100 Year Flood

I've been looking at some pictures from the floods. They are devastating. Horrific. Tragic beyond description.

This picture struck me. There were several pictures of him with his now destroyed home with all of his now destroyed belongings, but this one tears at my heart. It's the realness of this image- the fear, anxiety, and hopelessness that an event of this magnitude brings to a person who has lost everything. You see it in his eyes.

I imagine it would be easy to lose hope. I imagine it would be easy to feel like giving up.

I have no idea what these people who have lost everything are going through, but in his eyes I can see a glimpse.

But then I remember: This is America. And in America, we help each other. When somebody is down and out, we are there to help each other.

The man in the picture is not alone- somebody is there to give him a helping hand.

That's what we do in this country. We look out for each other. Why? Because we are good people who love and care for others- even complete strangers.

At this very moment there are normal, average people risking their lives to rescue normal, average people who have been stranded.

At this very moment there are normal, average people feeding normal, average people who are now living in shelters because their homes are destroyed.

At this very moment there are normal, average people who are broken. Who are scared. Who are crying for help.

And there are normal, average people who are willing to give that help.

The rains continue as I type this. The flood waters continue to rise. The fear of losing everything has become a reality for thousands of people.

And now it is time for us, as Americans, to step up and help. Because that's what we do. That's what normal, average Americans do when they see another normal, average American struggling.

Buckle up those bootstraps- it's time to get out and help!

Coming Out Of The Darkness

The last six months or so have been really tough for us Coloradans. I mentioned it before just after the theater massacre, and instead of getting better things got even worse. Jessica Ridgeway lived about 15 miles from my house. Her killer went to school about 3 miles away. That's been tough to process.

Living in a swing state has been horrific. Hate, lies, and vitriol have flooded airways, our mailboxes, and Facebook. I've HATED it.

To top it all off, some things with both of our extended families have caused us great concern.

I've been in a dark place the last few months.

But, a couple of weeks ago I was talking to a girlfriend and it all changed.

I don't know if this is true, but I don't care. It made me feel better and changed my perspective, so whether it is true or not doesn't really concern me.

She told me that she had gotten a FB status from a friend of a friend (can you guess why I am questioning it's truthfulness?).** This friend of a friend has a son who is serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon church) in Ghana. She posted this on her FB page:

Elder Holland (a leader in our church) came and spoke. He said that 80,000 new mission submissions came in since the announcement in General Conference of the younger mission ages. 50 new missions would be created in the near future as a result of this new bump in missionaries.

 He said “in this family we serve” should be our motto! We need to all lock arms and go to work. He quoted I Cor. Chap 12 and reminded us that we are all vital members of the whole. We are all in this together. When one rejoices or suffers, we all do. God is interested in our personal growth. He said that it may not be easy. Growth comes through adversity and hardships. But the Lord said that he will ease our burdens and give us strength to carry them. God is aware of us. 

How awesome is that?!? For those of you who are not members of our faith, I am sure that you know that we have missionaries. These missionaries certainly preach of Christ, but they also do service throughout the world- missionaries serve in many different ways. Normally, we have about 54,000 missionaries serving at any given time. According to this, 80,000 NEW future missionaries applied in just about 4 weeks!!!! Think of all the good they can do throughout the world!

This simply lifted my spirits as I realized that God is in charge! No matter what happens, God is in charge! We are HIS children and He cares about each and every one of us. While we may not understand why so many horrible things are happening, God understands.

Anyway, this has really helped me to not feel so much anger, despair, and hate about so many things that are going on right now. I do have faith in Christ, and I know that He cares very much about this world we live in. His work is going forward- and in the end, that is what truly matters.

**The Salt Lake Tribune did confirm that as of two weeks after conference missionary applications did spike from 700 a week to 4,000 a week, so that does add some validity to this statement.

Ode To A Decade, and A Day

This week marks one decade since I moved to CO.

