closing in on it

Tomorrow at our monthly "BRAINfood" luncheon, I will be the 'guest speaker,' sharing a little about our hurricane relief mission trips.

Three trips, counting the original to Tyler ... in a series of pictures and comments ... coming in at around 25 minutes, with a few minutes for question and answer afterward.

Oh, sure. No problem. I can, uh, summarize.

EEK!

But what this means for everyone else (aside from the devoted folks joining me tomorrow), is that the photo album will be ready in a day or so! Stay tuned ...

wait for it ...

Wrap-up, pictures, RSS, future dates ...

It's all coming, I promise.

Did I mention it's Holy Week?

Thanks for your patience.

"like a band of gypsies...

… we go down the highway."

Room 215 at the Days Inn Little Rock has some loose floor tiles in the bathroom. Think they’d like me to chisel and regrout those for ‘em?

After a fast half-day’s work – finishing up the shower surround, bathroom fixtures, painting the bathroom a fabulous cheerful yellow, and grouting that hearth – Candy broke out the big guns for our parting lunch (the whole gang was there) and then a 10 minute pit stop to shower, pack bags, load the car and hit the road.

I led us on a little tour of the access road/interstate system in our one-mile stretch of Beaumont … THEN we were on the road at 2:00, on a rerouted tour to avoid some rumored storms and tornados headed through Mississippi (the way we’d come).

Our tour through the piney woods of East Texas, and right at 7.5 hours have put us in Little Rock, Arkansas for the night. Our friends from Warsaw headed back the MS way and said the weather didn’t materialize, but the traffic snarl to beat all DID, right around Baton Rouge. (edit: News reports Saturday morning indicated severe storms, damage and fatalities. I've not talked with the Warsaw group yet to check in on the balance of their trip.)

Which would have meant driving three hours out of Beaumont and then … sitting. For a long time. On bridges. At least on our two-lane state highways we could keep moving – well, except for the lumber trucks … and the school bus stop … and the guy on his tractor stopping to get his mail from the box. (I love Texas!) So … ‘six of one, half dozen of the other,’ as my father used to (incessantly!) say.

Jim: Next stop, I need to be sure to take that sign off the car.
Ken: What sign?
Jim: The one that says ‘PULL OUT IN FRONT OF ME!’

We’ll be out super early in the morning and head on for Indy, losing an hour en route. Of course, the first time change in 30 years in Indiana takes effect the week we’re traveling! For the LOVE!

Moments from the week continue to insert themselves into our conversations and private thoughts … faces, comments, events, recollections, revelations, questions. It was quite a remarkable week, with layer after layer of blessing and hope.

More to share, more to see, more to consider. Plan to have an update on Sunday with some closing thoughts, sometime early next week a link to a photo album, and hopefully soon an RSS feed/link (for those who've asked), to keep you apprised of any future updates ... including ~hint,hint~ future trip dates. Awesome things still to come ...

But for now, a little shut-eye.

trash theology

Okay, this is going to get a little weird, a little deep ... but go with me, okay?

Today's work at Carl & Lolly's was finish-up/clean-up tasks. Finish the roof (yay! two roofs done! and this one was a tricky little devil ... ask Ken!) and then ... haul the trash. Bags and bags and heaps and heaps of trash ... messy, smelly, been sittin' there a while, tore-out-like-crazy-people-and-now-we're-rebuilding TRASH. So all the Kentucky Kids haul it ... to the truck ... which Kim had to arrange to use ... which she drives to the dump ... and comes back ... for another load. Their house totally and completely comes apart in a hurricane of record proportions and their city doesn't even pick up their trash.

Meanwhile, over at Candy's, catfish is frying for lunch (did I mention this saint-of-a-woman feeds us - and whatever neighbors wander through - EVERY DAY? - and not pb&j, people, serious full-on MEALS). And we are sanding, mudding, painting, screening, installing deadbolts (3rd day's try is the charm, thanks Jim!), sanding a hearth and laying tile (guess what I learned to do, Mom!), hanging burglar bars and getting every odd and end we can accomplished.

And the trash collectors come by. Yay! The trash truck comes! But wait.

It takes the two trash cans (the wheeled kind you sit at your curb) and dumps them into the truck -- in the process dumping half the contents of one can back onto the ground. Puts the cans down, drives away.

LEAVING the bags and bags and heaps and heaps of trash ... messy, smelly, been sittin' there a while, tore-out-like-crazy-people-and-now-we're-rebuilding TRASH. LEFT IT THERE. This is a trash heap that covers ... hmm ... imagine standing in your front yard, facing the street. From the sidewalk to the pavement, from the left end of your property to the right end of your property, about waist high. That kind of trash heap. They left. it. there.

