Happy New Year!!!!!

There is always some question, on these trips, as to whether or not we will have enough work to do. Really it's not a question of if there is work, it's whether the work is ready for us or not. That has not been the case this trip.

Sunday afternoon, after worshipping together at our rental homes and lunch out (Popeye's Chicken...Jolynn was happy), we headed out to "the country" and Ms. Donna's house. There was a communication breakdown, so Ms. Donna thought that we weren't coming. But her neighbors were quick to alert her to the 3 black cars heading toward her house. There is much to do at Ms. Donna's and the crew got right to work. 16 people working on her home could have been really overwhelming but Ms. Donna took it in stride. Pete's team has been working out there ever since. They have been treated to dinner two nights, have nicknames for members of their team (Primer Babes, Frou-Frou Coffee Queen, etc.) and have marked off many of the items on Ms. Donna's list...though the list keeps getting longer. The amount of things in this house is amazing. Almost every room is filled to the brim with boxes and stuff. The kitchen had stuff all over the counters, the range, in the sink, everywhere. The Momma's decided that this was a room to tackle and between them all working on it a little over a day and a half her kitchen is clean. Reports came back that on Tuesday the team walked in to the smell of food that had been cooked and not a dish in the sink or on the counter...but a sweet note. It will be posted after we get home. There is so much happening, not just on the house but in Ms. Donna's soul, too much to share now, but suffice it to say, God is at work in big ways.

Momma Gail, Amber and Ellen have been repairing mistakes from previous volunteers at Ms. Pauline's house. They've been stuck in a closet the last few days repairing dry wall from when the closet shelves fell off the wall...bad installation. Ellen has been using her gift of listening in a big way this trip, and has had some poignant conversations with people at Ms. Pauline's house. There are some gifts that we are given that have little to do with repairing buildings and everything to do with rebuilding hope and joy in the soul's of the people we meet. Our team is lucky to have Ellen with us.

A mix of new crew and old crew have been hanging out at Captain John's house continuing to paint. The good news is that the scaffolding has moved! 3 sides of the house are done, paint has been purchased to put on the porch ceiling and things are moving along. We got rained Wednesday, which led us to the Yellow House now called the "Purdy House" (that's Pretty in southern). Pulling up baseboards, replacing a window pane and paint scraping were the jobs for the day. Captain John and Joel, his son, are constantly checking on our work, which is fun. Joel brought out his new pellet gun on Monday, to the delight of Sammy, Jonathan, Steven and Emily. They took turns shooting at targets out in the bayou. Tuesday Joel brought out the 22 gauge shotgun...that was a hit as well. Joel has also "gifted" us with some fireworks. We'll be heading down to the beach tonight to shoot them off...over water...away from the rental houses.

It's hard to believe that there are only one day left. Personally, after almost two weeks here, it still doesn't seem long enough. We do what we can do, and we do what we do with joy, with laughter and with the knowledge that God has lead us to this place, for this time, for a specific and good reason. We are blessed by the work that we are able to do and by the people we meet along the way.

Thanks for the words of encouragement and the prayers. This has been an amazing time. There are many, many stories to tell, so watch this space in the next few weeks for more stories...and pictures! Under a time crunch tonight, sorry!

Happy New Year!

Tile's and Ms. Donna

So, I've mentioned a little about the peel 'n' stick tiles over at Mr. Pat's but thought y'all don't quite have the picture of what that's all about.

In December of 2007 we trucked in and laid the sub-flooring in the house. Another group came in and laid down peel 'n' stick tile right over the top of the sub-floor. The tiles are cheap to produce, most likely, and when we put them in a house in June of 2007, we used gallons of mastic to adhere them to the floor. The group that laid the tiles at Mr. Pat's didn't use that. After a couple of years of the house settling, the cheaply made tiles started to peel up around the corners. Add to that a front door that didn't seal correctly, letting water in and a leaky roof and, well, the floor is a little bit of a mess. Insert our group.

Lynn, Jeff and Regina were the troopers over there this week who ripped into that floor. Some tiles came up easily but most needed a little shoulder, arm and sometimes whole body strength to be coaxed off the floor. Once the tiles are up, the stick part of the tile is still on the floor. So if you walk around on it for very long, your shoes start to stick. Nasty stuff it is. And frustrating.

We've been on the receiving end of cleaning up after volunteers before, repairing things that other's had done incorrectly. Our motto is do things so that other's don't have to clean-up our messes. And it works most of the time. But this took things to a whole new level. This wasn't cleaning up after volunteers, this was ripping out what other volunteers had done because the materials were bad. Frustrating and yet, the end result will be a better floor and a better house.

Tomorrow, we will be heading up to Ms. Donna's house. Ms. Donna and her husband lived in Pearlington before Katrina, next door to the Post Office. Katrina destroyed their home and they moved up into the country, to Ms. Donna's father-in-laws house. That house was damaged by the tornado's and winds that came along with the hurricane. Ms. Donna has a generous soul and has her house is filled, FILLED, with boxes and things from friends and families. About 18 months after the hurricane Ms. Donna's husband passed away. Ms. Donna hired a local carpenter who came with great recommendations and who wound up taking money from her, doing really bad work and skipping town, leaving Ms. Donna with a house with lots of problems and company's going after her to pay bills. Every story solidifies why we are here...to bring hope and healing to people that Hurricane Katrina has brought to their knees.

Today, we are waiting for group number two to arrive and prepping the rental houses. A day of rest before gearing up for the rest of the trip. God is good, all the time.

Positive comments and words of encouragement are greatly appreciated!

Merry Christmas!

What a beautiful day it has turned out to be. After a day and a half of rain, the sun has returned, the bayou's are receding and we got to walk on the beach. Yea! Christmas Eve, Jeff cooked shrimp. Jolynn and I spent time peeling and de-viening before cooking. Thanks to Aunt C. for those lessons!The Walton clan headed home on Christmas Eve, leaving Jeff, Jolynn, Regina and I to continue to scrape the floors at Mr. Pat's house. We finished the living room and were headed down the hallway into the bathroom. It was fun to work and talk and laugh! Oh the laughter. Walking out of your shoes took on a whole new meaning as the souls of our boots stuck to the floor. We all decided no sticky mousetraps in our houses! Too cruel!

