This one matters....

Hi friend, how are you?

Tomorrow will mark the 15 year anniversary of a serious tragedy here in America
It will be 15 years tomorrow that the tornadoes hit Joplin Missouri claiming 161 lives
It’s been called the most devastating tornado in American history
They said the damage came to 2.8 Billion
That comes to over 4.6 Billion by todays standards

It happened on a Sunday
I went there with a buddy from my church the next day to help
We took chainsaws, handsaws, giant clippers, any and every thing we could grab to go and help. We went to Lowes, they loaded a giant pallet of water into the back of my truck, I asked how much, the lady then asked “Are you headed to Joplin? I said yes, she said go, just go”….

In my lifetime I’ve seen bad things, I’ve actually been in 3 tornadoes myself, but before Joplin I never saw devastation like that of the 5 mile long swath of absolute destruction
Entire neighborhoods were completely gone. Vanished, without a trace
Every where you looked you saw residents that were pale, they were in shock, some couldn’t even speak, only stare

That following Sunday my church took up a special collection to be sent down there for relief efforts. On that Tuesday I took and led a team of over 4 dozen volunteers from my church back to ground zero to assist with the clean up

There are sooo many stories I could share from my time there
But what I want to share is God was there
God was there with the people of Joplin
Some may ask “Well if God was there, why did he allow it?”
A valid question, but not one that offers a linear answer
The mysteries of God are done on His time, in His way, not ours, and not ours to ask why

St Johns Hospital was destroyed ( the main hospital ) was destroyed in that F5 with its 200 MPH winds. I was there, pulling things from the wreckage

Next to it was a Catholic church called St Mary’s
Though the church itself was then destroyed the cross, the big giant cross that was at the church entrance, was left 100% intact

Everything, everything, everything surrounding that cross was destroyed
The cross stood strong

Joplin has since rebuilt
The city itself is actually expanding
We all can encounter times in our lives that seem that all hope is lost
But it’s not, God is with us through it all, in it all
And to Him, you matter

Invest wisely, live charitably and be well
Brother Bill