A WAR ZONE

Wednesday we woke up at 5:00am to Tornado sirens blaring, warning us of a Tornado coming our way that was eventually confirmed an EF2. Our bags were packed and by the door, ready for our 9 hour trip to Disney. We took the girls down in the basement, put on their bicycle helmets and shoved them under a desk I was in the middle of working on. The lights went out just as fast as the wind ripped through my neighborhood taking out trees and power lines all around us and eventually slamming the city of Cahaba Heights. We had a few limbs down, no power for 4 days but fortunately nothing on our home. It was 6:00 am and we decided to just go ahead, pack the car and head out a few hours early. This destructive storm was just a small precursor to what I witnessed, live, via my IPhone from the car. Words cannot describe what I was feeling as I watched an F5 tornado rip through Tuscaloosa and my city, Birmingham. Seeing a debris ball on the radar was so unreal. I didn't even know there was such a thing! Knowing that there were homes, cars, personal belongings and even people swirling around in the wrath of this storm was nauseating.
As the damage reports kept coming in, my stomach churned as I realized, places where I had loved ones were either severely damaged or even completely wiped off the map. I am praising God today for bringing my brother in law through safely. He was in Tuscaloosa in his store as the entire building disappeared all around him leaving him and his employees huddled together in open air with debris all around them. The building that they were just in....gone.  His car was picked up and thrown into the home behind his work where he found two young college boys who had lost their lives and were mangled beyond recognition. Many are dead and still missing in this devistated college town.

The city of Hackleburg where my grandparents lived and my Aunts and Cousins grew up was completely wiped off the map. My family made it out safely but there are many dead and many that are still missing. They lost their only grocery store, the post office, the police station, their dollar store and their school. They also lost the Wrangler plant where my cousin worked that employed a large portion of the population there.
I have family in Cullman who we have still not been able to get in touch with, not knowing if they are dead or alive.
Cahaba Heights, where Urban Green is located is in ruins. The shops had the roofs blown off, windows blown in and trees down on top of the buildings. Homes in that area had massive tree damage as well as damage to their cars. These are just a few of the several hundred tornados that were reported.

It is a war zone here, the second deadliest month in US History and ranked in the same category as Katrina by the President of the United States.

This is a home video from some one's car. Amazing. I cannot even imagine how scared these guys must have been. This same tornado stayed on the ground for miles and miles and miles making its way into my city, Birmingham and taking everything in it's path.





Here is one of the Aerial Views from Hackleburg of the destruction.



My church, and many of the area churches are doing a fantastic job working together to serve the people of our great city. If you are in the Birmingham area and would like an opportunity to help out you can visit www.churchofthehighlands.com/relief.  My kids are both sick but as soon as they get well, I will be working on Tuesdays and Thursdays and our family will be helping out together on the weekends. Thank you to all of you who have called or emailed to check on us and please continue to pray for my state, for the responders, for the people who are serving non stop, and for all of those who are left grieving and who have lost everything.

Y'all the stories are amazing. Some of them tragic, yet some are miraculous. Today, a 3 year old was found in a freezer in Pleasant Grove. When asked how he got in there he said, " A man with wings put me there." Out of the mouth of babes people! This kid has a serious God assignment for his life!


My friend Natalie who has been in the middle of it all since day one had this to share this afternoon.

"My heart beholding so much...tornadoes, destruction, & shakings beyond belief in the heart of the south of our nation, a royal wedding where a bridegroom finally marries his bride, and then a murderous tyrant of so many generations is killed...& the entire world watched it all...if this isn't a prophetic picture of what is to come in Revelation, then we are asleep. Wake up watchmen! Pray & pray for Revival!"

I leave you tonight with this amazing video of only ONE of the hundreds of tornadoes that touched down along with one of my very favorite songs. I ask you to watch it, and when you are done....Pray.