Praying for Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and the Southeast

What a horrific week it has been for the state of Alabama (really, the whole Southeast)! When I got home from work on Wednesday afternoon I saw several friends' facebook posts about the terrible tornado that had just hit Tuscaloosa. Entire neighborhoods and a major intersection near the campus were completely wiped out! It's just heartbreaking to thing about - so many places I frequented during my time as a Bama student are gone, destroyed in an instant.

But Tuscaloosa wasn't the only victim. Tornados have wrought destruction throughout the entire state. My grandparents in Madison are still without phone lines and power - but at least they still have their home and their lives. So many others across the state and throughout the Southeast have lost everything, and the deathtoll and number of people still missing are staggering. Some little towns were completely obliterated. How terrible!

One good thing has come out of this tragedy, though. Arch rivals have drawn together to support one another in a way that is amazing to see. A group from Auburn University has been working tirelessly to help raise support and provide much needed resources and relief work for the city of Tuscaloosa, home of the University of Alabama. The state has united in its grief and relief work in a way that I have never seen. It makes me proud to be from Alabama, and less inclined to dislike everything about Auburn. They may still be my arch rival when it comes to football, but maybe it's now limited to football.

Please pray for all those people in the state of Alabama and across the Southeast - for those who have lost loved ones or everything they owned, for those who are still without power and phone service, for those who may be looking for someone who is still missing, and for those who are giving everything they can in relief efforts. It's going to be a long cleanup and recovery effort, but the south will rise again!