Al Showed Up

Today I spent most of my time at my house. I always feel guilty when I do this, for I know that there is continuing chaos at the church building. I want to be there to help David as much as I can, and I haven’t done much of that in the past few days. Still, I do want to get back into my home, so some of these times are necessary. The brothers from Conway, AR did a great deal at my house over the weekend, including some unexpected things that we didn’t know we would find. They never looked exasperated, although sometimes exhausted. They are heading back to Conway in the morning and I hope to be there to wave goodbye. Three big items left to deal with in my house are flooring, heat/ac, and cabinets. There are a few little things, also, but I think that’s true of every house. I talked to two brothers who are coming this week to be of service. One is from Mississippi and is a plumber. The other is from Tennessee and is a preacher and brick layer. There are a number of people here from South Carolina and New Jersey. We also have Kentucky, West Virginia, Rhode Island, Indiana, and probably other places represented. All of these people have been at work in our community, although I do not know where! Today I got to visit for a short time with my friend Al Sturgeon, minister at Ocean Springs Church of Christ. He was interviewed in Pascagoula on local television for his involvement with Habitat For Humanity. He came by our church building, but I was at the house. I urged him to come by, but to hurry because I had an appointment! My appointment was at a local radio station to be interviewed about our work here. I hated to leave my home without seeing Al, but time was short. To my surprise he was at the radio station when I drove in. He was being interviewed before me and another minister in town. I wrote a letter to the editor of our local newspaper. Unknown to me, Al wrote an article about Thanksgiving and sent it to the paper. This past Sunday both of our articles were on the same page. Al is a great friend. For the past several years he and I have shared a lunch together each Thursday. These lunches are never quiet! We talk and talk and talk until one of us has to go. His friendship has been a source of strength and encouragement to me over the years. We haven’t had lunch since the August 29th storm hit the Coast, and I miss our talks. In many ways, Al and I are opposites. He’s tall and thin, I’m shorter and fat. He’s a sports fanatic, and I don’t know how many basketballs you have to make in the little ring to get a touchdown. I like big worship experiences, he wants to know how that makes us more like Jesus. Politically, he’s a … well…. Maybe I should let him confess such a thing. Anyhow, we both love Jesus, we both love our families, we both have wondered about our place in the Kingdom. We have agreed to begin meeting again after the first of the year. I hope that’s possible. Al and I both like to take pictures. His hurricane pics are located HERE. At worship Sunday a lady told me about a hurricane Katrina website originating just a few blocks from my house. It's located HERE. I'm looking forward to meeting some new people in the coming week. Pray for the Lord to send some workers here. Not just laborers or skilled workers, but soul winners. We need some missionary type help here. We had a brother here this week from Conway who did some great evangelistic work. He may be coming back, which would be awesome. Below: Teens from University Church of Christ, Conway, AR work at a house in Pascagoula.