thankful thursday: tornado recovery.

here are a few things i've been thankful for in the last week or so since the big tornado in moore:

1. pretty skies.

if i have to hear tornado sirens go off almost every afternoon, at least i get to see pretty skies at sunset. it's probably the only good thing about all these crazy storms. 

2. chick-fil-a.

the corporate chick-fil-a folks sent their big red truck to norman this week to help with tornado recovery. this truck can crank out 800 sandwiches an hour, y'all. isn't that insane?! some friends of ours own the Chick-fil-As in norman and moore, and they were asking for volunteers to help distribute the sandwiches to families and volunteers in moore. i was so thankful for the generosity of chick-fil-a and for a practical way to serve and love people. i mean, who doesn't want a hot chicken sandwich?

"food is symbolic of love when words are inadequate." -- alan d. wolfelt

3. oklahoma pride.

i've always been an obnoxiously proud texan (and still am), but this week i tried to channel some pride for the okie state. we threw an oklahoma-themed party on wednesday night with our missional community to watch blake shelton's healing in the heartland concert. let me back up. we desperately tried to get tickets for the concert, but they sold out in seconds, so this was our best effort at a plan B. our party was complete with a soundtrack of songs about oklahoma, every oklahoma t-shirt we own (thank you, thunder) hanging in our living room, arrows pointing to oklahoma on our giant wall map, a garland of famous oklahomans hanging in our kitchen, and oklahoma-shaped cookies, of course. home sweet 'homa.

we googled "famous oklahoma food" and fried chicken was the answer... who knew?

4. community.

i've been extra thankful for community recently. on a macro level, it's been so cool to see churches from all over the okc metro come together to serve moore, and on a micro level, i've loved watching our prov road community love each other well through all this craziness and seeing the different ways everyone has used their skills and connections to serve our neighbors to the north.

this picture has nothing to do with the tornado recovery, but everything to do with community. the saturday before the tornado, a lot of us ran the super fan 5k that our friend's work put on. it was a great way to support her and all do something fun together!

5. skype.

this doesn't really fit the tornado recovery theme of this post, but i just got off a skype call with one of our favorites that just moved down to houston, and i'm just so thankful for skype. whoever invented it is a genius. we already miss them so much, but somehow it makes it a little bit better that we can see their faces and get a virtual tour of their house. i wish i had taken a screen shot. oh well. thanks, skype!

ways you can help.

we are still reeling from monday's tornado and the complete devastation just a few miles away from us. much of our spare time and energy this week has gone into figuring out how we as individuals and we as a church can help our neighbors to the north. most needs are very immediate at this point, changing daily, even hourly, but for now, here are a few ways you can help...

donate money & materials.
giving money may seemingly be the least fun way to help, but let's be honest, it can often be the most effective. especially in the early days, like right now, dollars are desperately needed.

our church has set up a disaster relief fund. we'd be honored for you to give to it and allow us to steward your resources. we're committed to serving moore for the long haul however we can, but a few of the specific needs we'll be focused on include:

• andrew burkhart and his family, who lost their house and everything they own. andrew is the pastor of love & justice, an acts 29 church in moore, and serves on our board of advisors (functions as an elder board until we have one in place).
• love & justice, as they serve the people and needs in their neighborhood. they also have a relief fund set up that you can give to here. 
• chick-fil-a of moore, as they serve their community and team members in need. a couple at our church owns this chick-fil-a and they've already done a fantastic job of assessing the needs of their team members and serving up their delicious chicken to volunteers and families in moore.

if you're interested in donating materials (like holding a drive or collecting items and shipping them this way), let me know and we'll coordinate with the right people. the materials most frequently requested are baby items (formula, toddler food, diapers, wipes), medical/hygiene items (gauze, bandages, neosporin, shampoo, soap), and work items (gloves, trash bags, sunscreen, bug spray, duct tape, flashlights, tarps). journey church is the main drop-off/distribution site in norman, and they're great at keeping their list updated with the most immediate needs, so you might check there as well.

volunteer.
if you're interested in rolling your sleeves up and volunteering in moore (whether you're local or coming in from out of town), i would highly recommend connecting with @servemooreok. it's being led by frontline church in okc and functioning as the hub of several churches in the area (including ours!) coming together to serve moore. their website is continuously updated with needs. be sure to check it out!

also, if you and some friends need a place to stay, let us know! if you have a team coming, check with fbc norman. they're hosting teams in their family life center.