Wednesday afternoon, Ellen spent some time chatting with Captain John. It was really special to hear them talking and laughing, sharing about life, and what-not. At one point I heard Ellen say "Well, they say that Jesus probably built the yokes for oxen." It was a sweet moment of the day.

We've got a new house to go to once the 2nd half of the group comes in. It's up in the "country" as Ben said. Probably about 20 minutes away from our rental homes. The house sustained wind and tornado damage from Hurricane Katrina, not to mention some shady dealings with a hired carpenter. It's frustrating to hear the stories of people hiring on help and getting swindled out of money and getting shoddy work. We'll be traveling up to Ms. Donna's house on Sunday afternoon to meet her and get a better idea of the jobs we'll do.

The work will continue at Captain John's. I'm happy to report that the front half of the house is completely painted, the scaffolding was put up on the right side of the house on Tuesday night, which was fortunate seeing as the bayou started rising early Wednesday morning. Jolynn and Doug persevered and have the right side primed and half of it's painted Twilight Jungle, with a layer of Autumn Surprise underneath. The left side of the house is completely primed. It's coming along

We had hoped to get back to Ms. Ana's house this trip. Lynn went over to talk with her and Ms. Ana decided to just keep her house as is, seeing as she has out of town guests through the holidays. We'll miss being there but word on the street is there is plenty to do!

Santa stopped by our house last night. It was nice to sleep in, enjoy bacon, eggs and cinnamon rolls and take our time together. We are blessed to be celebrating the birth of Jesus together. Thanks for your support!

Finally, Live from Mississippi!

Hey y'all! I'm sitting outside the Mockingbird Cafe in Bay St. Louis borrowing their internet connection. Jeffy got a latte and is sitting in the car while I quickly upload a pre-written blog. It's pouring cats and dogs out of the sky. The rain started about 3pm...just in time for us to take a break! More will come over the next couple of days as we have some time to decompress over the Christmas break but for now, read on for some highlights from the last week.
was smooth and easy.

Flights were on-time and full! They were trying to bump people and offering a round-trip voucher to anyone willing to take a later flight into New Orleans…we refused. Arrived in NOLA early, all bags arrived and the rental car experience. It felt like a dream! Even have satellite radio in my van/SUV kind of thing. Loving it!

Work is plentiful. We have spent the last few days at two homes we’ve worked in before. In December of 2007 we worked at Mr. Pat’s house putting the subfloor in. Another group came in and put in peel ‘n’ stick tiles and some kitchen cabinets, some bathroom fixtures and worked stopped. It’s been sitting for the last couple of years with no money to finish. Mr. Pat’s niece, Tina, is moving into the house with him, so she’s investing in the house. Turns out, that peel ‘n’ stick tile, 2 years later, is peeling up. Lynn, Jeffy and Regina have spent the week over there peeling up the tile bit by bit.

There have been some creative ways of getting tiles off the floor. Putty knives, heat lamps, skateboards, hammers, lots of elbow grease...what's that? Yep, I said skateboards. Jeffy asked for something to scoot along the floor on with padding. Doug found the skateboard, we found a pillow and the result you can see below!

Lynn and Regina are coveting the skateboard. Ellen spent some time over there helping with the floor and her comment was that was the loudest she’s ever heard Regina…hammering up peel ‘n’ stick tiles. Laminate floors and ceramic tiles will go in as soon as the tile’s are up…that’s a job for next week!

Last December and April our groups helped get Captain John's house started. This time around we're painting the exterior of the house.

It’s been an amusing process. Captain John was sent out to get the paint…but when he got the paint he forgot which color it was and thought the color on the end of the swatch looked familiar. After priming the house the paint can was opened…Autumn Surprise is the color name…we decided, after putting a coat on the house that Pumpkin Pie was more like it. Yikes. Ben came over and put a stop to the painting of the trim and soon Ms. Sue was over with more color swatches. Now that was a fun conversation. Ben and Captain John look at the color swatches and say “I like this darker one over the lighter one” while Ms. Sue is saying “Well, Twilight Jungle matches the mildew better.” I had to step down from the paint bucket I was using as a ladder before I fell off I was laughing so hard.

What wasn’t said, though, was that the WHOLE house color was changing. Autumn Surprise aka Pumpkin Pie aka Sweet Potato Pie was out and Twilight Jungle is in. One side of the house is painted, one side primed, one half of a side primed and has a base coat of Autumn Surprise waiting for the top coat of Twilight Jungle and the back of the house hasn’t been touched yet.

Douglas has faced his fear of heights and been climbing around the scaffolding. Jolynn has braved the 3^rd level of scaffolding to paint the peak of the house. Bill has helped to assemble and dismantle the scaffolding (assuring us that the water rising up in the swamp wasn’t his fault) and has been piecing together which wire goes to which switch or outlet in the house. Ellen has split her time between flooring at Mr. Pat’s and painting at Captain John’s with a little time out to throw wood over the railing.

I’ve been busy caulking all the cracks in the ceiling of the porch and priming the hard to reach places on the front of the house…oh and Douglas made me get over my fear of nail guns…don’t tell him, but I still don’t like ‘em.

More stories to come later! Keep praying!

On the road!

Mississippi Team Part 1 leaves in the morning...7:50am to be exact! We've hit a little snag in the internet department, so I thought I would let y'all know before we leave...we're not sure when we will be able to update next. Neither of the places we are staying has internet connections but we will make sure updates come through at some point!

In the meantime please pray for safe flights, easy rental car experiences and for safety on the road and as we begin our jobs. We are so grateful for all our friends and family! Please, leave comments for us! It helps to be reminded of those supporting us!

