Praying for my Home Town Today

Last night a devastating tornado hit the town I grew up in, Tuscaloosa AL.  I spent my entire childhood there, and even attended the University of Alabama there when it was time to go to college.  The hurricane that hit was 1.5 miles wide, and so powerful that it picked up debris and dropped it in Birmingham, about 45 miles away.  In some of the photos you can barely tell where they were taken, the damage is so bad.







Thanks to Facebook and the internet, I know that most of my friends are okay - one friend from high-school lost her house, but her entire family is okay and for that she is grateful.  


At least 16 people are dead and 100's are injured in Tuscaloosa  alone.  Please keep them in your prayers as they start the huge task of rebuilding today!  I know what it's like to wake up to total devastation - Hurricane Ivan hit us in 2004, and I remember it like it was yesterday.  


Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or
weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who
sleep. Tend the sick, give rest to the weary, bless
the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the
joyous; and all for your love's sake.  Amen


From the night service of Compline, The Book of Common Prayer 1979 (ECUSA)