rebuilding

“But as the thunder rolls

I barely hear You whisper through the rain

"I'm with you"

And as Your mercy falls

I raise my hands and praise the God who gives

And takes away”

Praise You In This Storm

Casting Crowns

It’s officially been a week.
172 hours. 10,320 hours. 619,200 seconds.

I have a really horrible memory but pictures help me a LOT so it was really important for me to go and take pictures of everything and write about it all, so here it is:

It’s been a hard week, physically and emotionally.  From the time that the tornado hit at 5:15 pm on Wednesday until midnight on Thursday, I slept 2 hours.  I didn’t even feel the exhaustion set in until I got into bed on Thursday night.  Adrenaline really was my best friend- from working volunteer centers like the Rec Center and across the community and calming down students and checking them out of dorms, it was a long 30+ hours. 

I spent a fun 23 hours with my family and then loaded up my car with donations from the neighborhood and local dentist offices with sleeping bags, clothes, water, toiletries, purses, paper towels – literally anything you can think of. 

this isn't an accurate representation of all of the donations-
students from the dorm came and added tons of stuff to the pile!

This week I’m working 34 hours at work to cover shifts of those that needed to be at home and with their families so I hadn’t seen any of the damage. 

I had a break today for 3 hours, so I took my car full of donations to the Temporary Emergency Services off of 15^th Street.  It was amazing see all of the volunteers and warehouse FULL of supplies.

Then, I selfishly tried to wander down 15^th Street to try to see the damage and I literally had the wind knocked out of me.  Pictures don’t do this place justice.  There is nothing along this road.

it is amazing to me that entire buildings can be torn apart while
buildings like Subway right behind it are entirely intact

this couple was next to me during the 30 minute drive
down 15th street and you could just feel her heartbreak

The worst part is that other areas in our city were hit so much harder than these pictures show.  It’s unbelievable.  I can’t even begin to describe what’s going through my head.

As horrible as all of this looks, there is SO much good going on.

These pictures are just the ones i saw along McFarland...so amazing.

(For those of you who aren’t in the Tuscaloosa area, this is a really 

neat MAP that our newspaper put together)

I can’t stop listening to these songs though and I just wanted to share them:

"God of This City"

chris tomlin

"Praise You in This Storm"

casting crowns

It is most amazing to me that the campus WAS NOT TOUCHED.  Our 13 story girls dorm was just blocks from the tornado's path and the destruction of that building could have been absolutely catastrophic to the physical and emotional state of the campus.  God is good, all the time.

There are still no words to describe the mood of this community but we are so strong and so resilient.  I have so much faith that we will bounce back so fast, the nation won’t know what hit them.

Thank you so much for all of your support, thoughts and prayers.  Though I know it’s not for me personally, the support from all the other college campus is UNBELIEVABLE.   Auburn has really really stepped it up for their sister campus, UGA is doing amazing things, Ohio State is even doing fundraisers.  I know these aren’t the only ones, but when we realize how dumb things are like football and rivalries, it makes me so emotional. 

Please, keep praying.

i love the hospital as a sign of hope
in the background

“You're the Light in this darkness, you're the Hope to the hopeless, you're the Peace to the restless, you are.

There is NO ONE like our God.”