Catch ya on the flip side!

The home stretch--updated

8 of the 19 Team members leave on Friday for Mississippi. We are SO ready! There are little details that still need to be done, like making sure the walkie talkies have batteries so we can communicate from car to car, putting fresh band-aids and super glue in the first aid kits (yep, we've super-glued wounds shut before!), getting all the directions printed out and of course, that whole packing thing.

There is still some fundraising to be done as well. In the last week some stats have changed a little, so here's the rundown.

7 people have their trip completely paid for.
7 people are within $200 of goal.
3 others have between $201-400 to go.
2 team members need over $400.

In our PayPal Challenge Ralphie/Jeffy is still in the lead with 18 donations...Ellen is in 2nd with 5, Debbie hangs in with 2 and the Waltons are at 1. There's still time to enter the race!...which reminds me of a song from Sawyer Brown "The race is on and here comes pride in the backstretch, heartache coming to the inside..."...maybe not such a great song to be reminded of huh?

We will gladly receive donations anytime! If they get here before December 30th, it will be tax-deductible for 2009! Paypal or snail mail works, just look on the sidebar for more information.

I spent a few hours at the beauty salon today. It felt good to just sit and relax for a while. As I was there (it was a longer appointment, sometimes a girl just needs a little help) I made a list of all that I would like to accomplish in the next week before heading to Mississippi. It's a long list. Some things are pretty important, other things aren't so much...I started to write down "wrap Christmas presents" and then realized I could just bring my presents to church on Sunday morning and have them wrapped for me! I almost did a happy dance right there in the beauty salon. YES! The team will be wrapping gifts on Sunday morning starting at 8:45am and ending whenever the last gift is wrapped. They will be there the following Sunday as well, December 20th. Donations gladly accepted.

My friend and hairstylist donated part of today's fee to my trip as well. One of the first things she asked was "what do you need". What I said? Prayer. Money is helpful, prayer is really the thing. I know she's good for that one! Prayer sponsors and financial sponsors are what make this trip run smoothly. God bless y'all!

Speaking of finances our thermometer keeps creeping up...here's the end of the week rundown:

7 people have their trip completely paid for.
5 people are within $200 of goal.
4 others have between $201-400 to go.
3 team members need over $400.

In our PayPal Challenge Ralphie/Jeffy is still in the lead with 16 donations...Ellen is in 2nd with 5, Debbie hangs in with 2 and the Waltons are at 1. There's still time to enter the race!

By the way, KPIG fans are awesome!!!!! We've had donations come in from Indiana, Connecticut, Virginia, Alabama, Oregon and all over CA from KPIG fans...so very cool. Thanks for supporting Ralphie and the team!

And just a reminder for our team, our final meeting and team commissioning is on Sunday. Commissioning is at 9am and 11:15am, team meeting at 10:30am (I'm pretty sure it will be in the fellowship hall...just an FYI). Hopefully your t-shirts will be here as well!

A few statistics

The countdown is on! In 11 days Operation Christmas in Pearlington begins with the first wave of team members heading for Mississippi. 8 days after that the second wave of team members will join the fun. So exciting!

We still have a little ways to go where fundraising is concerned, though. The thermometer is heading up (it changed pictures, btw, because the other thermometer stopped working...geesh!) and we want it to explode! Here's how things break down:

For those going one week it's costs $900. For those going both weeks it's $1200.

6 people have their trip completely paid for.
4 people are within $200 of goal.
6 others have between $201-400 to go.
3 team members need over $400.

In our PayPal Challenge Ralphie/Jeffy is still in the lead with 15 donations...Ellen is in 2nd with 5, Debbie hangs in with 2 and the Waltons are at 1. There's still time to enter the race!

And our little house that has been collecting change has brought in about $100 for building supplies. That's pretty awesome!

If you are a friend of one of the team members, who hasn't yet donated, please consider doing so today. We appreciate all the prayers, financial support and encouragement from our friends and family as we serve as God is calling us to serve!

PayPal Challenge

The competition is starting to heat up on the husband & wife front of Jeffy(aka Ralphie) and Ellen...

Jeffy(aka Ralphie) is still in the lead with 10 PayPal Donations...the KPIG listeners are certainly coming through for Ralphie!
Ellen is making a mad dash for 2nd with 4 PayPal Donations.
Debbie remains at 1 PayPal Donation.
Bill & The Waltons remain at 1 PayPal Donation as well...though if I count all the test donations Bill did they could be in 2nd place.

Meggie offered to make 11 donations and put me in the lead...but I figured since I'm the contest organizer I should be excluded from the challenge...but that doesn't mean you can't donate! :)

There's still time! Donations received by December 31st are tax-deductible for 2009!

Gift Wrapping and Challenge update

Need your Christmas Gifts wrapped?? Live in the SLV area? We've got a group of people willing to wrap Christmas Gifts on Sunday mornings, beginning at 8:45am ending at 11:30am. Just come to Church, drop your gifts off in Taylor Hall with the group and they will be wrapped and waiting after church is over! We even supply the paper! :) Donations accepted.

Just a reminder, Amber, Regina, Jolynn, Sammy and Melanie...you signed up for this week!

And on our PayPal Challenge, here is the latest:
Jeffy/Ralphie--10 PayPal donations
Ellen--2 PayPal donations
Debbie--1 PayPal donation
Bill---1 PayPal donation

There's still time to donate! Just click on the link on the right!

Challenge update!

Today in my email inbox were two more PayPal donations...both for (drumroll please)...Jeffy! Or Ralphie as some others may know him. One was from a KPIG listener in Jeffersonville, Indiana...that's a mighty far reaching station. :) Hello KPIG listeners and thanks for supporting our efforts in Pearlington!

Jeffy is still in the lead with the number of donations received by PayPal...the race continues!

Jeffy/Ralphie--6 PayPal donations
Debbie--1 PayPal donation
Bill---1 PayPal donation

UPDATE:
Just as soon as I hit publish post, Ralphie got another donation...that makes him way out in the lead with 7 PayPal donations! Woo-hoo!

