1 mile wide tornado was wrapped in a debris cloud making it over 3 miles wide. This fooled people and motorist into thinking it was simply a large rain cloud, which they drove into.

I do ask that each and everyone of my blogging friends please remember to Pray for Oklahoma and her people. This will not be a short fix. The devastation will take much time to clean up. The lives will take even longer to rebuild and heal. Especially remember the City of Moore (and my small community of Newcastle) as this is the third time in 14 years that tornadoes have plagued these cities.

Pray for Oklahoma

I thank you in advance for your prayers and your encouragement.

Daily Prompt; That Stings – The Shack

I don’t usually grab onto the WP Daily Prompt – I usually can find enough stuff to babble or rant about without a prompt, but this one caught my attention.

It said to talk about the last book you read that bit or stung. Several come to mind, but the absolute last book I reread was The Shack by William P. Young.

The Shack “is a metaphor for the places you get stuck, you get hurt, you get damaged…the thing where shame or hurt is centered,” Young said in an interview. We all have a shack in our lives, and as I read this, mine was shown to me in all its technicolor horror. Things that I had tried to bury in the far recesses of my mind dug its way up to the surface, reopening wounds that weren’t all that too well healed.

Then why would I encourage you to read this book? Because, while you are dealing with the pain of the protagonist and recalling your own bitter memories, you soon become transformed into the story and the healing that follows.

Yes, there is a lot of sadness, bitterness and grief in the pages of this NYT bestseller, but there is also unsurmountable joy, peace and above all healing.

As I cried with Mac over his own unimaginable tragedy, and shed tears over my own scars that have haunted me for nearly my entire 53 years, I began to hope. Hope for a better place than this horrid world we now live in. I also began to see that sometimes bad things do (more often than not) happen to decent people, and although I can’t (and probably never will) see the big picture, God knows, and I have to trust in His plan. This lesson was made crystal clear to me as was the ‘one piece of clarity’ that I gleaned from this particular reading – “Love without an agenda!” Wow, what a concept.

This nugget of wisdom first stung me greatly, because when I examined myself closely, I realized, that I always have some kind of an agenda. Whether it is something as benign as getting more hugs from my grands, I have an agenda. To love without an agenda is to understand the depth of God’s love, and to understand the depth He went to to ensure that none of us perish in this evil world. Sorry, didn’t mean to get preachy, but this book will change the way you look at God, Jesus , the Holy Spirit – The Trinity. This concept has always eluded me (and I was raised Catholic). If you struggle with the concept of the Trinity, The Shack might just help to solidify its reality in your mind.

Although The Shack was written as fiction, you cannot help but hope to dream that this encounter did truly happen, and that everyday people like you and me can actually physically wrap ourselves in the arms of Papa. I hope you will pick up a copy if you haven’t already read it, and if you have, maybe decide to reread it again. Some people get all wrapped up in the imagery of God as a robust black woman – but not me. For Mac to accept God, He had to appear in a form that Mac wouldn’t shy from. After all, we are ALL created in God’s image – so I imagine Him as a kaleidoscope of character and personality traits. But one thing is always constant: His love never waivers, never changes and He never apologizes for it. HE LOVES ALL OF US WITHOUT AN AGENDA!