Thunderstorm

Hurricane season starts tomorrow and we are in one heck of a thunderstorm right now. WOW! When Louisiana decides to do a storm, it does it big. None of this wimpy stuff like we get in the NW, with clouds slowly forming and whispering to us that that rain will break with maybe some soft thunder and a break of lightning or two. OH NO! Let’s be LOUD and terrifying.
Let’s knock people out of their chairs as they hear and feel the
heavens and earth shaking, quaking and booming.
Let’s start as a beautiful, hot, humid, cloudless day and then
ROAR! BOOM! QUAKE! BOOM!
Let’s SHRIEK and PIERCE people’s ears.
Let’s send a downpour that floods the streets in under an hour.
Let’s send shock and awe with lights so bright,
we command eye contact many yards away from the nearest window.
Let’s scream full sentences of screeching, booming thunder!

Pray for those still in FEMA trailers during the upcoming hurricane season. If this is a “thunderstorm,” I can’t bear to imagine what a “hurricane” would be like, especially in a small, lightweight, unstable trailer.

We’re thankful that we completed this week’s food distribution this morning before the thunderstorm began. It went quite efficient, thanks primarily to Chris’s work in preparing about 120 bags filled with the food and drink donations.

Preparing those bags was just one of many tasks we did last week, while the others were at CMA’s General Council. We redid the bathroom with new shower walls, tiles, molding, toilet seat, and paint. We cleared out and organized the downstairs (food dist. ctr & future sanctuary) to better prepare for distributions, a yard sale next wkd, and teams to come in for continued construction.

We accomplished so much and still enjoyed short, relaxed days. We’d wake up whenever we felt like it, read the Bible, hang out a little, start work around 9:30 or 10, maybe take a Siesta, go back to some work and still finish up around 4:30, or skip the Siesta and call it a day around 3:00. For all but 6 hours with a sitter, our kids were with us too. But if you saw the “before” and “after” pictures of all that we got done, you wouldn’t believe we could have done all of that without long, hard days of work. Last week was a metaphor for me of the Kingdom of Heaven. It’s like the Lord was saying to me, “This is how I designed it, Karen. It’s a picture of Is 40:31, ‘Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.” Amen! May we live our lives like we did last week!

Check out our new links!

Just got into adding links to our blog! We've got a link to the Hurricane on the Bayou IMAX film (mentioned earlier in our blog). We also have a link to Larry and Krista Lain's blog. Larry and Krista are the Associate Pastor couple, about our age, serving with us here at Baton Rouge Ministry Center. Also, check out the link to WWOZ (famous New Orleans jazz radio station I'm going to tour on Thursday, 5/24/07), and the Steven Spring Foundation.

Steven Spring was a gifted bass player who, if he hadn't passed away in 2002 due to cancer, he would have been offered a job to play with Oakland, CA-based funk group, Tower of Power. His father, Peter Spring, recently moved from Ashland, OR to New Orleans, continuing to tune and repair pianos and distribute instruments to many musicians in New Orleans who lost their instruments in Hurricane Katrina. I heard Peter's story on National Public Radio in May, 2006, and I've been in touch with him ever since. He is now also working with New Orleans school districts to recruit music educators, who are now in great shortage, and help revive music in the schools for the younger generations. I met and hung out with Peter last month, and I hope to go back to his workshop for a jam session before we have to head back up North to Washington state in June.

Baton Rouge Ministry Center Jobs for Life Class

Jobs for Life Grads, from L to R:
Beverly, Charlotte, David, and Lawrence. With Chris and Assoc. Pastor Larry Lain.

Beverly was recently forced to move from her FEMA trailer at one of many local Baton Rouge trailer sites that has been shut down, due to massive consolidations. She was told she could not take her dog, her only real daily companion, with her to her new trailer in Port Allen, and many of her possessions were confiscated by officials during her move, without explanation or recourse that she knows of. Pray as you are lead for her renewal, restoration, and peace in the midst of the storm.