Challenge!

So far we have had 6 donations come through PayPal...it's great, it's easy and so I'm issuing a challenge! A prize will be awarded to the person who gets the most people to donation through PayPal.

As November 16th:

Jeffy has received 4 donations.
Debbie has received 1 donation.
The Waltons have received 1 donation...(Bill, I'm not counting your "tests").

The prize will be awarded in Mississippi, so you have until then!

And it gives me time to figure out what that prize will be!

What's your role?

Over the last few years of leading the Mississippi trips, I've become increasingly aware of how a team interacts with each other. When you're spending 7 days together, you get to know some people well...especially if you are rooming with them! Toss in lack of sleep, hard work and lack of personal space at times and, well, things get interesting.

Yesterday, at our team meeting I posed a question to the group that was there. What role are you going to play on our trip? I had been reading from Romans 12:3-5 (NLT): "As God's messenger, I give each of you this warning: Be honest in your estimate of yourselves, measuring your value by how much faith God has given you. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others."

Ah, the truth of that text is astounding. We all have a role, a part to play, a special function and purpose, the question is, do we realize what role that is?

Here are some possibilities:

• The Go-Getter: Someone who will try anything at any time and be the first in line.
• The Sideliner: One who hangs back until everyone has a turn before they find their spot.
• The Cheerleader or Encourager: pretty self-explanatory (though one is a little bit more enthusiastic than the other)
• The Complainer: One who will find something wrong no matter what.
• The Group Activist: the person interested in seeing the group achieve their best, usually seeks to include everyone.
• The Disappearing Artist: Will start a project, then get distracted, start another project, let someone else take over and pretty soon wander away.
• The Battering Ram: One who wants to the see the job done, who takes over jobs that others are doing...usually without knowing that they are taking over.
• The Doers or Flex artists: They do what they are told to do and are flexible. Just tell 'em what you need, they will do it.
• The Observer: Watches the group interact, listens to the discussions, has great words of wisdom but usually needs a little prompting to share that wisdom. Will jump in when they are comfortable, and jump out when they are not.
• The Comedian: Will do whatever they can to help the team laugh...a lot.

There are more roles out there, but the point is this. In order to work as a team, it's important to realize that who we are, how we operate and the roles that we take on impacts the team. There is a balance that can be achieved when we realize who we are, what makes us tick and where we are naturally going to fall into a role...even a role that we don't like.

God's given us a purpose and a goal. God has also given us special roles within the team. As we prepare for Pearlington, I am praying that we, as a team, will take some time to examine who God has made us to be and how we will impact the team.

Lots to report

There are lots of things to report so I'll just list them.

1. Our Jambalaya Dinner brought in $1077 after expenses. Thanks to all who participated, who cooked, served, set-up and cleaned up and ESPECIALLY to those who came out for some good food and good music. See the post below for some pictures of the night.
2. Part of our team last December spent the week at Captain John's property. The goal was to dig out and start putting in piers for the foundation of his house. We left in December with nothing really in the ground but holes dug. When we returned in April the house was framed and wrapped and ready for the interior to be worked on and work we did! Last week I received an email from Ben asking if we were ready to paint and do more interior work. This is the picture from last Tuesday.
3. This is a picture from yesterday. Hurricane Ida, though downgraded to a tropical storm, still brought water into Pearlington. Captain John's house will always receive water because it's right on the bayou, but this is a little more than usual. This picture is the front yard of the Yellow House. And this is one of the side streets. Not as high as it could have been and everyone is safe and sound.
4. For those going to Mississippi we have a team meeting on Sunday at 12:30pm. PLEASE be on time.
   

Fundraiser Report

The Jambalaya Dinner was successful. I've heard great things about the food, entertainment and ambiance. Thanks to all the team members who came to help out. It was good to see you work as a team...hints of things to come!We brought in approximately $1000 (profit). A few generous people helped out with that (Thank you!). It will be divided up amongst the team members who worked and put on their "sponsor" reports for next week's meeting (Sunday @ 12:30pm).
Thanks to our talented musicians for sharing their gifts with us! So awesome!

In other news, I was remiss in declaring Hurricane Season over, so that post is gone. It's not done til the end of the month, hence Hurricane Ida heading toward the Gulf Coast. Here's hoping that Hurricane Ida calms down and is downgraded before reaching the Gulf Coast.

Dinner will be served...

At 6pm on Saturday. What, you say? What dinner? Well, the Jambalaya Dinner benefiting the Mississippi Team!

What is Jambalaya? A yummy rice dish with chicken, shrimp and sausage and some Cajun spice. Mmmm...(for those allergic to shellfish, we make different versions). It's fantastic!

Besides dinner, what can we look forward to? Glad you asked! You will hear music from The Presbytones, Jared Fujishin and Elisabeth Carlisle. Additionally, we will show pictures from past trips and a little about why we go to Pearlington.

What is the cost? Great question! We aren't going to charge you for dinner, but ask that you make a donation to the Mississippi Team. All donations are tax-deductible, so if you want a receipt we'll make sure that happens.

Childcare will be provided if needed...but we think they might enjoy the music too! See you Saturday!

Okay all you team members...

Our team is now 19 people strong. 8 of us will be in Pearlington December 18-24th, (5 will stick around over Christmas) and 16 of us will be in Pearlington December 26-January 2. I'm excited. We've bought the tickets, checks have been written to pay for those tickets and now comes the real challenge...raising the money!

3 of our team members are doing just that...raising money (well, really 2 of them have been working hard at it, one is at college and who knows what he's been up to lately *ahem* Dougie.) IN a matter of a couple of weeks they have raised almost all their support. Yep, seriously. Their total goal was $2700 and they have less than $450 to go.

The rest of us team members have a long way to go! Start writing those letters, start hitting the pavement! We can do this! (Feeling very much like a cheerleader right now...so does not go along with my image.)

