and speaking of circles!

- Come back to New Orleans. No don't.
- We're closing the existing shelters. You're in line to be a Rita shelter. No you're not.
- Go to the shelter and check in. Go to family services and get a hotel voucher.
- You're allowed to stay at the hotel as long as you need to. The manager wants to open up the rooms and wants everyone else out.
- We'll give you a debit card. We'll hand you a voucher. We'll mail you a check.

Honestly. Is it any wonder people are exhausted and frustrated?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It seems we are learning some lessons, though. Thank you Jesus.

- People are evacuating Rita-likely cities, well in advance.
- FEMA and Red Cross are lining up shelter sites and relief supply plans.

Asking the 'how did this happen' and 'what can we do' questions are not -- rather, should not be -- political questions. They are literally matters of life and death. Obviously, weather patterns and effects are beyond our control. But, as with every situation in life, how we choose to respond (which sometimes means thinking ahead and being prepared TO respond), is exactly ours to control. It's time we started taking it seriously.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I will throw in here, it's kinda cracking me up, the 'Rita Watch' hysteria. Not that it's not an important thing to keep an eye on ... I'm just saying there must be SOME kind of middle ground between being four days late in responding to a storm and being 10 days early in warning about it. Anyway ...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I met an interesting woman today ... whose name I don't even know, and whose story I'm only piecing together.

She's from Gulfport, a single mother of five (including a set of twins), probably 12 and younger. She was in Houston, and was closed out of a shelter there. Their suburban, including anything they evacuated with, and her identification, was stolen in Houston. Transportation replaced, she ran out of gas in some small East Tx town, called a church for help, the church happened (ha!) to be across the street from the Red Cross office. They got her registered with FEMA and gave her gas money to get here.

The FEMA check? Was mailed to Gulfport. To. Gulfport. Where the storm hit. Where the houses. are. gone. As is the post office. Hello. And the missing check? Will take two weeks to replace.

She makes it to Tyler and finds the Salvation Army, who send her to us. Red Cross isn't registering any more families in shelters, so she goes to Family Services. They have nothing. No clothes, but what they're wearing. No towels, soap, diapers, nothing.

Our meal service was closing for the afternoon, but a volunteer caught the supplies before they left and got them fed, and a few things to take with them. I was standing at the desk trying to make some plans for gathering furniture church members here are donating to help get some of our resettled families started in their new homes.

So - she'll be back tomorrow, hopefully FEMA here having advance-paid (in place of the missing check) the apartment she found. She has a job, shift manager at a Sears down the street. Tomorrow morning she'll get the older kids enrolled in Tyler schools, and the younger ones in child care (available for evacuees while they're getting settled). And! We have furniture for her, even though it's just a little, plus towels and blankets and toiletries to get them started.

This was the big part for me, when I asked what she needed ...
We need everything. Anything. That's what they don't get. They mailed the check to something that doesn't exist. We weren't poor. I did well for us; I was a private photographer for 13 years. We had a beautiful house, right on the beach. And there's nothing. And it's hard on me. But my kids. They've found the toys in the other room, and they're just happy and fine. I just want something better for them.

And none of this was said, or intended, as 'Feel sorry for me and shell out the goodies.' The sound of her voice, and the look on her face, was clearly a woman brought low by life's circumstance ... but not so low that she couldn't ask for help. Sometimes being strong, and independent, and taking care of yourself (and your family) means knowing when you can't do it alone.

(Whew, long post tonight, thanks for hanging in there.)