I will praise you through the storm...

I have been so blessed in the last four days to go on a wonderful mini vacation. I spent some time in Chattanooga and had a blast at all the attractions. Originally I was going to go for the weekend and be back by Monday, just in time to finish my finals. Unfortunately, due to a funeral this weekend the trip was postponed until Sunday-Wednesday. I still had some work to do and figured that I would just find a local coffee shop to get wi-fi. Well the recent tornados thwarted that plan. It took me 4 coffee shops in two different cities to find one that worked (way to go Panera!) When I finally got there it was like finding water in a desert.

From just my seat I could see 15 laptops. Wow! Everyone was searching for outlets and one guy even brought in extension cords from home to let everyone share.  Seeing their need gave me mixed emotions. I was heartened to see the way these Chattanoogans were banding together to support one another. I loved seeing them sharing outlets and giving emotional support to each other in the shop. I loved seeing the donation cans everywhere to help one another and I loved seeing the united feeling of these people and how strong they were standing with one anther. One of the days it rained pretty badly and the tension and fear of another tornado was palpable. I stopped to talk to some of the guys at the Incline Railway who said that now they were nervous even at the slightest bit of rain.

While I was so inspired to see the “can’t keep a good man down” attitude I was also saddened to see just how great the storm damage was. There were trees, power lines and telephone poles down everywhere. There were entire stretches of highway that were completely covered in people’s belongings. Furniture, papers and clothing were strewn about like fallen leaves.  There were entire streets blocked off because trees were everywhere and blue tarps crowned homes like battle scars.. It was if to call out “I might have been knocked down but I am not out yet.” Cars were crushed and so were spirits. I talked to one woman at one of the coffee shops who had 3 kids and had had no power in 6 days. She was lamenting to me about all her attempts to contact power and internet companies with no avail. My heart went out to her and to all the other people I met. I felt badly that here I was enjoying  a vacation and their lives had just been ravaged. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I wasn’t from here. I simply smiled and offered that I too had trouble finding an internet connection. She seemed to appreciate the solidarity.

I was so struck by the way this city has been so damaged. I feel that my life went through it’s own tornado in the last 6 months. Just like these people, a great storm that was completely out of my control swept through my life and just left pieces strewn everywhere. Just like the woman in the coffee shop I have been searching for the smallest reminder of normalcy. Like the man at the railway, I am on a heightened alert for anything that reminds me of the storm and my body literally tenses at just the possibility of more “rain.” We have all been through a tornado at some point in time. Whether it was physical, emotional or spiritual we have all been battered at some point. Just as I was reminded this weekend, let us not forget to reach out to others as they are trying to recover as well. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our own tornado and how it might have landed a tree on our car that we don’t even realize that our neighbor has lost their entire house. Who do you know that is battling a tornado right now and how can you help?