Again…Really?! You have to be joking.

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

“God won’t put more on you than you can carry at one time.” 

I know how the sayings go. Really, I do. However, I have been experiencing a big “WTF, God?” moment all day long, as I hear that my home state of Alabama….my very own small, hometown of Athens…is being ravaged by tornadoes yet again. For the second time in less than a year. Haven’t these people, MY PEOPLE, suffered enough???!!!

About an hour ago, I found out a dear friend of mine, whom I cheered with from 7th grade on through high school, lost her home and all her possessions. Fortunately, she and her husband escaped with their lives. Barely. ‘Things’ can be replaced; lives cannot. They lived in a community that was hit last April 27th, by a twister categorized as an F5. That tornado was the first one on record the National Weather Service had ever given an F5 rating to. Just seems so unfair that she and her family, as well as so many others are in harm’s way yet again. Why must people with so little to lose…..lose?

WTF???? I know there has to be a plan here, put in place by divine powers. Right now though….I just don’t see it. Please, help me see it.

Last year, I was honored to be able to help organize a massive relief effort, California for Alabama, to help those affected by devastating tornadoes. I would love to do the same now, but it just seems impossible. Especially given the state of the economy. So many people don’t have enough for themselves. How can they possibly give to others? My own family is experiencing difficulty, yet I find myself wondering what I can do. My plate is filled to capacity and ready to topple over under the weight of my own reality, but as bleak as it appears, my slice of poop pie pales in comparison to what friends and family back home are feeling. There is only one commonality: heartbreak.

I had planned to write a post this evening that would make everyone laugh. About something obviously so trivial that I can’t even remember it now. Seriously. Perspective intervened.

Maybe that was the plan all along.

If you read this, and would like to somehow help the people in Alabama, leave a comment with your email address, and I will see to it that your kindness is directed down the right path. Promise.

xo,

N