Monday Mania

Well, a new week has started here in our hurricane relief effort. I'll probably post again at the end of the day when I have more to say. Yesterday while removing some stuff from my back bathroom they discovered a leak inside the wall that had been there for some time. Needless to say, there was significant damage there that will have to be repaired. And that's the thing with these home repairs. We cannot just rip out sheetrock, spray with bleach, then hang new sheetrock. One always finds the unexpected and unknown damage. I'm also finding some plumbing problems that I'm going to have to deal with. These really deflate my baloon, but we will just fight one battle at a time. Today there is a crew taping and mudding my walls and ceilings. That's exciting. Another step forward. We try to take our totalled church bus through the neighborhoods in the evenings with food / bleach / ice and whatever supplies we can get together. Right now we have no food to give away, but we do expect to have some later when some trucks arrive. We had two Kentucky teenagers with us last night as we drove through the various neighborhoods. We saw all kinds of people, as you might guess. One young African American boy was working out in front of his house. It was almost dark and he looked tired, dragging some branches. We had some small stuffed animals that someone had donated, so one of the Kentucky girls offered it to him. His face was simply glowing as he grabbed it and ran excitedly into the house to show his parents or whoever was in there. It was just a little special moment but there are so many of them when you have much to give. As cooler weather settles in, concern grows for blankets and other means to stay warm. Although our Fall / Winter is mild on the Coast, people generally start wearing hats and coats when it hits 60 degrees. (That's perfect for me!) Many people in our neighborhoods are still living in tents / without power. We hope to have some blankets to give away to families as the days progress through Autumn. If anyone knows of a Christian buisness person who sells washers / dryers / beds please let me know. We are looking for someone to partner with to purchase these at cost if possible - they are to give away. Have them call me at 228-three two four - 0576. I haven't seen a cell phone bill since the storm, but I'm sure I am going to faint! I set up a semi-office upstairs in the teen room. It's the only corner I could find to set up a table or two. It's good to have a place to set my stuff. Well, this is longer than I thought it might be ... We always have a need for workers to come and staff our various rooms (baby, personal hygiene, home items, clothing, food) and out under the tent (bleach, water, other supplies). We will need both skilled and unskilled labor from now as far as we can see. A couple of links: If you'd like to know what's happening at the Ocean Springs Church of Christ, join Al Sturgeon's daily yahoo e-mail group by sending an empty e-mail to: OceanSpringsChurchofChristHurricane-subscribe@yahoogroups.com I will be updating my picture page daily. Today when I upload new pictures, I will begin labeling them by day of the week, so you can easily find the newest pictures. That link is: http://community.webshots.com/user/jedobber Thanks for your interest!