Easter wkd was so great! I started it off on Friday by going shopping in Bham and then going to Secret Church!
Secret Church was an amazing experience. We sat and studied the Bible for 6 hours! 6 hours!?! It flew by.. it literally seemed like 3 hours max! I fully recommend it to anyone and everyone! Saturday was spent on the lake with friends just relaxing, which was SOOOO needed! And Sunday was Easter. What an amazing day, knowing what Christ did for each of us. Knowing that he paid for my sins. Knowing that because of his pain on the cross I have eternal life with the King, the Lord of Lords. Jesus Christ died on the cross not for me or for you, he died on the cross out of his overflowing, bounding, unmeasurable love for the Father. That is Easter, that's why it is possibly my favorite day!
Cara Lee, Chance, & Me
Pretty much my life for the past month was totally, and completely consumed with studying. I had an adult health hesi and mental health hesi and then 3 finals to study for (Adult health, Mental health, and my research class). I was so determined to absolutely ACE those tests. So for the past 2 wks I have been at Rodgers library, my kitchen table, or my friend Leigh's apartment being devoured by HESI and NCLEX information, study tips, and practice questions. Well we took our Mental Health HESI last Monday (April 25th). And I am proud to announce that I completely owned that test...I made a 1026, which is a conversion score of 93%!!! I cannot explain how excited I was! Afterwards Leigh and I went and had a celebratory lunch at Iguana Grill, then went straight back to studying for the Adult Health HESI which was scheduled for that Wednesday @ 1. From Monday to Wednesday I studied non-stop for my HESI. But Wednesday morning is when things pretty much turned upside down...
I woke up Wednesday morning about 4 AM to my phone ringing, it was my Mom. She was calling to wake me up and make sure I was aware that there were severe storms with possible tornadoes headed toward the Tuscaloosa area, but that she thought they were actually going to go around Tuscaloosa. I stayed on the phone with my Mom until about 5 when we were sure that the storms had passed for a while and I was safe to go back to sleep. Then about 2 hours later I was woken up by another phone call, this time from my cousin Derek, asking if I had talked to my parents to make sure they were ok, that a tornado had just passed through where I live! Talk about a wake up call! I immediately hung up and called home. My mom and sister were both fine (my dad was in Minnesota working). The tornado had passed just north of our house, but mom and Cara Lee had taken cover in my closet with a matress on top of them...which in itself is a scary yet kind of comical thought haha. The storm that had passed through Guntersville did a lot of damage. Buck Island was demolished, but praise God, there were no deaths. Keep the people of Buck Island in your prayers, for they will now be picking up the remains and rebuilding their homes. I then got up, made coffee, and began my last bout of studying before my HESI @ 1. I studied until about 12 then was headed to my car to go to the test when Leigh text me to tell me that hesi had been postponed due to being under a tornado watch. So I came back to my apt, packed up my stuff and headed to the Alpha Gam house to stay the day. {The past 2 tornado warnings Tuscaloosa has had I got caught up in and didn't make it to the AGD basement until the time the storm was hitting--this time I was not going to let that happen}. I got to the Alpha Gam house and ate lunch and continued to study (the hesi had been rescheduled for 9 AM the next morning). I heard a few other girls talking about a strong tornado in the Cullman area, and immediatley pulled up James Spann's live report on the internet and called my mom to make sure they were taking cover. My mom and sister were headed to my aunt's to stay in their basement. For the next 2 hours I watched the storms and reported the info to my mom back in Guntersville (the first storm knocked out their power). The storms that ripped through Cullman and north Alabama were devastating and terrifying to watch knowing my family was up there. But thankfully Mom and Cara Lee were safe and sound with the fam!
