Prayers for West Liberty

Friday was eerie. It stormed most of the day and there was a lot of  talk in the news that tornado activity was a high probability.

To be honest, I wasn't worried. We live in the mountains.....tornadoes can't pass thru mountains....can they?

We even ate dinner out. Something that is rare with Karsen feeling so bad still.

But on the way home the clouds looked really bad. You could see the storm line and it was creepy.

We got home and turned the news on. Tornado warnings were all around us and Doppler radar had detected a big one just to the south east of us. I have lived in Kansas (when I was 8). I remember all too well the tornado siren in the town of Osage and being led into the "storm closet" in my mom's bedroom.

I have lived in North Carolina almost my entire life and lived thru a devastating tornado in Kernersville in 1989 and one that hit in 1999 10 miles of my house in Clemmons.

I never thought I would see tornadoes in West Virginia!

West Liberty, KY is just to the south east of my town. And they were basically wiped off of the map. My heart aches for those who have lost everything. One woman on the news tonight lost her daughter and mother. My heart cannot even imagine.

This storm also claimed the lives of an entire young family in Indiana. Sadly, the only survivor of the family, a baby girl named Angel, died tonight.

Baby Angel will now be reunited with her baby sister and brother, and I pray her parents.

A friend of mine asked me tonight on Facebook, why does God allow such pain, why do some survive, and others don't?

The best answer that I could muster was this:

God has a purpose for everything and every thing has a reason and purpose. For some, death is how He becomes glorified. For others, living thru pain is how He is glorified. This is where Faith steps in. You have to trust Him in all things, good and bad. For some of us, it takes something bad to turn to God. Whatever the reason, the end is this....in the end everyone dies and it is so important to know where you are going. There is a heaven and there is a hell. Walk with faith, walk by faith and know that He loves you so much. Even the shortest lives on earth are timely in His timing. And the longest lives on earth are just a second when compared to eternity. I once read in a Max Lucado book that in God's plan, every life is long enough and every death is timely. We shall all face death, but thanks to Jesus, we only face it's shadow.

I am so far from being the person I want to be. But I promise everyone, I am trying. Everyday before I go to bed I ask for forgiveness because there is nothing more than I want than to oneday be reunited with my family--Papa Bud-- and hear those words spoken to me, "Good job my faithful servant".

Please remember the people of West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky tonight in your prayers.