Sunday was probably one of the most emotional days as we stood and waited in tight places with our loved ones waiting for the storm to pass.
"Lord God All-Powerful, there is no one like you. You are strong, Lord, and always faithful. You rule the stormy sea. You can calm its angry waves."
. Psalm 89:8-9
On Sunday I arose at 6:30 am to my phone ringing and my parents who are two hours away calling about a strong storm heading to Valdosta. It seems like living in the South we are prone to bad weather every other day, so I almost rolled over and went back to sleep, but when I heard those words of "tornado warning" I arose from my slumber and ran outside to look. As I stood on my porch it was a bunch darkness, but not a drop of rain in sight. I kind of blew it off for a few minutes until I heard the whipping of wind start shaking our apartment walls and my roommates waking up cause hail was hitting their windows. Of course the one night I forget to charge my phone a deadly storm would come, so I immediately hopped in the tub once I got off the phone, plugged in my phone, and watched Netflix praying it would soon pass. Within a matter of minutes the power went out and I began to realize the seriousness of this storm as the rumble of thunder shivered through my bones.
When you're in the middle of a storm all you can do is pray and hold close to the ones you love. Honestly, I am not a storm person, but some reason Sunday I was nervous, but also a sense of peace was overwhelming me. As my phone beeped every thirty minutes cause Valdosta was nonstop for twelve hours going back and forth from tornado warning to not, I began to wish the end was near and was clueless about the rest of the south. It literally felt like the end of the world because I knew it was not common this time of year for such bad weather and tornadoes to be popping up more than desperate boys in pretty girls dms. My roommate's phone was beeping every five seconds from a group message of our friends around Valdosta wishing each other to be safe it was crazy to think that it the matter of seconds we could have lost all of that.
I truly believe in the power of prayer cause so many of my friends were so close to the tornadoes, but yet God kept us safe. An estimated of 60 tornadoes hit the south this past weekend, but yet so many lives were saved. Yet others' were not so lucky, many people spent Sunday grieving over the loss of a loved one or the loss of everything they have spent the past twenty years working hard for. All I can say during this time of such devastation is don't give up and I'm sorry, I can not begin to answer the questions of why you and not me, but what I do know is those who are suffering such pain right now realize that God never gives you anything you can't handle. If you haven't seen it already, but the little town of Adel which is so close to my college God has shown out. That community has come together and surrounding communities are giving the shirt off their backs to give to those who are suffering. I can not begin to say how grateful I am just live in a place that takes such care of those in need.
My biggest encouragement is don't let this fade, Adel, Albany, and many another place will not rebuild overnight. They need the continuous support and help that overflows the next couple months, so they know not to give up even when all they see is devastation. As right now I have heard they are so overstocked that they are way beyond what that could have ever needed and that all because people came together for a cause! The more volunteers the next couple weeks the more money these places will get from the government. So I encourage if you have ever struggled and have been blessed, give back that blessing by donating or giving a few hours of your week to help support them!!
