prayers for illinois

If you are new to my blog in the past 10 months, you may have missed the fact that I lived in Illinois for a year. This blog started because of mine and Tyler's long distance relationship and it just grew into a regular old lifestyle blog.

You all know that Illinois was slammed with tornadoes this past Sunday. What you probably don't know is that one of the tornadoes hit TWO MILES from where we used to live. Terrifying. My friend Ashley's aunt and uncle's house was completely demolished and it absolutely breaks my heart. Illinois is near and dear to my heart and I just broke down when I heard the horrific news. 

You can read the story and see pictures about the tornado that hit my friends' family HERE.

I just read that 13 Illinois counties are considered disaster areas, including Douglas County where we lived. My heart just breaks thinking about it. We have been in touch with our friends and it seems like all are safe, just very shaken. 

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Please pray for the families affected and donate to the American Red Cross if you are able.

heavy heart

I don't really have any words to type right now. My head is foggy and my heart is aching. This week has been tragic. The marathon bombing, the Washington letters, the West explosion. It's too much.

They are such awful, awful events... but the explosion that happened last night really hits home to me. Anhydrous ammonia (what was produced at the West plant), is used for fertilizer in agriculture. When I was in Illinois I learned a lot about it. In the spring farmers put anhydrous ammonia aka "gas" on fields to prepare them for planting. It was just a normal thing to see tanks of it in fields this time of the year. 

I also learned while working in the midwest how extremely dangerous agricultural plants are. Whether it is a grain elevator, fertilizer plant, or cotton gin, or even a power plant (I worked at one one summer), any plant like this could be fatal when a fire occurs. OSHA and the EPA closely monitor these plants to ensure that workers are safe and that safe practices are put in place in case anything happens like it did last night.

I am obviously no expert. This is truly all I know. But I am terrified. Terrified that my family owns a cotton gin that could explode at any time because of all of the dust and debris from ginning cotton in the fall. I mean, don't we all know how fast cotton burns? It is such a scary, scary thing. Anything can happen in an instant.

Ok, off my soapbox. I'm just hurting. Sad. Distraught. Overwhelmed and can't stop crying watching the news. As much as I know I need to turn it off I can't. 

All we can do is pray for all of those who are hurting. The thought that firefighters are not accounted for in the plant kills me as Tyler was a fireman in college. Again, it all hits too close to home. 

Pray for the families, communities, and all of us around the country who are grieving for all of this week's terrible events.

Jesus, I pray that you cover all of these families in your unfailing love. Help all of us who are afraid and sad to remain strong and be a light for others. I pray that those injured have a quick recovery, physically and mentally. Wrap them tight, Lord, and help us all know we have you. I pray for Boston, West, and our entire nation and world as we try to understand this week's events. In your name I pray. Amen.