Tim Ellsworth

Yesterday was a good day. It was a day of optimism. It was a day of hope.

The most newsworthy event of the day was the visit to campus by Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff. It was quite the media circus.

I continued to be inundated with calls from media all over the country. At 6 p.m., I counted 60 calls I had made or received in the last six hours. And Thursday was slow compared to the day before.

Despite an overwhelming task before us, it was good to see people on campus smiling and working together. The pervading spirit on campus is one of anticipation as we embark upon the rebuilding of our campus.

It was the first time since Tuesday’s tornado that I had a chance to talk in-depth with a few students. That was the best part of my day.

I continue to thank the Lord for His mercy in sparing the students from any loss of life. And I continue to pray for the students still in the hospital, some of them with injuries that are most serious.

Today the cleanup effort begins in earnest. I’m excited about the process, because I know I’m going to be deeply moved by the continued support I see from Union’s friends who are stepping up big-time to help.

Yesterday, I recognized for the first time the path that is laid out before me for the next several years. The task of telling Union’s story will be a formidable one as we rise from the rubble. When our restoration is complete, Union will not be the same place it has been in years past. It will be better. And I’m thankful that I get to be a part of making that happen.

Here are some specific ways in which you can pray for Union University during this time of hardship:

1. Pray for the continued recovery of students who were injured.

2. Pray for wisdom for President David S. Dockery, the Union trustees and the senior leadership team. So many decisions have to be made, and those decisions will affect so many lives.

3. Pray for the students who suffered significant losses in their dorm rooms, and for faculty members who lost items (like books) in their offices.

4. Pray for patience and understanding for security and law enforcement personnel, Union staff, students and parents as we try to coordinate efforts for students to retrieve their belongings.

5. Pray for God to move the hearts of people to help in the recovery effort. Most significantly, we’ll need massive financial assistance for the students and the university.

6. Pray for those of us involved in getting Union’s story told. Pray that the spotlight now upon us will result in opportunities to share the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world.

7. Pray that God will demonstrate His power and sovereignty to the world by raising from the rubble a university that is more excellence-driven, Christ-centered, people-focused and future-directed than it has ever been.

Now I know how Jack Bauer feels.

The past 24 hours have been the most intense day of my life. Many of you have read about the tornado that ripped through the Union University campus last night, reducing several dorm buildings to heaping piles of debris and trapping nine students in the process. (Timmy Brister has a good collection of resources, and The Jackson Sun is another place where you can find lots of info.)

To walk around the campus and survey the damage, there’s only one logical conclusion: that God’s providence is the only reason nobody was killed. It is staggering to see these buildings now and wonder how everyone got out alive. Thanks be to God for His kindness to us.

I came home last night at 3:30 a.m. for all of 30 minutes — long enough to take a shower and head back to campus. By my ballpark estimate, I’ve probably received more than 300 phone calls during the past day from media outlets all over the country. I did interviews (in the freezing cold) on Fox News and CNN, as well as ABC, NBC and CBS affiliates in Memphis, Nashville and Jackson.

Challenges abounded. Our web site was down, so we had to find alternative ways to communicate to students, parents and friends about what was happening on campus. One of my most bothersome problems was keeping my cell phone charged. Worst of all was the uncertainty about the welfare of our students who were trapped in the dorms.

I returned home about 6:30 this evening, physically exhausted and emotionally spent. And the difficulties are just beginning, as we are now faced with the difficult task of rebuilding a campus that largely lies in ruins. The trajectory of my professional — and personal — life has been altered significantly.

I’m so thankful for your prayers for me and for Union University over the past day. They have encouraged me greatly.

I received offers of help almost immediately, most significantly from my friend Chris Turner. Many uplifting messages came from other friends and from people I don’t even know. The outpouring of support has been overwhelming and humbling. And I know it’s just beginning.

Please continue to keep Union University and its president, David Dockery, in your prayers in the weeks and months ahead. Dr. Dockery now faces pressures and burdens I can’t begin to fathom. But I can’t help but think that God is going to use him in a powerful way to accomplish something wondrous on Union’s campus. I’m thrilled to be a part of it.

The needs, however, are massive. Please consider making a donation to:

Union University Disaster Relief Fund
1050 Union University Drive
Jackson, TN 38305

Have a good weekend.

Is anyone having problems accessing my site? I’ve got one person telling me that something’s wrong and that my site won’t load at all, but on every computer I’m using everything looks fine. If everything appears to be OK to you, please post a comment and let me know. If you’re having problems, e-mail me at timellsworth(at)gmail.com

I’m in the process of changing hosts, so there could be some bugs on the blog for the next day or so. Let me know if you have any problems. Thanks for your patience.

Have a good weekend.

OK, I’ve grown weary of the delays on my site, currently hosted by GoDaddy. I’m going to try a different host. If you have any recommendations, please pass them along.

Has anyone noticed my site being slow for several days? Just curious if the problem was on my end, or if others were experiencing something similar.

Have a good weekend.

Got another radio interview today, again about my most recent column. This one’s on the Coach To Coach Radio Show with Ronnie Cottrell and Dave Wilson, on WRJM FM 93.7, the largest news talk FM radio station in South Alabama that also reaches western Georgia and the Florida panhandle.

I’ll be on about 5:10 p.m. Central time. If you go to the Coach to Coach site, on the right side of the page there’s a link where you can listen live.

This afternoon I’ll be on Supertalk 97.7 to talk about my most recent column. If you’re interested, I believe you can listen to the station through its website. I’ll be on sometime around 2:15-2:30 Central time.

Have a good weekend.

From a discussion on Mike and Mike this morning:

If you replace the tomato sauce and cheese with peanut butter and bacon, is it still a pizza?

Talk about the Iowa caucus last night if you’d like, or anything else for that matter.