on the way home, we were wedged in between bad weather. and by bad… i mean black skies and huge hail. mayhem ahead in knoxville, and golf-ball sized hail in chattanooga. our daughter, in tuscaloosa, had been in a basement in a neighboring sorority house for two hours, and was snarkily tweeting about good times in basements #sarcasm.
{source AP}
she texted us a few hair-raising picture of tornadoes. that she took{not the one above, however}. ummmm hello… aren't you supposed to be in a basement, and GAH, those seem awfully dang close!! she assured us she was safe.her phone was low on battery, but she kept us apprised of the situation. no news is no news, right?
we arrived home, put our things away and began to check emails, etc. it wasn't long before we were scrambling to get our things and head to the basement. armegeddon was breaking out all around us. green skies, blowing winds, rain and hail. lots and lots of hail. BIG hail.
{i'd post some epic pictures here of what used to be my garden. and lawn. and the hail. but i sold my cameras, and i'm in between at the moment.}
then i got a call from the girl. one of those ugly cries that only a mom can understand.
moooooom… everything is gone!
{sob}
wait. what? everything? ohmyword… your apartment gone? your car?
no. no. it's fine. but everything else, mom. it's a war zone! everything is gone!
and there you have it. from a beautiful deb on saturday to surviving an epic tornado and enduring the aftermath.
this is life. the hard part.
now the interesting part will be to see what she does with it. finals start monday. she has papers to write and exams to study for and her mind is a million miles from a library. no electricity, no internet. no interest. how the end of this semester shakes out for the students at alabama remains to be seen.
i'm praying that God's people are able to move in to this situation and love with the hands and feet of Jesus.
Lord have mercy… Christ have mercy…
Not to be at all flippant, but as I concluded the reading of this post, I could only think of Scarlett O'Hara, pretty, but tough.
ReplyDeleteWe women, with God as our witness AND our strength, we do endure.
Praying for our nation and the hard hit regions.
I am reading story after story and it's so sad.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that you are all safe. What an experience for her to go through. Keeping all of you in my prayers.
Oh my goodness! I am so glad she is safe, albeit shell shocked. Praising God with you that your beautiful daughter is okay, and praying for all those who did not fare as well.
ReplyDeleteoh goodness! will be praying!!!
ReplyDeleteOnly a few hours north of me. My thoughts and prayers are definitely with northern AL, MS, and all other affected areas. What an utter nightmare. Looks very much like Hurricane Katrina aftermath (hard to believe it's been almost 6 years now). I'm thankful that my family and friends are accounted for in the Birmingham and Tuscaloosa areas. God bless all who are suffering right now.
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking of you all ever since I saw the horrific devastation in Alabama! Such a good post today. So much to be thankful for, so many to help.
ReplyDeleteyou need to come see my site; my girl was there too and she is safe...you and i are very thankful mamas :)
ReplyDeleteso scary. I'm glad she's ok!!! It was such a psycho week... I'm keepin' my eyes heavenward.
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