Hard to believe...

... that getting 2 (mudding and sanding) of 3 (plus painting) parts of the week's intended task accomplished is still labeled "really great work". (Our project leader IS a rather generous soul!)
We started the week excited to clip through the mudding and sanding of drywall in the 2br/2bath house. By week's end (we start home this (Friday 3/9) afternoon), the fact that we've mudded and sanded every bit of drywall (1600 sqft of house) within an inch of its life means that the walls are totally dead set and ready for the next group to roll up its rollers and paint. (And I'm here to tell you ... those walls? Are smoooooooooth.)


... that two people you met on Sunday afternoon could, by Friday afternoon, be two people you just hate not to take home with you.
Of course, Rich and Dona DO live in Indy, so technically ... Two members of Speedway Christian Church, who have each made multiple trips to assist here in the coast region, literally could not be more wonderful if they tried.
> Rich, brave soul that he is, spent the entire week with this 'women's mission trip' gang from Geist ... having decided on Thursday last that he would leave on Saturday morning at oh-dark-whatever with Dona ... so that she didn't drive on her own, and so that he could put in another week's giving to Ronnie and Janet, special and wonderful folks that they are.
> Dona, it must be said, is all the good things you hear about and want in the people you meet, wrapped up in a teeny little package. Turning 77 just this Tuesday (it was birthdays-a-plenty this week!), six-months widowed and yet determined not let any bit of her fire go out, Dona is on her third trip to be part of Louisiana's recovery. With an eye for perfection like none other, Ronnie and Janet's home has been in good hands these many weeks. And Dona will be back to check on them when Speedway sends another group in a few weeks.


... that a church of 50 members would be home to hundreds over dozens of weeks.
Since the storm, 18 months ago, Grace Disciples of Christ in Covington LA (directly north of New Orleans, on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain) has been a mission station. As the Shards Ministry (more to come) attests, amid brokenness, even the very brokenness of Christ, we find our oneness. Tending first to its members and faith community connections, then opening its doors, its showers, its kitchen, its halls and floors and sanctuary and very heart to hundreds of complete strangers, since Day One.

In jeeps and vans and cars and RVs, they descend upon Grace, these groups ... and yet, safe to say that moreover, grace descends upon them. All churches should be so open, so welcoming, so love-one-another.

Grace -- both the church and the concept -- also makes it hard to believe ...

... that everyone we know hasn't already put a date on their calendar, dug out their work gloves, and packed a bag.
What
ARE
you
waiting
for?