In other news, we have a house! Just working on the 2nd house! Woo-hoo!

Prayer Request of the moment

Airline tickets have been purchased for 17 people. Mini-vans have been reserved. Now it's housing...oh, the housing. We need housing for Mississippi. I've put requests out there and nothing has come back. Both of these houses would hold all 14 people for the 2nd week. I've heard nothing back. It would be awesome to not have to rent two houses for the 2nd week, but I will do it if need be!

The prayer request of the moment is for housing. For the right houses, for the right home owners, for the right places, and that it's all in God's timing, even if it isn't in mine. Thanks for praying with me!

BTW, I'm not asking for help in finding the houses, just asking for prayer.

It's all coming together!

Our team has started the process of getting sponsors for the trip in December. It's exciting to see how God works all the details together, though a little stressful at times. Sunday I was positive that things were going to all come together well. I left our meeting feeling good. Monday, I was positive I had made the wrong decisions and wasn't listening to what God wanted at all. Yet, this morning, it seems the decisions were the right ones after all. This following God thing is never easy but the reward is great...seeing lives changed in Pearlington and hearts changed on our team.

So on we go. Airline tickets need to be purchased, houses need to be rented and we have a fundraiser dinner coming up that we need to start advertising! If you are in Felton on November 7th, stop by Felton Presbyterian Church at 6pm for some great southern food and music by some very talented folks in our church!

Meeting reminder

Just a reminder that we have a Team Meeting on Sunday at 12:30pm in the Youth Room. Please be there and be on time!

paypal live

The donation button to the right should be live. Please see the post below for updates on dates.

Dates & Costs

I had the chance to attend the National Youth Workers Convention in LA a week and a half ago. It is one of the highlights of the year, for me, in that for 4 days there are people pouring into my life. The cost of leadership is high and it sometimes can seem that a leader will give and give and give, only to get nothing back from those they are giving to. At the NYWC, I have the opportunity to be refreshed and reminded by others and by God why I am in Youth Ministry to begin with...the youth.

God planted a seed in my mind about the youth that we are hoping to take on the Mississippi Trip this December. The original purpose of the trips was to take youth into an environment that was outside their comfort zone and serve others. Adults have always been an "add-on". That was lost somewhere along the way and we've been working hard to get that back. One of the ways God is directing us (the Youth Ministry Team) to get back to the youth element (yes, we have a lot of young adults going, but less and less high school youth) is give a little more help to the youth. So, we are dropping the price for this trip for High School youth only to $700.

As for the dates of the trip, I'm feeling God leading me to give you the option of December 18-24 or December 26-January 2. I'm 99% sure that these are the official dates. High School youth, your week will be December 26-January 2. The rest of you now have a choice to make. If you have already let me know what week works best for you, great. (Really, I don't need to hear from you again.) If you haven't then it's time to decide. No wishy-washy, it doesn't really matter stuff. Make a decision please and let me know! And yes, there is a two week option for a couple hundred more.

Date, Paypal and Fundraiser

I had hoped to have a final decision on the date of the trip by tomorrow. It's not going to happen for a reason that I won't be sharing. God is definitely in the planning and there is one thing that the decision is hinging on, so please be patient.

There are a couple of factors in the Paypal thing that are delaying putting that button up. Kind of need approval from some people, so, again, be patient.

For those of you working at the fundraiser on Saturday, you will be standing all day, wear appropriate shoes. You will also be cooking food for 1000 people...wear appropriate clothes. My friend who has done this the past couple of years has said that it gets really messy. Find the BBQ area at Harvey West or look for the Dominican Picnic signs and you will find us. That's the best I can do for you...I honestly don't know much more!

FEMA Trailers

Just read this article on MSN. I found the last line a little ironic "FEMA had purchased thousands of trailers from Gulf Stream since 1992 without receiving any formaldehyde complaints until 2006." Yep. Okay. Doesn't mean that their couldn't have been a problem this time in the rush to get the massive amounts of trailers requested built. I don't think this is the last of the lawsuits.

October 3rd Fundraiser

There are still slots available for the October 3rd Fundraiser. We've had a time change, if that helps. It's now 9:30am-6pm. There are 4 people committed to all day and two that can come for half the day. We could use three more people all day or 6 people for half day. Contact Brittany if you can help!

Meeting reminder

For those of you thinking about going to Pearlington with FPC in December, this is a reminder. We have a meeting this Sunday, September 20th at 12:30pm in the Youth Room. We've got some important things to talk about. Hope to see you there.

Moving mountains

There are things that I love to do...one of those is plans things. I like to make things happen for people that will make them happy. I think that comes with being a people-pleaser at heart.

The hard part of planning though is attempting to make trips economical for everyone. I am constantly looking at airfare, car rental prices, housing prices, etc. for our trips to Mississippi. It's what I do. Today in my searches I've hit a low spot. Airfare is high. Really high. The places we've stayed in aren't available when we may be going, car rentals are always a nightmare. It's left me wondering, is this trip in December really supposed to happen?

Yesterday I was going through curriculum and ran across a lesson titled "Are Mountain Moving Prayers Possible?". One of the lines jumped out in particular. It said "We pray with wrong motives." We pray with wrong motives. I've been praying for the prices to drop, for the houses to suddenly be available, for the dates to work out the way I want them to...am I creating a mountain? I think it's time to start praying that God be the one in control, for the timing, the housing, the prices all to be in God's hands, for the funding to be in God's hands, for the future of our work in Pearlington to be led by God and God alone.

Today, I'm going to start praying a different prayer with different motives. I'm gonna ask God what God wants and then I'm going to listen. I believe that mountain moving prayers are possible. I know that God can move mountains when God is ready...and I really don't want the mountain to be me.

Time to start planning!

The next Mississippi Trip will be in December...though the date has yet to be decided. There are a number of factors to consider, the biggest of which is when our skilled carpenters can join the group. There's a lot to discuss, so please put this date and time on your calendar.

