This Easter weekend was quite eventful. Friday night as my husband and I prepared to have dinner, the tornado warning sirens sounded. The warning said that everyone should seek shelter immediately. We do not have a basement so my hubby, myself and my two doggies went to our utility room which is the safest room in the house. The utility room has no windows and does not have any outside walls. For the next hour, we waited and prayed for the storm to stop. We prayed and God tells us to put him in remembrance of his word so we commanded the winds and rain to cease and cause no damage In Jesus Name. We prayed and released our guardian angels to protect us and everyone from any harm. We thought the storm was over because the winds and rains had diminished. But the sirens sounded a second time, and within a few minutes later, a third time, declaring more tornado warnings for our area. We continued praying and interceding for everyone’s safety. Twenty minutes had passed when we heard the strong winds blowing with the rain and hail. This was the time the tornado touched down in several locations in Saint Louis County, including the airport.
Lambert International Airport in St. Louis, only a few miles from our house, suffered significant damage when the EF-3 tornado hit the terminal with sustained winds up to 165mph. This airport security video captured the tornado as it rustled through the terminal. This video shows how forcefully the wind hit the airport terminal.
The media report 2,700 homes and buildings throughout the Saint Louis area received significant damage. The National Weather Service has declared this to be the worst tornado to come through Saint Louis since 1967. In spite of the destruction, no lives were lost. Some people may call it being lucky, but I call it divine intervention. St. Louis Post Dispatch has pictures of the extent of the damage of the horrific tornado.
On our way to church this Sunday I took a couple of pictures on my phone of the Bellfontaine Neighbors area which was one of the areas that the tornado went through. It was so strange to drive down the street and we could see no damage at all. Then suddenly, we saw trees ripped apart, power lines down and roofs damaged. The whole path of the damage was only about three blocks wide. We have a friend who lives in the area who lost power during the storm. She did not get the power back on until early Sunday morning. There are still some homes without power so I pray they get there power on soon.
Bellfontaine Neighbors area
Bellfontaine Neighbors area
This was a horrible storm and tornado which we will soon not forget. Our home was not affected by the storm. Thank God no lives were lost. Please continue to pray for the people whose homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed.
Today bloggers come together for Paws for Japan. The Earthquake and Tsunami have left many pets injured and they need our help. I have two dogs myself so if you are an animal lover please donate.
“World Vets has been monitoring the situation in Japan with regards to the impact of the earthquake and tsunami that has recently hit the island nation. We are currently working to coordinate relief efforts for the animal victims affected by these unfortunate disasters. We have made contact with US Army veterinary associates stationed in Japan as well as Japan based animal charities and World Vets veterinary volunteers who remain on standby. At this time, we have supplies ready to go and are preparing the deployment of a first-responder team to carry out an “on the ground” assessment and provide initial aid.
Your donations are urgently needed to coordinate aid for the animals in Japan. Any amount will help! DONATE NOW”
“World Vets is a non-government organization (NGO) providing veterinary aid around the globe in collaboration with animal advocacy groups, foreign governments, US and foreign military groups and veterinary professionals abroad. Our work spans 25 countries and 6 continents and addresses not only veterinary issues, but also human health issues impacted by zoonotic diseases in developing countries.
World Vets is a 501c3 nonprofit organization.”
World vets is a great organization so if you are able to give please donate if your not able to give please retweet, facebook about the help that is needed. Whatever you do please pray for the nation of Japan.
Thank you!
The Red Pump Project is sponsoring the “Rock the Red Pump Blogging Event!” to raise awareness for women with AIDS.
The red pump project was founded in March of 2009 by Luvvie Ajayi and Karyn Watkins. “They believe that the red pump is a feeling of empowerment to represent the strength and courage of women infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.”
The “Rock the Red Pump” campaign is an annual initiative to commemorate National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. It has become the group’s biggest initiative, and is what started The Red Pump Project. According to its website, “Since 2009, when we had over 100 bloggers “Rock the Red Pump,” we have started the “Rock the Red Pump – 500 in 50” to get 500 blogs to participate in the 50 days leading up to NWGHAAD.”
The more bloggers who get the word out the more people will be more aware and go and get tested.
