Tornado Disaster

I'm sure everyone is well aware of the devastating tornadoes/storms that came through our area as well as all over the southeast on Wed. The President is in Tuscaloosa this morning to assess the damage which is just unbelievable. My brother is a pilot & volunteers for the CAP (Civil Air Patrol) which was called on yesterday to go take aerials of the damage in order to make a grid or one huge picture of the destruction. He said Pleasant Grove which is just north of B'ham was just completely destroyed/flattened & that you couldn't even see where the damage ended which says a lot when you're up in a plane & can see for miles & miles. We were so very thankful that the storms just dodged our house & we didn't have any damage...we were lucky to not even lose our power. Justin, Carter & I did our part last night to help by bagging up all the toiletries I have collected while out of town for work when I stay at hotels & any trips we go on. Our church always has a monthly collection for certain things to donate to the needy so I usually keep quite a stash of these under my sink for when they need it. Carter will probably be a little saddened that these are gone since he loves to pull them out & line them up on the counter like he does his cars. We also had tons of other stuff like toothbrushes/floss from all of our dentist appts, free samples of things that come in the mail, make-up that I haven't used from the gift bags Clinique gives out when you buy a certain amount of their products, etc. It was so humbling & rewarding to know that we are helping out so many others who have lost absolutely everything through these devastating storms. I just can't imagine what they are going through. I hope if you live in the area & are able to help that you will or you already have.

And just a side note, Casey (I know you read the blogs sometimes) my heart goes out to your SIL as well as her roommates family and friends. What a tragic loss that was & they are in my prayers. This is just a reminder about how precious life really is & how quickly in can be taken away. God has a plan though & we may not understand His reasons but it is not our duty to question or judge Him. We must use our faith to know He is in control and everything happens for a reason.

On a much happier note...we are headed to Mobile this afternoon to visit the fam & we are sooo excited!!! I have Easter pics to catch up on too...