Just Visiting with Pastor George

The week goes quickly

2011-11-09T22:44:00.000-06:00

11/07/2011

Our work has begun! Chris and Brandon, our LDR supervisors, came at 7:30 am to orient us a bit and then lead us to our job site. A single woman owns the home which had seven to eight feet of water in her walk-out basement. Previous people who came to serve had removed all the damaged material. Others had built new walls, installed insulation and drywall, and put up some gridwork for a dropped ceiling. Chris told us to complete as much as we can today and tomorrow before he puts us on another job.

Before we began working we decided to do some major moving of material and cleanup inside; we all expressed surprise at how messy we found it! We finally got at tasks around 10:00 am. David, with help from Dick, boxed in a duct so we could install ceiling gridwork in the remaining large room which had at one time been a double garage. Greg and Dan took on the challenge of building a ceiling in the bathroom with shower. Penny and Linda painted walls and cleaned up the outside of the job site which looked like an open rubbish pile. Dan taught both of them to use the power circular saw. I did some mudding touch up of dry wall and then began installing ceiling tile which required lots of adjustment of wires to get it as level as possible. I learned from Greg how to trim tiles to fit in odd sized grid openings. We worked hard and accomplished a lot! Showers felt so good when we returned to our lodging about 5:00 pm.

Penny has a friend, Patsy, who lives in Nashville who recommended a restaurant that was less than a mile from us, so we walked there to meet her. Down-home cooking best described the modest neighborhood spot, “Wendell Smith Restaurant”; the food was tasty and portions generous. We saved room for coconut cream pie back at our house; David treated us to the pie he had bought the night before at Loveless Café.

Our day ended with devotions from the booklet, “Meeting God in the Ruins”. “A Satisfying Day” was the piece for this evening, and it echoed what we felt…doing meaningful work, learning new skills, getting to know each other better, sharing stories, seeing progress, meeting a neighbor who had water fill his basement and even two inches on his first floor, having support when needed from Chris and Brandon who did not stay with us on the job. Now we want to go to bed…it’s not 10:00 pm yet but we are tired and achy, but satisfied that God’s work is being done with our hands.

11/08/2011

We returned to the same house as yesterday. Dan and Greg finished framing out the bathroom ceiling for drywall, David and Richard and others finished the gridwork for the dropped ceiling, and Penny, Linda, and I put grids in the ceiling. By the end of the day we all were working on putting ceiling grids in place. We ran out of material as the working day ended.

We journeyed to Ashland City after cleaning up for a catfish dinner at “Riverview Restaurant and Marina” on the Cumberland River (our server called it the Scumberland); it had re-opened in May after being closed for a year due to the flood. We enjoyed the meal and topped it off with banana pudding (a southern tradions) shared by all seven of us!

Our evening ended with reading and discussing “Small Beauties” from our booklet, “Meeting God in the Ruins”. Our experience opens us to a greater awareness of the beauty all around us that we often take for granted or don’t even notice. I’ve come to see an inner beauty in the six others on Covenant LDR Team that shines through in their patience with each other, their cooperative spirits, and their obvious joy in serving. I am blessed!

11/09/2011

Today we arrived at a new worksite at 7:30 pm to meet Chris and Brandon. Then we split into two groups. After picking up some needed material at The Home Depot, David and Dan returned to the first house to finish putting ceiling tiles in the dropped ceiling; they had to cut each of over sixty pieces to fit the distinctive size of each panel along the walls. I had done this yesterday and found it tedious and exacting. I admire them for taking on this task and finishing it!

The rest of us stayed in Madison, TN, about twenty minutes from where we stay. Richard, Linda, Penny, and I helped spread four cubic yards of gravel in the driveway after the dump truck delivered it shortly after we arrived. Then I went to the crawl space under the house to put down a vapor barrier while Greg, Penny, Richard, and Linda broke up the sidewalk (about 12 feet long) made up of a two to three inch layer of concrete poured over previous walkway. They worked eagerly and quickly! Then Penny took on the task of power washing the back deck, about 12 feet by 10 feet; this takes patience and persistence. Linda took a turn, too, and so did Richard. Greg headed up the group that used 2”x6” lumber to form the new sidewalk; after lots of planning and reviewing and revising, the final design looks great. We hope to get the concrete delivered tomorrow.