Who's supposed to tend to that? Who picks that up? Not the city, evidently. And not anyone else, evidently. So now what will she do? Frankly, I don't know.

But it drives me to disraction that the 'nice' neighborhoods, like the one where our friends at First Christian hosted us to dinner last night, don't have a speck of trash in sight, let alone a HEAP. Their homes were damaged. A few still have trees down. There are some "FEMA Blue" tarps here and there. But no trash. No smell. No health hazard for people walking by, or children enjoying a sunny afternoon.

Which led me to admit that we do what's easy ... we pay attention, and give attention, and give time and effort, when someone's watching, or when we perceive it's 'worthwhile,' or it's not inconvenient for us ... won't interrupt our home, our vacation, our work, our comfort.

Otherwise? We come by when we can, we take care of whatever happens to land in the truck on the first toss, and then we drive away.

I love mission trips because I get to see people face to face, hear their stories, be part of their lives, share their meals and their hopes and dreams and frustrations ... the hardest part is to drive away, like we will tomorrow, carrying their faces and stories and dreams with me ... wondering if someone else will drive up next week, or the week after, or the next storm, or next year.

Will someone come? Will you?

iiiittttt's hump day !

One roof is done! And another is so close they can smell it. Okay, maybe that's sweat they smell, but whatever ... you get the idea.

Wednesdays of week-long mission trips are always tricky days: it's the middle of the adventure. You've spent two days working, you know you have two days after this one to work. The twin demons of Tired and Sore have taken residence in every fiber and sinew. The twin angels of Community and Encouragement have to ramp into overdrive to make the day liveable, let alone WORTH living through. And let's not even talk about what happens when Impatience shows up to play ...

It was a day with a few rough spots, but really, by day's end ... with showers and a dinner generously provided by First Christian Church (who feeds the groups staying, as we are, at Northwood Christian once during each week they work) ... the day had some bright points:

Did I mention a roof is done?!
A truck comes tomorrow to haul the debris from Carl & Lolly's.
Screens have been replaced all around a house.
Youth and adults alike have learned new skills - both carpentry and interpersonal.

God is doing a great thing here ... not only in Beaumont, not only for these two families, but in he hearts and minds of each person working. At our most haggard and uncertain moments, the spirit we feel most strongly IS the Spirit ... blowing over us and cooling any sunburn, tending any heated brow, and reminding us again that we do this work NOT for ourselves, but for the One who calls us to serve.

And after all, isn't this what it's all about?

*

While sitting at the bookstore updating his own blog tonight, Jim had a 30-second conversation with 'Reggie,' who learned that we're in town with a church group working on damaged homes ... and said "Thank you, man. Rita tore the place up pretty bad. There's a lot to do and we're glad for the help."

Spirit moment. Gets you over the hump every. single. time.

hammer, mud, screen ... repeat

While the crew at Carl & Lolly's kept their roof moving along (starting a little earlier today in an effort to beat some shingle-melting heat), the gang at Candy's house had a second great day of progress on their roof as well.









P.S. - If you decide it's hot and want to take off the long sleeved shirt you're wearing, putting sunscreen on the now-exposed parts of your Hoosier forearms is a very. good. idea. (-cough-Ken!-cough-)

And no, Jim's not quite as close to those power lines as it looks. (Not quite.)










Our Shirley, I'll have you know, is a Jane of All Trades. Yesterday, she was ground crew and transport for the roofing work. Today she was mud-and-tape team in the bathroom, and this afternoon she was half of the screened-in-porch re-screeners. The woman does it all. All hail the mail carrier! Your tax dollars at work!

As for me? Mudding and taping within an inch of my life ... calling for 'mandatory' water/rest breaks, which no one listened to (-cough-Jim!-cough-) ... and spending a good part of the afternoon with George, NOT getting the back door to deadbolt. Argh. Grr. Grrrrrrrr.


For all the frustrations and aches of the day, though, the evening brought us time to have a terrific dinner (thanks to Marsha and Rhonda, our Warsaw pals, for what Marsha claims 'wasn't cooking, more like preparing' -- whatever it was, it was GONE), and a time for reflection and prayer.

We considered some of Jesus' lessons on humility, and reminded ourselves that everything we've thought and done in these two early days has already surpassed everything we thought we were capable of doing. Don't you LOVE it when God does that?!

So, thanks be to God for safe travel and safe work ... for new friends and good laughter ... for wonderful meals and strengthened spirits.

And now, to a night's rest, because tomorrow ... we sand!

a house of love

A house of love. This is a house of love.

That's how Candy describes the place, and is she ever right.

