Meet My Nanny

This is Miss Viola "Nanny Precious" Smith. We sent to Port Arthur to help rebuild her home and she ended up rebuilding our hearts. Her modest, 2BDR 1BA home was shaken off its foundation, nearly 2/3 of her roof blown off, and she was left with no hot water, no kitchen or other livable space for nearly 18 months after Hurricane Rita (the biggest of the three sisters storms of 2005 - Wilma, Katrina, and Rita). She is nearly 90 years old and still smiling. And to hear her story, no storm can shake house that is built by love.

Our job was simple. Jack this house up, re-frame two exterior walls, move those walls back on to the foundation joists and stringer, re-seal those walls, re-side three remaining areas of the extreior, build a housing for the hot water heater in time for the plumers to install the heater, re-frame the kitchen floor and mount the sub-floor, and apply and finish dry wall in two rooms. Six people worked on these tasks, a couple of days into the dinner hour, and to the final minute on Friday. But all of these jobs were done and done well. Plus a few extra screens got replaced and her shutters refinished and painted just for good measure. Soon Nanny Precious will no longer have to be moving aournd her own furniture and appliances (yes, this lady has been doing this to survive for some time now.

Of all that work, though, this and a pantry door were probably our greatest accomplishment. We've all had to replace a roof, and we've prbably experienced some termite damage. We have all replaced siding and window screens. These are maintenance jobs. But what really brought the devastation Nanny Precious and others ahve lived through, was the fact that she had not taken a warm shower from October 2005 when she returned to her home until Tuesday, July 17, 2007. And she was elated to have her floor back in her kitchen and a new pantry door installed. Its the little things that Nanny Precious simles about and appreciates. She knows how to move furniture and refrigerators at age 90. She can do that with ease because she has been handed stones when asking for bread in her search to rebuild her home. She has been the victim of sysetmatic racism as she and her husband were the first of many black households in what was thought to be a new and wonderful addition to Port Arthur. But she and her husband continued on and built that house with love, adding a garage they built themselves and a shed in the backyard.

What they built iwht love, we pray and hope that we rebuilt the same way. Thank you Nanny Precious for showing us how to seek the little things that matter most.

Peace

One Long Summer

Rewarding none the less, this summer has been a long one. Not in the terms of the hours and hours of sunlight calling me to figure out how I am going to waste the day, but in the many experiences that have made the summer seem nearly non-existent. I mean I really cannot believe that it is August already. Football season is creeping up and the fall schedule of events is going to be here before we know it.

I guess the least I should do is fill you in. When we last chatted here, I was just coming out of a funk. A long discernment period came to an end with several influences helping me make some decisions. I am currently in our church's search and call process and having a wonderful time. It has been much of an awakening to me and has led me to believe I may not have the passion I did ten years ago to help build the church as its pastor. Rather I am feeling called to build God's people as I live and work with them. I am excited though about one prospect, though. They are to be contacting me next week to let me know where they are. Last I knew a week ago, I was one of their top and final candidates. There are other options, though. I have found out being young with child and more on the way is not as scary as it seems. That love and trust bind us together in very wonderful ways. For the first time I have actually seriously thought about leaving ministry and being okay with it. That will wait, though. Let's see what is in store for in the ministry forum first.

Act II of the summer helped us make the transition from June to July. During that week beginning late on Saturday evening, June 30, I had a gall bladder attack. It was my second one in about two years, and this one was extremely painful. They kept me in the hospital until removal could be done on Monday afternoon, July 2. I came home on the 3rd and began making final plans for a work trip to Port Arthur, TX, to help with hurricane recovery efforts. What an amazing trip, and an amazing community. I just can't beleive some of that stuff gets lived through. The human spirit is amazingly strong in times of struggle and survival. They are truly folks who understand and even appreciate sacrifice.

One my return home, then I am playing catch up and anxiously waiting the calling of my future, and just exactly how to handle all of the details. The work trip really was a fasting moment for me and I have opened myself up to the fact that it is time to either move on in ministry in another place or move out and reamin faithful to God by using my gifts in others ways. I should know in a week or two what that decision is. In the meantime I will just fill you in some insights from the Gulf of Mexico.

Peace