This video breaks me. And I can help but see the irony in this little boy's name.
Showing posts with label tragedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tragedy. Show all posts
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
When Will We Ever Learn?
My heart is heavy today and has been for the past couple of days as I see the devastation that is blanketing the Southern states.
People are losing lives and livelihood all over Tennessee and Mississippi because of natural disaster and nature is being destroyed while business owners on the Gulf Coast are scrambling to figure out how they are going to keep their heads above water (no pun intended) because of a man-made disaster.
I have just one question.
Why does it take two seconds when a natural disaster (i.e. flood, hurricane, tornado, earthquake) hits for neighbors and friends to help each other out but it takes sweet forever for the government to step in a take action on a man-made disaster than could have been prevented?
My heart goes out to the people of Nashville, even more the whole state of Tennessee, right now because of what they are having to deal with. Nineteen people in Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky were killed because of the storms that hit the South this weekend. People all over Nashville are doing whatever they can to ease the destruction that is being caused by the flooding river there.
Glory be to God for those people willing to help a situation that could not have been prevented and that we, as a human race, could not control.
My heart also goes out to the people on the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Fishermen and business owners are seeing their livelihood flushed down the toilet in front of their eyes and the whole world is watching God's creation be destroyed because our government is dragging ass (excuse my choice of words) in efforts to get this mess cleaned up.
There is a difference between these two situations. One was completely out of the realm of our control. The other was completely preventable.
Also we as civilians are able to extend a hand to those affected by the floods. We can't do that with oil spill situation. That is a circumstance in which the government has to step in and do whatever they are supposed to do best, when we can't.
The oil that is flood in the Gulf of Mexico right now isn't just something that can be wiped of with a towel. This is crude oil. It soaks into your skin and makes you very sick. It eats away at the materials that boats are made of. It KILLS plants and animals in the water and ultimately kills the ocean's ecosystems.
Now, I'm pretty dumb when it comes to government and economy and all of that stuff. But I do know that people's lives are more important than red tape and money.
This event happened two weeks ago and it's getting worse by the hour. When will our government learn that if it continues to neglect its people, they will have many more issues to deal with than just how much something will cost. And if you don't invest in the lives of the people who actually make your country what it is, then you aren't investing in that country that you are running. You are killing it. Two hours on the ground just to show that you've seen that damage doesn't mean squat if you aren't taking action to do something about it.
I could go to Nashville today and watch other people scoop buckets full of water out of their basements and cut down trees, but if I'm not helping, what's the point in my being there.
So, goverment, take a lesson from your people. Stop talking about what you are going to do and just DO SOMETHING!
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Check out the video below of the floods in Nashville. Word on Twitter is that people have come out in droves to help in the clean-up process. If you are in the area and want to help or even if you aren't and what to send a donation, contact the Red Cross. Also, if you are in the area and want to help, head over to the Crosspoint Church-Bellevue campus. They are sending out teams.
People are losing lives and livelihood all over Tennessee and Mississippi because of natural disaster and nature is being destroyed while business owners on the Gulf Coast are scrambling to figure out how they are going to keep their heads above water (no pun intended) because of a man-made disaster.
I have just one question.
Why does it take two seconds when a natural disaster (i.e. flood, hurricane, tornado, earthquake) hits for neighbors and friends to help each other out but it takes sweet forever for the government to step in a take action on a man-made disaster than could have been prevented?
My heart goes out to the people of Nashville, even more the whole state of Tennessee, right now because of what they are having to deal with. Nineteen people in Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky were killed because of the storms that hit the South this weekend. People all over Nashville are doing whatever they can to ease the destruction that is being caused by the flooding river there.
Glory be to God for those people willing to help a situation that could not have been prevented and that we, as a human race, could not control.
My heart also goes out to the people on the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Fishermen and business owners are seeing their livelihood flushed down the toilet in front of their eyes and the whole world is watching God's creation be destroyed because our government is dragging ass (excuse my choice of words) in efforts to get this mess cleaned up.
There is a difference between these two situations. One was completely out of the realm of our control. The other was completely preventable.
Also we as civilians are able to extend a hand to those affected by the floods. We can't do that with oil spill situation. That is a circumstance in which the government has to step in and do whatever they are supposed to do best, when we can't.
The oil that is flood in the Gulf of Mexico right now isn't just something that can be wiped of with a towel. This is crude oil. It soaks into your skin and makes you very sick. It eats away at the materials that boats are made of. It KILLS plants and animals in the water and ultimately kills the ocean's ecosystems.
Now, I'm pretty dumb when it comes to government and economy and all of that stuff. But I do know that people's lives are more important than red tape and money.
This event happened two weeks ago and it's getting worse by the hour. When will our government learn that if it continues to neglect its people, they will have many more issues to deal with than just how much something will cost. And if you don't invest in the lives of the people who actually make your country what it is, then you aren't investing in that country that you are running. You are killing it. Two hours on the ground just to show that you've seen that damage doesn't mean squat if you aren't taking action to do something about it.