Sunday, September 20th at 12:30pm. We'll be meeting in the youth room.

Golf Tournament

Thanks to all the golfers for coming out and supporting the Mississippi Team. All total we raised $880! Every single bit helps those of us working hard to get to Mississippi, so thanks!

Next fundraiser for the team is October 3rd. :)

When we were in Pearlington in December, I had the chance to meet a couple of bloggers who were part of the inspiration for my first blogging attempts. One of those ladies lives in the Gulf Coast. She recently reflected on Hurricane Camille's 40th Anniversary. If you have a chance, hit that link and read what she wrote. There's a link to the local papers website in there, but I narrowed it down a little and think y'all should read this article as well. The pictures of the memorial make me want to visit just to see it in person.

There are two lines that struck me from both the article and St. Casserole's blog.

First St. Casserole wrote this: "For thirty-five years, Camille was the worst storm for the Gulf Coast."

The second was this: “We can replace property,” he said. “We can’t replace life.”

The first, because someday that statement may be true about Hurricane Katrina.

The second, in light of the recent fire activity here and the people who have refused to follow mandatory evacuation orders. Sometimes we should err on the side of caution and realize that we can replace our property, but we only get one life.

And just for Sammy, while I was on the newspapers website I found this article, satisfying our curiosity about those haunting structures we see every time we head to Pearlington from NOLA.

A question

There is a poll to the right that will close on August 30th. In planning for the next trip we want people's opinions to be heard. If you are wanting to join the team, please cast your vote for the time that you would prefer. It will all be taken into consideration. Thanks!

A little house

This sweet little house was made by one of our past team members, Norm. I may have talked about it here before, but the point behind the house was to make it look like something we would see in Mississippi and to have it be a place that people could put change and donations into for the teams going in the future.

Today we tested it at Vacation Bible School. It works. The kids brought in $26.52. Awesome! That money is going to be converted into a gift card to one of the hardware stores in Mississippi so that we can buy supplies and things needed to rebuild the homes that we will be working on in December.

We got the green light today, so plans are full-steam ahead. The week is still to be determined but we're going! Look for a way to donate here on the blog and more information in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Announcing a Golf Tournament

Our next fundraiser is a coming up soon...but it won't be a fundraiser if we don't get golfers and tee sponsors!

The Golf Tournament is Saturday, August 22nd at 2pm. A BBQ dinner will be held for the golfers afterwards at the church...families may join the BBQ for a small fee.

Cost for the tournament is $55. Sign-ups are happening now!

Additionally, we are looking for tee sponsors. We will place a sign at each tee saying who has sponsored that tee for $100. All donations are tax-deductible.

Questions should be funneled to Sandy or Brittany. And helpers will be needed that day for the BBQ!

Gearing up for December

Our next trip to Pearlington will most likely be December 26-January 2. A common refrain has been the need for more fundraising activities, one I'm sure will be repeated over and over again this year. Our costs most likely will go up a little on this next trip, due to airfare, so here are some opportunities to get the fundraising going!

• August 22nd we will host a Golf Tournament at Valley Gardens in SV. Cost is $55 per player and includes a BBQ afterwards. We need golfers and Tee sponsors so start recruiting people! Tee Sponsorship is $100 and each person or group will have a sign recognizing their contribution. We also will need help with the BBQ, so mark the date on your calendar.
• October 3rd we have been given the opportunity to help with an event at Dominican Hospital. Details aren't fully complete but we will need 6-8 people (we can rotate through) from 10am-4pm to help with cooking, serving, and more. Put the date on your calendar now!
• November 7th we're having a Jambalaya Fest at 6pm, complete with entertainment! More information will be coming in the next few months.
• An ongoing fundraiser will be selling decorative tiles. Each tile will have a poem, scripture or song decoupaged on them. Sandy T. is heading this up and is looking for help with the assembly of the tiles.
  

Over the years the whole team has benefited from the various fundraisers, but sometimes it just doesn't seem fair for a small few to do the work and the larger group to benefit from the work of a few. So this year we're trying out a new thing. Work the fundraiser, a portion of the proceeds will go directly towards your balance for the trip.

Put these dates on your calendar and let me know if you have questions!

News article

Gail found a news article the other day in the SJ Mercury about the state of things in Mississippi when it comes to housing. Click here to read it for yourself. There is one line that just hit me like a ton of bricks and reminded me, again, why we keep heading back to Mississippi. It said "nearly 20,000 families are still living in temporary trailers and apartments." Twenty thousand families just in Mississippi. Words fail.

It's June 1st...

That means the hurricane season has officially begun. According to NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) it's going to be a "near-normal Atlantic hurricane season." Here's hoping and praying that the season is quiet and uneventful.

The names, though, for any potential storms are already locked in.
Here's the list for 2009:

• Ana
• Bill
• Claudette
• Danny
• Erika
• Fred
• Grace
• Henri
• Ida
• Joaquin
• Kate
• Larry
• Mindy
• Nicholas
• Odette
• Peter
• Rose
• Sam
• Teresa
• Victor
• Wanda

Bill--please don't become a hurricane! :)

The cost of recovery

Debbie is our people person. Every trip we can count on Debbie to talk with someone new, to find out new information and to make new friends. We can also count on Debbie to do the jobs that no one else really is excited about...like crawling in the attic to put in insulation but we've already talked about that.


Debbie spent time this last trip talking with Captain John about his house and volunteers. Captain John shared that in Bay St. Louis workers were trying to stop the volunteers from helping with rebuilding process to guarantee the workers jobs. As a result people aren't getting their homes rebuilt as quickly. Seeing both sides of the coin, so to speak, it's hard to condemn the workers for wanting work and earn wages to support themselves and their families but it is also so hard to watch homeowners continue to live in trailers or Katrina Kottages when they really want to be in a house but don't have the money to pay for people to do the work.