With BRMC Pastor Randy Knighten on the far right.

This picture was taken on 5/2/2007, at the final class session and graduation celebration for the current Jobs for Life course. I (Chris) have been privileged to be a part of this class, designed to be a course in character development, workplace skills development, and a Bible study all in one!

Wanna' be first? Get rid of your stuff!

After Andrew & Avery’s home school with Krista (Avery’s mom), I take all the kids out for a walk. The other day, Chris came too and the kids wanted to race. Melanie was ahead (Yah hoo! Go Melanie!), Andrew close behind, followed by me and Chris walking, and Avery (the fastest runner) way in the back. She kept calling for me to carry her many leaves, sticks, flowers, and so forth, so she could run. Shaking my head after every plea, I kept saying, “If you want to be the fastest, Avery, you’ve got to get rid of your stuff!” She finally learned she wasn’t going to get her way, let go of some of it, and ran toward us. A little later, all three of the kids had collected a large assortment of bugs, leaves, flowers, and sticks. Once again, they wanted to race and, again, pleaded with us to carry their treasures. Nope. I said, “Remember, stuff holds ya’ back! If you want to be first, you gotta’ get rid of your stuff!” The first to do so won the race.

Chris and I chuckled that this was a good message for our country. You wanna’ be first? Get rid of your stuff! :->

The principle works both spiritually and practically. We talked about its application to Katrina. The media consistently repeats the same message: “those who lost the most were the ones who had the least to begin with.” It is true that the people we’re working with – still living in FEMA trailers – fit the bill as those who had the least already. But really, the people who lost the most were those who started with LOTS of stuff that they had not yet paid for. Now they’re trying to regain their former lifestyle by filing for bankruptcy. The local paper told the story of one lady who put $35,000 on her credit card to furnish her new home after losing hers to Katrina. Stuff holds us back. Letting go of it is so freeing! :->

This is one way that Katrina was cleansing to many. We meet many people who lost everything, but they repeat the same message: by losing everything, they've discovered what’s truly important.

Hurricane on the Bayou

Hi everyone! We just returned from a quick trip up to see my (Karen's) mom's side of the family in the DC area and had a wonderful time. Melanie and (2nd) cousin Natalie (only 6 wks apart) made instant and close friends. A highlight came from an idea of my cousin Linda (Natalie's mom) to see "Hurricane on the Bayou." Uncle John & Jeanie who are science museum planners (and had previously produced IMAX films for them) know the producer and gave us some behind-the-scenes info. For our time here, the film provided a highly informative context. The filming began 3 mos. before Katrina & was reviewing the degradation of LA's wetlands, which the film called "the natural speed bumps to hurricanes." Little did the film's producer know that Katrina would not only prove the film's point, but also provide an extraordinarily powerful climax.

The kids did very well watching it. Andrew pointed out "the hurricane's eye." After one scene, Melanie said with wide eyes, "That was scary!" Then Natalie took her hand and they calmed each other. If I wasn't already in tears from the film, I would have been at that moment.

Watching scenes of places we've been to (in recovery mode) both before the hurricane and just after it was itself moving. A better understanding of the myriad of reasons why Katrina produced such massive damage was quite sobering. But beyond that, the film followed musicians who are working to protect the wetlands and it followed their own stories of losing their own homes. The youngest, a teen girl, worried about her grandparents who hadn't evacuated. The film reenacted their frightful story and their rescue by good samaritans not associated with any organization.

Between our work here, this very moving film, and the onslaught of disasters this week, we have felt very moved toward doing more disaster relief of the 1st (or at least 2nd!) responder sort. We've contacted the Red Cross DAT (Disaster Action Team) here. We had already begun DAT training at home, but will be continuing it here and have agreed to be on the local DAT on-call schedule for any calls they receive while we're here. At least for me, I think this time has been clarifying and confirming a desire to help in disaster relief.