nawlins

I'm so tired it's not even funny. I just drove about 18 hours and now I'm sitting in my living room with a bunch of family visiting from Michigan. It's Bryan's family which means there's amazing food and everyone is playing Rook. Uncle Bernie cooked prime rib and asparagus and Grandma B made cookies and apple pie. Not that I haven't been eating amazing meals all week, but it's good to come home to this. So here's how it went:

We left at 5:30 am on Saturday and drove straight through. We got into Slidell around 10pm and had a quick orientation with Jody (the site coordinator) and Dan (her assistant/our coordinator), showered and went to bed. The kitchens and showers were all on trailers in the parking lot, it was so cool. We headed out in the morning and finished up the floors for 3 huge tents in New Orleans. Roy (a youth pastor from Georgia and the sweetest man alive) drove us through downtown New Orleans so we could see the damage in the area before we headed back to the compound. The next couple days were devoted to the tents and we finally got some help from 4 of the Mennonite guys. They were amazing.

Thursday we gutted houses and tarped roofs. I got really sick because I apparently have a severe mold allergy. It sucked, I was so disappointed. Friday was a light day of work and we were able to drive through Waveland, MS where the hurricane did most of the damage.

We met some really amazing people. It was so cool to see how we all worked together so well. The 8 of us really didn't know eachother but we got along so well and I couldn't have prayed for a better team. I love those girls and I can't wait to see how God uses this trip to change their lives and the lives of those around them. It was a pretty intense and emotional week. I learned a lot about myself, mostly in how I handle situations lacking in communication and organization. We'll just say it was a challenging week in that area.

Okay I have to go to bed...and by bed I mean basement floor. Here are some pictures. I'm sure there will be more to come.