Out Here Hope Remains

There is hope for the helpless ... Cry Out To Jesus. -- Third Day

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Feliz Navidad

Giving away gifts isn't as easy as it seems! We have about 150 families that have been adopted by churches and individuals. One thing we didn't count on is that people are so transient at this point. Those who were on the cruise ship might now be in a trailer. Some living with relatives or friends might now be in campers. Phone numbers might have belonged to friends who have left the area. One can only imagine the circumstances. So, there are a number of people we are working hard to contact. Matt (from California) and I drove around and delivered some Christmas presents today. On our last delivery we needed to pick up his dad (Patrick) because he speaks Spanish. Donna had adopted a hispanic family and we needed to deliver those gifts. Thankfully, Patrick could communicate with them. The little boy who got the bicycle said, "I can't believe it!" Of course, I didn't know what he said until later. When Marvin Phillips was here, he was working his way through a course called 'Learning Spanish in 10 Minutes a Day'. I think I'm going to get that. Anyhow, whether I understood all the talk or not, the Garcia family was very happy! Patrick, Matt, and Mark will be headed home tomorrow. It's been great getting to know them. A freight truck will arrive tomorrow from South Carolina with several families' gifts. We will want to get those gifts to families ASAP. Come on over and help us out! I ran into a neighbor today in the grocery store. She told me that while visiting a friend she heard that I had a radio program. Her friend told her how much she enjoyed it. I haven't recorded a new program since the storm. I'd like to go back and do some more radio programs. I was doing 90 second spots and they were running at the same time each day. Maybe at some point I can start back up again. It was one of those programs that was on the budget chopping block before the storm. We have a few days with no workers coming in to help. We will take a few days off from hurricane relief and relax. Next week things will take off with a bang and stay that way through the month of January. On a personal note, the past few days a nasty virus has been making the rounds in my house. I haven't been affected yet, and I hope that it's not coming soon.