Trail of Devastation

Me examining and trying to find anything worth saving in my sister's car, which I owned first, after a devastating F4 tornado tore through Union University in Jackson, Tennessee in February 2008.

Having a sister that survived a F4 tornado four years ago, I ask that you pray for all those affected by the tornadoes in these last few days.  You cannot imagine the devastation, the power, or the life changing turmoil created by these massive funnels of catastrophe, until you have lived through one.  I only partially understand the suffering the people who encountered tornados today may be experiencing, through eyes and stories of my sister.

I arrived at her campus just one day after the tornado tore through the town of Jackson Tennessee.  I have never seen cars crushed and smashed in such a way.  I have never seen walls splintered to pieces, roofs gone, and debris so scattered before. As we waited to get the few items my sister owned not destroyed by the storm, I looked at all the stone-faced and shocked people grouped together.  Most of the people I saw that day were numb and just trying to process whether the events of the last 24 hours were real or just a dream.

I praise God each day that He chose to spare my sister and the 1000+ others who were on the campus that day.  I have developed a greater love, appreciation, and closeness with my sister because of that event just four years ago.  She is so precious to me and through that event I learned to never take life for granted especially with the ones you love.  I have a small glimpse into what the people who lived through the tornado events today are going through and yet I know so little about how they truly feel.

Please pray for peace and comfort tonight for each person who experienced a tornado or is a friend or family member to someone who experienced a tornado in the last few days.  Please pray for provision for them.  Pray for loving support to surround them.  Pray that they would be able to find peace that passes understanding in their souls after experiencing something so incredibly frightening.

Blessings,

Greg