Our hearts are just broken.  It's hard to stop watching the news.  Our thoughts and prayers are constantly with those affected by the storm.

Last night left us very heavy-hearted.  Well, to start, the afternoon was scary when we knew bad weather was headed toward us.  I didn't turn on the news because I knew the girls would get fixated and scared.  I was preparing dinner and went to check the weather on my phone and found it missing.  I knew immediately that Riley had it.  I went to her room and found that she was checking the weather up in her bed and having a panic attack.  Very sad.  Thankfully the storm split before it reached us and we only got a sprinkle and some beautiful clouds.

We were watching the news later that evening, and even though we explained that a tornado had hit homes and schools, the girls didn't seem to understand what that meant.  It wasn't until we stopped to pray for the families; the parents that wouldn't get to tuck their kids into bed that night, and the people who didn't have a home to go back to, that it sunk in for the girls.  We cried and prayed together.  It's a lot for little girls to wrap their minds around, but I think it sunk in deeper with Riley.

We wake today with still heavy hearts and tell each other, "God is still good."  Claire asked, "Why do tornados even happen?"  They try to make sense of it.  They reasoned, "spiders are bad, but at least they eat other bugs."  They think that all bad things should still have a good purpose somehow.  But there is nothing good about this.  "What's good about tornados?  Why did God let this happen?" they ask.  We talked with them about how the world is broken, and it broke when sin entered through Adam and Eve.  Now we have thorns and pain.  We live in a broken place that awaits it's salvation at Christ's return.  And we tell them that our God is still a good God.  He loves his people.  He is near to those who are hurting.  And we pray for those who are hurting today.

"Surely, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows..." Isaiah. 53:4