Debbie reported that the workers are earning as much as $40 an hour, which made my jaw drop and my mind start whirling. A few weeks ago I listed some numbers of what we had spent on 6 trips and how many hours we had worked (approximately). Adding in the hours from this trip we have put in 5194 hours into the recovery efforts in Pearlington. If we were paid $40 an hour for that work it would come out to $207,760, just for labor costs. Though I don't have the exact amount we spent on this trip I estimate we have spent under $100,000 total on the trips to Pearlington.

It's easy for us to complain about having to raise money for the trips but yet when I think that our raising money to get to Pearlington is saving people in Pearlington thousands of dollars, that they don't have, and helping to get them one step closer to being in a real house, it's all worth it. Yep, fundraising is a pain and the cost of the trips seems daunting but the reality of it all is that we are helping people who need help. The cost of recovery doesn't seem so high anymore.

The most beautiful sight

Home. We are all home. There was nothing more wonderful after 48 hours, 4 flights, 2 hotel rooms and 3 airports to look out the window of the plane and see home. It was the most beautiful sight in the world. The 2nd most fabulous thing was to walk into baggage claim and see our luggage. If Doug's luggage made it to him, then the drama really has come to an end.

It was a great week, airline drama aside. More pictures and thoughts to come, so keep checking back! Thanks for being a part of our journey!

Monday morning update--Monday Night update

From the lobby of the Hilton in Houston--Mississippi Team Travel Headquarters:


Douglas landed in SF last night--back to SLO--luggage to follow
Meggie landed in SF hours after Douglas--luggage?
Jonathan has made it to L.A.--plane complete with TV screens built into the seats that had
individual choices TV and movie choices for his viewing pleasure.
Steven in the air heading to the OC

Debbie, Lee, Gail & Brittany have sprawled out in the lobby at the Hilton to use free Internet and wait on comfy chairs and couches before heading to the airport for their respective flights.


Stay tuned for more travel updates throughout the day.

Monday Night update: Steven is home, Debbie is on the ground in SJ, Jonathan is still in the air. Brittany & Gail are in Phoenix at a hotel...Gail is washing some things so that we don't stink profusely on the plane tomorrow because we just couldn't force ourselves to buy Texas t-shirts. We looked, we just couldn't go through with purchasing and, of course, all the shops in Phoenix were closed when we stepped off the plane. Lee is in the air headed for Phoenix.

But now, the saga continues. Where is our luggage? Debbie reports that it's not in SJ. The person from Continental doesn't know where it is either. The good humor that has kept us going this far is quickly dissolving into weariness and frustration. Pray!

Travel update

At last edit Doug, Meggie, Jonathan and Steven had flights. Doug was on a plane, Meggie was about to get on a plane, leaving the 6 remaining to figure it all out. The good news is we all fly out tomorrow at some point. The not so great news is that some of us don't get to go home tomorrow. Seriously.

Debbie will leave tomorrow evening for a direct flight to SJ, sitting pretty in first class. Ironically Debbie will arrive soon after Jonathan who arrives about an hour after Steven, thus their family will reunite in SJ to drive home together.

Gail and Brittany leave on the same plane tomorrow bound for (drum roll time again) Phoenix! Lee follows a few hours later and they will all reunite in Phoenix for an overnight stay. It couldn't be somewhere more exciting like Las Vegas or even Reno where we could stay with family, no it's Phoenix. Sigh. Their adventure will continue in the morning bound for SJ.

In the meantime the remaining 6 are holed up at the Hilton in Houston courtesy of Continental, after having dinner courtesy of Continental. Breakfast and lunch tomorrow will be courtesy of Continental as well. Thank you very much.

We give props to the fabulous Customer Care Representative at Continental who worked diligently to get us all home...she even changed Debbies ticket at the last minute when a seat opened on a direct flight. Three cheers for our hero! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray! Unfortunately, one fabulous employee does not make up for some pretty bad mismanagement at a higher level. I'm pretty sure they just lost 8 customers.

The joys of flights...updated 6:30pm & 6:50pm & 7pm

So we booked it to the airport this morning, up and out of the house at 5:45am Mississippi time. Got to the airport, returned the rental cars, hopped on the shuttle bus, jumped off at the Continental gates and...stood in line for 2+ hours. Flight delayed. It was a long line. Got to the front of the line and they were calling our flights to check in immediately...um, hum. We made it to our first flight from New Orleans to Houston but (drumroll please) missed the connecting flight from Houston to San Jose. That's when the fun started.


Douglas was the only one to successfully get a seat on a flight out, so far. He's heading to SF instead of SJ. True to form, our team gave a cheer when Doug got the seat, which had a visible effect on the rest of the line. Our team enthusiasm and hope reaches far beyond our work in Mississippi. The rest of us are on standby for the 5:55 flight to SJ...if that doesn't happen, our next options for flights out of here are (drumroll again) Tuesday! Yes, I said Tuesday! We did just find out that DFW is only 4 hours away, so there are options.


Just when I was thinking, gee, it's been a pretty smooth trip. Ha! Guess this is making up for our lack of rental car drama. Oh, well, it's an adventure! We like adventures and we're still smiling!

Edited to add: No go for 5:55pm. Meggie has a flight out at 9pm. Only 6 more to go. Continental is holding us hostage in Houston...boo!!!!

Jonathan is getting out! He has to wait until tomorrow morning but he is being released from captivity!!! Steven wants to know what Jonathan did to become the special one.

The battle of the brothers continues. Steven is being released too...he's going to win the battle though, he gets home an hour and 45 minutes earlier than Jonathan. Who's the special one now?!!

The last day--MS7

I was standing on a ladder today, scraping paint, (surprise, surprise) thinking about how today was our last day of work. Usually when I think about the last day, I'm swamped by feelings of sadness but today was different. In fact it's been different the last two trips, not because I'm done with the work but because I know I'm coming back. There's nothing to be sad about because I will be here again, maybe in 9 months, but we will be back.

