Tornado Pictures

Here are some more of the pictures I took on our way back from Hackleburg. Amazing.....

This picture amazes me because the metal is wrapped around that big piece of equipment.

I hope you can see in this below picture the path of the tornado. You can see where the trees are cut off in the center of the picture.  It really doesn't do it justice.

My babies were sooo tired after helping that afternoon!

One picture that stood out to me that I absolutely love is this......

The cross still stands.

    He is our only hope in this time of devestation and loss and as people start to rebuild their lives.

Thank you Jesus for the hope we have in you!

Hearts for Hackleburg

As most of you know, April 27, 2011 was a heartbreaking day in our state.  Massive tornadoes ripped through our state destroying homes, businesses, lives and everything in it's path.  Truly a sad, sad day. 

The schools let out early in anticipation of the high risk storms headed our way and I'm so glad! After watching the tornadoes in Cullman and Tuscaloosa form on the skycams and bare down on it's path of total destruction, I was glad my babies were home with me. My sister was with me too because we had some stronger storms and a small tornado come through earlier that morning and her work place had been damaged and she couldn't get to work, so she hung out with me all day.  We sat and cried and prayed for the people of these cities as we watched the tornadoes swirling around with their massive debris balls (never had heard that term until that day) and I really believe our meteorologists were in total shock because of what they were able to see on their skycams.  We had two tornado warnings where I live, but the storms were either to the north or south of us so we were ok, but the kids were ready.....just in case.

This picture is of some of the omnious clouds that went over us. Scary looking.

After the tornadoes hit and we started seeing the massive devestation, we knew we wanted to help in some way, but didn't know where to start.  Our friend, Heather, has a friend whose family is from Hackleburg (one of the hardest hit small towns that basically was wiped off the map) and they were gathering donations to take up to the people that were left from the town.  We decided to start gathering gently used clothes and water to donate and on the Sunday after the tornadoes, we were able to help take a caravan of people and donations up to Hackleburg.

 We decided to take our two oldest children with us so that they could help because we really wanted them to see the impact of such a horrendous storm so that they would think about other little kids like them who had lost everything.  They saw the tornadoes on the tv but they couldn't wrap their little minds around what it meant on the ground. 

We got to the church and immediately started unloading all of the trucks and cars that had caravaned. Our friends, Chris and Lee and their son Christian, joined us.  I was so proud of the kids. They jumped right in and started to help unload the trucks.

After we unloaded two big box trucks and then the personal cars and trucks, we headed inside and started sorting out all of the clothes. There were so many!  It really overwhelmed me at how much people had donated in a short 3 day period.  It made my heart proud of the people of our great state! 

While we were unloading, sorting and organizing donations, there were a few people that had started making a big spaghetti dinner for the residents of Hackleburg.  A few of our team loaded up in their trucks and headed into town to bring the people back to the church we had taken all of the donations to.  They were stopped by state troopers and told that they were still finding body parts in people's backyards so they were not letting anyone into the actual city at that time.  So the group came back to the church and waited.  We waited around for a little bit and then decided to try again so this time we (David, me, Allison, Mimi & Bud and our friends, Chris, Lee & Christian) started driving to the city.  We were stopped also by a state trooper but he told us that the power company was in there trying to fix the lines so we couldn't go in. I think he told us that just because the kids were in the car and he didn't want them to hear the truth.  So we turned around and went back to the church.  We waited a little bit longer and then decided to head back home. The group we went with stayed and were eventually able to get into the city.  Here are a few pictures that my friend Heather took.





The above picture is of the schools.  Just so sad!

Here are some of the pictures I took coming back from Hackleburg in other cities.  

The above picture was someone's home. You can see where there is just a foundation.....no structure at all.

My puter or either Blogger has decided that I've blogged enough today. It isn't wanting to cooperate. I'll post some more pictures in another post.

Please don't forget to continue praying for and if at all possible, continue donating to all of the communities impacted by the terrible storms  They are going to need long term help as well as short term.  

Hope each of you are doing well! 

