Aftermath

Joplin, MO

f4 Tornado

Death toll at 125

Many injured, over 200 missing

It's sometimes hard to grasp tragedies when they don't actually touch our lives, but that doesn't make them any less horrible or real.

I found this video on Louie Giglio's twitter. It's a group of people in the walk in cooler at a gas station when the tornado hit. It helps make the events real to those of us who aren't affected.

Some friends of ours who live in Joplin were hit, they are ok, just their house and cars were badly damaged.

We have some other friends there in Joplin whose house was hit, the house lost it's roof and some of the walls and windows.

In fact there was only a small portion of the house still intact...

The part where they were hiding.

The small part of the house where our friends were

My parents know a family who the mother survived but her husband and two children were at Home Depot and were killed.

So while you're praying, please remember these families.

Also, there have been tornadoes in Oklahoma, Tennessee, Alabama and many other places, wreaking havoc and leaving devastated people behind.

Earthquakes in Pakistan, tsunamis in Japan, hurricanes in Haiti, floods, tornadoes, severe storms.

I don't think the world is ending. I think that we live in a fallen world and because of that fallenness, disasters happen.

But it's not ok for us to be wowed by a few pictures and after the excitement has worn off to forget about the people who are still just trying to get through the day.

So as Christians, let's remember those who are hurting and who are trying to rebuild their homes and their lives.