10

Yesterday was a relatively calm day. I was able to catch up on some e-mails, update a few websites I manage, and enjoy a few talks with David. While Otis Bowman was here, he and Maggy put together our table and chairs. So for the first time since the storm, Maggy and I sat down at our table in front of a television and enjoyed lunch together in our house. It felt almost normal. Well, anyway, it felt good. Last night I hooked up the DVD player to the TV, set up the computer and got the cable internet service connected at home. So we do have a few amenities now in our house that we did not have. Of course anyone who knows me understands why these gadgets got first priority. Actually they were things I could do. Flooring, heating / Air conditioning, painting … those are things I have to leave to someone else. This afternoon I made some home visits to prepare to deliver appliances to people. One lady has been living on $600 per month. How she was able to make it, I’ll never know. But I do know that there’s not enough left over each month to recover from total loss such as we have suffered. It will be a joy to bring her a refrigerator tomorrow. Thanks to God, and Churches of Christ Disaster Relief of Nashville. Last night I went with David to a county meeting where churches are banding together to accomplish some great things for the community. It was my first time to meet with them, so I didn’t understand everything. The FEMA representative is scheduled to come and see us tomorrow. Also tomorrow we will meet with someone from http://www.ides.org/, Lee Solomon. I’m looking forward to that as well. Numbers are frustrating to one who gave up on multiplication tables once they passed 10 X 10. But numbers do tell a story. The number of the night is “10”. Ten years. That’s how long FEMA projects they will be in our area dealing with the aftermath of Katrina. I was thinking 2. But they assure us it will be 10. At least. The magnitude of this storm really does continue to grow with each day. And even now, as we approach the 10 week anniversary of Katrina, I just cannot comprehend 10 years of recovery. It’s probably a good thing that I’m not good at numbers and can just focus on tomorrow. Linked on the left hand sidebar of this blog is now a HURRICANE CREW REPORT. If you are thinking about coming down to do some relief work, check that out first so you can pick a time when we have less people working. I will try to update that page every day or so. Thank you for your comments, private e-mails, packages, notes, monetary gifts, and the prayers. Thanks also for reading. Tex Nolan from Monroe, LA headed back home yesterday as well. He and Hugh from Calhoun, LA were here for a few days. They brought blankets and jackets of all sizes. He also bought cleaning supplies while here. They were a blessing both in the work they did and also in the spirit they brought to the operation. HOLIDAYS Thanksgiving looks good on this end. We will have several people in to help us provide a Thanksgiving Lunch for our immediate area. I'm not sure at this point if they will come and get the dinner, or if we will deliver the meals. Christmas will be a difficult time on the Coast. Several have indicated interest in adopting families for Christmas, and we must move pretty quickly on this if we are going to get it done. We will try to survey the 108 trailers down the street to find families with children as one source of adoptable families. Orlando from Heritage Christian University called to say they want to adopt 30 children. A share group from Gateway church in Pensacola is adopting a family. Also Hillsboro church in Nashville wants to adopt some families. We also want to help some of the families who are not "adopted" by collecting toys for kids - teens and allowing the parents to come (by invitation) to the church building to select some gifts for their children. We will be looking for new toys in the package, rather than used toys. CURRENT NEEDS: *New: size 1-2 diapers - we have not had any for a long time now. This seems to be the size most requested. Pull-Ups are also requested often. *Volunteer workers, both skilled and unskilled. Carpenters, plumbers, roofers, electricians, sheet-rock hangers, and painters can all be kept very busy! We can use ladies and those who are older to sort clothes, load the bus for bus runs, and go with us on the bus runs. *Ministers who can give up several days to come and pray with the community members, conduct Bible studies as available, and fill in on work as needed. *Youth ministers who can bring their teen groups (mature teens willing to serve, please) for one or two days on the weekends. *Small electric heaters *Towels, Sheets, Pillows, Blankets *Deodorant (mens and womens) *Laundry Detergent in boxes or bottles we can give away easily. (Note: The big 5 gallon buckets of detergent are nice, but we would rather have smaller quantities to spread it further!) *Plastic tableware (forks, knives, spoons) and napkins. The FEMA trailers come with no items such as these. *Snacks, drinks, and other foods that can be kept in our Dining Hall for workers as they labor here on a volunteer basis. *Cleaning supplies (pine sol, dishwashing detergent, disinfectant wipes, mops, brooms, buckets, etc.) – small sizes of cleaning liquids are better / easier to handle and distribute. *Delivery Truck. At some point State Farm will come get our totaled church bus and we will need a delivery truck with shelves to make daily deliveries through our neighborhoods. This is from the "I doubt anyone can help with this, but it doesn't hurt to ask" department. *Chocolate and Coffee. I do promise to share ... some of it! *Don’t' know what to send? Send Wal-Mart or Lowes gift cards. They can be used to purchase a wide variety of items as needed - and can be passed on to needy people on occasion. All of my contact information is to be found at http://www.123jesus.com My picture page is located at: http://community.webshots.com/user/jedobber