Poem for Moore, Oklahoma

Monday, May 20
A day that started just fine
Then shortly before three o'clock
Sirens began to whine

Before they knew it
A tornado touched down
And with high-powered winds
Started plowing through town

For forty long minutes
It twisted and tore
'Til most buildings in town
Were rendered no more

When the dust had settled
And the sky had cleared
People emerged from their shelter
And all were saddened to hear

Of 24 lives
Tragically snuffed out
377 more were injured
As the twister carved its route

Despite all the damage
The whirlwind did commit
God's still in control
And can bring good out of it

God, please be with
Those left behind
Give them strength to go on
Dry the tears that they cry

Help us to know
That You still reign
Even when we're faced
With sorrow and pain

Help us to remember
That all of Your plans
Are for our benefit
Our future is in Your hands

Wrap your arms around us
And we will know then
You'll love us forever
In Your Son's name, Amen

Comments

Changed and Transformed

I am currently starting the fourth week of an online Bible study based on the book Living So That: Making Faith-Filled Choices in the Midst of a Messy Life by Wendy Blight. I was drawn to the study because of the title. When I first saw it, I thought, Living so that what? Where's the rest of the title? I now realize that the title was referring to those verses in the Bible that have the words so that in them. The book has five chapters, each split into five parts and having a memory verse tied to the topic of that chapter. In the study, we are doing one chapter a week, and can split up the five readings for the week however we want to. I choose to read them on weekdays right after breakfast so that I start each work day with some time spent in God's Word. Chapter One is "Jesus Came So That," and the memory verse is John 3:16. I figured, I know that verse in two languages. I got this. I didn't figure I would have any trouble with that week because I alre...

Help Me Find It

Much of my life has not been easy. There are many times when God's will for my life didn't seem very clear. One of those times was just after I graduated college in December 2011. Less than a week after my graduation, I found I was not admitted into the school counseling program, which was my second choice of masters programs. I had been planning to get a master's in special education, but after two failed student teaching attempts, that future was no longer possible. So right before Christmas, I found out that other than having my apartment for another semester, there was really no good reason to return to Manhattan. I did return, and ended up taking a couple of classes. I considered looking into another master's degree program. After much prayer, I decided that instead of jumping into applying for another master's program, it would be better for me to return home at the end of the semester and get a job as a para so I could gain more experience working with childr...

Fear

"My fears would surely kill me If I didn't know the truth The things that I'm afraid of Are afraid of You" ~ " Things That I'm Afraid Of " - Josh Wilson I had reached a place a couple of years ago where I was more or less fearless, or so I thought. Then the pandemic hit, and while I was never afraid of the virus, I was afraid of what would happen because of the quarantine and separation from others. Unfortunately, some of those fears came true, and having some fears come true has led to new fears feeling even stronger. Recently, I have been bombarded with a wave of new fears that has threatened to overwhelm me. My car needs expensive repairs, my dad is facing an unfair situation that I can't help him with, and I am in a new relationship, which is wonderful and scary at the same time. In fact, I am posting this much later than I initially wanted to. Those fears were so strong that it was hard for me to put into words how I was feeling, and ev...

Godly Insights for the 21st Century Life

Search This Blog