My wife, Kim, grew up in the middle of Kansas. When people think of Kansas they think of a town just like hers – one square mile with a lone traffic light in the middle of it. From the air her hometown of Sterling was little different from the Greensburg, KS. Though she left Kansas when she left for college nearly 20 years ago, she is a Kansan. She knows the difference between an F-2 and an F-5 tornado. She knows sirens and she knows about tornado drills in schools. Today she started forwarding me emails from friends describing what is going on there. I asked if I could reprint some of them and the people directly impacted by these storms said yes. Here is one note:

Does it always have to be tragedy for us to realize that the Lord is God and Master of our Universe? My husband, Dale & I have watched T.V. with horror, as Greensburg, Kansas disappeared in the F-5 ronado. People begin to realize what is important to them when things like this happen. Suddenly, life takes on a different outlook. It’s “Thank you, God, that I am alive! Thank you Lord, that my family is safe!”
Now my husband and I are affected. We live in a small community called Saxman, a grain elevator and a few houses. We have been “evacuated” to my daughter Melody, her husband Craig, and her son, Lucas’ house, because the resulting floods have taken over Saxman. Dale went to look this morning and was very discouraged. He said not only will the basement be flooded but probably the first floor as well. We just obtained the old church building next to us and it is probably filled with water, too. Thanks be to the Lord who provides us with all things pertaining to Life and Godliness! It makes us realize what other people experience and yes, what is important. We brought our dog, Melchizedek with us but left behind our 3 rabbits, 24 chickens, and our two cats, Magoo and Judah, but think about what people have lost, lives and all possessions. Even as these things are happening, the Lord gave me this verse this morning. Isaiah 59:1 “Behold, the Lords hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neigher his ear heavey, that it cannot hear.”
Keep on praying, meet the challenges, keep on going!

Let’s not forget Kansas and what has happened there.