It has been a month since the powerful tornado destroyed a large portion of Joplin and riped apart so many lives. Last weekend we took some of our youth up to Joplin to volunteer with Samaritans Purse. We started our day at 3:45 am to make sure we pulled out of Tulsa on time. I cannot tell you how shocked I was that everyone was there before 5am! That was the first miracle of the day.
I saw footage and pictures on the news, but it did not prepare me for seeing it all in person. It was truly an honor to be able to serve these homeowners.
From where we worked. You could look in all four directions and all you could see was piles of rubble.
The house we were assigned to help was right near the high school that collapsed. Nine people died in the houses directly surrounding the house we worked on. We had the privelage of talking to a homeowner that survived the tornado and offer him encouragment. (For those that were concerned about me doing this while I was pregnant. Above is the evidence that I wore my mask. I took several breaks along the way and did very light duty tasks.)
It was so beautiful to see American flags throughtout the wreckage. It is inspiring to see how strong Americans can be and pull together to create hope in even the worst of situations.
It was so beautiful to see American flags throughtout the wreckage. It is inspiring to see how strong Americans can be and pull together to create hope in even the worst of situations.
Katie came to check on me in the car while I was taking one of my breaks from the heat. One of the light duty tasks I did was collect photos. As people would find wedding and baby photos I would collect the ones that were salvagable. 
I have to take a moment to talk about Samaritan Purse. I could not have been more impressed. Every worker displayed the love of Christ. It is a great organization that puts action to the word love.
