Mourning Breaks

Here's one really big shout out:

Thank you so much to my friends and my family for sticking it out through the storm and showing such strength and courage in the midst of such a traumatic event.

Kenna and Caleb, I love you guys. Your strength really impressed me and your trust in God is inspirational. Keep that faith; it's all that matters.

Mom and Dad, thank you for showing just how much you love me by sticking by my bedside 24/7 for three weeks and sacrificing everything for my safety. Love you two.

To my siblings - I know it must have been tough losing my sarcastic remarks and awkward humor, but thanks for trooping through that tough time where you had to put up with not having me aware. =)

Lucian - Love you, dude. I wouldn't be here without you. You're going to go far. Keep your drive, keep your faith.

Justin, Sam, and whoever else happened to, thanks for helping keep watch over me while I was in recovery. I know I got crazy sometimes - thanks for loving me enough to fight me down. =)

Thank you to my church family. Not only did you care for me and my family while I was in the hospital, but you cared for thousands of displaced and affected citizens, giving them food and water, rest and counsel. You are the Body of Christ, and you proved that on the night of and in the weeks following the tornado.

Thanks to Penny for letting me keep my job at the camp even though I was a full month late to my first shift. The camp means so much to me. You all are awesome.



Finally, thank you and congratulations to the community of Joplin for your astounding response to the tornado literally seconds after it had passed. I believe that the community of my city saved just as many lives as the doctors and nurses who were also vitally important to the response. You, as a community, acted as first responders, counselors, search-and-rescue, firefighters, crowd control, and damage assessment. The people of Joplin forgot who they were on the night of the tornado and became whom they needed to be - whom their fellow people needed.

Joplin - you, as a city, have shown what a mid-western people group can accomplish; as a people, you have defined the ideal community; as a community, you have changed the lives of thousands of people within this city. The impact you have made has impressed itself upon the minds of people worldwide. You have been placed on a spotlight - the light hasn't faded yet. We need to continue to be an example to the nation and to the world for the rest of our lives. This city should be the national example of how a loving community is, not how they were solely in response to a disaster.

Show the world how to love one another; how to love others above yourself; how to "love in spite of" instead of "love because."

The weather clears, and the sun rises; morning breaks and mourning fades, but I pray that the memory of the tornado would always serve to remind us to place priorities where they should be and live out our lives and our faith as we ought. For some, the wounds are still fresh. They need a community surrounding them - this means you - and they need the chance to share their story. Every person who went through the tornado has an incredibly powerful testimony to the rest of the world.

I pray that we never forget:

We are Joplin. Joplin is community. Community is strength. And in the end, Love is Strength.

Love one another with strength and courage, and see if we cannot change the world.

John 13:34-35
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