HAPPY MARDI GRAS!

New Life

The past 72 hours have been a terrific whirl-wind of Gulf Coast spirit!
On Thursday I had several great home visits with people trying to rebuild that I think I can actually help! I went to speak with one man on Thursday morning, and by Friday morning we'd gotten him 15 sheets of drywall, one bag of insulation, and restored quite a bit of his hope and faith. His neighbor and my roommate helped deliver that joy, which renewed my faith in the possibilities of communities working together down here.

On Friday, the whole Gulf Coast Mission gang gathered in Gulfport for fellowship and fun. We missed my roommate Brenna dearly, but really enjoyed having some time to just talk and play together. Friday night was my roommate George's 21st Birthday Party, held at our house with a Mardi Gras Ball theme. George, and the whole crew, really seemed to have a great time. I loved finally having a home, a real home, with which to share with good friends.

Saturday was a day of great conversation and celebration. I had some good chats with some good friends here and then whooped it up at my first New Orleans Mardi Gras Parade. I returned home last night with a ridiculous bag of loot and an appreciation of what this holiday can do for a city that really needs the fun to return to their lives.

As I write to you now, I am sitting in the parking lot of Orange Grove Presbyterian Church. I came to worship here today because I needed an earlier service, so that I'd have time to make it to two more parades this afternoon. I know, I am out of control with the parades. But Orange Grove just happened to be a great place to be this morning. Orange Grove is a tiny church on the north side of Gulfport with a membership of 7 people. They petitioned to close their doors before Katrina hit, but the Presbytery kept them on. This past summer, linked with Handsboro, they called Pastor Scott and began their own rebuild. Today, they announced a name change for their congregation- to New Life Presbyterian Church. They are meeting now, as I write, to plan for how they can begin this new life as a congregation in this rebuilding community.

This week has demonstrated to me what a gift it is to be present to bear witness to all of the rebirth on the Gulf Coast. I have to remind myself to look at it that way sometimes. The view has been good this week.

My Valentine's Day Timeline- for your viewing pleasure.