I think the whole team felt that way today. We knew there was no way to get the scraping all done, so we did what we could on the Yellow House. The crew out at Captain John's did their job, ran out of materials and called it good. And it is! The last job of the day was to install a gate at the back of the property at the Yellow House, which was done in a flash.

The whole day felt relaxed. We had lunch at Turtle Landing with Ben and Ms. Sue, a special treat, took our team picture by the Pearlington sign and did what we could. Quitting time came a little earlier than normal and we left knowing that we had done our best. We will be back.

It's 9:45pm our time and we have to leave early in the morning, so I'm not going to post pictures tonight. My pillow is calling. Check back in a couple of days and the pictures should be up! Thanks for praying!

A blustery day

The wind picked up today. We, (Meggie, Gail & Brittany) didn't notice it much at the Yellow House but when we went to lunch at Captain John's there was a definite breeze. Meggie was very kind to gently point out that it wasn't just a breeze...it was wind! Okay, okay. Douglas stayed out of the wind at lunch but still wanted to be a part of the team. This is what we saw of him.

More wind meant less bugs, of which we are extremely grateful. Meggie's hands and arms are looking like she has chicken pox. More wind also meant a change in weather, which about mid-afternoon meant muggy. It also stirred up the Gulf a bit. Jonathan sent me a text message at about 2pm saying "the water is rising!" The tide is up, rain is coming, flood warnings are in effect. But nothing major, just higher than usual tide. A few of the roads around our rental house have already flooded over. Steven was very disappointed to find out that our street is not flooded. Bummer.

The sheet rock crew busted a move today! Captain John's house is actually beginning to look like a house on the inside! There are walls! There's something very satisfying about seeing walls go up.

There's also something satisfying about seeing paint come off a house in long strips. Really, satisfying. I had fun playing on top of a ladder today, seeing how far I could reach to scrape off the paint. Meggie was perfectly content to stay on the front porch. Gail braved the ladder though!

Here's a few pictures of the inside of the Yellow House. We mucked and gutted here a year ago...it's a little cleaner than before. A group came through and bleached the kitchen cabinets 3x to get them clean.

Tomorrow is our last day. This week went by too fast as usual. There's supposed to be thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow. Hopefully they don't slow the work down!

Watch out here comes Debbie!

This morning was early. Really early. Douglas, the Waffle House fiend, had to have his fix so we headed out the door at 7am for a Waffle House run. There are a lot of people at Waffle House at 7am. Three people came in, sat down, waited for 2 minutes for a table and gave up. We, however, did not give up. This was our opportunity for breakfast and so we waited. Douglas soon had his waffle and ate it in precisely this manner:

1. Cut waffle on the crease to expose a triangle.
2. Cut triangle in half.
3. Fold one half pointed end up with knife
4. Stab with fork and lift to mouth
5. While chewing, start procedure again.

If you follow this method you should be done in a little under 30 seconds. Seriously.

Our sites and jobs didn't change much today. More sheet rock at Captain John's and paint scraping at the Yellow House. There was a little excitement at Captain John's house today, though.

Debbie's job has been to crawl up in the rafters after the sheet rock has been installed to put in the insulation. This morning, just before lunch, as she was crawling back over the rafters somehow her shoe caught on a joist and she came crashing down...just as a couple entered the house for a tour! What a welcome! She's got a bruise, a tender elbow and a scrape on her nose but that didn't stop Debbie from getting the job done. She's a trooper! Word has it that her first thought on falling wasn't "This is going to hurt" but "I hope this isn't the piece of sheet rock that had the perfect cut!" Always thinking about the team, our Debbie.

Team Sheet Rock has almost finished with the ceiling. There are only a couple of things that need to be fixed and it's done. They've started on the walls as well and hope to get more sheet rock to keep going tomorrow.

Over at Yellow House we're having a blast with paint! Okay, our shoulders hurt, our wrists hurt, we're starting to develop blisters from holding the scraper and our hands tend cramp in one position but it's getting done! The back is done, one side is almost done and our plan of attack tomorrow is to finish the side and focus on the front. Meggie is a beast with the paint scraper who really, really, really wants to climb to the top of the burn pile. She's almost convinced me. Almost.

Ben says that we can stay another week. Guess we're doing a good job! All the "young 'uns" have headed to bed. Guess I should too! :) Night!

Half-way there...Day 3

Bugs. The warmer the weather, the more the bugs. The less wind, the more bugs. Praising God today for Skin-So-Soft Bug Spray!


Day three went by really, really fast. We FINALLY got to work on time (8am) and the boss wasn't even there to witness it. Geesh. The crew at Captain John's house went back to putting in sheet rock and insulation and the crew at the Yellow House went back to paint scraping. The morning flew by and soon Mr. Time Keeper (aka Lee) was calling demanding lunch.


Lunch today was at Turtle Landing, the hot spot in Pearlington. We sat outside in the breezy air and enjoyed Shrimp Po'boys, Hamburgers, Freedom Fries (their words) and Onion Rings. Some of us enjoyed Sweet Tea as well (I, Brittany, have found a new addiction). Debbie was curious about the Fried Corn Nuggets which turned out to be fried dough with creamed corn in the middle. Hmmm....Debbie thought it was pleasantly, uniquely disgusting (because of all the fat)and Steven liked them.


Work continued at the same sites after lunch. Brittany & Meggie had an adventure driving through the swamp to find "Tire Town" in order to get a tire repaired that had a nail or something in it. The roadkill count stands at 1 coyote (or something similar), 1 snake, a couple of squirrels and various other things that were unrecognizable. There was one alive turtle too!


It looks like the sheet rock should be done at Captain John's tomorrow. Not sure what the next project will be over there. The Yellow House hopefully will have it's final power wash tomorrow and then it's time for primer! YES!


Tomorrow morning we'll be up a little earlier for a Waffle House stop...it's just not a trip to the south without a trip to Waffle House...or so Douglas keeps trying to convince us. Pictures tomorrow!