buy a t-shirt.
this is the most fun and easiest way to help. there are tons of shirts being made right now, so here are my three favorite. ALL of the proceeds from these t-shirt sales will be donated to relief efforts. you can never have too many t-shirts, so just go ahead and add one of these to your collection!

this shirt is being sold by touies design, a small business run by one of my friends from syrup. (fun fact: she designed our christmas card!) super cute shirt. buy yours here!

this shirt is from shopgood, a fun little local business in the heart of okc. the best part about their store is that every single item is socially responsible, fairly traded, and connected to a local or international community development project. so great, right?! get their shirt here!

a friend's coworker at old hat designed this shirt. it comes in several different color combinations, so pick your favorite and buy one here!

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again, thank you to everyone who has been checking on us and asking how to help. please continue to pray for those affected by the storm and for those volunteering in the recovery!

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." -- psalm 46.1

heavy heart.

i just really don't do storms well. this is our second spring (read: tornado season) in oklahoma, and i haven't gotten any better at it. if it even thunders, i assume a tornado is coming.

i was glued to the tv sunday evening as storms passed nearby us. a tornado touched down in edmond (about 45 minutes north of us), then moved on to do greater damage in shawnee (about an hour northeast of us).

i knew we were supposed to have bad weather again monday night, but surely it wouldn't be tornadoes again, right? surely it'd just be a thunderstorm? maybe some strong wind and hail?

i didn't think the weather was supposed to get bad yesterday until around dinnertime, so yesterday afternoon i was in my little home office working as usual. chris had come home for lunch and was working in the living room. i was on a phone call with my boss, and it wasn't even raining outside, when seemingly out of nowhere the tornado siren went off. chris immediately started watching the weather coverage while i stayed on my phone call (shocking, right?!). he came in and updated me a saying, "it looks like there are two storms. one should pass just north of us, and one should pass just south of us. everything's gonna be fine." it still wasn't even raining outside my window. my boss and i were nearing the end of our phone meeting when the sirens went off again. that was it, i had to go.

about the time i walked into the living room to figure out what was going on was about the time the massive tornado was doing its damage in moore... literally just 10-15 minutes away from us. we couldn't take our eyes off the screen as they showed live footage of the horrific destruction. pretty soon after that, our tv cut to the black and white fuzzy screen and our internet dropped. we made our way to a friend's house who still had cable and internet, watched some more coverage, realized we weren't in danger of any more storms, and resorted to pizza and parks&rec for the rest of the night. i never cried. i wasn't emotional. i think i was in shock and selfishly just thankful we were okay in norman.

today has been a different story. i've been wiping tears all day. my heart is just so heavy. i'm trying to work, but it's raining and thundering again outside which is disturbing to say the least, and i can't seem to turn the news coverage off in the other room, so my background noise all day has been stories of people just up the interstate from us whose lives were forever changed in a matter of minutes yesterday. the vastness of the destruction overwhelms me. the individual stories break me. those children -- it's just too much.

i'm not trying to pretend like this is my story to grieve or that i'm in any way a victim of this tragedy. please don't hear that. please don't be sad for me. i'm just trying to process by writing, and i guess "process" is what you call trying so hard to wrap my mind around this new reality just north of us and wrestling with this looming heaviness in my heart.

i'm heavy from the stories -- the children, the teachers, the parents, the first responders.
i'm heavy from trying to figure out how we can possibly help when the need is so great. no option seems like enough, but doing nothing isn't an option.
i'm heavy from feeling guilty that i want to act like it's a normal day and go for a walk on campus when it gets sunny later, but i'll be walking passed dorms where families are staying who are now homeless.
i'm heavy when i consider that the God who created the universe shares in our grief and suffers the impossible with us. it takes my breath away.

even in the heaviness there is hope.

a pastor friend of ours in moore survived with his family, but they completely lost their house -- i mean, everything. a friend of ours went and bought them underwear and other immediate necessities this morning. underwear, y'all. they lost everything. he posted a photo this morning of the remains of his house and his caption said, "jesus is better than everything i used to own."

today, we sit in heaviness. tomorrow, we start meagerly attempting to help with recovery efforts. thanks to all who have asked how to come alongside us and our church as we try to help. we'll keep you posted as we hear of opportunities. above all else, please pray for the people of moore!

thankful thursday: weekend edition.

the first things that came to mind when thinking of things i've been thankful for this week all revolved around last weekend. it was a good one!

