Discovery

Friday, June 3
     Off and running for yet another day.  I'm exhausted and the vast amount of families we've cared for along with all the stories, the tears and the pain are starting to take their toll.  Today we did a debriefing with a fella named Eric.  Fantastic man!  He is a counselor by profession and has been at College Heights to not only help out at the PSA station, but also to help out with some grief counseling as needed...and trust me, after this disaster is was needed.  He did a 90 minute session with several of us volunteers talking with us about our experiences, concerns and anything else we needed for our mental, spiritual and psychological health.  While I can't divulge anything said in the session I can reveal a few things I learned about myself.
1.  I am excellent in high stress situations.  It seems the best in me comes out then.
2.  I am a born leader.
3.  I am extremely compassionate.
4.  I am emotional to a fault, but am told this is an excellent trait when dealing with survivors.
5.  I am organized.
6.  I am calculated.
7.  I now fully recognize that God is always in control even in the midst of an F5 tornado.
8.  I discovered the best lessons my children might ever learn are in the midst of tragedy and that shielding them from everything bad is not necessarily a good thing.
9.  I learned to trust God with my children.
10.  I learned to let go of some of my fears.
11.  I discovered that in the darkest hour people still feel God, and even though people and governments try to annihilate him He's always there.
12.  I discovered that there are hundreds of thousands of good caring people all over the United States.
13.  And most importantly I felt God more than I ever had in my life.

     So...it was just another day at the PSA station.  Bibles were handed out.  Food given to families.  Tears shed.  Prayers said.  God in action.