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Subject to availability, see homedepot.com slash delivery for details. To listen, just search tablet questions with Pastor Mike. What is this place? Welcome to cloud nine.
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Despite this, the disaster brought out the best in many people wanting to help in any way they could. One of those people was Thad Beeler who found a unique way to lend a hand to his fellow neighbor by founding the National Disaster Photo Rescue Organization, a group which seeks to reunite people with their lost photographs after disasters like Joplin. Take it away, Thad.
Well, I am Thad Beeler. I live in Carthage, Missouri and am from Joplin, Missouri. I grew up there.
I have multiple generations of family that have grown up in Joplin. I spent a great deal of time in the church. I grew up in the church, loved the church. I have spent time as a pastor and ministered to people there of all generations.
It's been a wonderful part of my life and it's what brought us here today to talk about the photo work we've done. It was a Sunday night. It was six o'clock and we had Bible study at the church in Carthage and my parents live in Joplin. I knew the weather was getting bad and I was on the phone with my dad and he was describing how the clouds and the atmosphere looked.
I looked outside and began to see some of it in Carthage, which was a kind of a green look to the clouds and to the sky. Come to find out that was ground being churned up. While I was talking to my dad, I lost connection with him on his cell phone and I tried several times to get a hold of him and I was concerned but not terribly concerned because tornado sirens are something that we're very used to here. We don't necessarily react in a frantic manner but we are always elevated during that time and when I turned on the weather channel I see Mike Bettis standing in front of what was left of the St. John's Hospital in Joplin and we began to see insulation things dropping out of the sky all over Carthage. For most people they would be concerned because of what they were seeing. What maybe most wouldn't know is that my parents were directly west of the hospital about a mile which means that the tornado had passed over their house before it got to the hospital.
So as I talked to my wife I said you know I'm going to come home here shortly and I said we're going to have to go to Joplin because I really didn't know. Finally I got down there and it was dark by then and it was like driving into a tunnel without lights. I got to the end of the lights of the street lights and the lights of my truck just didn't seem to penetrate the darkness. I could see trees everywhere, cars turned upside down, power lines down everywhere. There was the smell of gas and there were fires and every single landmark from road sign to mailbox was gone.
People are crawling out of their homes. There were people up and down the roads wandering around as if they just didn't know where they were. People were lost. They were in their neighborhood but they were lost.
But I got to them and they were fine. What was God's great miracle in their life was they didn't have a basement in their home. They're on a single-story house and the neighborhood is loaded with trees. Well it just so happened that the big huge oak trees that surrounded their home all fell on the roof of their house. And if you've ever seen how a tornado works it finds its weakest point of these structures and that's how it blows the roof off. And that's what blows the roof off.
Well it kept the roof from blowing off except for a couple of areas of home. So when I see them of course they're ecstatic to see me. I'm glad that they're okay. I'm thankful that everything's fine and I'm going by the grace of God you're still here because the neighbor's house all that was left was the center stairwell.
So I spent time trying to assess their needs. They weren't hurt. They were unharmed. We settled them down, got them a place to be and then I come back the next day. And wow when you come back the next day you thought you didn't know it in the dark.
You really don't know it in the day. There's a toaster in the kitchen with half a tube before driven through it. But what was amazing and that hit me not knowing what I know today was I walked down the hallway of my parents' house and the same things that were on the wall and had always been on the wall when we grew up were still there. And that was the pictures, our photographs, our family photos. Our family photos were there and sitting there untouched, had not been moved, weren't turned cockeyed, not even touched. And down the hallway I went into a bedroom which was at the front door of the house. And down the hallway I went into a bedroom which was at the far end and I looked out the window and it hit me right then.
My folks have their pictures and the neighbor doesn't even have a house. So the question comes is where did it all go? And you're listening to the voice of Thad Bieler, Joplin, torn to shreds on May 22nd by a monstrous tornado. 167 people lost their lives, more property damage than anyone would care to witness. When we come back, more of Thad Bieler's story, Joplin's story, here on Our American Story. Folks, if you love the great American stories we tell and love America like we do, we're asking you to become a part of the Our American Stories family. If you agree that America is a good and great country, please make a donation. A monthly gift of $17.76 is fast becoming a favorite option for supporters. Go to OurAmericanStories.com now and go to the donate button and help us keep the great American stories coming.