1. whit. 

on friday, my adorable little nephew turned TWO. i still can't believe it. if you can't tell, i'm pretty crazy about this kid. 

2. waco reunion. 

the husband and i spent the weekend in waco with some of our favorite people from seminary. casey and chris grew up together, lived together during seminary, and now have both been groomsmen in each other's wedding. don't they look sharp?

photo source and better weekend review here

3. katelyn.

i'm always thankful for time with this girl. i'm also thankful that time with her usually includes laughing really hard and eating late night jesus biscuits (you might know them as whataburger's honey butter chicken biscuits). my life is better, and way more fun, with her in it. i also got to cheer her on as she faced one of her biggest fears on saturday. she nailed it -- of course. i'm so proud of her! 

4. time with the bristers.

some of chris's family came to the wedding to cheer on the groom, and the best part was that they brought little ben with them! look at those cheeks! so cute. we're slightly obsessed with our nephews.

we spent the night with them that night and got to have early morning mother's day donuts with his mom and grandmothers. we loved getting to see them and celebrate them even if it was really early and really quick!

5. team rose. 

we made it back to norman on sunday morning to celebrate moms and say goodbye to graduating seniors at church. then, we spent most of the afternoon helping one of our favorite families here pack up a uhaul and get ready to move back to the promised land (texas). we just really love this family and are so thankful for the time that we've had with them in norman. it wasn't easy to say goodbye, although i'm still somewhat in denial that they actually moved and aren't coming back. we're so excited for their new chapter and eager to see how the Lord uses them and provides for them in houston. we love you, team rose!

graduation/going away shindig.

packing party.

and now it's almost time for another weekend! hooray! what have you been thankful for this week?

the best mom in the world.

i've seen posts and statuses all day that say things like, "happy mother's day to the best mom in the world." those silly people. they must be confused.

I have the best mom in the world. hands down. way down.

she sacrifices everything for her family. 

she's courageous... so freaking courageous.

she's the coolest in her toms and noonday and warby parkers. 

she is passionate in her pursuit of Christ. 

she's one of the best bible teachers i've ever sat under. 

she always sees the bigger picture. 

she's such a fun grandmother.

she never misses an opportunity to tangibly display grace and love to us so that we'll better understand how Christ loves us.
she's super hospitable.
she trusts in the sovereignty of God even while sitting in a gazillion unanswered questions.
she loves cookies... and really all forms of "prizes."

i'm so thankful and honored to call her my mom, and i hope to be half the mom she is one day.

thankful thursday: good people.

time for another thankful thursday post, party people. here are a few things i've been thankful for in the last couple of weeks:

1. time with friends in the south.
i am nothing if not a maximizer. i attended a conference in nashville last week for work, which conveniently meant i got to see a couple of my favorite friends from auburn and drink my weight in fruit tea. i need a recipe asap so my oklahoma friends can experience what heaven tastes like.

{delicious fruit tea unfortunately not pictured.}

it just so happened that my college roommates had been trying to find a good time for a reunion, so since i was already in the south for the conference, we decided to make it happen last weekend. i drove my little rental car down to birmingham and had the best time with these girls:

i can't believe we graduated five years ago this weekend. that makes me feel so old! we hadn't all been in the same room in almost three years. unacceptable. i loved catching up on everyone's life, and i especially loved watching sarah be a mom and getting to snuggle with my favorite 10-month-old:

those eight girls, y'all. i could not have made it through college without them. so so thankful for time with them last week. such a rare gift!

2. duck dynasty.
speaking of the south (ha)... my husband's new favorite show is duck dynasty. bless it. he was so thrilled over my homecoming sunday night that he surprised me with flowers and two dvds of the bearded crazies. i'm mostly indifferent toward the show, but i LOVE how much it makes chris laugh. if you haven't ever heard his uncontrollable, really high-pitched, tears flowing laugh, then you're really missing out. it's the best thing ever. so if watching silly uncle si means i get to see that laugh, then bring on the duck calls.

3. worship "concerts."
a couple weekends ago, we drove down to ardmore with some friends for a derek webb concert. it was part of his "she must and shall go free" 10th anniversary tour, so literally all he did was play straight through the album and tell the story behind each song. i've blogged about this album before, but seriously people, if you don't have it or haven't listened to it in a while, get on that right now. there's not a bad song on the album.

