Faith, Family and Friends

Blank faces, clenched jaws, and tear filled eyes full of unexplainable pain and fear were the expressions the people in Cameron community displayed.

Many people were still in shock, others were frantic about fixing their homes, not wanting to give up their land that was passed down from generations. A vast majority had no intention of returning.

These were the responses after hurricane Ike hit.

Ashley and I met many hurting, but strong people while mucking out homes. A closer relationship was formed with a wonderful woman, Yvett.

Her home went through hurricane Rita three years ago when she had to tear everything out. She had been back in her home for a year and a half and now she is back in the same situation.

This time, after hurricane Ike, she is left to do it all over again, getting three feet of water and thick, black mud throughout her home.

A week after the storm she couldn't even get to her house due to all the water.

Everything was destroyed: her sausage making business along with the freshly butchered cow in her freezer and the okra she used to sell.

This hard-working woman who drove school buses and made sausage for a living was beaten down, and on the verge of tears she asked us to help with the work on her house.  

With sadness she told us about the volunteers prior to our arrival throwing out everything in her house and ripping the doors off of her high kitchen cabinets, which were never touched by the water.

They had thrown away many other personal items that could have been saved because they weren't damaged. We soon realized the severity of her trauma after the storm.

She asked me to ride with her in her car to her damaged home, feeling uneasy with driving alone and wanting to be with someone during the time.

She explained to me her fear about the insurance company dropping her because they claimed she missed a payment and that made them free from giving her the money to help her with her house. She also carried a huge burden aside from Ike.

Two weeks after the storm her daughter-in-law's mother was missing after falling from a shrimp boat in the middle of the night and she had the job of finding sitters to watch her son's kids and comforting the family through their hard time.

Luckily, two days later, they found her body and she attended the funeral. Not only did she have to deal with the family death, but she also was busy mucking her own home and fulfilling her responsibilities as a local school bus driver.

Her husband told her not to cry so when she saw her house destroyed she held back her tears and never cried about it.

This woman is someone with a heart of gold who wants to help others with their homes while also restoring her own.

She wants to make a difference in her community, along with so many others.

This is only one story of the many who were affected by hurricane Ike.

Giving out of Nothing

I met a wonderful woman in Creole, LA that Christ used to transform my ideas about giving out of nothing and enduring whatever comes.

When Morgan and I were down in Cameron Parish on the forth we had the heartbreaking privilege of treasure hunting with Stephanie.

She had lost her home in Rita and again her house was completely irreparable after Ike. We were sliding through each mud covered room salvaging what we could.

It wasn't a fast, adrenaline powered job. We worked slowly, somberly, treating every possession, whether lost or savable, with reverent care.

In one of the kids rooms, under a water damaged mattress and boxspring we came across a yearbook, completely covered and mangled by mud and water. It had probably made it through Rita.

Now all the memories and loyalties and attachments that a yearbook can create or recall were gone.

On my way out of one room, seemingly finished, Stephanie stopped me. "Can you get that too?" She pointed to a tiny pink wind chime hanging from the ceiling in the back corner of the room. Small enough to be missed by me but unforgettable to Stephanie. I got a stool and lifted it off its tiny hook and she placed it among her savable items. It was a hard day.

But Stephanie's constitution and her deep hospitality and love overshadowed any anger or sadness or selfishness that would be completely acceptable and expected from someone who has lost everything... again.

Stephanie's brother brought water to drink and Stephanie and her friend Cheryl got lunch from the Salvation Army food truck for our team. When she had so much work to do and so much must have been going through her mind, she stopped to make sure we were fed.

At the end of the day we sat around outside and just talked with them and listened to their individual stories. Her house devastated behind us, mud covering every article of clothing, we sat and shared and became friends.

I'll never forget that day.

Perseverance will always seem attainable to me after meeting Stephanie and her family. Most unforgettable is her giving heart.

A few days after we got home I got a call from Stephanie.

She said that she really wanted to make our crew dinner as soon as her food stamps were in.

She is living in a hotel room with no money, no home, waiting for assistance to buy food so that she can make us dinner. I have thought this, and said this so many times... I am so blessed.

When people thank me I cannot help but say it back. If only they knew! If only they could see what they show me... about life, about hope, about love... about Christ!

If only they knew how God was using them!