Good Eatin'!

I don't have much time to blog but I wanted to share a couple of quick things about my day...

1) Mama and I went to Dunn today to take supplies to Tornado victims. (After getting a little lost and ending up on Jackson St instead of Jackson rode..haha) There is a community center set up on a road right behind the Brass Lantern steak house taking donations.  The American Red Cross has also set up a shelter in this same location.  The man who helped us unpack the car stressed the need for paper products, non-perishable food items, sheets, pillows, blankets, etc.  Fortunately they have had a surplus of donated clothing and do not need anymore for the time being.  After we left the community center, Mama and I crossed the bridge over 95 to be stunned by the damage.  We saw a mobile home park that looked like it had been bull dozed, uprooted tress everywhere, and trash carts that had been strewn in a ditch probably a mile or two from the houses they belonged to.  We were both speechless. Please continue to pray for these families!


2) For lunch, Mama took me to a neat little place called Broad Street Deli. I had never been there before and it was such a treat! It has a really quaint atmosphere and I hope to go back very soon. My lunch was amazing...summer salad with cranberries, apples, feta, chicken, pecans, and poppy-seed dressing...YUM! It was also so much fun to go on a lunch date with my beautiful Mama!

Broad Street Deli...Try it, you'll love it!

3)  I got to spend a couple of fun hours with Olivia this afternoon! We went to the new Cupcake Bite in Fuquay! You have to check this places out if you have never been... This is only the second or third time I have been there but I do believe the place gets yummier and cuter every time I go. Olivia's cupcake was sort of like a chocolate chip muffin with brown sugar butter cream and mine was a strawberry cake with butter cream and graham cracker crust on top...amazing! Having tired the cupcakes at Sugarland in Chapel Hill, The Cupcake Shoppe in Raleigh and here, I  think Cupcake Bite gets my vote! (Mallory, I know you're shocked!) I am not a fan of very rich desserts and their cupcakes are light and delicious. It was so much fun to catch up with Olivia! 

 How cute is this place?!

 Our cupcakes!

4) I must say, I really did some good eating today! Granny-Bird cooked supper for all of the family tonight and although I love the mystery meat in Lenoir, it was pretty amazing. ;) We had salad, roast, chicken pastry, black eyed peas, baked cinnamon apples, biscuits and strawberry pie for dessert...all my favorites! It was honestly one of the best meals I have had in a very long time.  While the food was amazing, It was so exciting to get to be with all of my mom's side of the family for the first time in over a month...I am so thankful for all of them!

Here's my favorite verse from a devotion I did today! I feel like verse 7 is so popular that verse 6 is often forgotten. I hope to apply both to my life!

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." -- 1 Peter 5:6-7

"...an ever-present help in trouble."

I can't even begin to express how blessed I feel to know all my family and friends were protected from the deadly tornadoes that struck North Carolina yesterday.  Having spent much of my afternoon yesterday and today watching news coverage on the twisters, I am both shocked and heartbroken.  From the account of the two children that died in Raleigh to the lady in Bertie County who lost three of her relatives, I can't even begin to imagine the heartbreak.

I was sitting in my dorm room this afternoon just wishing I had my car on campus so I could go help these people and praying that God would present an opportunity for me to do so sometime soon.  Even when I posted about mine and Ben's experience yesterday, I had no clue just how catastrophic the twisters really were. 

I feel like there is no better time than now to shed Christ's love on these hurting people.  My Dad has always told me there are many times in life when you have to meet people's physical needs before you meet their spiritual needs.  At a time when many of our fellow North Carolinians have unfortunately lost loved ones and their basic needs, I feel so compelled to find some way to help meet the physical needs of those who were affected. God is the perfect comforter during this time and it is my prayers that He would use His people to spread a message of hope, friendship, and compassion that would be a reflection of who Jesus is.

I did just a little bit of research on organizations that are currently taking donations, looking for volunteers, and providing relief efforts.  Both Baptists on Mission and Samaritan's Purse are gospel centered organizations that are providing direct aid in the areas affected by Saturday's tornadoes. These links will take you directly to information about helping and donating! The sites didn't mention anything about providing aid in Harnett County and being from there I was wondering if anyone knew of another site that I could post with information about helping and donating in the Dunn area.

I am really  praying God would give me the opportunity to help in this time of trouble when I go home over Easter Break. I am so thankful that although He is control of all things and doesn't need my help, He is gracious enough to use me.   If any of you know of any other ways to help or have any ideas about getting involved, please leave a comment! (you don't even have to sign up for an account!) It is my prayer that we can exchange all this information with one another so that as many people as possible can get involved and spread the sweet name of Jesus! Also..if you know of anyone who was affected and needs prayers requests, please also leave a comment so prayers can be lifted up!

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea"

Psalm 46:1-2

"You Drive...I'll Pray"

Just a little background, Ben, you know Ben my awesome cousin, came up to Carolina for the weekend.  We had already decided we were going to go to Cameron Village this afternoon to eat lunch.While we had heard about the possibility of dangerous weather today, it was only a little overcast when we left the hill and we said we would keep ourselves updated with the weather conditions.

So everything was going just fine.  When we got to Cameron Village it was a little overcast but nothing we didn't expect.  We had a yummy lunch at Cafe Carolina (I got a pastry, of course! and half of mine.) and when we came out it had begun to rain but we still weren't too concerned.  Ben dropped me off to pick up some shoes at a store, and when I came out the bottom really fell out! While it was a pretty intense rain, we decided to drive back to Carolina because we had no clue how bad it would become...


We also didn't know that when Ben's parents called us and told us to take shelter that a tornado had just touched down in downtown Raleigh...just a few streets over from where we were at the time! At the time we didn't realize why they were so persistent about us waiting to drive back, but now we know...Sorry for the scare Uncle Hal and Aunt Joni! No wonder you were worried about us....

 Taken In the Millbrook area- close to where we were...clueless.

Once we decided to jump back on 40 and head back to UNC, we realized this storm was no joke.  We never saw a funnel cloud, but we experienced the scariest rain storm I have ever been through.  If drivers weren't pulled over on the side of the road, they had their blinkers on and were driving like Miss. Daisey...rightfully so, of course!  As soon as we got on 40 we thought about exiting because of how quickly the rain had intensified but we couldn't even see the exit! I am usually carefree in situations like this, especially when someone else is "driving" but when we couldn't see the road or the exits, I became a tad bit frightened and said to Ben, "You drive, I'll pray!"  That's exactly what we did...props to Ben on his smooth and cautious driving skills. All those years playing Jeff Gordon and you being Brooke Gordon when we were little really paid off. The scariness continued and we almost pulled over but right after we decided not to, God answered those prayers and the rain began to taper off!  The closer we got to Chapel Hill, the ran began to stop and the sun began to shine. Once we were finally back, there was not a cloud in the sky! Instead of the rain and storms we had seen, Chapel Hill looked like this...

 

Despite our obliviousness, I was reminded that there is never a dull moment when I am with Ben, I need to add WRAL weather alerts to my phone, and God is always with us through the storms...both the literal and figurative.

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze."

Isaiah 43:2