 

Busy Blessings ~ Take 2

Ok, so I actually posted this blog about a week ago and sure enough, on the day I posted it, Blogger decided to have a meltdown and totally screwed up my post and any changes I made to my site.  It's crazy I tell you!!  This is actually the first time I have had a chance to sit down and try to blog since then.

So much has happened in my life since I last posted and all I can say is that God is good,  no matter what the circumstances!!

We have been super busy the last few months. Baseball season started in full swing and both boys were playing in different leagues.......which meant they had practice and games at different times and on different days. Yes, we've been living at the ballpark literally 5 days a week. I should have just set up a makeshift bed for all of us (HA!), but with "living" at the park, we've met a lot of nice people and friends and have had a blast! 

Rookie Braves!
                                  

Farm Braves!

Such a fun bunch of little fellas on both teams! 

They both did very well this season!

Bud's team ended up being the #1 team in the Farm League with an undefeated season of 14-0!! We are sooo proud of them!!!

Both boys got the game ball on the same day!!

 Isn't this the cutest picture of the Rookie Braves??

Here's what Pudgie's been up to...........Uhhhhh huh!

Isn't she beautiful?  I sure think so!!!

So blessed!!  Lots more to blog about.....hopefully soon! :)

Hope

"In the midst of global chaos and uncertainty and terror and nuclear meltdowns and devastating tsunami's and powerful earthquakes, we can have hope and offer hope to the hopeless...to those who are terrified by what they see on tv. In spite of all that, you can have hope!  How? How is that possible?"

"Is your hope in this world? Cause if it is, I have some really bad news for you. This world is passing away...everything in it.  There is coming a new heaven and a new earth for all eternity."

"I pray that that is your hope for today and if it's not, then you need to make it your hope today. Put your faith and trust in the person of Jesus Christ. There is no name given to men whereby which we must be saved. Only Him! He is the only way, the only truth, and the only life."

God gives us Bible prophecy so that we will know ahead of time and believe! 



The above quotes are from Pastor J.D. with Calvary Chapel Kaneohe in Hawaii who updates his church every week on Bible prophecy.  He has studied Bible prophecy for years and advises his congregation to be like the Bareans and study the scriptures for themselves. Not to take just his word but study for themselves. He preaches straight from the Bible. It's fascinating and I'm so glad that someone shared his link on fb!

I encourage you to watch his short video and really think about what's going on around us especially the Middle East and put the puzzle pieces together.  Get your affairs in order and be ready! Because noone knows the hour in which He will come and He will come when you least expect it. 

I love you and don't wish for anyone that I know and love to be here during such harsh and devastating times that are for sure coming.

"If you listen carefully......

you can almost hear the steps of the Messiah."  I love this quote.

Let me first start off by saying that some of you who read this might think I'm crazy or over zealous. You might think I'm a freak and that's ok with me.  I have had a burden on my heart to write this and I hope you will continue to read  it until the end. 

I am a Christian. I believe that Jesus is God's only Son who came to this earth to die for our sins. I believe He died a horrible death on a cross and rose again three days later.  He is alive! John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

All my life I have been interested in Bible prophecy.  I never really understood it but was fascinated by it. 

I have always also been fascinated with the Rapture of the church.  As a young girl, I used to have very vivid dreams of the Rapture actually happening and there was always a certain person from my family that was always left behind.  I was sad by that.

As an adult, I have never really paid that much attention to what goes on in the world. You hear about major things on the news and sometimes you have to wonder how much of that is biased, but I've always been so caught up with my own life that I honestly haven't cared that much, unless it's something major. 

Until recently.

Right now, I have a stirring in my heart and in my spirit. If you look at the world today, it is a massive mess.  We have flooding,  rioting and chaos in middle eastern countries, different countries that are having major economic issues including our own, earthquakes, volcanoes irrupting,  tsunami's and the list could go on. The US alone has major internal issues. Unless you live completely under a rock, then you know of what I am writing about.