I was going to write a wonderful blogpost about how my roommates and friends drove me out here, how hard the first year was but how grateful I am that I ended up here. I was going to write about all the reasons I love Colorado.

But then I saw the news this morning. Of course, I am referring to the shootings this morning- the "Batman Massacre."

And now I am not quite sure what to write.

This is the place of the gorgeous Rocky Mountains, the Broncos, and the Mile High City. But it also the state of Columbine, the Waldo Canyon Fires, and now the Batman Massacre.

Colorado has been on the front page of a lot of newspapers this summer. It has not been a good summer for us here. Today is an especially dark, dark day.

So, now what?

A favorite quote of mine is,

"A life lived in fear is a life half lived."

I have desparately tried to live my life by this quote. This quote helped land me in Berlin in 1995, in South Carolina in 1999, and in Colorado in 2002- undoubtedly some of the best choices I have ever made.

When I told my mom I was going to be teaching at the rival school of Columbine, my mom got worried and said I shouldn't move out here. I didn't give it a second thought.

Now I'm giving it a second thought.

Now I have kids who I want to keep safe and protected.

I don't want to be afraid of sending my kids to school or going to the movie theater or anywhere else for that matter.

But I want my kids to be safe.

I am reminded of when Audra was born and I started freaking out and wondering how it was Ben and I thought we could possibly raise children in this scary, scary, world.

Then Ben gave her the most beautiful baby blessing which reassured me that God is in charge, that He wins in the end, and that Audra is a super strong girl who can beat the evils in the world. Basically, I realized that my fear was driving away my faith and I shouldn't let that happen.

That is how I am feeling now. That fear is driving away faith. I hate that.

I know tomorrow will be better. That each day we will get stronger and we will get past this horrible, awful day. I know that we were- thankfully- not involved in what happened, and to our knowledge nobody we know was involved. (of course, they haven't released the names of victims so we don't know for sure)

On 9/11 I remember having a deep pit in my stomach of sheer horror, shock, pain, etc. Today that pit has returned- and I hate it.

I am saddened that this dark day tarnishes the beauty that is Colorado. This is (was?) a wonderful place to raise a family. This is (was?) a beautiful state with friendly, warm people. This is (was?) the place I was planning on being forever and raising my children. I have loved the past 10 years that I have spent here.

Today I am just not quite sure what to think.

But I'll get there- we all will.

Japan

Like I am sure many of you, I have been glued to my TV the past few days as the scenes of what has transpired in Japan has unfolded. I wanted to write a post on Japan, in part to document and in part to try and process what is happening.

Certianly apocolyptic scenes being displayed on live TV isn't new- we saw the devastation of Haiti and the 2004 tsunami that both killed so many. But for some reason Japan has affeceted me a little differently. I hope I do not sound callous when I say that- my heart broke for the people in Haiti and of course in all those island countries as thousands lost their lives.

And  my heart is wrenching again for the people in Japan, but in a slightly different way. I think I have narrowed down in two ways why this particular disaster has been so difficult for me to process:

1. The news footage is so graphic because everybody in Japan has cell phones to record what was happening literally as it happened- certainly that has played a factor

But, I also think this is another reason:

2. Japan is not a third world country- they are like us. When I see devastating images of a third world county, it is horrific and depressing, but somehow not entirely a surprise because they don't have the infrstructure or the resources of a first world country. But, Japan spends billions of dollars a year (more than any other country) protecting itself against what happened- and the destruction is still unimaginable. It hits home for me just a little bit more, because it could just as well be us that it is happening too.

As Ben told me last night, "no matter what you do, you can't beat Mother Nature."

Granted, of course, without their infrastructure thousands more would have died- so thank goodness they have done all that they have done to protect themselves.

But this disaster reminds me yet again of the importance of doing all we can personally to prepare- both spiritually and physically- because Mother Nature can strike at anytime and anywhere- not just in third world countries.

Now excuse me while I go back to the TV.