Joplin MO

Preacher man took me to Joplin yesterday and I gotta tell ya, I don't think I will ever be the same. They (who ever they are) are calling it "The Miracle of the Human Spirit" On May 22nd at 5:41 pm it came and changed life as is now known for thousands of people. It was an EF 5, it doesn't get any bigger or badder. It had winds of over 200 MPH. Do you really know how fast that is? It was on the ground for 6 miles and 30 seconds and two came together to form one and it only killed 150 people. Now don't hear me wrong, any life lost is too many, but in a town that size it is unheard of to only loose 150 people. I have a friend that was in the theater doing a play when it hit and she spent the time in a stairwell and got a broken wrist for her trouble. However, she lost her Grandmother, and my heart aches for her! So they all lost something, somehow. 
What struck me was how the place is coming back to life. Preacher man could not believe the difference that two weeks made. The dang trees are what show it for me, they are sticks, yet they are putting on leaves as if to say, "Ha! You didn't get me!" They were stripped naked and left to die, yet something inside of them said "I don't think so!" It blows my mind!

Preacher man also said no wild life has been around for weeks, well this little guy tells a different story! He is standing on a pipe that use to be in a house, looking for who knows what! But what struck me was the fact that they are coming back out. If I were a squirrel I would have packed it up and left! For good! Yet, here he was and I saw cardinals too, trying to figure out what had happened and how they go about rebuilding! It was a slight disbelief that I felt from them as they looked for something that was familiar to them.
We went by the high school and I swear, it was enough to bring you to tears thinking of what might have been going on if this had happened during a school day! The metal that was twisted as if it were butter was enough to send me over the edge. But this town has moxey! The not giving up spirit!. It was taken and by golly they want it back! 


The name of the high school is Joplin High School. Everything was sucked off except the OP. So that town did something about that. This town took Duck tape and made a "H" and an "E" and Hope has become the new High School! They also have taken some of the downed trees and someone has made art out of them. Mostly it's been eagles, and placed them around the sign. It makes me want to cry now as I think about it. At the time, I was tuff and ready to help them by cleaning up what I could. But the truth of the matter is, God is so there! I think that's what makes me want to cry! More people should have died! I mean people were sucked out of the hospital and a part of town that should have been sitting down to dinner wasn't! What were you doing on May 22nd at 5:41 pm?

 So much blessed my heart yesterday, but when I saw this sign along with so many American flags flying on everything, I had to stop and think, this is it, isn't it. People joining hands and loving each other and coming together to make a bigger heart! Joplin MO... I use to see it as a town that sucked me in as I tried to get home to Osceola from Wichita, now I see it in a totally different light! You should go there and see it for yourself. It will change you!