I could go to Nashville today and watch other people scoop buckets full of water out of their basements and cut down trees, but if I'm not helping, what's the point in my being there.
So, goverment, take a lesson from your people. Stop talking about what you are going to do and just DO SOMETHING!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check out the video below of the floods in Nashville. Word on Twitter is that people have come out in droves to help in the clean-up process. If you are in the area and want to help or even if you aren't and what to send a donation, contact the Red Cross. Also, if you are in the area and want to help, head over to the Crosspoint Church-Bellevue campus. They are sending out teams.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Haiti
I've been having trouble getting to sleep lately. Having trouble turning my mind off.
Night before last I couldn't go to sleep until I could remember who had won the World Series in the last ten years. The night before that my mind wouldn't rest until I remembered who was Homecoming Queen and Prom Queen all four years of high school.
WHO. IS THAT. WEIRD?!?! I mean, c'mon!
I try to drown out the thoughts with TV but that doesn't seem to help.
I think my mind has been racing because I've been reading a lot lately. Thoughts are provoked. Values are challenged.
I read a book in two days this past weekend. TWO. DAYS. I know to some of you that may not seem like a big deal. Some of you read books in one sitting in one day. For me, that's never really been a reality. I get distracted and usually get sleepy after one chapter. Ask me how many books I actually finished on my summer reading lists in middle school and high school. I can probably count them on one (and maybe half a) hand.
I read Same Kind Of Different As Me this past weekend. And boy, if it didn't completely turn my world upside down.
And then this Haiti Earthquake thing now. I sat in bed last night watching Anderson Cooper (I don't care what you say, he is precious and I love him) report live from Haiti. And I cried. And cried.
And I know those were just more little steps in the plan that God has to completely destroy the life that I have now and for me to never find anything to be happy about ever again.
I hope you detected a large amount of sarcasm lathered over that last statement because I couldn't been more fueled and excited while also completely scared out of my wits about the transformation that God is doing in my heart right now. It's scary. And real. And fun.
I started asking my dad questions last night about the Haitian kids that he's encountered over the years that he's been in the Jackson Public School District. Not only has he had Haitian kids, he's had Somalians and Kenyans and Sudanese. And he's had to play bodyguard a few times as well. But that's enough about my dad (I could go on for days).
He told me about how the Catholic Charities get these kids from refugee camps, take them from having almost nothing and place them in a home where there are given more than they could have ever imagined. They don't know when their birthdays are so they are all basically given the same birthday. A 24-year old Sudanese kid could be given a birthday that states that he is 16, just so that he has the opportunity to get an education and play sports.
How heart breaking is it to not even know your real birthday.
I hear that and my heart breaks. I look at the TV and my heart breaks. I look around my apartment and feel guilty for what I have. I had a hamburger for lunch and it's not even settling right in my stomach because not so far in the back of my mind, I know the desperation there is almost 1400 miles away from me. And all I can do is send money.
I can't get on a plane and fly there. I can't go and lift up stones and bandage wounds and wipe tears away. I can't take a plate of food to that woman that is sitting on a pile of rubble. I can't hug that little boy tight who just watched four members of his family die and share with him the hurt that I would feel if my family had been ripped out from under me.
All I can do is just sit and ask God why it's happening.
I read last night the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Don't worry. I'm not going to get all Pat Roberston on you.) Abraham pleaded with God on behalf of those people. He knew their sin but he pleaded anyway. He said, "God, how can you, such a loving, compassionate God, look at a place like that and completely destroy it knowing that there might be righteous people there?" He pleaded and pleaded until God finally told him that if even there were a few righteous found, that he would spare the whole place.
Now we know that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed but God spared Lot, because he remembered Abraham's compassion.
There's your hope.
Not matter what happens, not matter how horrible this all looks, not matter how many people die, God's got good in it.
Yes. It's very heartbreaking that most of the people who died in this catastrophe died without ever hearing the gospel. But the fact is that God doesn't allow things to happen without a purpose. And He will make Himself known no matter what. God doesn't just destroy cities and cause bad things to happen because it's fun. It's not fun. He allowed his own son to die for you and me. I'm sure that was not fun at all.
But there was a purpose. The purpose of salvation. The purpose of allowing someone perfect to come in a take all of my imperfection on himself, look the devil in the face, and say, "YOU LOSE. THIS ONE IS MINE." All for the purpose of freeing me from my imperfection so that I can be free to live a perfect life in Jesus Christ. And the hope (undoubtful knowledge) that I will one day sit with Him in the place that he has prepared for me.
"The Lord gives, and the Lord takes. May the name of the Lord be praised." Job 1:21
Please join with me, and the rest of the world, in prayer for the Haitian people. Pray also for the rescue workers and people there working around the clock to supply aid. Pray those who are literally dragging people out of the rubble and pray for those they are rescuing. This is not an easy thing for any part involved.
