My heart is oh so heavy. The tornadoes. Oh, the tornadoes.

Usually, I try to backblog. (For those of you who aren't on the up & up--"backblog" is Mrs. C speak for going backwards in time and pretend I blogged in a nice, human order when really you just pulled an all nighter of blogging all at once.) Tonight, I'm breaking my own rule and blogging what is going on now. I'll finish up Easter posts later. (And I'll also finish up that awful post that didn't load all the pictures. Thanks for nothing, Picasa.)

I am on the verge of tears over the devastation that is taking place all around me. I live in the southeastern USA, and I have lived here my entire life. All twenty-nine plus 3 years of it. I know so many people scattered across the south, and I am overwhelmed by the fact this could have been us.

You see, when the storm system started coming through it was Monday. On Tuesday, I went to WOM (Women on Mission) at my church as usual (well for my fake SAHM time) around 10 AM knowing storms were coming in that afternoon. I came home around 1ish after sewing (yes! I sewed--well, kind of) in the Faith Stitchers group, ate lunch, picked up Micah, and went to the grocery store with Mr. C. We were almost out of everything except meat, so we figured we'd get out before the storm hit. The clouds were ominous, and we were hurrying to get home before the 4pm arrival of more rain. What followed were hours of uninterrupted tornado warnings, sirens, urgency by weather forecasters of the uniqueness of this day, & my family hunkered down in our master bathroom.

I'm so afraid of tornadoes.

But this was the third Monday or Tuesday in a row that we'd seen this. Tornado warnings. Sirens. Devastation. Power outages. In fact, Monday night after some wall to wall coverage, I was tired of it all. Absolutely tired. So tired because I stayed up late into the night when nothing happened on Monday. I was convinced it was all a crock, and our weather forecasters were just plain overstating this "Weather EVENT." I mean on Monday it was just rain.

But that was Monday.

By Tuesday evening, I made a decision to bring Micah into our closet so he could sleep. I reasoned I was probably overcautious because nothing was happening. But I didn't want to run across the house, scoop him up, and something happen to him in the middle of the night. As Tuesday night rolled on, I was scared out of my wits because constant tornado warnings were issued. The wind whipped around my chimney, it howled & swirled. Rain pelted. I knew it was bad as our power flickered, and I freaked out. I helplessly watched weather forecasts on my laptop, made a pallet for myself in the floor of the bathroom, and somehow fell asleep. This was probably the first time I've missed the carpet that used to be in the bathroom!

When I woke up on Wednesday morning, the crick in my neck was indescribable. I thought to myself, "What a drama queen. Idiot. Why did you sleep in the bathroom?"

Then Wednesday happened.

It continued all day. South of us, warning after warning. City after city pounded by tornadoes. I prayed constantly for the people of Mississippi. Was there a tornado? Reports were sketchy. The Memphis area wasn't out of the woods, either. It kept happening around us, too. By three or four pm, it was over. The sun came out, and Mr. C & I headed to Wednesday night church where Bro Danny spoke on having faith in God despite the bad things in life. Where did your faith lie? How ominous that was without even knowing it at the time.

Selfishly, I don't even remember thinking about the fact these two almost three days of storms would move onto another location. I didn't really think about the fact that other people might be in the path. I didn't even think it was that bad, really. We weathered it, made it through. Another tornado experience to check off our long list of tornado experiences.

When we got home from church, I got on Twitter where massive tweets started hitting me in the face. Videos. Facebook status posts. I sat in awe of God's mighty hand.

Then Thursday came. The death toll continues to rise. Higher. And higher. And these poor people only brief hours away from me have died. I've been through Birmingham more times than I can count. I know people there. My heart hurts for them. I physically ache for them. Please pray for them. Please.

And if you don't know about your salvation. If you have questions. If you need someone to talk to about your faith. EMAIL ME. confidentuntilcompletion gmail com. There is no time guaranteed in this world. The Lord does what He wills.

It could have been me. It could have been our city. I don't understand how God does things. I don't know why Memphis was spared, but Tuscaloosa was not. I don't know, but I do know it is worth your eternal life to get yourself straightened out spiritually before Jesus comes back.

Would you have been ready???