It has been 2 weeks since the Joplin tornado. And even though I have not lived in Joplin for over 11 years--it still hit me very hard. I know it is ridiculous to even think I have an inkling of an idea of what the survivors went through---but to see my hometown be described as a war zone and to hear the stories of friends affected and not be able to do anything about it leaves me feeling helpless. I know, I know praying is the best thing you can do---but at times it doesn't feel that way. I hope to make it down to Joplin this summer, but I couldn't just immediately make it down there b/c of my mommy responsibilities. But anyways, I have had more than one person show concern about how obsessed I was the week following the tornado. Which was true, I sat at facebook to simply read the new status' as they came---somehow doing that made me feel a part of it somehow. I did even have a friend even use the word "jealous" of Joplin---obviously she would never wish this to happen, but she too could see how the community, the churches, and the people were coming together and working together in an amazing way and how God is using a tragedy to bring good to the area. It would be cool to be a witness to what is going to go on in the Joplin area churches. The community strength and unity is amazing and again I loved reading about it online as well as the testimony to God's faithfulness in several friend's lives.
So funny story, I got pulled over on Wed. after the tornado here in Washington, MO. That was the first day sirens had gone off in our town since the tornado and there were tornado warnings in the nearby town. Eden was stuck at school and most parents got a phone call that explained they were keeping the students at the school rather than sticking them on the bus---but we lived close enough that I figured we could pick her up and get home in time before the storm made it our way. (Not to mention Eden on the previous Friday had watched Tornado Alley at the omnimax theater on the Science Center field trip and I figured she would be a bit nervous regardless of the previous Sunday's events). So I rush out of the house, get caught speeding, and explain to the cop "I am trying to get to my daughter before the storm, buses aren't running and I'm from Joplin"--trying to explain my obvious anxiety and speedy behavior. The cop went to run my license and from the back seat my Eli yells "You aren't from Joplin!" and I am arguing with Eli that I am. It was kind of funny. Anyways, even though I didn't live through the storm and don't live in Joplin currently, I thought I would still share why Joplin is so important to me.
I have lived near/in Joplin longer than any other place I have lived in my life (20 of my 34 years). My parents moved to the Joplin area when I was 2 years old. We lived in Joplin for a few weeks before my parents settled outside of Joplin in the metropolis of Alba, MO. My dad worked in Joplin and we would head to "town" on the weekends. During my high school years, two of my best friends took me to get my ears pierced in Joplin and even took me to get my driver's license in Joplin. I experienced cruising main street and my senior prom was even in Joplin. I lived in the same house until I moved out to head to Goodman Hall at Ozark Christian College in Joplin. Now don't get me wrong, I love my life right now and am blessed beyond measure. But I can honestly say, that those 5 years are some of the best memories & years of my life. The best friends I made at OCC, the knowledge I gained of God's Word and His church, the life experiences I had serving with CIY (also from Joplin), the mission trips I got to go on, and the beginning of my relationship with my husband all took place or originated in Joplin. I worked in Joplin at the college, at Target when it first opened (Fall 1997?), and at CIY. Can you remember Joplin peeps when there was no Target? I have pictures engrained in my head from a mud fight after the Alumni Hall flooded, photo shoots in the dorms after skipping chapel and heading to Dude's Donuts, late night karaoke party in the dorm singing "Least Complicated" & "Santa Monica", meeting CIY intern outside the CIY office as me & my fellow OCC camp teamer learned about the death/accident of the MCC camp team we had just left at conference, being on camp teams and dancing to Father Abraham as we got stuck in the hail storm in Colorado, the Joplin "falls" with my CIY interns, OCC skip day at the park, my first apartment on Byers Street, and the "Fun Park" where Chris proposed to me and a million others. Besides our siblings & my high school BFF, each person in our wedding party we met in Joplin at OCC. Those are life long relationships that are forever tied to Joplin.
My family is still near Joplin. My dad still lives in Alba. My mom lives in neighboring Carthage, and my sister although is in Arkansas, due to Lily's dad could be in Joplin on any given weekend. I would never know. As a matter of fact, my niece Lily ate at Joplin close to 5 pm on the evening of the tornado and then met her mom an hour later in Arkansas, when they were just learning of the storm. My sis took it hard, and I am sure is struggling with the "what if's"...when you don't have total control of where your baby is at any given moment. She also felt the loss of the original Pepsi plant that launched her career, her first apartment where she brought Lily home were the Plaza apartments behind Walmart that are also gone, and I am sure other things. So yes, we are obviously grateful that she wasn't in Joplin at the time....yet the sentimental value of certain places and knowing they are gone is still hard to swallow.
So...all that to say---My heart is in Joplin. I am praying for Joplin. When you live far away and you have to say where you are from you obviously claim the closest place that people have heard of....anywhere I have gone I have said I am from Joplin. Actually I am kind of eclectic--my childhood home was in Alba, my church was in Oronogo, I graduated from Webb City, and went to college in Joplin, my first apartment in Joplin, and my first home that Chris and I lived in was Seneca. When you wrap that all up into one simple statement it says, "I am from Joplin".
So now I guess I need to share this with Eli. :) Thanks for listening to my sentiments and now that I've shared, I will try not to be as obsessed online and just work at being proactive at getting home this summer. Please continue to support, pray for, and remember Joplin. Let those of us who are far away not forget them that are still there because at one point of time you were from Joplin, too.
