Pray for Nashville
First of all, thank you to each and every one of you who have reached out and inquired about me and Dustin. We are safe and the damage is about 45 minutes away from us. I am thankful, as I used to live in one of the neighborhoods that the tornados went right through. As I said we are thankful but also so saddened by the damage that was caused. FYI- I will still be posting in my Women's series today, but I wanted to give my Coil family an update on what's going on.
Last night a tornado ripped through Nashville and a few surrounding towns. It was absolutely awful.
My cousin filmed this video of the damage this morning in East Nashville:
https://www.facebook.com/100002383135065/videos/2767354370020640/
22 have now been confirmed dead and hundreds more are injured. My friends have reported seeing lost children and animals roaming around. There have been fires, gas leaks, evacuations throughout the city and now reports of lead poisoning and asbestos from old buildings that were destroyed. Over 50 businesses, commercial buildings and schools have been destroyed and hundreds of homes are gone.
As I said, I am so thankful that we were out of it's path and I've finally heard back from all of my friends in the city and they are all safe. But there are so many who aren't and so much work to be done. Nashville already has a shortage of jobs and housing and there is no telling how long it will take for the city to recover.
If you could please pray for those in Nashville, Mt. Juliet, Cookeville and surrounding areas, that would be appreciated. Pray for the linemen who will be restoring power to over 50,000 houses and for the first responders who are clearing out buildings and cleaning up rubble as fast as they possibly can. Pray for the safety for first response teams and those who are gathering to help.
There is also a family, a youth pastor and his wife, both are in critical condition and one is currently recovering from surgery. Their two year old daughter is in critical condition and their four year old is missing. Please pray for their healing, the safe return of their four year old daughter and for abundant resources as their entire house was completely destroyed.
If you'd like to donate or help out, there are so many organizations that will take the help. I do know that today is donating 100% of their profits from the “I Believe in Nashville” shirts to the relief efforts- which they've raised over 100k already. But I will also add a photo below that's been circulating that has other options as well.
This morning I have just had this song stuck in my head as a reminder that even through tragedy God is still there. I have no idea what the purpose of this was and I wish that natural disasters didn't exist, but I'm thankful that God makes all things new and restores the broken.
You Are On My Side – Kim Walker Smith
“In the tragedy, you grieve with me.
Your comfort is my song.
In my wandering, you're still rescuing.
You will never, never give up.”
I hope that as you listen to this song you will pray for and be reminded of those in Nashville who are desperately in need.