Well, it's Sunday and Brooks is napping so I figured I should blog. As usual, we went to church in Pearlington (the new, small-town, log-home church that continues to be a new experience for us) and there was air-conditioning for the first time! Hallelujah! Donnie,the man who preached (who is an EMT and off-shore worker, but a gigantic-hearted man who shares his thoughts with us every other week), talked about Job and compared it - albeit on a much smaller scale - to the suffering that so many of the residents of Pearlington and the neighboring communities have gone through over the past couple of years since Katrina hit. (If you don't already know, Pearlington, Mississippi is one of the areas that was hit very hard by Hurricane Katrina and was a fairly poverty-stricken place to begin with, thus the recovery from such a devastating event has been that much harder for people who are basically "in the hole" to begin with.) Donnie's sermon, coupled with a piece that was featured on "All Things Considered" on NPR this past week, have me thinking of how much the people that I am surrounded by have suffered in the last couple of years and I confess that I feel paralyzed by it. I'm not sure that I've ever been in a place in my life where I am so surrounded by need and even desperation, but I don't know how to respond. I know that Brooks is helping by working for Walls of Hope and providing a way for people to rebuild their homes, and I know and believe that I am helping him be able to do that. But I can't help but think that there should be more going on on my part because in some ways, I have more time on my hands than I've been accustomed to due to being in a new place and not having many social engagements. I also find myself constantly amazed at how easy and sheltered my life has been when I realize the things that so many of the folks we meet down here have been exposed to - as my dad would say, they have been "rode hard and put up wet". I know this should evoke deep gratitude in my heart for the blessings that God has given me (which it does definitely remind me of what I have to be thankful for), but the overwhelming feeling I have is one of questioning - why, God, why such a difference in the burdens that your children have to carry? Why such a difference in the opportunities that we are afforded? I don't get it, and I guess I'm not supposed to. Anyways, I apologize for the babbling but that is what was on my mind today.

On a lighter note, after church, Brooks and I stopped by one of the homes that Walls of Hope built. I don't know if I've blogged this before or not, but basically Walls of Hope just builds the shell of a house and they don't complete the house so the homeowner is responsible for drywall, electrical, plumbing, flooring and all the many other finishing touches. The homeowners who we stopped to see are Mickey & Lynn and their house is nearly done and it looks awesome! Mickey's daughter was actually on her way to their house from Baton Rouge and bringing them a bed so that they could spend their first night in their new house. Imagine that, tonight will be the first night that they have spent not in a FEMA trailer in nearly two years. I'm telling you that these two fifty-somethings were giddy - they couldn't stop hugging and kissing each other because they were so excited. It was really neat to see a finished (for all practical purposes) product and the fruit of so much labor and I think that it was a blessing from God that we stopped by to see them today - I only wish that I'd had my camera with me so I could have put up a picture - oh well!

Well, please keep us in your prayers that we will make the most of our time here and find all the adventures that God desires for us. And I also recommend that you check out the story on NPR about the Scenic Trails FEMA trailer park in Hancock County, MS (that's the county where we are) - it's a little depressing but still very good. Thanks!