6:45am Alarm goes off. Hit snooze.
6:55am Alarm goes off. Hit snooze.
7:05am Alarm goes off. Hit snooze.
7:15am Alarm goes off. Turn alarm off. Wait five more minutes in bed.
7:16am Notice that roommate is dressed up for Valentine’s Day. Tell her she looks cute.
7:20am Roommate leaves for work. Get out of bed. Stumble into living room. Join housemates in watching Good Morning America. Notice that this NEVER happened when we were living in the church. Huh. Very thankful for new apartment.
7:25am Check weather. Going to be cold. Various roommates leave for work.
7:30am Jump in shower. Get dressed. Head out to the church. Notice that I need to get gas today.
7:55am Arrive at work. Greet various volunteers and staff. Think about grabbing a snack. Remember that I need to get paperwork ready for this morning’s home visit. And directions. Need directions.
8:05am Try to get on the Internet. Nope. Sort paperwork until Office Manager arrives. Then get on Internet, for directions and quickly send some emails...some Valentine’s Day emails.
8:30am Run out for home visit. Talk with homeowner about how we can help. This house is just down the street from one of our volunteer sites. It would be a great rainy-day job for them. Decide to drive by the church and drop off this case file immediately so homeowner can get help soon. Say a quick prayer for the homeowner in the driveway before taking off.
9:40am Arrive at the other church. Greet staff. Get excited because the Internet is working here. Finish paperwork on this morning’s home visit and get it to housemate who works at this church. Minor glitch with the printing, but housemate helps me out. Notice that housemate seems to be in a good mood, must be because of all that extra sleep last night. Talk with site manager about another homeowner. Send a few work emails. Quickly check www.people.com to make sure I haven’t missed anything crucial in the celebrity world overnight.
10:20am Off to Handsboro. I have office hours there all day today.
10:30am Check voicemails. Return calls. Prep cases for Long Term Recovery funding committee. More phone calls. More paperwork. Deal with major office crisis of this day. Call happy housemate to verbally process said crisis. Neither of us too happy at the moment. Eat. Receive call from housemate who saw some guy at a restaurant (a guy who asked housemate to dance that night, several times) and today saw the same guy on a Mississippi’s Most Wanted poster. Yikes. Laugh with housemate. Get mail- gift from my sister, and a check from another sister. I love them! Run to the bank to cash check (gas money!!!). Notice that everyone at the bank has a dozen roses. Comment to bank staff about how loved they all must be. Run back to work. More phone calls. Organizing files. More phone calls. Scheduling home visits for next week. Receive phone call from housemate who went home this week for family emergency. Chat with her. Miss her. Say a quick prayer for her. Get word of some agency willing to pay for skilled labor (electricians, plumbers, HVAC). Make a few calls to hunt down info. Get excited!
5:45pm WHAT? Where did the day go? Quickly set up files for the four home visits I have scheduled for tomorrow. Sister calls as I am running out the door. Niece and nephew are cute on the phone- but I really can’t tell what they are saying. Love them lots, though.
6:20pm Pick up roommate at church down the street. Urg, I still need gas. Hope we don’t run out. Pick up housemate at apartment. Drive to church #4 of today- the Baptist Church down the street where another housemate is cooking the Valentine’s Dinner for the congregation.
6:35pm Arrive at church. It’s so cute! Housemate is in his element in that big kitchen! Visit with church folks. Notice that me and my three housemates drop the average age in the room down about 40 years. Vote for King and Queen of the Valentine’s Dinner. Eat. Wow! Remember what a great chef housemate is. Eat serving number two. Take prom-style photo with housemates. Beg housemate to get the photo by email so I can have a copy. Wash a whole lot of dishes. Wash silverware twice because church member accidentally dumped the clean stuff back into the dirty water. Laugh to keep from crying. Wash more dishes. Housemate spills blue all over the kitchen and another housemate’s white shirt. Laugh with her to keep from crying. Some dad comes up to me and makes his 3-year-old apologize for eating my bag of candy hearts. Grab leftovers and get ready to leave. Spill purple all over the floor. Clean floor. Laugh with blue-covered housemate to keep from crying again. Remembered that it was just about an hour ago, during the coronation ceremony and yummy dinner when I said that it was the best Valentine’s Dinner ever. Chuckle.
8:30pm Go home. Grrr- still no gas. Amazed that we're still running. Discuss whether or not to rent a chick flick. Can’t decide. Remember LOST is on tonight.
8:35pm Talk with roommate about the roses she received and another card she received. Happy Valentine’s Day to her!
9:00pm SHARP! LOST. Housemates gather. LOST is good.
10:00pm GOOD LOST. Thankful that ABC is one of the three channels we receive.
10:10pm Phone call. Talk with housemate in NJ about how good LOST was tonight.
10:20pm Phone calls. Talk with GCM friends about Friday’s Mardi Gras Ball. Good plans made.
10:39pm Settle in with housemate for some OC on DVD since we never went to rent a chick flick. I only have three episodes left in season two. Watch them all. Oops. Didn’t mean to stay up this late. But the show was good and I needed to know!
1:00am Turn off lights, lock doors and hit the bed. It was a great Valentine’s Day!

My First Mardi Gras Parade....and My Second

This weekend I learned why the Gulf Coast loves their Mardi Gras parades!
They're fantastic!


Free beads. Free frisbees. Free cups. Free candy. Funny costumes. Silly hats. What's not to love?

Above: the Krewe of Who Dat float and at right: Linda, me and Tyler at the Orange Grove Mardi Gras Parade. For more photos, check out my photo page!

The Ups and Downs of This Girl's Week.

I'm still in my jammies. Love it!

My belly is full of twizzlers, ice cream and pancakes. Love it!

It's noon.

I am writing this morning from my new favorite place in Gulfport: Casa de Teel. We had a ladies only slumber party last night. My roommate Brenna received some really bad news about a family member yesterday (please keep her family in your prayers) and we needed a ladies night to keep up the spirits. We went out to dinner at a fantastic BBQ joint in Ocean Springs, MS called THE SHED. It's a dumpster-diver's dream, fully of junk, characters, and great food. Then we rented movies, bought snacks and ice cream and loaded on to the couch. We had a full scale production of Moulin Rouge while watching the Moulin Rouge at 1 in the morning! I woke up this morning to pancakes and coffee worked up by one great Teel! Can you tell that I loved it?

