4,000 Miles, 76 Hours of Driving & a Look at the Tornado in Joplin, MO

We are home as of Tuesday driving a total of 4,000 miles round trip and 76 hours of driving.  We had a wonderful time while in Ohio; it just went too quickly.  I took a lot of pictures -one of the joys of owning a digital is you don’t have to worry about rolls of film and the cost of development.  Also, my photos are what helps me remember things I would normally forget.  I love my camera!

There were 15 of us who journeyed to Ohio for the youth camp.  Everyone was great travellers.  No needing to go to the bathroom every 30 minutes, complaining because they were hungry or uncomfortable in their seats- they were all contented resigned to the fact that we wouldn’t be stopping often. 🙂

Camp was a time to make new friends, visit with old ones and be renewed in the Lord.  Audrey was a frequent customer at the Snack Shack where I was working.  She didn’t come because she knew momma would be there.  She was there for the goodies… only the goodies.  She and Justus had been working before we left for Ohio, trying to earn money to spend at the Snack Shack and spend they did.

After camp, we were treated by some real special friends to a Fourth of July BBQ as well as given cozy beds to rest our sleep deprived bodies in.

Mary did a great job making things look festive.  I liked how she covered these cans with scrapbook paper.  Very cute.

It was time to come home after being gone 10 days.  So we said our goodbyes and hit the road again.

Coming home we inadvertently pulled off on the exit in Joplin, MO where the main damage from the tornado occurred.  It was a devastating sight.  The destruction was so widespread.

The tornado winds were more than 200mph and the tornado itself reached a width of more than a mile according to Wikipedia.  156 people were killed.

I watched a 35 minute long You Tube video made by the sister of the boy (Will Norton) who was returning home from his graduation when he was sucked out of the sunroof of his Hummer.  Will was reciting Scripture verses as he was taken.

(this is not his vehicle)

Hearing what happened in the hospitals after this tornado brings home to me once again how little we are.  The forces of nature are so incredibly powerful and though we build to withstand earthquakes and other natural calamities, all it would take to throw us into utter chaos is one that is bigger or more powerful than anything we have ever experienced before – like the Joplin, MO tornado.  

The hospital in Joplin was damaged, the backup generators didn’t work and some people died as a result of their ventilators not operating.  Dr. Kevin Kikta was in St. John’s hospital when the tornado hit.  Read his account here.  It’s worth reading.

Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what isyour life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. James 4:14

It will be a long time for everything to be built again. When we passed through there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of work going on but maybe the bulk of the work was happening in a different location.

I am so happy to know that as a Christian I am in His care. 

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

⁴Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 

I Corinthians 1:3-4