ON YOUR MARK...GET SET....GO!

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We are family, you and I. I consider you my sisters, and maybe an

occasional brother, *wink* and my friends! I love each one of you so

much and I know that you appreciate the blogging community as much as

I do. The Internet is a powerful tool. We have the ability to

communicate a massive amount of information all around the world in just a few clicks. Unbelievable, really, if you think about it.

Most of you, I am sure, are aware of the devastating tornadoes that

struck my state and my city on April 27th. Around 35 tornadoes touched down that day in my State alone, leaving much of Alabama a disaster area. Some were as strong EF4 and EF5.

My family's hometown of Hackleburg was wiped off the map.

One EF4 stayed on the ground almost the entire width of the state -- entering

from Mississippi, lifting for a few miles over an area of Jefferson

County, then coming back down again -- taking everything in its path.

Tonight as you read this, people are grieving the loss of a child, a

mother, a father, a sister, an aunt, an uncle, a friend. There is so

much death.

I understand death. Not just death from old age -- we have all been touched by that. We grieve the loss of grandparents or elderly parents, but this is a natural event that we all expect. It is difficult, yes, but in a way we are somewhat prepared. The death I am talking about is

the tragic kind. The unexpected, the horrific and the torturous. I

lost an infant son to a tragic illness. It felt like the whole world

should have stopped because my world stopped. I can't describe in

words how strange it felt to see people just going about their

everyday lives while I was in so much pain. Shouldn't they stop, too? I

knew in my right mind that stopping the world was impossible. People

have to work and live, but I wasn't living. My whole world just froze

in time. You can't really understand it unless you have been there.

God's grace was sufficient for me, and he healed my heart and made me

able to live again. As I write this, the tears are welling up as I think

about the parents of the boy my brother-in-law found in a tree,

the grandmother in the town of Phil Campbell whose grandson was alive one minute and gone the next, the mother in Tuscaloosa who struggled to hold onto her infant, eventually losing her grip to the ravenous vacuum of this monster storm. THESE people are hurting. Suffering so much more than I

can possibly imagine. My story is tragic but not comparable with what these people are going through. My heart aches for them. They have lost not only children, parents and friends, but also every single thing they owned. A friend of mine found an elderly lady in a state of shock, sitting on the pile of rubble that was once her home. All she could say was, "I can't find my medicine" over and over. There will be years of cleanup, counseling and grieving as well as billions of dollars needed to rebuild. Here is a quick video of some of the damage.

Alabama Tornado Damage from Filmbox Studios on Vimeo.


I am offering you now,  a chance to put a smile on someone's face. A

chance to love them and give them a glimpse of hope. Y'all, if we do

this right, we can do SO much! I can't wait to see what this family of

 bloggers can do.

It's a fairly easy process. I am going to set up

a "linky auction" with linky tools. What I am asking you to do is

dedicate a post to this auction with an item you are willing to

donate. Link the item and your post up to this "linky auction." Give

your item a starting bid, and have people bid in your comment box.

This blog will be where people come to "shop." The auction will run

until May 25th (extended to June 1st) and end at 10:00 PM central time.

When it closes we will have the most fun of all! I have set up a Paypal account for us using  rememberalabama@gmail.com. After you receive payment for your sold item, ship it, and then send the money to our paypal account. The needs change daily around here so I have no idea what they will be at the end of May. To clarify, 100% of the proceeds will go to  The Birmingham Dream Center ( and outreach center of Church of the Highlands) and Christian Service Mission who have been major players in relief efforts. They are working as an incredible team. You can follow their tweets at @BirminghamDreamCenter and @CSMission to get updates on the needs for that day. When the auction ends, we will buy whatever they need for that day or week and hand deliver them to the warehouse at the Christian Service Mission. I know that giving online can be scary. If you don't feel comfortable with this and you still want to give,  the Christian Service Mission,  along with some other Alabama bloggers have set up a wish list at Amazon. You can purchase items from the wish list and they will box it up and send it directly to the Christian Service Mission. It will then be driven out to the effected areas.

If you would like to see what these places are accomplishing you can visit them here.
Christian Service Mission
The Birmingham Dream Center

Doesn't this excite you? No matter what, please spread the word for people to come and shop!

FOR NON BLOGGERS:  If this sound fun to you and you want to donate something for auction, all you have to do is shoot me an email with your item description, starting bid and a picture.  I will add it to the list myself on my own personal auction page. I am working on what I am going to auction off myself!

So to wrap it up, here is your list of things to do.....

1. Create a post about this auction with the item you are

auctioning. Make sure to include a starting bid and the official

auction button.

2. Link your item here at the "linky auction."

3. Spread the word on Facebook, Twitter, email and word of mouth!

4. On May 25th , (extended to June 1st ) end your auction at 10 p.m. Central time.

5. Collect your money.

6. Send your item to the winner.

7. Send the money to our auction Paypal account.

For those of you without a Google account, you will need one to

participate in the bidding for an item. It's free and really,

really easy. Click on my follow button on my sidebar and follow the

instructions.

Again ... I am begging you, muster up all the goodness and love in

your heart and spread this around. PLEASE, if you don't do anything, at

least share it on Facebook or Twitter and put our auction button on

your blog. You can grab it at the top of the page or after today on my

sidebar.

Okay are you ready????

On your mark.....get set.......GO!!!