The past 24 hours has been characteristic of the past week for me- full of ups and downs.
The highlights:
UP- The best Super Bowl party I've ever attended, complete with projection TV, watching the game outside, sitting by a fire, surrounded by great friends and fantastic volunteers.
DOWN- Crazy volunteers trying to move into my bedroom before I even moved out.
UP- Enjoying our new house with family (my roomies) and friends.
DOWN- Finding places to store all my junk in my teeny new apartment. How did I collect so much stuff all over again? Urg.
UP- Meeting new families, and getting to work on their behalf in order to secure funding for a new home!
DOWN- Detailed paperwork creates roadblocks.
UP- Fellowship Dinner and Prayer meeting with Handsboro this week really made me feel close to God and my Mississippi church family.
DOWN- There were only 10 people there- the rest of the congregation missed out!
UP- Making a new house covenant with my roomies- setting us up for 6 great months.
DOWN- Missing the Houma Mardi Gras parade.
UP- Spending time with three fabulously fun ladies in a warm, welcoming home.

Today, I am off to my first Mardi Gras parade. We're taking the Castleman kids to check out one of the 5 parades running here today. Happy Carnival Season, everyone...

Love,
Erin

Moving into (and celebrating outside of) the new house!

Why I love this vacation....

I'm spending a few days in Orlando on a vacation with my Gulf Coast Mission accountability partner and friend, Lauren, and her parents. We've done a little bit of the Disney stuff, but mostly we're just relaxing. Here are my favorite bits of this vacation so far....


1. I'm out of Gulfport for a bit. Out of the office, away from the phone calls, and getting a much needed break from those precious volunteers that I love so much.

2. I'm not using an alarm clock.

3. The sun is out and it is beautiful.

4. I went to Epcot for the first time. Did I mention that I've never been to Disney World before? Epcot was fantastic. A full 12-hour day. Lovin' it.

5. My diet staples this week have been chips, chocolate and diet coke.

6. I was able to relax enough to lay poolside and read a crap novel.

7. I am sleeping in a big-girl bed. Really, no twin bed for me!

8. There was no dump truck to awake me at 3 in the morning.

9. Lauren and her family are pretty fun folks to hang out with. They've been so wonderful to me. And getting to spend some serious quality time with Lauren is such a gift.

10. It gave me time to deal with my dad and his illness this week. We had a bit of a scare, but he's going to be okay. It happened while on vacation, so I was able to talk to him as much as I or he wanted to and didn't have to worry about focusing on other things (volunteers, bosses, homeowners, roommates, Mississippians, the general mayhem of disaster recovery, etc.).

Better get back out to the pool.....

Photos of the new pad!

Last night's State of the Union Address got me thinking.....

While sitting in a church in Gulfport, MS, watching the President, presidential hopefuls, and all of our nation's leaders on TV, being frustrated by everying he said about Iraq, Immigration, and Health Care (really- we only need to provide medical care for the elderly, disabled and poor children- really???), I can't stop wondering......


...what are they planning to do to help the thousands of residents of the Gulf Coast?








(All photos taken last week by the team from the Presbytery of New York City. To see more of their photos or to read their trip blog please go to: http://pnyckatrina.blogspot.com/)

BIG NEWS!

We're moving!

I'm pretty fired up about it. Living, working and worshiping in the same building has been a challenge. So next Friday, we're moving to an apartment. It's right around the block, which is great because we can still walk to church/work. As soon as I get the camera over there, I'll take some photos to show y'all. We're in the process now of getting the water, power and internet turned on (YES- I SAID INTERNET!!!! We're going to have WiFi in the apartment- hurray for modern technology...). Then we have the fun of furnishing and decorating the place. My address will remain the same, though, so cards, letters, and packages are still and always welcome at Handsboro.

Yippee!

And in the new home, I would like to be addressed accordingly:

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Her Eminence the Very Viscountess Couni-dogg the Bibulous of Molton St Anywhere Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

The Jolly Inn to the Boom Boom Room

When you weekend is bookended by trips to the Jolly Inn for Cajun dancing and Ray's Boom Boom Room for a Saints party, you know you're not on the East Coast any more. I enjoyed a weekend of Southern Hospitality to which I can not find the right words to explain. Here are the highlights:

Fantastic Friday night dinner and fellowship with my housemates, Irvin (GCM leader) and Leroy (President of Mission Year). This was followed by a trip two hours south west to visit our friends at the PDA volunteer village in Houma, LA. We went Cajun dancing Friday night at the Jolly Inn and then enjoyed some quiet and rest in Houma on Saturday. Sunday morning, I went to church at First Pres in Luling, LA, where they are host to yet another PDA volunteer village. We hustled out of there in order to hit Ray's Boom Boom Room in the French Quarter for the Saints game.


