The night of the tornado at OBU, I did not know what to think. The place that I call home, my parents called home, my entire family called home, was severely damaged, to the point where nobody knew what the future held. Fear, sadness, uncertainty, anxiety, and confusion were some of the feelings that all of the students at OBU felt. Walking around campus left a sickening feeling in my stomach, as I saw the destruction left in the wake of the tornado. I thought to myself “why?” Why would God allow such a terrible thing to happen to this campus? To people that love the Lord? To a community that respected and praised the Lord with all of their being? Why did something like this have to happen? Over the next week and a half, God answered that question. Campus restoration began immediately. The OBU community rebounded from the disaster and started picking up trash, trimming trees, cleaning up glass and debris, and many other things. Even though there was not a lot that the students could do the aid in campus cleanup, the students did everything that they could. The leadership at OBU valued safety above all, and they worked quickly and effectively to make campus suitable to house students again before the end of the year. Today, a week and a half after the tragedy, we started class again. As I walked around campus today, I saw the results of the cleanup. Though many buildings are still unusable, campus is open, and housing students. Though life is very different on campus than it was, the people here remain the same, and above all, God remains the same. The Lord used the April 19th tornado to unite our campus even farther than it already was. God already has worked so much at OBU through the first months of 2023, and the tornado, though it caused a lot of chaos in our lives, served as a reminder that God is great, and He is above all. God reigns over all and He will continue to reign. Romans 8:28 - “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” Our God is so amazing in that He uses destruction to bring Himself glory. That is all the more reason to worship Him. #obustrong