maybe i am exaggerating a bit, but given a little wider tornado, or a little faster wind, the tornado that hit edmond, oklahoma last night could have been much worse, and many more of my friends could have been in danger.

chris and i live in downtown. we went to bed around 12:30 after it appeared the tornado-producing storms were weakening. an hour later, the sirens went off downtown. i jumped out of bed and turned on the tele.

the only rotation was in edmond, which is where my office is and two of the lifechurch.tv oklahoma city campuses reside. as well as most of my okc friends. like terry. and sunny. and john. and john. and aaron.

i heard on the news that power just went out to the west side of edmond where the storm was. my friends began twittering about the power loss from their phones.

since we were totally in the clear, chris and i stayed up and kept our friends informed of the weather.

tornado on the ground.

over broadway.

even though they were hiding in closets and basements, they could know exactly where the tornado was because of twitter.

and they could know when the coast was clear.

i know twitter is all about friends and fun and updates and random 140 character bits of life, but in situations like this, i wonder how powerful it will be…

what if twitter was around during 9-11? during bigger storms? hurricanes? earthquakes? blackouts?

i think twitter can save lives – and i think it will. (remember, read the tweets from the bottom up in order for them to make sense!)

i’m still working at finishing up the never-ending blogroll (which, if you would like to be on, click here and let me know – i just ask that you link me back!).

i’ve spent this weekend out exploring some new blogs and visiting some old favorites. here’s a list of four blogs i am really digging right now.

1. spence smith - spence lives in nashville and is one of the people from compassion who led our uganda trip. i heart this boy. he has been an encouragement in my life since the day i got to know him. chris got to meet him this weekend when he was in oklahoma city. he thinks similarly to the way we do about church, friends, and chocolate.

2. lynseleanne.com – lynse, lynse, lynse. a birmingham girl, and wiser than any early-twenty-year-old i know. lynse emailed me a couple of years ago asking for some help working through a problem i had some experience in. she drove a few hours to meet me while i was in nashville last year, and again when i spoke in decatur, alabama. and i’m honored to say this coming weekend, i’ll have a role in her wedding.

3. ethos/randy elrod – another dreamer i had the pleasure of meeting on the uganda trip. randy and his lovely wife live outside of nashville. every conversation i had with them on the trip was inspiring and beautiful. randy is fulfilling a dream for artists.

4. ally simpson - this list would not be complete without my irish friend ally simpson. ally lives in ireland. (chris and i want to move to ireland and open a music shop and a hoover repair store – hopefully most of you understand that dream, and if you don’t you are seriously missing out). ally says things i feel but can’t say on my blog. he’s smart. he’s honest. and he’s another dreamer.

any new blogs you are lovin’ right now?

i want you to meet roland. since there are no children in uganda that have been waiting longer than six months, i decided to branch out into other countries.

ROLAND HAS BEEN SPONSORED, THANK YOU! click here to go directly to roland’s sponsorship page.

roland lives in brazil with his uncle and his mom. i wonder what happened to his dad? is he alive? did he abandon them?

roland’s uncle is sometimes employed as a laborer, but his mother is like many of you – a stay at home mom. roland has two siblings. and he likes playing with marbles. one of chris’ and my sponsor children, abdukerim, who lives in ethiopia, likes playing with marbles too.

anyway, roland has been waiting over six months for a sponsor. i trust that today will be his last day waiting. you can sponsor him now. ROLAND HAS BEEN SPONSORED, THANK YOU click here to go directly to roland’s sponsorship page.

**unless you are sure you want to sponsor him, please do not hit the “select this child” button on his page. that will make his page unavailable for an hour or more, and someone else that truly does want to sponsor him might miss the chance.**

every child i’ve ever posted on flowerdust.net has been sponsored within a few hours. that’s remarkable. i hope today is no different.

there is a severe weather seminar in our apartment complex’s clubhouse tonight. i am so there. and i am so excited. i’ve had this marked on my calendar for a month.

i love tornadoes. i’ve experienced 28 or so of them up close and personal (and blogged some of them here)

what makes you a nerd?

my twitter friends heard it first last night.

the mad church disease manuscript is done!

at least the rough draft anyway.

thank you again for all you have done to help!

needed a little break from writing and got to thinking about you guys…GOTTA LOVE THE YOUTUBE FREEZE FRAME…goo. They all looked like this. ::sigh::

by the way, if anyone has any secrets as far as making their internal mic on mac book pros work a little better, please share. i know i’m kind of quiet naturally, but i was talking pretty loudly here! my input settings are maxed out in system prefs and i put the volume at 150% in iMovie…you’ll still have to turn it up to hear me….so, help a sista out?

as craig said on swerve today, the staff at lifechurch.tv is resting, fasting and praying this good friday. i am really looking forward to having a day of focus like this.

it has been a while since i asked how i can pray for you guys, so please, allow me
to do so today. how can i pray for you this easter weekend?

i frequently check compassion’s site for children in uganda who have been waiting longer than six months to be sponsored. much to my surprise (and delight) it hasn’t been turning up any results.

until today.

oh-my-gosh-i-want-to-sponsor-her-myself. chris had to stop me or else we wouldn’t be able to pay our rent…

this is jacqueline. she is five. SHE HAS BEEN SPONSORED! THANKS! click here and be taken directly to jacqueline’s sponsorship page.

There are 3 children in the family. Her father is sometimes employed as a seller in the market and her mother is sometimes employed as a farmer.

As part of Compassion’s ministry, Jacqueline participates in church activities. She is also in kindergarten where her performance is average. Playing with dolls and playing group games are her favorite activities.

the market her father sometimes works in probably looks a little bit like this. (thanks, shannon, for the pic!)

anyway…i have a feeling this little girl will break a lot of your hearts, so if you’d like to sponsor her, click here and be taken directly to her sponsorship page.

because every time i’ve done this, you guys have sponsored these long-waiting children within hours of me posting. so, if you click and it says she has already been sponsored, why not find another child and rescue them from poverty today?

i have taken the strengths finder now 3 times (the 2.0 version this last time, today).

here have been my results:

In 2004:
Strategic
Connectedness
Ideation
Belief
Input

In 2006:
Strategic
Connectedness
Restorative
Intellection
Input

In 2008:
Connectedness
Empathy
Intellection
Belief
Input

so there are some clear themes that have stuck around through the ages. i am a little surprised strategy fell off the list entirely after being my signature strength for the last few years. connectedness always proved to be a close second, so having it as the signature strength now makes total sense.

if you want to see more about what those strengths mean, you can click here.

what about you? have you taken the strengths finder?