Sharing

Several of my friends have sent out notes that I think are worthy of posting here. Sometimes I find that others are far more capable of expressing my feelings that even I am. My friend Paige wrote this message. I don't necessarily agree with each of her words, but it captures the essence of many students' feelings this weekend. I hope you take the time to read what she has to say:



There are feelings right now that I can't put into words, but I am sure going to try.

People call us lucky: two spring breaks, two weeks off of school, time to spend at home with our families when most others are returning to the daily grind.

What they don't understand, what no mere note can relay, is the fear. The intense, inexplicable fear that comes with our status as refugees.

Yes, I said it, refugees. We were at war--in a place where fear was running rampant; people were (and are) loosing everything they own. Always the threat of loss of life, by human error or environmental fury. In a mental state of constant battle with this unstoppable beast, the Red River. Knowing there's no stopping it, but trying to thwart its insatiable hunger.

Now we've been kicked out. Any chance we had of influencing the path of destruction, of changing the course of events, taken away from us like a blanket from an infant. This thing we've been grappling with, using every ounce of strength--physical and mental--in an attempt to beat back the mighty Red; now we can do nothing but watch from afar, praying with everything we have left that those who somehow found a way to remain can keep up the fight. No way to return to our Home--while it may not be our primary home, for eight months it is the place we lay our heads, the place we study, the place we fall in love, the place where our hearts are broken. In some small way, our souls are tied to this place, and now it is in danger. In terrible danger, and there's nothing we can do about it. We are truly a displaced people.

No one knows what we will come back to. It may be a campus as untouched as the one we left, with the added bonus of functioning sewer systems. It may be a campus that has been ravaged by floodwaters, everything wet and damp for at least the first floors. It may be a campus that lost sewer integrity, and everything, of everyone's, is contaminated with bacteria and sludge...

...They key is fear--of the known; river, sewer systems, time--and of the unknown; graduations, belongings, friends. Some may choose to stay away until after Easter, thus leaving us with holes in our hearts where these friends should be.

The ever imminent threat of utter and complete devastation has been weighing on our minds in ways that no one who has not gone or is not going through it can possibly immagine. While they may think they can, it is something that truly is too horrific for the mind to craft on its own....

...We want to go back. We want to watch the dikes ourselves. We want to help plug the leaks. We want to have the feeling of some small measure of control. We want to be allowed home. We miss our friends, our routines, our homework, our professors, our beds, our roommates.Please pray for the dikes to hold. Pray for calm winds in the coming storm. Pray for safety of all those still volunteering to watch for leaks and breaches. For the Oak Grove Lutheran School. For the students and families who've been displaced.