Joplin.

What a long, sobering day it was. I don't think I have ever seen so much devastation, yet so much hope. It has been 9 months since the 3 minute and 14 second tornado swept away buildings, houses, and lives. The amount of debris was completely overwhelming; to be inside of the middle school and see sheet music, ruined books, clothes, ventilation systems, wires, shattered windows and floors, desks missing drawers... everything... and then drive 6 miles away to the other side of town and see the hospital... with it's shattered windows, broken buildings, entire floors destroyed, sheets hanging out of the windows, etc. completely on opposites ends of town, yet both completely destroyed; to see the high school with absolutely nothing but ruins and debris; to hear the stories of people who lived through the tornado, who survived the eye... it was all so very, overwhelming. The stories were incredible, but not nearly as incredible as the people; people who risked their own lives to protect their loved ones; people who had to see people dead, and people dying, right in front of them; people who saved lives. I just can't even come up with the words to describe the experience I had in Joplin. Though we were only there for 9 hours or so, those 9 hours were so packed with life changing experiences.
I honestly don't know what to say about it.... it was just... wow. I think we all walked away knowing that, at any moment, 3 minutes and 14 seconds can change thousands of lives, forever. We learned to live for the moment and to never forget that our lives can be taken away at any moment. We learned that home isn't about a house, or what you have... it's about being with the people you love.
The Lord blessed Joplin, really. Although they were in the midst of devastation, God saved hundreds and hundreds of lives through timing. All of the hundreds and hundreds of people were at the high school graduation at the college, rather than the high school... for the first time ever. If they had been at the high school like originally planned, they all would have died. There were so many others ways that God made the timing bless Joplin... but what was incredible to me was seeing the HUGE cross, still standing where the church was not. Surrounded originally by debris, and now by nothing, this (what, 30 ft tall?) cross was standing strong. The Lord's hands were protecting Joplin, keeping so many people alive who may not have been had the tornado been an hour earlier or an hour later.

I am truly stunned by everything that happened yesterday. I have absolutely no words to describe it, but I can say that I am so very thankful to have had that experience, and even more grateful to have been able to help out down there.

Thank you to Chris Moreno and Dianne Lynch for helping me make the trip happen. It was life changing. Since I can't find the words to talk about Joplin, here are photos; after all, a photo is worth 1,000 words, right?