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The initiative will shape patient care moving forward and for that, T-Mobile congratulates the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Ever had questions for your pastor but felt awkward or embarrassed to ask them? Maybe questions about sex or politics or IVF or mental illness? There's a podcast for that. I'm Pastor Mike Novotny with Time of Grace Ministry and in my new podcast, Taboo Questions with Pastor Mike Novotny, I answer questions from people just like you. I open up the Bible to give answers that point people back to the truth and especially to Jesus.
To listen, just search Taboo Questions with Pastor Mike. The holidays are officially here at the Home Depot, which means it's time to deck the halls and your home with festive cheer. If you're on the hunt for the perfect tree, we've got you covered. Explore our huge assortment of trees in all shapes, sizes and styles. Designed to fit any holiday vibe and every holiday budget, like the Jackson Noble Fir. It's not only super easy to assemble, but it also comes pre-lit with 1200 color-changing bulbs and multiple lighting functions.
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Act fast to shop Bose's holiday deals at bose.com slash iHeart. And we return to our American stories and the story of the National Disaster Photo Rescue Organization as told by its founder Thad Buehler. Let's continue with the story. It is hard to know what is important in life until you no longer have it. Our memories are caught in snapshots all over our home and we realize that without those snapshots we are losing part of our memory. And I am sitting there walking through that from a hundred feet with the neighbors of my parents going oh my gosh all of those memories all of those snapshots they no longer have them and we still do. You feel blessed but all at the same time you weep for them because even though you have the joy of knowing you still have it and you still have your family there are people who lost their lives and then to think on top of that maybe they were safe and maybe they were okay but now they can build their house but they no longer have that great wedding picture that's sitting over the mantle or their children's pictures of when they were born you know and mama cradling them or memories at church baptisms none of that we grieve that because there's nothing that takes the place of that picture. The people may be standing beside you but the moment in time that those folks were together in that moment is gone. Well as communities come together and some communities come together better or quicker than others in the Joplin disaster people came from everywhere and they came quickly and they wanted to help local communities wanted to help and just do something to make a difference the people at the church wanted to do something they were most of them older weren't able to get out and pick up pieces of wood and debris but they could do something to try to help their neighbors and that's when we had a gentleman come by the church and said I found a photograph in my yard and he said what am I supposed to do with it? And that's when truly when the idea of the National Disaster Photo Rescue was born. We started asking questions and we we saw on Facebook good intending people from everywhere trying to connect these pictures that they were finding in their in their neighborhoods in their neighborhoods in their backyards in their farm fields out in the street they were picking them up as they were trying to help people they were posting them on Facebook hoping that someone would see them so they could get them back I sent a email a blanket email off to the American Red Cross I had no idea what I was doing I basically said a prayer before I sent it and I said God if this is supposed to go somewhere or this means something then bear fruit from it and so three days later I got a call from a gentleman his name was Michael and Michael said I heard that you were interested in trying to return photographs and he says I've been looking for people that want to do the same thing and he says I will help you if you want to do this so with his help with learning to do press releases and the right equipment and how we were supposed to scan I don't know how he knew all these things and I will tell you if you're a faith believer at all Michael walked with me from about June of 2011 through Christmas day of 2013 that was the last correspondence I heard from him and several times after that I wanted to go back and tell him thank you and that I appreciated all the work and everything he had done but he had disappeared I went back to the American Red Cross and I said I'm trying to find Michael and they looked and searched through everything and long story short Michael doesn't exactly know and long story short Michael doesn't exist with the American Red Cross I've done everything I can to find him so all of this has been put together with the help of so many people and faith believing people people in the community just want to help our first picture photograph that we gave back was the first of September of 2011 and it was such a big homecoming for these folks to get the picture back because they lost their brother well our local tv station bless their hearts were so helpful and they would put three or five images that we selected every day on an afternoon and evening broadcast one photograph in particular was actually a it was a picture of pictures and if you have one of those long mirrors that goes on the back of your bedroom door someone