It was the most fantastic football party I've ever been to, complete with a great crowd full of characters, free red beans and rice, free fried chicken, free grilled quail, free yams, free jello-shots and free cake. And they had a DJ blasting hip-hop music during the commercials. The whole joint was hoping the entire game. Too bad the Saints didn't pull out the win....but really, just being with that many excited people made the day a good one for me. I, unfortunately, forgot my camera, but my pal Emily remembered her camera! Check out her photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/emilyhrhodes/SaintsGameAtRaySBoomBoomRoom.

New Photos

Click on my photo link to see this and many other interesting photos from the Gulf Coast!

New pics up are from my December trip to Houma, LA to visit Lauren and several from Christmas at Handsboro.

Happy Wednesday!

A quick prayer request

If you have a moment, please join me in lifting up:

1. The Presbytery of Mississippi Disaster Recovery:
We're going through some transition and we're gearing up for a few busy months of hard work.
2. Gulf Coast Mission:
Four months in, many more to go. Your love and support means everything.
3. Scott and Rebecca & family:
The pastor of Handsboro and Orange Grove Presbyterian Churches and his family have just moved into the manse, where we hope they will enjoy many great years of health and happiness.
4. The Gulf Coast churches:
Rebuilding is hard on a congregation- they need all our support!

In love,
Erin

Just a few thoughts....

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. "
Martin Luther King Jr.

It's another beautiful Monday on the Gulf Coast. We're celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by working hard to help all people recover from this storm. But I suppose we do that every day. Okay, I have to work on a special celebration for today. I'll get back to you with that.

After 4 months here, I realize that my perspective has totally changed. Destruction and devastation are part of my normal surroundings. Buildings fall down, windows are blown out, people burst into tears at any moment, houses have mold and blue plastic roofs, and piles of debris live on the side of every road. I'm not as sensitive to the shock of these scenes anymore. I am not as sensitive to the stories people share anymore. That scares me. The devastation and stories are still shocking. This place is not normal.

When I was home for Thanksgiving, I was shocked at the speed, efficiency and fun of the "outside" world. Maybe I need to work a little harder to get to that outside world and refresh my perspective.

But if I've only been here for 4 months and I feel that way, what about all those who lived through the storm?

In an effort to live have some "normal" fun, I spent this weekend hanging out with my GCM team. A bunch of us went out to hear some live music and enjoy a few adult beverages in Ocean Springs on Friday night. Yesterday, we met up with most of our GCM crew in Slidell, LA for lunch and a movie. Lunch was sponsored by my fabulous church friends back in Dickeyville, MD who sent a gift card to Chili's! Thank you!

I suppose, even with all of the crazy going on in this rebuilding process- we've always got food to bring us all back together again.

Mmmmmmm.

Warning: Political Post....Read at your own risk.

I just read the President's speech on Iraq.

I didn't get to listen to it last night, because I was busy trying to find a ways to work on my mission experience in the Gulf. Anyone who's talked to me lately, or read this blog lately, knows that I have been struggling with some of the challenges of disaster work and community living. That means I've e been seeking consult and advice from some loving mentors and praying a whole lot.

Last night while the President was speaking, I was attending a prayer meeting. We prayed for our pastor, we prayed for the Presbytery of MS Disaster Recovery, we prayed for each other's families, for sick friends, for our world leaders and elected officials, for troops, and peace.

Today I read the President's speech.

Maybe I should have prayed harder last night.

I'm a peace girl- always will be. I don't begin to understand the complexity of the situation we're in with the whole Iraq mess. I am glad I'm not in charge of solving matters over there. But I wonder if we're taking the right course of action, if peace is our desired outcome. I wonder how increasing troops makes for a swifter end to this conflict. I wonder how we're going to pay for this increase in presence. I wonder why we're spending precious resources abroad when our own citizens are in such great need. I wonder why we're going to strip more American families apart to send more troops to war. And I keep coming back to these three things:

1. God asks us to love one another.

2. Our own people are hurting. I live in Mississippi- a poor, broken state right under the President's nose. Before the hurricane hit, people here were poor and broken. They couldn't afford health care, food, fair housing. Why weren't we taking better care of our own? Then a huge storm hits and in the months and years that follow, we're hindered in helping them recover because so many of our resources are being spent overseas. People here are still living in MOLD! And that's just Mississippi- what about the health care and education needs across the country (Baltimore, anyone?), what about poverty in our cities, what about the violence and drugs our streets?

