Seven Days

It has been seven days since my last post. Much of this week has been spent trying to gut my house, help with the groups coming in to offer support to us, and a thousand other details. We are now located in one of our Deacon's home. He has a one room apartment that the three of us are sharing. It is cramped, but it is a place to lay down and sleep. We are very grateful to these dear friends. Our church building resembles a grocery store. We have had groups from Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and Mississippi in to help. I would like to give credit to everyone, but I didn't write it all down ... maybe I can remember more later. One of our insurance adjusters should arrive tomorrow to deal with our automobile losses. The house insurance adjuster has not arrived yet. I feel that FEMA or someone will condemn our home as they start looking at replacing ceiling, floors, and walls, but I do not know. The needs remain the same... manpower is in short supply. In the stage where we are now, those who can hang drywall, paneling, and such will be in special need ... probably for the next month. There is still plenty of work to be done that just about anyone can do ... we're just exhausted. We work a few hours and then the fresh crew takes over. Today we had our first post-Katrina worship at Central. Brentwood Hills church sent a tent that we met under. We had about 50 or so there, including some community members. It was pretty neat. We had a nice cool breeze and a good spirit. I preached from Nehemiah the first two chapters ... Five words we need to rebuild our broken lives: Mourn, Confess, Trust, Work, and Hope. This afternoon we drove to Mobile to get away from the piles of debris on the roads and just get away from everything. We had a nice meal and a great afternoon at Chris Lockhart's home. We met with their small group and ate, then headed home. I'm typing from his computer. I have no internet access in Pascagoula. I am getting daily calls on my cell phone (228 - three two four - 0576) with offers of help and such. Please continue to send financial contributions to Gateway as listed below. We will all have great financial needs in the very near future. I cannot answer emails in a timely manner at this point. I do not know when I will be able to update the blog, either. Congratulations to my great friends Danny and Terri Dodd, who have a new baby daughter born yesterday. We love you guys and can't wait to see baby Jordan! If you have a home, with your own chair, your own bed, your own pillow ... when you go to bed tonight, thank God. The comforts we take for granted have been snatched away from most of us here on the Coast. Still, we feel blessed and hopeful.