April Update

Oh my goodness! This has been a CRAZY month! I thankfully finished up my Spring semester in school. So I have had two weeks off to enjoy my freedom before my May semester! I don't know how else to describe this past week other than utterly insane. The devastating tornadoes came right through my small home down, leaving nothing but debris and fallen trees. It has been absolutely breathtaking to see all of the damage this small town has undergone. Last Wednesday, April, 27th was the day it all hit!There were two bands of storms that came through. Wednesday morning at about 6:30 AM there was a tornado that came through Ohatchee. This storm hit my family. Thankfully we have minimal damage to the house. A tree fell on one of our cars, and a trailer that my dad owns. We also have about 40+ trees down, or i guess I should say, completely uprooted. So needless to say, we spent all day Wednesday trying to clean up our yard and clear our driveway so we could at least get in and out! All the while knowing there were MAJOR storms coming through that night. So without power AND water, we all settled in to our home safely and waited out the storm. Not knowing this storm would completely wipe out half of our town. All we could do is sit back and watch as the storm came through and then sit back and wait to hear about all of the damage. Alabama took a big hit; this storm claimed over 250 lives. Thursday we went out to some of the main sites that were hit to try and help those that we could. It was so overwhelming trying to help people salvage what was left of their already struggling lives! It was so powerful to hear some of the survival stories; and at the same time just as sobering to hear the horrific stories of those who had lost their lives. We have a lot of work ahead of us to clean up and pick up all of the pieces of our town! Please join me in my prayer for those who have lost so much.
Today I celebrated my 21st birthday! My family took me out to dinner last night to celebrate. It was a night full of fun and laughter. (which pretty much happens anytime you get my family together!) I came home from my night class and my sweet mother had fixed me my favorite homemade apple cobbler...yum!! Concluding this amazing day, my wonderful kids from TX made me a video for my birthday!! I will post it soon so you can see it!

Quick internship update: I finish my May classes May 26th, so I leave May 27th to head that way! As of this writing we are 22 days away!! I am so excited about seeing my family there and I know the Lord has so many wonderful plans in store for us!!

Until next time,
Hollyann