Also if you would like to donate to aid, check out the following ways:
Night before last I couldn't go to sleep until I could remember who had won the World Series in the last ten years. The night before that my mind wouldn't rest until I remembered who was Homecoming Queen and Prom Queen all four years of high school.
WHO. IS THAT. WEIRD?!?! I mean, c'mon!
I try to drown out the thoughts with TV but that doesn't seem to help.
I think my mind has been racing because I've been reading a lot lately. Thoughts are provoked. Values are challenged.
I read a book in two days this past weekend. TWO. DAYS. I know to some of you that may not seem like a big deal. Some of you read books in one sitting in one day. For me, that's never really been a reality. I get distracted and usually get sleepy after one chapter. Ask me how many books I actually finished on my summer reading lists in middle school and high school. I can probably count them on one (and maybe half a) hand.
I read Same Kind Of Different As Me this past weekend. And boy, if it didn't completely turn my world upside down.
And then this Haiti Earthquake thing now. I sat in bed last night watching Anderson Cooper (I don't care what you say, he is precious and I love him) report live from Haiti. And I cried. And cried.
And I know those were just more little steps in the plan that God has to completely destroy the life that I have now and for me to never find anything to be happy about ever again.
I hope you detected a large amount of sarcasm lathered over that last statement because I couldn't been more fueled and excited while also completely scared out of my wits about the transformation that God is doing in my heart right now. It's scary. And real. And fun.
I started asking my dad questions last night about the Haitian kids that he's encountered over the years that he's been in the Jackson Public School District. Not only has he had Haitian kids, he's had Somalians and Kenyans and Sudanese. And he's had to play bodyguard a few times as well. But that's enough about my dad (I could go on for days).
He told me about how the Catholic Charities get these kids from refugee camps, take them from having almost nothing and place them in a home where there are given more than they could have ever imagined. They don't know when their birthdays are so they are all basically given the same birthday. A 24-year old Sudanese kid could be given a birthday that states that he is 16, just so that he has the opportunity to get an education and play sports.
How heart breaking is it to not even know your real birthday.
I hear that and my heart breaks. I look at the TV and my heart breaks. I look around my apartment and feel guilty for what I have. I had a hamburger for lunch and it's not even settling right in my stomach because not so far in the back of my mind, I know the desperation there is almost 1400 miles away from me. And all I can do is send money.
I can't get on a plane and fly there. I can't go and lift up stones and bandage wounds and wipe tears away. I can't take a plate of food to that woman that is sitting on a pile of rubble. I can't hug that little boy tight who just watched four members of his family die and share with him the hurt that I would feel if my family had been ripped out from under me.
All I can do is just sit and ask God why it's happening.
I read last night the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Don't worry. I'm not going to get all Pat Roberston on you.) Abraham pleaded with God on behalf of those people. He knew their sin but he pleaded anyway. He said, "God, how can you, such a loving, compassionate God, look at a place like that and completely destroy it knowing that there might be righteous people there?" He pleaded and pleaded until God finally told him that if even there were a few righteous found, that he would spare the whole place.
Now we know that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed but God spared Lot, because he remembered Abraham's compassion.
There's your hope.
Not matter what happens, not matter how horrible this all looks, not matter how many people die, God's got good in it.
Yes. It's very heartbreaking that most of the people who died in this catastrophe died without ever hearing the gospel. But the fact is that God doesn't allow things to happen without a purpose. And He will make Himself known no matter what. God doesn't just destroy cities and cause bad things to happen because it's fun. It's not fun. He allowed his own son to die for you and me. I'm sure that was not fun at all.
But there was a purpose. The purpose of salvation. The purpose of allowing someone perfect to come in a take all of my imperfection on himself, look the devil in the face, and say, "YOU LOSE. THIS ONE IS MINE." All for the purpose of freeing me from my imperfection so that I can be free to live a perfect life in Jesus Christ. And the hope (undoubtful knowledge) that I will one day sit with Him in the place that he has prepared for me.
"The Lord gives, and the Lord takes. May the name of the Lord be praised." Job 1:21
Please join with me, and the rest of the world, in prayer for the Haitian people. Pray also for the rescue workers and people there working around the clock to supply aid. Pray those who are literally dragging people out of the rubble and pray for those they are rescuing. This is not an easy thing for any part involved.
Also if you would like to donate to aid, check out the following ways:
- Compassion International
- Worldvision
- American Red Cross
- Hope For Haiti
- Anyone with a mobile phone and an account with a major wireless carrier can text the phrase “Haiti” to the number 90999 and donate $10 to the Red Cross. Amount is charged to the donor’s cellphone bill.
- Wyclef Jean's Yele Haiti Fund
- Text "Yele" to 501501 to donate $5 to Yele Haiti.
- Samaritan's Purse
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