It is Friday night and it is hard to believe that we are half way through the trip. Today we took the group on a tour of ground zero, Lake Shore Dr., Lake Ponchatrain. We were laughing and joking about having the afternoon off and then we started seeing the piles of debris and accumualted assets of people beside the road. The group was very quiet as we looked at homes and weekend retreats destroted beyond recognition. Boats upside down on the road are common and houses off their foundations seems to be the norm. What started out as a day off turned into a time of reflection. We all concluded that no matter what problems we have in the "real world" away from Louisanna, they are minor in comparison to the people we are seeing and meeting. I cannot wait to be back in Modesto with my family. Tomorrow we will continue the adventure, pray for us to bring hope into a few more homes.
Buddy
Friday, October 07, 2005
Father in law bonding
A small team of us went to a small stilt house on Carr Road, the last road on the east side of South Slidell, just before the bridge going into New Orleans. Every home on this street has been demolished. Whole houses blasted off their stilts, roofs destroyed, you know, the usual run of the mill hurricane destruction. Know what I'm sayin'?
The house we worked on had a steep set of stairs that led to the front door. Wrought iron railing protected the porch and there was a nice picture window in the front bedroom. The house was worked on yesterday, so today's job was to get the drywall removed, out of the house, down to the wheelbarrows, and wheel the detritus along the improvised path of real imitation wood paneling, courtesy of the stilt house. The previous crew was kind enough to leave the front picture window.
(side note: I've had the blessing of having my father in law, Jerry, with me on every job site. Every one says it's so I can watch him, but I really think it's so he can keep an eye on me! It's been such a blast to work along side him, just one year after he had been so sick; many of you have prayed for him and his strong health now is a testimony to God's healing powers.)
Jerry and I figured the picture window would make a great opening to the wheelbarrows 15 feet below....so, we proceeded to destroy the picture window, hammering it, pulling on it, pushing it, and finally yanking it from its perch. Broken glass, bent metal, and splintered wood. It was great fun destroying this window with him. Kind of like Extreme Home Makeover, but with out Ty...or the makeover, for that matter. (If this doesn't make sense to you, just ask someone who gets HGTV on cable.)
Some folks like to bond with their father in law's with golfing or fishing trips, Jerry and I chose to do it over shards of glass and some aggression. Good thing we both got our tetanus shots, eh? We only had to work a half day today and the weather has cooled off...it's much more pleasant than previous work days. This evening I'm even wearing a sweatshirt! Fall is in the air.
One more day to work. Let's go muck. Or as Joan Wohnhas says, "muke." What an amateur...
Glen
The house we worked on had a steep set of stairs that led to the front door. Wrought iron railing protected the porch and there was a nice picture window in the front bedroom. The house was worked on yesterday, so today's job was to get the drywall removed, out of the house, down to the wheelbarrows, and wheel the detritus along the improvised path of real imitation wood paneling, courtesy of the stilt house. The previous crew was kind enough to leave the front picture window.
(side note: I've had the blessing of having my father in law, Jerry, with me on every job site. Every one says it's so I can watch him, but I really think it's so he can keep an eye on me! It's been such a blast to work along side him, just one year after he had been so sick; many of you have prayed for him and his strong health now is a testimony to God's healing powers.)
Jerry and I figured the picture window would make a great opening to the wheelbarrows 15 feet below....so, we proceeded to destroy the picture window, hammering it, pulling on it, pushing it, and finally yanking it from its perch. Broken glass, bent metal, and splintered wood. It was great fun destroying this window with him. Kind of like Extreme Home Makeover, but with out Ty...or the makeover, for that matter. (If this doesn't make sense to you, just ask someone who gets HGTV on cable.)
Some folks like to bond with their father in law's with golfing or fishing trips, Jerry and I chose to do it over shards of glass and some aggression. Good thing we both got our tetanus shots, eh? We only had to work a half day today and the weather has cooled off...it's much more pleasant than previous work days. This evening I'm even wearing a sweatshirt! Fall is in the air.
One more day to work. Let's go muck. Or as Joan Wohnhas says, "muke." What an amateur...
Glen
Chained to the keyboard
Jack Hairston, sitting in air-conditioned comfort:
Before we left Modesto, Carolyn told me that I would be better off if I allowed myself to be shanghaied into the computer end of the operation. Nah, I wanted to go muck out houses and get filthy and tired.
Sure enough, the first night there was a fervent plea for someone to help out "maybe for one day" to create a database to coordinate volunteers with projects. Well, maybe for just one day. So while everyone else was out having fun getting filthy, tired, and making new friends, I was typing.
It's Friday, and I'm hoping to get to go out into the field tomorrow. Maybe I'll get some firsthand stories then. Stay tuned...
Before we left Modesto, Carolyn told me that I would be better off if I allowed myself to be shanghaied into the computer end of the operation. Nah, I wanted to go muck out houses and get filthy and tired.
Sure enough, the first night there was a fervent plea for someone to help out "maybe for one day" to create a database to coordinate volunteers with projects. Well, maybe for just one day. So while everyone else was out having fun getting filthy, tired, and making new friends, I was typing.
It's Friday, and I'm hoping to get to go out into the field tomorrow. Maybe I'll get some firsthand stories then. Stay tuned...
Greetings from Team Red in Slidell. . .
It is a cool morning in slidell, 72 degrees and a little wind. It made for a great night of sleep in the tent. When my head hit the pillow and my body on the air mattress I went to sleep right away. I was completely and totally used up. God has blessed us with the time here in Slidell as we kingdom work.
I tasted muck water for the first time yesterday in New Orleans. A large splash came from a shelf that had a box on it. It smells as bad as you can imagine and it seemed like it penetrated my respirator.
Glenn has done a wonderful job of describing the events that have unfolded here. The people we meet each day are still in shock and do not know where to start rebuilding their lives. Thats where Team Red and Hilltop come in. We help them pull out what was previously important and now destroyed so that they can begin rebuilding their lives. Hopefully, they get a glimmer of the light of Christ that burns so brightly in our volunteers here. It is hard to describe the emotions that we are experience.
Hilltop is an interesting mix of folks from all over the nation and a mixture of Christians and non-Christians. Many of the non-christians are getting an introduction to Christ. Exciting to say the least.
I am so proud of our people on Team Red. They step up at a moments notice and do what needs to be done and then some. This morning at the morning briefing Jess ask for a poem to be recited, Art T. stood and recitied a poem he had written last night.
Our women on the team are hard workers. All of them are awesome.
God Bless each of you for your prayers, we need them!
Buddy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