{i get my concert photog skills from my talented cousin...ha!}

then, last night, shane & shane made a stop in norman, so we of course had to go. i mean, i just really love them. live harmony can't be beat, and they're the best at it. their music has led my heart to worship for a solid decade or so now, and last night was no different. it was good for my soul.

4. postal service.
i love giving gifts and celebrating people, and i hate missing out, so when i have to miss out on celebrating someone, it's not easy for me. thankfully, that's where the usps comes in -- it's the next best thing to being there. and who doesn't love getting a little happy in the mail?! i hope my adorable birthday boy nephew is keeping an eye on his mailbox... you too, mom.

5. cookie dough.
i just ate leftovers for lunch and clearly i needed a little sweet bite afterwards -- a) as a treat to myself for eating leftovers (i'm the worst at leftovers) and b) ... well, let's be honest, i've never needed to come up with a reason to eat dessert. it's just a necessity in my life. so as i searched our kitchen for something sweet, lo and behold i found a tiny little bit of COOKIE DOUGH in my freezer -- just the right amount. where did this sweet goodness come from?!

here's the story that i've put together: chris hosted our missional community last week while i was out of town, and in normal chris (or maybe just normal boy) fashion, he took care of the meal and drinks (read: ordered pizza) but dessert didn't cross his mind (how does that even happen?!). in a moment of what i can only imagine was desperation (remember: necessity) our friend, tricia, took it upon herself to find the ingredients in our pantry and whip up her infamous chocolate chip cookies. they are TO DIE FOR, y'all. hands down the best i've had. so, all of that to say, imagine my delight just now to discover that she was thoughtful enough to leave a scoop of dough (even better than the actual cookies!) for me! i looked something like this:

happy almost weekend, everyone! what have you been thankful for this week?

an idea whose time has come.

the last two work weeks have taken me to dallas, okc, and nashville. it's been a nice break from my working from home routine, but definitely a whirlwind. 

my favorite part of the last two weeks has been that my worlds have completely collided. at almost all of these different events, i've rotated between my buckner hat, my prov road hat, and my cara jane hat (is that a thing?). for example, a couple thursdays ago, i went to a foster care forum in okc where i learned a ton about foster care in general for my job, but also learned how our church can be a part of what God is doing through his people in oklahoma to care for kids that need families.

it was incredible to see government officials, CEOs, foster care agencies, community members, and church leaders come together to discuss the future of foster care in oklahoma. if you're at all interested in this conversation, i highly recommend following @BenNockels and @111Project and reading more about the #fosterforum on twitter. they closed the day with a quote i thought could not have been more appropriate:

"There is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come." -- Victor Hugo

then, last week i attended the christian alliance for orphan's annual summit conference in nashville. if you've never heard of it, it's definitely a conference you should look into if you're at all interested in orphan care. they had a whole slew of incredible speakers and workshop leaders, from david platt to steven curtis chapman to u.s. congresswomen to foster parents and adoptees. catch up on #summit9 on twitter.

i was there for work, but again, i took away a lot of helpful information for our church, too. our church isn't very big at all, but we already have several couples pursuing or interested in pursuing foster care and/or adoption -- like 10 or 12 out of our close to 60 people! we're trying to figure out what it looks like to love these couples well and support them on their journey.

at some point between all the workshops and networking and coffee breaks and exhibit hall-ing at the conference last week, i stopped long enough for the realization to hit me square between the eyeballs -- i get paid to do something i am crazy passionate about, and that is so incredibly rare. i was suddenly filled with an immense amount of gratitude. all i could do in the next session was cry my little eyes out during worship. i was just so overwhelmed by the fact that i was in a room with 3000 people whose hearts burst for the fatherless, and all of us were singing together lines like, "the fatherless find their rest at the sound of your great name"... and as if that wasn't unbelievable enough, i was getting paid to be there. it's my job to get these passionate people started on their journey of foster care or adoption. what a GIFT!

even better than all of that, i was reminded countless times through these events over the last two weeks of the reason why we do what we do and care about what we care about ("we" meaning the bristers, buckner, prov road, christians...). david platt said it this way at summit:

we advocate for the fatherless because we understand that while we were still sinners, outsiders, orphans, christ died for us and made a way for us to be adopted into his family. we care about foster care and adoption because we realize we ourselves were once chosen, rescued, brought in, and called his own. it's the most beautiful story of unconditional love and inexplicable grace -- and to think he calls us to demonstrate and declare this story to the world! 

"My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us -- perfect love! ... First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first."

-- 1 John 4:11-12, 19