My heart is burdened because I really believe we are living in the End Times.  In the Bible ,  Matthew 24:7-8 NIV (7) Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. (8) All these are the beginning of birth pains.

These things listed in these verses are happening right now.....in real time!  What is going on in Israel, Libya, Saudi Arabia, etc is prophesied in the Bible! Isaiah 17 & 19, Ezekiel 38 & 39, Daniel 11 & more.

I know there are those who have heard these kinds of things before in years past and don't take much stock in sermons about the "signs" anymore, but I don't think there has ever been a time in the world's history where we had so much going on at one time.  It's crazy!  How could you not get excited?

I guess what's on my heart is this, if you are taking the time to read this, then please ask yourself this question.  If you died today/tonight, where would you spend eternity?

Alot of people think that if they are good enough or do lots of good works, then they will go to heaven. Sadly, that is not true.  We are saved by grace and faith, not by works. Jesus said " I am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6   I'm not saying that good works isn't good . God tells us to serve others and help others. Help orphans and widows.   But the only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ, God's son. 

Jesus wants a personal relationship with us, not a "religion".  

Another question, if Jesus were to return right now (Rapture) would you be left behind? 

Here is something to think about.  IF you make it through the initial chaos of what the world will go through at that point, and I'm talking about......massive car wrecks, air plane crashes, train derailments etc. because of true believers in Jesus Christ being raptured up, those methods of transportation will almost certain cause a lot of deaths.....What will you do?  What kind of craziness will be going on around the world because of loved ones missing?

I hope I'm not rambling here. I'm trying to convey what my heart is burdened with and that's that many "Christians" will be left behind because they didn't truly know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.   

We are not promised tomorrow.

I recently found a pastor down in Hawaii who does a weekly Bible prophecy update on you tube. He's been doing these for about 5 years now and of course, I am so fascinated....especially because of what's been going on in the world lately.  I encourage you to check him out. He preaches straight from the Bible.  This link is from this past Sunday's message. Normally his messages are about 30 minutes and they go by quick, but this one was about an hour.  He was talking about the Japan earthquake and other things. Please consider watching it. It's awesome and really gets you thinking about your life and where it needs to be.

Aloha Bible Prophecy


        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoMcSTlvFzA  

It is fascinating to hear him preach on Bible Prophecy. He has studied it for years!


I write all of this in love and not to scare anyone or offend anyone.  These are things that are on my heart and I realize I may not be making much sense.  In my defense , it is 1:13am as I write this.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to let me know. I would love to help you know FOR SURE how you could spend eternity in heaven!!!

 

Lots of love to you! :)

 

Everybody Hurts

Everybody hurts. That was the beginning thought of my day today. I learned late last night that some dear friends of mine had lost another loved one. I'm sad for them. My heart aches for them. They have already been through so much in the last decade and even though my friendship with them isn't what it used to be, it doesn't mean that the pain and the hurt they are experiencing isn't real for me too on some level. These friends were a big part of my life growing up and made a lasting impression in my heart . They were the most real people I have ever known in my life. They weren't fake like others sometimes are when you are going through tough times.  Sadly, over the years we lost touch somewhat but they have always been in my thoughts, heart and prayers.  Just because we didn't see each other or talk often doesn't mean that they were any less meaningful to my life as I've grown up. As an adult, I can look back and really appreciate who they were in my life at that time.  Maybe that's one reason why I'm sad......knowing they are hurting and therefore my heart is hurting too.

 I'm so sorry for your loss.

I love you guys.