We pull up to the house, for our first day of work: a van, an suv, a truck, a jeep, a car. Three youth, five adults, plus our 3 managers/volunteer coordinators who introduce us to Candy. Who greets us ALL with enormous hugs, smiles, shouts of laughter and welcome.

People driving down the street stop to holler hello. People come to her porch and greet her (and us). People walking by wave and call out. Her kids come over with their kid, and neighbors and neighbor children stop by all day long. And everyone gets the same fabulous greeting: "How you doin', baby?!" And it never seems like she's faking it.

And one thing you can't fake is that cooking! Our outside team is stripping old shingles, pulling up nails, laying out tarpaper, starting new shingles; inside team is slicing, reslicing, shaving, hanging, rehanging sheetrock. And all through the house ... lunch smells. And I mean SMELLS GOOD. And she wouldn't have it any other way ... Nobody walks in this door and walks out without eating! We're here to be of service, and here she is feeding us like we're royal guests!

Her house has been disassembled for more than four weeks now (once the work got started, obviously the storm did its own disassembly months before!), and she is absolutely the most cheerful, most gracious ... such a lesson in love and spirit. Never know when you'll meet an angel ... that's the first thing Jayna taught me when we learned about doing mission trips.

A very very VERY packed first day ... hit the ground running, as the saying goes. George and Dixie Smith (hi Carmel Christian Church!) are fabulous, Kim Woolley blows me away with her dedication and energy, and Archie (whose last name totally escapes me) was on the second house's roof every second the 14 year olds were and givin' directions all the way.

The group that we're staying and working with is from Warsaw, Kentucky, and couldn't be nicer. Six youth and five adults, all just a delight. So far the guys seem to want to play basketball first thing in the morning ... I'm wondering if tomorrow will be a different story!

B & W signs

Best thing about traveling for mission trip: Every time you stop en route … it’s warmer.

Worst thing about stopping along the way: “service” at Wendy’s, Blytheville, Arkansas

Best thing about stopping overnight along the way: one more night in an actual bed & shower before it’s church floors, aero beds, and locker rooms

Worst thing about stopping overnight along the way: changing time zones AND having the time change all in the same night.

What time are we getting up? What time are we meeting? What time do we want to be on the road? Okay, is that Indiana time or Memphis time? Before we change our clocks or after?

So – I think we’re leaving in an hour or so. But it could be two. Or I could already be late. I’m not sure.

*
Ha! We all made it to the lobby at the (same!) appointed time.

Driving west on I-10, through Louisiana toward Beaumont, as soon as we hit Lake Charles, there was no mistaking the signs … literally and figuratively.

> I wonder how many contractors, builders, carpenters and other similar professionals suddenly became … either by necessity, or out of opportunity … “reconstruction specialists”? Saw that sign more than once.

> Apparently, ‘roofing and gutters’ is the business to be in right now in these parts, if the multitude of signs advertising those services are indicators. One company had FOUR bright yellow “roofing,” “roofing supplies.” “roof estimates,” “need roofing?” banners hanging … ON A SINGLE STRETCH OF FENCE! That’s a sign of something …

> A church (no sign as to ‘kind’) just off the I-10 access road in Orange (TX border) had no visible door (main entrance boarded over), two of three primary windows boarded over, and an entire corner having fallen off (heap of bricks) and temporarily (I assume) patch-repaired with scrap siding. But the sign? “Services 10 a.m.” THAT’s the sign I needed to see … God is here, God prevails.

The biggest sign though, was the one that was most persistent, and is the view that haunts me still from our earlier trip this way: the trees. All along both sides of the highway, lovely trees of wonderful variety.

And for every one or two standing tall and slender, reaching for the sunny blue sky … there are five or six snapped in half, smashed into each other, hanging sideways with random pieces of roofing, siding, plywood, metal sticking out amongst the branches.

And yet when you just look at them together – there as they grow, all together – the thing you see is the green, the lushness, the depth, the reach. You notice how rich the signs of creation are, everywhere, always.

Wait. Wasn’t I talking about trees?

today's the day !

A few last-minute errands for some essentials, then we load the van (thanks Jim!) at 1:00 and we're out the door ...

Overnight in Memphis, then on to Beaumont tomorrow. We're meeting up with a group from First Christian Church, Warsaw KY ... always a huge part of these mission trips, not just the folks you're serving, but the ones you're serving WITH.

We work Monday through Friday, then Friday/Saturday we'll reverse the drive and head back for Indy, overnighting again in Memphis.

Looking forward to the whole adventure ... Jim is with me again on this one (I'm starting to think he's a mission junkie like me!), plus two 'new kids' this time around, Ken and Shirley.

Can't wait ... more to come ... as ever ...