japan.

After seeing this on a few of the blogs that I follow, I decided although it's a "bloggers day of silence," I had something I wanted to say on the subject of Japan.

One week ago, I woke up to missed phone calls and several text messages asking about one of my best friends* who is currently serving an LDS mission in Japan. Needless to say, I think I said about 17 prayers by the time I jumped out of bed and ran to the television to see what was going on.

Although I have since learned that my friend is safe and is far out of harms way, my heart aches for the many, many victims who are still hurting. Only a few weeks before the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, I remember watching the news after an earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, and although my parents (who currently live on the North island in New Zealand) happened to be in Utah visiting at that time, I remember the overwhelming feeling: "What if?"

Years before that, my grandparents had been living in Thailand during the 2004 tsunami, and although I was only 14 at the time, I still remember the phone calls between my mother and her brothers and sisters, anxious to hear about their parents safety.

So much of what I see or hear about on the news is scary and unsettling -- but it is especially so when some of the people I love the most have been involved. And although I am incredibly grateful and blessed for the safety of my friends and family over the years, I was especially moved the other night as I watched an interview with an elderly man riding his bicycle around what was left of his home in Japan; when asked what he was doing, he told the cameras he was still looking for his wife and wasn't going to give up searching.

At times we may feel like there isn't much we can do, but I found this website helpful -- and especially for those of you who are bloggers (and even those who aren't) this particular website deemed helpful as well. Sometimes even the smallest amount can go a long way.


--


*read: love of my life.

photo found here