-There are approximately 1.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the U.S. and almost 280,000 are women
-High-risk heterosexual contact is the source of 80% of these newly diagnosed infections in women
-New York has the highest number of women living with AIDS – 22,532
HIV is the:
* Leading cause of death for Black women (including African American women) aged 25–34 years.
* 3rd leading cause of death for Black women aged 35–44 years
* 4th leading cause of death for Black women aged 45–54 years
* 4th leading cause of death for Latina women aged 35–44 years
* The only diseases causing more deaths of women are cancer and heart disease.
These statistics made me realize how much the word needs to get out. We can write posts, tweet, do whatever we can to spread the word.
Bloggers are getting on board in a big way because The Rock the Pump project has surpassed its goal of 500 bloggers. Over 850 have joined the cause and the count is growing daily.
“Join The Red Pump Project on March 10, 2011, for their Twitter Townhall in commemoration of National Women & Girls’ HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NWGHAAD). Starting at 1pm CST, they will kick off a discussion on Twitter surrounding issues around HIV/AIDS and women. They want to hear what you have to say about the epidemic and its effect on women. Be sure to use the hashtag #redpump.”
So if you have not joined The Red Pump Project then please do so now and add their link to your blog to raise awareness.
Postscript
1200 Bloggers signed up for the cause so The Red Pump Project is a great success. Next year I know there will be even more bloggers joining in to spread the word on HIV/AIDS.
If you didn’t get a chance to “Rock the Red Pump” on March 10th please go over to The Red Pump Project website to join their Facebook page, follow them on twitter, and check out the different ways you can get involved because it is so important for all of us to get the word out.
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said,
people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made them feel”.
– Maya Angelou –
When I read this quote its so moving; but does everyone really forget what someone has done to them?
This quote reminds to forget my past hurts because it’s not worth it. The person that I thought may have hurt my feelings doesn’t even remember what they said the majority of the time so there’s no need for me to remember.
This scripture popped into my mind.
1Peter 5:7 “Casting all your care upon him; for He cares for you.“
This verse is powerful because in order to move on, we have to let that stuff go.
Here are a few suggestions that we all can do to make ourselves, as well as others, feel good.
How do we spread the love and give out good feelings?
We have to treat people the way we want to be treated. When we say kinds words that build people up it’s powerful. Encouragement is an energy booster and that feeling is what we remember.
1. Call your Mom and Dad if you are blessed to still have them with you here on earth. Tell them you love them and appreciate them. If they are not with you, speak highly of them when you talk about them even if you did not have strong connections with them. I heard one of our ministers at church say if you can’t think of anything good to say about your parent, you can say that they really kept a clean house or that they always looked sharp in their outfits. No matter what we have to hold our parents in high regard.
2. Be a mentor to a young person in high school or college. Share with them knowledge from what you have learned and pass it on to youth so they don’t have to encounter problems. Avoiding certain obstacles along the way.
3. Say kind words to a friend and give them a hug. Share how much they mean to you.
4. Give yourself a hug because you have to love yourself before you can truly love others.
This list is just a start. You may have completely different things that you need to work on because none of us have it all together, even if we want to give the facade that we do.
It’s self examination time in that quote by Maya Angelou, which is a good thing. It makes us put ourselves in check to see if we are really treating our friends, family, people in general the way we want to be treated.
Are actions do speak louder than are words.
I invite you to take a look at MamaKat’s blog to see what other wonderful bloggers are writing about today.
Today we had some beautiful snow and it’s very cold in the Show Me State. It snowed fine white glitter all night long into the morning. We had about 3 to 4 inches and the temperature is 15 Fahrenheit.
Putting on another blanket tonight because this will be a cold week.
My hubby couldn’t resist taking some pictures of the doggies in our backyard.
Gio and Vinny
On our way to work my hubby saw some cute ducks not feeling the least bit cold in the park.
Ducks in Forest Park
Statue of Edward Bates, Attorney General to Abraham Lincoln
Learn More About JT Bubbling with Elegance and Grace is a place for life long learners. The Bubbling With Elegance And Grace team was created 14 years ago. A passion for fashion sparked a lifestyle blog for our Elegant Community to enjoy. We are thankful and in gratitude to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for those who have been with us from the beginning and those who have just started riding with us on this lovely journey.
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