Where you hang your hat

Home is wherever I'm with you.


In light of recent events, I feel it’s only appropriate to talk about home. Last Wednesday, the state of Alabama was hit with a wave of forceful and devastating tornados. Among the places scattered all along the state that were hit hard, my city, Tuscaloosa, was hit the worst. Outside of my place of birth and residency for my first 18 years of life in Birmingham, Tuscaloosa is my home. It’s where my school is, where my community of friends is, where I worship at church. It’s where we have Taco Casa Tuesdays and walk along the river walk, spend way too much time in a football stadium and quadlay listening to the chimes. It’s my Tuscaloosa, and I share it with people that I love, it’s home.

Tuscaloosa was hit by a tornado approximately a mile wide. Buildings. Streets. People. Gone. I woke up on Thursday morning, check my email and the subject line of an email from my mom is “Lesley is fine.” Alhamdu’lillah, my sister (Lesley) and all of my friends have been accounted for, but the destruction that surrounds them is astounding.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thecrimsonwhite/sets/

It felt numb first looking at the pictures. The photos, the news articles, the tweets, messages and emails. It’s all too overwhelming to really digest for me. The only words that my friends can describe it with is devastation- like a nightmare. And it hurts my heart so badly that I cannot be there to hug them and hold them and serve alongside them as they pick up our city and care for those who lost so much more. Thousands of people throughout the state lost everything. Tuscaloosa county has reported several hundred people still missing, while lots of cities are just now recovering power, many others are still without running water and basic necessities for life. The state of Alabama received a number 1 ranking on natural disasters- the same as Hurricane Katrina in 2005. President Obama traveled down south this weekend to show his support and celebrities are donating money to help out. This is my Sweet Home Alabama.
The only peace that I can find in this situation- seeing my earthly home flattened- is to remember the creator of that home and his complete sovereignty over the situation. I know that God is real in the way that I see my friends and family loving others. It’s not a love out of selfishness, but out of an overflowing of a heart filled with Jesus. I delight in seeing how my community of friends has found ways to serve helping out through my church in Tuscaloosa and also how those that have returned home have found ways to plug in and help there. Mostly, I am encouraged beyond measure by their faithfulness in prayer and service to those around them. Hah, it makes me realize how selfish I can be that I can sit, perfectly safe, in my room in Morocco and be so torn up over places when my friends back home are picking trees out of their living rooms and singing praises to the Father through it all.

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!” Job 19:25-27

http://rebekahgraceann.tumblr.com/post/5196531059/1-week-ago-1-week-away-half-way-in-between
My friend Rebekah’s blog post.

To complicate things, I found out about this on Thursday morning my time. Thursday afternoon, as I was stepping off the train for a day trip to Fes, we received word that a tourist café in Marrakesh had been bombed. Now, to update you on Moroccan geography, Marrakesh is a good 8 hours away. But when you hear that, no matter where, your heart jumps. We find out later, that a suicide bomber walked into the Argan Café- a place where I stood outside of only a few weeks ago- in the middle of the Dar al-Jma main square (and we are talking about HUGE crazy busy middle of the medina square) and after drinking a glass of orange juice set off a remotely detonated bomb. Here’s a better story:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hmpuF6FVMwrN0sEItXMEH_qNPthg?docId=CNG.91972912fabf7299c7e323bb4a885f3b.701

In addition to this, campus hasn’t exactly been peachy keen either. For the past two weeks Moroccan students have been on strike against the campus administration at our University. Actually, this gets fuzzy and very “Moroccan” because depending on who you talk to, they are protesting for different reasons. Regardless, Moroccan classes have been suspended (but not the classes for American students). Protests at the end of last week got violent and for a while there were rumors that several students and policemen had died. Alhamdu’lillah- nobody was killed. Though there might have been some minor injuries, everybody walked out alright.

It would be easy to be disgruntled and negatively impact by all of this violence and destruction, but I’m learning how to draw into the arms of God for it all. I’ve never had to repeat the word ABIDE so much to myself. It’s written on my hand in an effort that it would be imprinted on my heart. My friends, we live in a dark and fallen world. Tornados happen, bombings happen, death and violence and over-reaction are daily occurences, and without the sovereignty of God, we would have plenty of reason to fret over it all. If He’s good enough for my friend to crawl out of rubble, praising his name in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, then He is certainly enough for me. If He is good enough to grant me salvation in spite of my daily doubt and negativity and uncertainty, that He is more than enough for me.

Please join me in praying for my early homes. Alabama and Morocco. Both have been shaken deeply, but I have hope that neither is destroyed.
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