All of us returned to our lodging place by 3:45 pm, our shortest workday. Around 4:50 pm Kathy Thoreson, executive director of Lutheran Services of Tennessee, dropped by the house; we learned about the work of this organization, much smaller in scope that LSS in WI and Upper MI. Disaster response has consumed much of her time the past 18 months. She told us all of Tennessee has 43 ELCA congregations in the whole state; our synod has 147! We felt deep admiration and appreciation for her commitment and can-do attitude to make a difference for good in the lives of people who need help; like many non-profits, funding presents a formidable challenge.

We enjoyed Nashville bar-b-que for dinner at Nellys, started in Madison, TN, in 1988. Now three brothers have four restaurants in Memphis and Nashville. Great food, very friendly servers, autographed walls all around, and even complimentary dessert from our servers! We would go back if we stayed very long!

“If it weren’t for the people” described the challenges we can have working with others; while we appreciate the readings from “Meeting God in the Ruins”, we realize our experience differs from those who wrote this booklet because we came at the back end of the response rather than at the front end when many more workers gathered and the pain more raw in those who experience the devastating losses of the flood. We see each other in new ways as we’ve worked together, pitching in as best we can, asking for help when needed, encouraging each other to try new things. For me, it’s because of the people I work with that I’ve had fulfillment and fun. It’s because of the people whom we have come to help that we came at all, just as Jesus came to us to embrace us and rebuild our lives through gracious, forgiving love.

A weekend of travel

2011-11-07T17:40:00.000-06:00

11/05/2011

Covenant LDR Team had a fine first day. Our travels traversed primarily fertile Illinois farmland. We in this nation have abundant blessings of food, enough to feed us and many others around the world. Yet I think of many who lack enough food to flourish, who struggle for daily meals. When will the day come when we see all others as sisters and brothers with whom we need to share our abundance, to help provide their daily bread?

When we arrived in Marion, IL, Pastor Otte of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church greeted us warmly and showed us through the facilities. We had plenty of space to lay out our air mattresses or pads or use a couch for our sleeping bags. After pizza at Walt’s, a local restaurant, we returned to play Phase 10 until Dan returned from an ice cream run. We (that is, David) had finished phase 9, and the rest of us conceded to him so we could get to bed. We need rest so we can tackle our work on Monday. Setting our clocks back an hour, we will be able to make up for our late night game-playing!

11/06/2011

“For All The Saints” rang out at Our Redeemer Lutheran this morning as the congregation filled the sanctuary on what they called “Homecoming Day”. We had enjoyed a stimulating adult class studying a social statement on criminal justice being developed by the ELCA; one of the members of the congregation serves on the task force. Then on to worship at 10:30 which lasted over 90 minutes, which we guests of Covenant did not anticipate. The sermon was interactive with the pastor posing several questions which he asked us to discuss with someone beside us. Children’s and adult choirs offered special music. People freely offered names with concerns for prayer to the pastor who included them in prayers of intercession. Thirty remembrance candles were lit as the pastor read names and a scripture verse for each. We came to the altar rail with the other saints gathered today to remember and refresh with the body and blood of Christ. I felt welcome as we gathered with fellow saints in the ELCA.

We had not known when we went there but a potluck followed worship; the folks of Our Redeemer invited us, almost insisted that we join them. So we did! And food was bountiful and delicious; no one went hungry. About 1:00 pm we hit road to Nashville.

Our travel and arrival went smoothly. Sandra welcomed and oriented us to St. Luke’s Mercy House; we settled quickly into the house with everything we need—beds, bathrooms, and food. Then off to supper at “Loveless Café” where we all got our fill. We look forward so much to beginning work tomorrow rather than only traveling and eating!

We seven saints of Covenant have gotten to know each other much better. I know that will only deepen as the week goes along. And to think that God knows us by name, and our knowing of God keeps deepening throughout our lives as we live with all the saints.

Covenant LDR Team: Responding to disaster

2011-11-04T11:38:00.001-05:00

We in the USA often want instant results, instant gratification. When we see or hear of a disaster, we respond with compassion right away but then often forget about the continuing hurt and move on to the next disaster.

Next week, November 7-11, seven of us from Covenant will respond to a disaster that happened in May 2010. Devastating floods caused major damage in Nashville, TN; many people still wait for help to rehab houses to they can move back home. We leave tomorrow, Saturday, November 5, to go to help them in their need.

We seven will work in partnership with Lutheran Disaster Response in Tennessee, which not only responds immediately but stays for the long haul. I like that. I know Jesus responded to people in need throughout his life. And then after his death, after his rising, he declared, "And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:20) Jesus is with us for the long haul!

We seven go trusting in that promise, seeking to do God's work with our hands as we put our faith in action. We pray that through us, those we help will realize more deeply that God is with them for the long haul, in the aftermath of disaster and beyond.