Blessings From Disasters

Not much more than a month ago, our pastor sent an email to the congregation to let us know that our church body was sending volunteers to Moore and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on relief missions. Our hearts broke when we heard about the horrible tornadoes that devastated the area, so Ryan and I jumped at the opportunity to take a summer vacation of service to our Lord. We put in our applications right away. A few days later, we received a call and were asked if we could commit to ten days. My wonderful boss approved my time off and we anxiously awaited the start of our new adventure! Right after church on Sunday, we packed Sassy with lunch, a suitcase, and lots of books and we hit the road.

We had a beautiful drive across Illinois and Missouri the first day.

Leaving Chicago

 

The beautiful Illinois countryside

St. Louis Arch

Missouri Ozarks

The beautiful sky felt like God giving us His blessing on our travels. 

Red sky at night: sailors delight

We rolled into Oklahoma City Monday afternoon and were greeted with a houseful of friendly, welcoming faces and lots of air mattresses. The local WELS church graciously allowed us all to pile into the house that they typically provide for their teachers, with the overflow of volunteers placed in the school/church gym. We had dinner, followed by two rowdy games of Oh Hell (how ironic?) and snuggled into our rows of beds in line with our newly made friends.

Ryan and I are surprised that we are the only volunteers of 17 in our twenties. The rest of the group is comprised two teenagers, a handful of middle-aged handy-men, and several retired couples. What a blessing! We have the opportunity to work alongside such an incredible group of wise, experienced, Christians. This will certainly be a wonderful, blessed ten days.