When I was in elementary school, Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana hard. I never really understood the actual impact of it because I was so little and I didn’t pay attention to anything that happened outside my little bubble of a town. The one thing I do remember is meeting this girl, Jourdan, who moved to my school because Katrina hit her home, but that was really it.

In 2017, we have the luxury of getting news as it happens through social media. We just pull down on the screen and everything instantly refreshes to give us the current news from around the world. I, being 19 years old, am addicted to social media and my phone, so I am always up to date on what is going on in the social world, at least according to Twitter.

As Hurricane Harvey was approaching the Texas coast, my focus was not on it. It was just another storm that will pass. However, as soon as the images of knee-high water, stranded dogs, and shocked citizens hit my Twitter timeline, my heart broke for Texas. A state just a few over from where I am in Mississippi was drowning in a rain that had no intention of stopping.

My feeds were full of videos and pictures that made me sick to my stomach. Parents carrying children who were crying, people stranded on roofs of cars and houses, and dogs abandoned by their owners left to drown in the waters. It was truly terrible to watch and I could not help but think how scary and hopeless I would feel in that situation.

Although, among these photos and videos of horror, were photos and videos of heroes. Heroes who were treading through the water to pull people from houses and bring them to safety. Heroes who were filling their boats with animals that were scared and helpless.

Heroes who were searching cars, donating supplies, and saving lives. Regular people who were helping anyone in need, not because they were asked or because there was a reward, but because they saw the need and were called to serve. True American heroes.

I have also seen many bystanders on twitter ask why our God would do such a thing to innocent people. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Think about it: Our country was on the verge of race, political, and social wars.

America has never been this divided in my 19 years of life, but if you look at those images, you will see blacks helping whites and whites helping blacks. No one is asking the other who they voted for before pulling them to safety.

Everyone is helping each other, not because the other is their same race, or religion, or has the same political views, but because we are all Americans who are in need of help.

And if that’s not a God-driven miracle, then I don’t know what is. It is purely insane how mysterious and loving our God is and how in the middle of chaos, He finds a way to throw people together.

In the next few days, the rain will slow down and the flooding will drain, and people will begin to deal with the aftermath. It kills me that I am not able to get on a plane, buy a boat and face the waters to help save more people. If I could, I would be out there in a heartbeat.

But from my tiny dorm room, coincidentally with a leaky AC unit that is flooding my room, all I can do I donate and pray.

I pray for the shocked, the hopeless, and the one who have lost so much. I pray our American love that has come from this chaos will continue through the year. I pray that they can save as many of those animals as possible and those who abandoned their pets have a special plan waiting for them from God. I pray that the rain stops and the cleanups are quick.

Hurricane Harvey is the first natural disaster that I have been able to actually watch and understand the impact of. I hope that there will only be a few in my life.

Chins up Houston, the sun will shine again. I am incredibly proud of how you are handling this.

Below are a couple links to donate to organizations that are giving 100% of the money to the victims.

https://www.youcaring.com/victimsofhurricaneharvey-915053

https://www.houstonhumane.org/(Give)/giving/general-donation