Roll Tide

First of all - we didn't have any damage in Opelika from yesterday's storms, thank the Lord! But as you've probably heard, our beloved Tuscaloosa took quite a beating. I was planning to go to T-town this weekend for the retirement celebration for Ken (campus minister at the Wesley Foundation). However it's been postponed until this summer. We heard the University of Alabama cancelled exams and graduation so that the students can leave as soon as possible. I'm sure it will be easier to do clean-up and restoration with most of the students out of the way. I feel very sad for those who are seniors and won't get to celebrate their graduation as planned. And some of them undoubtedly don't have homes to go to because of the widespread destruction across the state (and neighboring states too!). It's all very sad.

In BigHouse news - God continues to blow us away with blessings. Today we received an unexpected check for a general budget grant of $5,000!! We've been totally focused on the Swimsuit and Towel drive this Spring - I'm glad God's looking out for our general budget too! Speaking of swimsuits, we got back all of the finished swimsuits and towels for Cleburne County (about 60 kids). The ladies who embroidered the towels and packaged them prayed for each child by name. That really makes my heart happy. I had a dream one night while I was incapacitated in Fairview during the month of March - there were all these BigHouse kids coming to my house (in Fairview) and I was overwhelmed because I didn't know them and I didn't know what to do with all of them because I didn't have any help! I woke up and it was like 4:00 in the morning - I miraculously didn't have any pain so after I got done saying "Thank you, God! Thank you, God! Thank you, God!", I started praying for all the BigHouse kids I did know, and felt God telling me to start praying for our "BigHouse kids" across the state that we were getting towels for. It's an awesome responsibility to pray for these children. It was somewhat overwhelming as I went down the list and thought about them individually - with their own struggles with school, and friends, and family, and praying that someone would tell them about Jesus. Please pray for our kids! Jesus loves them all and has a plan for each of their lives.