< we're on a mission >

...trip, that is. =) I just got back from 4 days in Bay St. Louis, MS with a group from church.

This was my first trip like this, and it was definitely an eye-opening experience. You don't hear too much about the Gulf region on the news these days. I think because most people assume that things are okay now. I mean, c'mon... 2 years have passed. We see construction crews building entire houses in 6 months around here. But we saw that two years hasn't been long enough to get those people back to 'normal'. We overheard a conversation at a local McDonalds that went something like this:

Lady 1: How are you doing?
Lady 2: Good, I've been back in my house now for 3 months. Are you back in yours?
Lady 1: No, not yet (as she continues on about all the work that has yet to be done)

Can you imagine living in a FEMA trailer for 2 years? or with friends? or in your garage? Our sub-team (3 ladies and one man) spent our days finishing drywall for a lady named Miss Virginia. She was in Texas with her son for a year after the storm... and she's been sleeping in her garage on an air mattress for the past year. She has no way to prepare food, so she buys food and takes it to her neighbor. The neighbor then prepares meals and calls Virginia when it's time to eat. She treks through an empty house (with no heat or air) to take a shower in a bathroom that has a toilet and bathtub, but no functioning sink.

Our accommodations at the church where we stayed were... how can I put it.... less than 5-star. I've never been so happy to sleep on my nice mattress, or take a shower in my clean shower, or have the temperature indoors be less than 80 when I sleep at night. But just imagine those folks who live there and had to do the same thing for days... or months... or maybe even more than a year.

I have returned with a renewed thankfulness for the blessings God has graciously given to me. I am encouraged that even in the dark times, people still have hope and God is in control. I feel as if this experience was more of a blessing to me than it could have been for Miss Virginia. I am sure that I will do this again.