Blessed Heart

I wanted to share a couple of little stories about how God is showing me that He is really real. I mean, I know He's real but sometimes I feel like He is so far away. I've always heard the saying that if God seems far away then you are the one that moved because He is always there with arms wide open. And down deep I know that, but there are still those days where I'm thinking, "Ok God, are you there? Do you see my life down here?" "Helloooo, are you paying attention?" .....not in a disrespectful manner I will add. 
I  recently heard a brief testimony from a DJ on a local Christian radio station where she was feeling really alone and was asking God if He was really there? She knew she hadn't been living a life that she should and was at the end of her rope. She had been in the bathroom upstairs and went downstairs to the kitchen table.  Her daughter came up to her a few minutes later and put her tiny little hand on her mom's knee and said "Mommy, you are not alone. God loves you."  The DJ was sorta freaked out and asked her daughter if she had been upstairs and heard her mommy in the bathroom and her daughter said no and that she had been downstairs playing the whole time.  So, she then asked her daughter "Who told you to say that to mommy?" and her daughter replied "God put it in my heart and told me to tell you".   When I heard that I just started crying and I thought "how awesome for God to use a child to simply tell us what He wants us to know about Him. Such simple truth. "  

I was driving down the road and started praying and told God that I wish He would "speak" to me that way so that I would know that I wasn't alone. Which I know I'm not, but I think all of us goes through times when we may be filled with people around us that we know and love but at the same time, still feel alone. Anyway, David had to work last Sunday so I decided to take the kids to the church that we had previously been attending for the last 8 or so years.  We haven't been there in a while because we would like to find a church closer to our home and in our community. But I wanted to go and so I took the kids and dropped them off at their Sunday school classes. Boogs immediately noticed one of his school friends , Emerson and they were so excited to see each other.  They are like best friends.

 I went into the sanctuary and found a seat towards the back and sat down by myself.  The time came for the let's all shake hands, hug and share our germs  "meet and greet" time and I noticed Emerson's parents sitting two pews ahead of me. They turned around and we saw each other and were like "Oh hey girl, how are you? Good , good to see you...etc". I  told her about Boogs being excited to see Emerson in his class. She then looked at me and said "You are such an answer to prayer. " and I kinda thought "Huh" and then she told me that , that morning Emerson had been crying and upset about going to church because none of his school friends were in his class and he really didn't have anyone to play with.  And here we were coming on this particular Sunday after we hadn't been in a long time.  I just knew it was a total God thing and what she told me blessed me so much.  I cried almost the whole rest of the church service just thinking about how God really does care about us and cares about the cares of our heart, even the heart of a child. I was so blessed by that.

Then, the other night, David was on the phone with someone from work and Pudgie needed a diaper change so I sat on the floor in front of David and was changing his diaper.  I wasn't really talking....I was just listening to David talk to his co-worker and I heard Pudgie start saying "Hi" and he was waving.  I looked down at him and he was staring up towards the ceiling and kept saying "Hi" and was kinda jibbering like he was talking. I kept on with the diaper change and when I was about finished, Pudgie then started saying "Bye-bye" and was actually waving good bye....again looking up towards the ceiling. His eyes never came off of the ceiling until I was done. I was looking at him and asking who he was talking to and he was pointing to the ceiling and doing his baby talk.  I just thought Wow.  A few minutes later , he was standing in front of David at the couch and I looked at him and said "Pudgie, where's Jesus?"  He then raised his arm and pointed his little finger up towards heaven and actually looked up towards heaven when he did that.  And I have asked him several times since then "where's Jesus?" and every time he points up and looks up.  I have to tell you that we have never asked him that before or pointed upwards and said Jesus lives up there or anything like that.  We have never done that so I know and I truly believe that He was seeing and talking to Jesus.  Doesn't that make your heart full?

Of course,  my first thoughts were "Oh gosh, somethings going to happen to me or Pudgie and this is God's way of letting me know that He is there."  Isn't it terrible that the worst is what I automatically thought?   Anyway, I have been so blessed and amazed at that. I know, some people might dismiss that story as "Oh, he's heard that somewhere else" or something excuse like that......but I'm telling you, it's not just some story. He is real and loves us and He cares about us and He wants to know us on a personal level.  If he knows when a sparrow falls, He surely knows and cares about each of us.

I just wanted to share how God cares about revealing Himself to us sometimes when we doubt our faith or doubt if He really is there and listening. He is!  He wants that personal relationship with us.....that's what it's about.....a relationship, not a religion.  He loves me and He loves you and He wants us to trust Him.

Loves,

:)