3. My brother-in-law is in Baghdad right now. His family at home misses him and needs him. But his country asked him to go over there and do what he can to ensure stability in the chaos, and safety for his family at home. He went- gladly. He believes that he is making the world a better place, and that he is serving God's mission in trying to bring stability and peace to his neighbors. He might be right. His explanation, carefully penned and mailed to me along with a photo of him in a big Saddam chair in Baghdad, rocks every bit of my liberal argument, especially being so personal.

So I get back to the conclusion that I don't have any answers here.
I'm curious about what you think......


I guess I need to go pray some more. We all do.

It's still freaking Tuesday!

Okay, the positive vibe is lost tonight.

I am writing this from my tippy-toes, leaning my laptop against the window of the church and balancing it against my chest because that is the only way to get online here. What, you ask? Yes, there is WiFi in the church for all other staff and volunteers to use, but not for the GCM team. I don't want to get started on that.

I'm doing this freak-like on-line stalking in order to look for apartments in Gulfport because we are hoping to move out of the church. I love living here, but in order to protect my sanity and a bit of my privacy (read: people wandering into my bedroom at all hours), I gotta get out of here. For two months, that's been in the works.

I thought the lesson in all of this was patience. So I've waited.....something I am terrible at doing. Maybe that's not the lesson here. Maybe this is a lesson in creativity. Maybe I have to speak more creatively, pray more creatively and I definitely need to take more creative actions.

For example- lean against a window in order to surf apartments on the web.
Huh!

It's Tuesday, right?

So things have been nutty lately and I'm not totally sure what day it is. It's been forever since I've been able to get some online time- I don't sound frustrated with that at all, do I? Well, I should because I am. But I am trying to keep positive, so let's focus on the good, shall we?

A quick update:

It's beautiful here today! The sun is bright as I sit at PJ's cafe in Gulfport dropping a line out in cyperspace for y'all to read. My roommates are all back in town from the holidays. A volunteer work team from Linda's church was here last week doing clean up work and hanging out with us. We went into New Orleans with them this weekend and had a few precious moments with some of our fellow GCMers down there. I realized how much I am missing the rest of our GCM group. We're all doing similar work and dealing with a lot of the same challenges, fun, drama, excitement, and we never get to talk about it because we don't see each other often enough. So we're working on organizing a get together. It's so hard to coordinate, though, because we all have such different work schedules.

I've been really busy with home visits lately, trying to work with homeowners to get them ready for our conrtuction teams to come in and help out. I love working with the people, I just wish I could offer more help. But I am working on getting over that.

The Castlemans (pastor and family) are back in town and have moved into the manse. It is too fun having them right next door! I love it.

I'm attending a training for case managers working in disaster recovery this week. That's all I have to say about that.

So I realize now, that this doesn't sound like a positive post. The details of my life here often aren't very positive. But I am loving it. It is hard work and the drama is real and neverending. But I am learning about people and God's love for us every day.

I am so lucky to be here right now.

Who's in charge here?

So as I am driving around looking for homes that don't exist on roads that have no street signs, frustrated by procedures that seem to change on each and every person's whim.......God jumps in and sends me a big, fat reminder that I'm not in charge here. Today I just happened to turn down a street, while looking for a house on my list, when several people ran after me pounding on my car. They'd had an accident on their work team and needed someone to call 911. They'd knocked on the neighbors' doors and hadn't received any help. Just when they stopped and prayed for help to come, I turned the corner, with my little green car with the big "Presbytery of Mississippi Disaster Recovery" magnets on the side. I called 911, the ambulance came and every one was okay.

I'm not in charge of assigning work here. I'm not in charge of installing street signs. I'm not in charge of the work flow. I am not in charge of the policies or procedures. I'm not in charge of dumpsters or permits or volunteers or trash bags or anything, really. I am not even in charge of my own living situation (no, we still haven't moved yet). That's hard for me. But I have to keep in mind that I am charged with loving and serving. I just need to keep remembering that.

Good thing the Big Guy keeps sending me those reminders, eh?

I love you!

Happy 2007!

We had a great party tonight! Here are the best photos: