Learning to Live Again

Today started off with a near-meltdown on my part, although I managed to hold it together. We were very thankful to have crews show up that we didn’t know were coming. We have plenty of work, that’s no problem. But when you have three or four needs at once, it begins to get to me. We had a group of teens come from McComb, MS. My sister in law works with a lady who got this group together and brought them down. I had to be in place to take them on the bus to give out some of the things that they brought down. At the same time I needed to deliver some appliances. At the same time there was a question about some other stuff I don’t even remember. Anyway, I was not dealing with all of this good stuff very well. And it is all good. We're thankful for each one. I think I arrived on the scene a little more tense than usual for some reason. I got the kids on the bus and we started meeting people and giving them things they needed. It was fun, and it was interesting hearing their comments on what they were seeing. In one funny moment we stopped and talked to three guys. One Anglo, one African American, one Hispanic. So I gave a Santa Biblia to one of the girls and told her to give ‘him’ a Biblia. These kids had done mission work in Mexico so I figured I was speaking their language. She hands it to the black dude, who promptly informed her he couldn’t read that. Of course we were all breaking apart on the bus, so she handed it to the Mexican dude. This fellow proceeded to inform her that he was a Native American, and not Hispanic. She was totally embarrassed, which made a great memory for the group! We have a family here from Cullman, Alabama. I’m not sure how long they are staying. We had a hardworking group today from the Inner City Church in Mobile led by Bill Draper. Bill Ford worked today, from Senatobia, MS. Unfortunately he has to return home tomorrow. We also had three brothers from Prattville, Alabama with Richard Medlin. Another cool thing happened today. Two kids about 12 years old each showed up. They are from our neighborhood. They came to help. They toted boxes, loaded the bus, went on two bus trips, and did anything we asked them to do. They have a servant heart. I hope they’ll come back. On the way back from our afternoon bus trip we could see the cruise ship Holiday coming in to dock at the Port of Pascagoula. We rode over to the river and watched it come in. There are hundreds of homeless people (due to the hurricane) living on that ship. They get three meals a day, and their laundry done. They have had to travel from Mobile (where the ship was previously docked) to Pascagoula each day. Now they are closer to home. I wonder if we can get on that ship to hold a worship service? Who would I even call about that? FEMA is paying the bill. As always there are probably people who worked today that I didn’t mention, things that happened that I do not remember at the moment, and stories to tell that do not occur to me at the moment. Tomorrow I plan to preach on the parable of the Good Samaritan. However, I want to focus on the blessings missed by the priest and rabbi. When we pass by our fellow human beings who are hurting, we become thieves. We rob ourselves of the blessings God has in store for the compassionate and service-minded. Tommy in Starkville, the house you worked on is coming along great. The couple now has a FEMA trailer on the lot, so they are in good shape. I hear that we are close to doing all we are going to do in that home. The theme of the day on the bus route was “Loss”. Tomorrow will mark eight weeks since Hurricane Katrina slammed into southern Mississippi and Louisiana. Much has evolved in our relief effort, but one thing that does not seem to have evolved is the sense of loss. I talked to two ladies today who lost their husband in the recent months prior to the storm. Both of them talked about how this experience intensified their sense of loss. Years of memories washed away in a sudden unexpected tidal surge. Though they are strong women, they are left to clean up the destruction without their husbands. No one to hold them. No one to assure them that they will make it. No hands to hold, no arms to embrace. A lady in her eighties simply shrugged and sighed, and went back to sanding her baseboards so that she could place them back on the walls of a home she barely recognizes. A lady in her sixties talked to us for a long time and I think hated to see us go. Her son lives across the street, but he was flooded also. Occasionally I have a moment of sadness, sometimes it's anxiety about getting back into my home, sometimes it is helplessness to fix the problems of someone I have met. These moments ultimately pass, but I do have a sense that we are learning to live again. Maybe that's a sense that you cannot understand until you visit here and see what this has done to us all. But there's little time for self-pity. We stay very busy, and God continues to surprise us with His tender mercies. I'm gonna smile my best smile And I'm gonna laugh like it's going out of style Look into her eyes and pray that she don't see That learning to live again is killing me ---Learning To Live Again, Garth Brooks