Responding to the Oklahoma Tornado

Many of you in church family know that my sister Tracey and her husband Kyle live in Oklahoma City. I was grateful to get a text message on Monday letting me know that Tracey, Kyle, their house, and their beloved dogs were all safe following the devastating tornado that swept through Oklahoma.

Yesterday I got the following email from my sister, and with her permission I am sharing it with you all now:

Thanks for the Oklahoma shout outs on your Church's Facebook page! What a crazy week, definitely devastating for the Oklahoma City metro community-- at the same to incredibly heartwarming that I live in such a strong community that is pulling together and helping each other. It's really weird to see Matt Lauer standing in the parking lot of what used to be the movie theater I went to.
As you know (through Mom or my constant Facebook posts) I was in California during the tornadoes. It was scary on Sunday, while I was visiting wineries and there wasn't a cloud in be sky, Kyle was taking cover in the basement of the country club because tornadoes were heading towards Edmond. We thought the coast was clear, and then Monday happened. 

I just landed in OKC-- it's about 9:45 at night. I had a window seat and got my bearings as we descended. I realized we were over Norman (the suburb south of Moore) and then there was a huge (I mean HUGE) black stripe without lights. That was the path-- from the air we could see some rescue lights, but it was mostly just empty.

I have felt completely helpless being out of town and not able to do anything to help my neighbors and community. Blair (one of my best friends up here) worded it best-- she let me know that we live in such a great community that there are too many people volunteering-- and not enough for them to do right now.

I'm not quite sure why I'm writing this email-- probably more for therapeutic reasons, and just to fill you in. But also if you decide to share this with your church members-- to remind them that prayers are still needed after Oklahoma is no longer featured on the news. 

Kyle and I are safe-- and we are planning how we are going to help this weekend. I'll try to give you a call at some point. 

Love,
Tracey

This coming Sunday at First Christian Church Scottsdale we'll receive a Special Offering to help support Week of Compassion's recovery efforts in Oklahoma. Week of Compassion leads the disaster recovery efforts for our denomination the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). They are already working hard on the relief effort and will continue to do so for the long haul.

For folks who will be with us in worship this Sunday at First Christian Church Scottsdale you can give to this Special Offering to Support Tornado Recovery by marking your checks as "WoC - Tornado #1033". 

For folks who would like to give directly to Week of Compassion you can do so by clicking here. 

If you want to support the relief effort by purchasing a t-shirt through Cool People Care (note the artwork at the top of this post) you can do so by clicking here.