getting back up to date

So I'm almost three weeks behind now. I hope to be caught up soon enough. It's crazy to think we're already three weeks into the summer. It feels like this is the first week of summer. Granted we have yet to have a "normal" week so far. Every week has either been with a slightly different staff or different location. The first week we didn't have any campers at our sight in Mississippi so we went to help the New Orleans camp.

I got to work with Amy from the New Orleans staff painting a house. This house still had the military markings on the front of the house from when the National Guard came through the neighborhood to look for bodies and survivors. After scraping, caulking, priming, and finally painting, we painted around the marking, but not over it. On Thursday of that week when our home owner got home from work we let her start to paint over the military markings. Each member of the youth group took a turn painting over some of it and when I painted over the last of it the youth group applauded and cheered. It was very symbolic of our homeowners fresh start. The symbol that represented the death from the hurricane was now erased from view. The smile on her face as we all painted over it is something I will not forget in a long time.

That is exactly the reason I am down here. It's my seventh trip to the gulf coast since hurricane Katrina, but it never gets old. These people who had everything destroyed often have to start from scratch. A destroyed home with little money from insurance or the government leaves them no where to turn. Whenever I can come in and give them hope, I want to do that. It's the perfect imagery of the Christian faith. Even when we think there is no where to turn, no hope, when we look to Jesus he shows us a hope we never thought we would ever have. I love being down here, but I love it when I'm reminded that I'm not here to rebuild homes, but to rebuild lives.

I'd like a quick shout out to the Cove United Methodist for that awesome first week. Y'all are awesome and I pray that your new youth center can be a light in your community.