It seemed that once the Cullman tornado popped up, then tornadoes began popping up all over the state. Tuscaloosa was put under a tornado warning and told to take cover around 4:45 for a tornado that was headed directly towards downtown Tuscaloosa. Thank goodness I was already in the basement at AGD. I promise half the sorority was down there. We all ended up in the chapter room because it is the safest room in the basement. We lost power almost immediately. One of the girls was able to have a little bit of internet and able to pick up bits and pieces of James Spann's broadcast. We also had a radio, but it kept cutting in and out also. Literally the last thing we heard before we lost radio and internet is... "It looks like its going to pass right over Bryant Denny." Ok.. seeing as the Alpha Gam is maybe 50 yards from the stadium...we were all terrified. I honestly don't think I've ever been that scarred in my entire life. All I could do was laydown, cover up with my blanket, and pray. I felt like I did that for hours, when it was actually probably no more than 30 minutes. I could not get my cell phone to do anything, so frustrating. I finally received a call from my Dad, and was able to talk to him just long enough to tell him I was ok, and for him to tell me that the destruction in Tuscaloosa was going to be really bad.
All of the storms eventually passed that night. There was no power anywhere though and my cell phone, like most others, had died. The majority of the girls stayed the night at the AGD house, mainly just to be near each other, we were all so scarred.
Around 9 that night about 30 of us Alpha Gams decided that we were going to go volunteer at the shelters. To make a long story short, by God's will, I ended up 2 guys who were also students at the University that had come to volunteer and with 2 ladies ( a mother and a daughter) who were searching for their uncle. Us 5 searched all the shelters for the man, with no luck of finding him. We then were allowed to walk through Alberta city. Wow. Wow is all I can say. Alberta city is not recognizable. The destruction there is unlike anything I could have ever imagined. The people of Alberta city need your constant prayers, donations, and support. We walked to the man's apt, it was demolished and the man was not inside. At this point it was 3:00 AM. We eventually got the ladies back to their car and traded numbers so they could contact us in the morning if they wanted us to continue helping them look for their uncle. We spent 5 hours looking for one man. One man that we did not find. It was mentally, physically, and emotionally draining. The time and energy we spent with those precious ladies looking for their loved one, is the exact same thing the emergency crews and police are doing non-stop since the tornadoes, for not one, but hundreds. Now that is an overwhelming thought.
The group of people I was with looking for that gentleman, was a godly group. I knew from the minute we all met that God had a spiritual adventure planned for us, and that we received. Praying out loud in front of people might be one of my least favorite things..and I wish so bad that I didn't have that fear. I guess that's something to pray about, huh? :) But sitting in the UA rec center with the mother, I had this overwhelming feeling, I had no idea what I needed to do, but I just knew that I needed to pray. I asked the lady if it was ok if I prayed with her and her response was one that put a huge smile on my face..she said, "Baby, yes! I'm not afraid of my Jesus!". I love it! So there we sat and prayed for the victims of the storm, the dead, the injured, and the missing, and her uncle. It was amazing. Then on the car ride to the shelters, Parker (one of the guys we were with) began praying out loud as we drove. And to me that was so powerful. It was spontaneous and there was no mention of him doing it, he just did! And lastly, after we had walked through Alberta and went to the man's home and not been able to find him, the mother fell to her knees in the street. She was so engulfed with the emotions of the night, and rightly so. Us 5, plus 2 other ladies who were walking the streets looking for a loved one, joined together in a tight-knit circle and prayed outloud..all at the same time. We have a God who hears all of us, all of our prayers and needs, at the exact same time. The entire night I know with my heart that the Lord was with us, and even though we did not find the uncle that night, God was there and he was actively participating in each of our lives. I know that God was doing that with everyone Wednesday, April 27th.
The destruction in Tuscaloosa is horrific. Finals were cancelled along with the rest of the semester and needless to say I didn't take my adult health hesi. I can't stop thinking about how studying had become front and center of my life for the past 2 wks, and then in 10 minutes all of that studying and taking practice tests didn't matter for anything. It is a humbling thought, to know that God will and can change all of my so thought "concrete" plans for something so much greater. The damage done by the tornado that swept through 15th street, Mcfarland, and Alberta City will take years to rebuild, and a lifetime to deal with the emotional wake. But I KNOW, I know without a doubt that this catastrophe will bring glory to God. That he will receive the fruits of this disaster and many will come to know him and his sovereign love through this.
May God bless the EMS workers, police, doctors, nurses, volunteers, and everyone else that I know I've failed to mention that are working tirelessly to serve others. Serving others, that's Christ's love.
