Live from Pearlington...at last!

Sorry for the delay in updating. We don’t have wireless where we are staying and just found a hot spot today!

It’s been a busy few days, though slow going at times. We’ve spent the majority of the time at Mr. William’s house building a ramp and stairs for the front and stairs for the back. We worked for Mr. William’s brother, Eugene, on our second trip. He was the one who rode out the storm hanging onto the rafters of his house. Sadly, Mr. Eugene passed away 6 months ago. But Mr. William is alive and kicking!

We’ve started another ramp at Ms. Shirley’s house. Hopefully by tomorrow night she will have a ramp to come in and out of her house. It's a long one though! Ms. Shirley is one who has been instrumental in getting the older people in Pearlington help. This morning we got homemade pralines...yum!

Yesterday we got over to Ms. Sandra’s house and spread a load of rock over her driveway…just in time for the FEMA trailer to be pulled out! Literally the lady who was hauling out the trailers pulled up just as we finished spreading out the rock. Ms. Sandra now has a Katrina Cottage, which is such a huge step up for her at this point. Unfortunately her house looks just the same as when we left in January. Mr. Peanut, you’re help is needed!

The house we are staying in is in Bay St. Louis, which means we have a little bit of a drive every day. The other night we went down to the Waveland Beach and we were reminded that the damage from Hurricane Katrina isn’t just damage to Pearlington. The streets getting down to the beach are just covered with sand, homes are just as damaged as here and life seems really, really still.

While it feels good to be getting things done, it’s still slow going. Measure twice, cut once, cut again and over and over again. There are still too many times where some of us are just sitting around but I’m learning that’s just the nature of the work at times. We would love to all be busy all the time but sometimes there just ain’t enough work to do or enough tools to get the job done!

We are learning some great Cajun phrases. Ben and David** (our newest boss) are having a great time listening to us California folk try and talk Southern! I’ve noticed they have started using more and more phrases that don’t roll off the California tongue just to get a rise out of the group. The laughter just keeps rolling and rolling.

Volunteer groups are all over the place, which is a good sign, but there is still so much to be done. It seems the more we come to Pearlington, the more we learn and the harder it is to leave. I know this is not the last trip for our group or our church…in fact I don’t think I will be able to stay away from Pearlington until the last house has been completed. There is just too much left to do.

We've got a day and half left and wish it was longer. Please pray for clear heads and quick work. It certainly would be nice to have this ramp done by we leave tomorrow. God is good, all the time and we are grateful for your encouragement and support!

**For those who have been to Pearlington before, we have worked on David's house twice…once in April of 2006 and then again this last December. This is his first foray into helping volunteers and I think we’ve got him hooked!