Ohhhhh Japan

I have been reading and watching news reports all weekend to keep up with the happenings in Japan. Not only did the country suffer a catastrophic 8.9 magnitude earthquake, over 30-foot high tsunami waves, massive fires, power outages, food/water shortages, and a nuclear meltdown, but now a volcano is erupting off one of the southern islands forcing thousands to evacuate. This country cannot catch a break. One town reports nearly half of it's population to be missing and the stories of loved ones lost to sea are heartbreaking. The one redeeming thing that began to pop up just today were the stories of heroic rescues. I have attached the link for one report from CNN of a 60-year-old man who was swept out to sea, losing his wife, but finding the courage and hope to cling onto debris for two days before being rescued nine miles off the coast. This is a truly inspiring story of the power of hope and prayer!

To me, this is yet another humbling experience. I feel overwhelmed by my workload here leading up to spring break but it is nothing compared to what 21-year-olds in Japan were forced to cope with this weekend. As awful as these recent global disasters have been (earthquake in Haiti, Chile, or the Indian Ocean), I think the worst thing someone from an unaffected area could do is to ignore it and pretend it is not their problem. There is so much that we can do to help, even from the middle of Missouri. At the very least, this is a great opportunity to reflect on how fortunate we are to stress about school or gas prices - at least we have operating gas stations because that's more than parts of Japan have right now.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/13/japan.rescues/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1