had taken this green frame removed the mirror and placed photographs there had to be a hundred pictures on that frame the next day I receive a phone call from a lady who says I think you may have my pictures she says I saw it on the evening broadcast and I have to come and pick them up will you be there where I could pick them up tomorrow and I said yes I didn't know specifically what she was referring to because she was so anxious to just come and pick it up the next day she walks in and introduces herself and she says the photograph I'm looking for actually is many photographs and it's in a green frame I said ma'am we have your pictures and she broke down she could not hold it and what I didn't understand more than just about the photographs and the fact that we had it was it was the only picture of her grandfather that was remaining was a little picture in the center of that frame with him and a hat and a vest her life was on and in that frame and she says I got my life back I don't know how else to describe a situation where you give somebody something back and they say I got my life back because she did and it was a blessing to me to know that I can make such a difference over one frame in somebody's life it changes you when you hear stories like this it changes you as a person first of all you're so grateful and thankful to be there for them you're thankful for your own life and you realize just how important these little seemingly unimportant pieces of paper are and you realize that you're still giving away pictures to this day 10 years later we're still giving them back in total in Joplin we've reunited uh right at 18,400 photographs with over a thousand families but for us it's never been asking for a picture of me or my family or my family or my family but for us it's never been asking for something in return only being willing to give to others so many times as a pastor we tell our congregations that we need to be neighborly to those around us sometimes we find it easier to give money to someone who's going to a foreign land to spread the word of God than it is to be across the street from someone who's our neighbor to ask them if you need God this is a ministry that completely takes away that veil we're not there trying to get money because we don't ask for anything we're not asking for their time we're not asking for anything except for them to have something that is so special back what Jesus did on the cross was to give his life and ask for nothing and return when we give something and ask for nothing in return I don't know a more Christ-like thing it is exactly what we're supposed to be in the shadow of the cross and a great job by Monty on the production and a special thanks to Thad Bieler and to find out more about the National Disaster Photo Rescue go to nationaldisasterphotorescue.org Thad Bieler's Story here on Our American Story This is Tanya Raad from Scrubbing In with Becca Tilly and Tanya Raad. This is what you do when you've just found that statement handbag on eBay and you want to build an entire wardrobe around it you start selling to keep buying yep on eBay over that all black everything phase list it and buy all the color feeling more vintage than ever it's out with the new and in with the pre-loved next thing you know you've refreshed your wardrobe basically without spending a dime yeah eBay the place to buy and sell new pre-loved vintage and rare fashion eBay things people love sex politics IVF mental illness I bet you have rarely if ever heard these topics discussed in church and I bet you've got questions about them that you'd love to ask a pastor well there's a podcast that tackles these taboo topics hi pastor Mike Novotny with time of grace ministry and in my new podcast taboo questions with pastor Mike Novotny I answer questions from people just like you as I open up the bible to give answers that point people back to the truth and especially to our savior Jesus to listen just search taboo questions with pastor Mike this is Lee Habib here do you wake up every morning dreading that first step out of bed because of foot pain I know I used to then I tried power step the number one podiatrist recommended insoles clinically proven to relieve pain I was skeptical at first but from the moment I put them in my shoes I felt the difference support and comfort exactly where I needed it now I can go through my day pain-free go to power step dot com slash OAS and use code OAS for 15 off your first order the holidays are here at the home depot so let's get to decorating find your perfect tree and our huge assortment of shapes sizes and styles like the easy to assemble Jackson noble fur with pre-lit branches perfect for styling with all your favorite ornaments or the flocked starry light Frazier fur with over 1900 pre-lit memory wire branches that keep their shape so it's ready right out of the box find the perfect tree now at the home depot and enjoy free delivery on most holiday decor subject to availability see homedepot.com slash delivery for details your teen requested a ride but this time not from you it's through their uber teen account you drive your teenager around a lot to their friend Jacob's house their other friend Jake's house to James's to Jaden's to Jalen's to a mom this is Jake's house not Jacob's now with an uber teen account your teen can request a ride under your supervision the ride with a highly rated driver and with live trip tracking you'll follow along the whole ride to their friends houses that all sound the same add your teen to your uber account today see app for details bye mom
