Coming Home

It's Sunday morning and we are getting up and ready to head home. It's been a big week and we are all anxious to get home to family and friends. Last night we arrived in Nashville around dinner time and some of us ordered pizza and some of us went out to a local restaurant. After eating and relaxing we met to share about "reentry" into our lives. Please ask us about our trip, we want to share what God has done in our lives. Listen to our stories and be patient with us as we will want to share much of what happened. We will have our own "Katrina" experiences now and you at home will become missionaries to us to support us and listen to us and possible be inspired to join us the next time we come down.

See you at home!

Day 5

Up and to breakfast by 6:30 - woo hoo. Not so hard to get up because we knew it was our last day to work - we wanted to get so much done. We also were going to end our day early to go downtown (double incentive).

Devotion after breakfast and then debriefing for how the week went. Off to job sites. We consolidated people because one team had finished. Miss Stephanie's highlight was that Big Red was able to play football in the backyard. The kids had NEVER played in the backyard because of the overgrowth.

Day 4

Hearing about the many prayers from family and friends in Michigan is warming all our hearts. Each day there is a morning devotion to get our hearts and heads "in the game" and on God. This morning I gave the devotion and God is so good to give me strength and comfort because I have never done this before. My focus was on Romans 8:26, how God created us all and even when we have struggles/weakness the Holy Spirit helps us and that God always works for the good of those who love him. This extends to the fact that it's not always easy because we are weak and we don't always do life gracefully but when we are obedient, like Joshua and the Israelites, and we love him he uses us for good. He uses us and gives us the strength and courage to get through the struggles if we keep stepping forward and follow him in obedience.

It was another of day of hard work. At Miss Stephanie's house some of our team worked on putting up siding, caulking the siding, clearing the back yard from debris, hanging drywall and clearing off the back fence from vines and CRAZY overgrowth. The family in the home said that after the vines and growth were removed it was the first time they had seen the fence since Katrina.

Another team completed their job at Miss Pat's. The job consisted of tearing off old siding, hanging plywood, putting up tyvek and then putting on hardy plank siding. They sided almost the entire length of a shot gun house. Most of the neighborhood houses in New Orleans are called shot gun houses because they are about 80 by 12 feet long with doors separating each room (which is about 10 feet long). Each room has a door on each end with all the doors on the same side of the house. It's called a shot gun house because you could shoot a shot gun from end of the house to the other and it would go in the front door and out the back without hitting anything.

The last job site of the day they painted what they had previously drywalled, fixed the floor joists and put all luan flooring down. This was a home whose kitchen had to be gutted entirely by our team and then prepped for flooring, cabinets, etc. A kitchen remodel from beginning to end.

The end of the evening consisted of a sharing worship with song and then where and how we had seen God that week. Ahhhh, it was terrrific.

Day 3

Today was movin' and grovin' Some team members moved to different sites today, at the discretion of the entire team. Even though I know I shouldn't be amazed at what God does, because He can do ANYTHING I am. Constantly. I was amazed today at the way he has continually moved in the hearts of the team to be servants to each other, to support one another, to put others first. We asked if anyone wanted to move and the response was, I will go wherever you need. WOW And they did and people volunteered to leave sites and move so someone else could get a chance to take their place. That right there, that is God working. God shows up continually in ways that may not seem noticeable but if we keep our eyes and our hearts open he is working everywhere! We just have to be prepared to see it. Keeping an open heart, being obedient and reading His word transform us all.

After our work sites today we had block parties in the neighborhoods where we worked. I have never been involved with a block party. We cooked hotdogs and gave away food and hung out with people from the neighborhoods as well as people from the other teams. It was a bit chaotic at first but Angela and Todd grill a mean hotdog so eventually everyone had some food and fellowship. Ralph toted one of his new found little friends around on his shoulders, Greg met and artist and Sheralyn forged a special relationship with Calvin. God uses us as his hands and feet for us to build and create safe dwelling but even more important he uses us to build relationships that glorify His name.

After the block party myself and John headed to see Miss Edna and her family. She was the very first homeowner I ever came in contact with back in July 06. I have kept in contact with her. I don't have the words to describe what it was like to visit her other than pure joy. God opens hearts to pour into each other and that is what it is like when I think, pray and write her letters. It was a pouring of hearts into each other when we visited. Oh, and John had some Gumbo and we were treated to sweet potato pie and homemade pralines. Oooweee! The family is well and she asked about everyone who had come from peoples before to help with her home - Patrick, Tom Hermann, Shelly & Carly Niedwicki, Joe Jansen (my nephew), Haley and Janet Jansen (my sister-in-law). I cried when I left her but I never know how and when God will use me so I like to think I may see her again one day if it is God's will.

The rest of the team ate at a restaurant that was recommended for barbeque- they said it was terrific and you must ask Greg about his boudain.

Day 2

It was 58 degrees and sunny in New Orleans today:) We are all starting to get into the groove of each of our worksites. We pretty much stayed on the same sites though Greg and Todd were able to move onto the site with Jason, Haley and I. We are all learning some new skill sets-hanging drywall, siding houses, caulking, painting, etc. It is truly God working through us because I know most of us didn't come with many of these skills. We met amazing people in New Orleans again today. Two of our teams were blessed by being fed a delicious soup by one of the homeowners and we are thanked time and time again by the people down here for our help. It is very humbling. One team told how the woman whose home they were working on had tears in her eyes as she told the story of the day Katrina came. Each person who was here during Katrina has a powerful story and those moments are as vivid as the day that it happened.

God is also working in a powerful way here. One of our teams was given a tour of one of the oldest churches in New Orleans by the First African Baptist Church. One team went for a walk and were invited into Mr Ivory's house to see his gorgeous hard wood floors. And I was given some super duper hugs by Arthur Lee one of the relatives of a home owner who is autistic and around 20 years old who is loved by the entire neighborhood.

We are overall tired but content and I think most of us are being stretched and moved by God in ways that we didn't anticipate. Our eyes are being opened to what true service and acceptance of all Gods's people is about.

Some things shared tonight on what people are thankful to God for:

food

the sun

miss hazel

mr ivory

walking in the neighborhoods with greg and todd

the visit to the first african baptist church

sleep

praying with 2 boys (sorry Ralph, I can't remember their names, but you will always remember them)

no caulk on me

Keep on praying!