Ginny's Gulf Coast Trip musings and other stuff

DAY 3

2011-01-12T20:22:00.000-06:00

I am going to see if I can figure out how to post some pictures tonight. I knew how to last year but I forgot.

Today I washed dishes - lots and lots of pans and pots and serving utensils. I worked on that for over 2 hours. Then we toured the projects that are being worked on. We got lost in the 9th ward. There is so much left to do. I knew there was a great need and have told everyone that but it is worse than I even thought. So sad.

Anyhow - I don't have much to say tonight so I will try to do the picture posting thing instead.

love and miss you all.

DAY 2

2011-01-11T20:48:00.000-06:00

Day 2 in NOLA is done. It is cold and blustery here. There is a freeze warning here tonight. This is devastating for these folks. They lack heat in their homes. I worry for them.

We did the usual today. Tomorrow hopefully I will take the day off of construction and have an adventure. I will tell you the details tomorrow if it happens as planned.

Today we got to spend a lot of time with our homeowner named Joe. We are actually working on his daughters house but it sounds like they may move in with her. Joe's wife has cancer and she was told that she had 3 months to live. That was 3 1/2 years ago and she is still going strong. She said that her doctors may have said that but the big man upstairs is in charge and he isn't done with her here yet. That is faith!

We had a good presentation from a person from "Save our Coast" tonite about the need for the wet lands and the barrier islands. I am way tired but her presentation was so interesting. I wish I had it recorded. It gave us the history on how the land under New Orleans was formed and why it is so important to the rest of the states.

We have a full day of work tomorrow and on Thursday we work a half day and have a neighborhood festival at Trinity Claiborn and then on Friday we have our usual half day and the rest is for sight seeing. We don't get much of a chance, nor are we really awake enough to do any sight seeing other than that. Of course the youngsters are always ready to go. Well, the first night they are but on the second day they are dragging anchor. After that they are in pretty early.

Well, it's good night for now. Want to get to bed and read for a bit.

I love you and miss you all.

DAY 1

2011-01-10T21:16:00.000-06:00

Today was busy! Worked hard at a nice house that is about half way to completion. We are hanging dry wall, mudding and taping. Lots of work. We have a big energetic crew. Willing to learn and willing to do anything. My leader is my friend Jen. Love that girl! We have the best time together and laugh a lot.

The accommodations here are not real nice like before. And the food stinks! Thinking of going out to dinner tomorrow night. There are a lot of people here. More than just us. There are people from the New Jersey area, Boston and Albany New York. They are all college kids. It is a hoot but there are waaaay too many folks. It takes forever to get dinner.

In the neighborhood that we are working in there are still homes that have not even been touched yet. I ventured into the house behind the one we are working on and it is gutted but that is all. I feel sorry for those people - 5 1/2 years after Katrina. What a shame. There is a house across the street from our house and it has also not been touched. I was crossing the street, hoping to maybe get a picture of the inside when someone waved from the trailer in the front yard. I retreated across the street real fast. Hope they didn't think I was trying to rob their place or anything. It was interesting.

We are seeing a lot of growth around here. There are new fast food restaurants, an auto zone, and a few strip malls that are filling up. That is a positive. For so long it was a waste land but now it is growing. That is GOOD. The Lower 9th still has a long way to go. We were driving around and there are so many houses that have not been touched. I did finally get to see Fat's Domino's house on this trip. It's tiny.

We took a small side trip - imagine that - and saw the battle ground where the British and the Americans had a huge battle and the general of the British militia was killed. We won! That was really cool. It is tucked away in an industrial area and right next to the Mississippi River. Who knew??

I just LOVE my traveling buddies. They are always up for an adventure and not against taking "detours" when there is something of interest. We do a lot of U-Turns when we spy something interesting.

Well, tomorrow is another day of taping, mudding and the dreaded sanding so I best get to sleep. I really am tired. Most of you know (because I have whined about it so much) that I fell last week and hurt my back. Just wanted you to know that because of a DEAR friend and some super-duper Ibuprofen 800's from her, I was able to get through the day but right now I'm hurting so nitey-nite

Love you all. I will keep in touch.

Ginny

WAY DOWN YONDER.....

2011-01-09T17:40:00.000-06:00

We are here - we made it. I am tired of riding. Sat waaaay too long.

The traveling was great until this morning when we got to Jackson Ms. It is true what they say about southern drivers - they are NOT used to icy roads. There were spin outs on some of the bridges. Once we cleared Jackson the rain stopped but I can tell you, the weather is far from warm. It is raining here in NOLA and the wind is really going. It is COLD.

The accommodations leave a lot to be desired. We are in what has been referred to as carney accommodations. We have to go across the yard to shower and use the "facilities". This is going to prove interesting. The guys are happy - they have the Taj Mahal of a trailer and a big screen TV in the common room. Think it is evenly divided between those rooting for the Packers and those who are rooting for the other team. I don't like football so I don't care.

Dinner is coming soon so I am going to go for now. Tomorrow is our first day of work so it will be early to bed so it can be early to rise.

Love you all.

Ginny

OUR 2011 TRIP BEGINS!

2010-12-31T16:47:00.000-06:00

Here we go again! 2011 is here and we are getting ready for this year's NOLA trip extravaganza. WOOHOO! Time has gone so fast this year.

Things have changed at Camp Restore. Can't wait to see what the changes look like. The school has been reconverted back to it's original use as a school. We will be sleeping in mobile trailers. The showers will be in the same place as before but there is a new day room and we will be eating in the Church. Don't know if there will still be services there or not. This is going to be a learning curve for all of us. I don't know but I'm not looking forward to walking across the court yard in my jammies after my shower but maybe that goes to my not liking changes. I hope it isn't as bad as I am imagining. I will let you all know and post pictures. Maybe it will be way better than before. I promise not to whine until after I see it all.

We leave at 6ish next Saturday morning. YAWN! As usual our car will be the first to leave (guaranteed) and the last to get there (also guaranteed!). We have a pretty tight schedule, tho. There is a service at Trinity at 3 PM Sunday afternoon so we can't dally on the way down. Guess we can't take any "side trips" this time. Well, maybe quick ones.

As with the last couple of years I will try to blog daily. I don't know if the trailers will be wi-fi enabled or what so we shall see. ..

OK - until next time - Ya'all have a very Happy New Year. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Also, please pray for the families we leave to keep the home fires burning.

Ginny

those of us who flew are home. haven't heard from the driving team yet

2010-01-23T20:21:00.000-06:00

hi everybody,

it was with heavy hearts that we left our friends in new orleans. we always wish we could do more but we also know we did a lot. no matter how many nails were pounded or walls were painted or drywall hung and taped we made a difference. everyone you talk to thanks you so much for the contribution you make to getting new orleans back. as so many have said - if they had waited for the government to do any of what we do, they would be no where near moving home. that is what keeps me coming back and i bet that is a pretty common feeling among all of the team members.

we are all very tired and sore but uplifted. i tell people these mission trips have been life changing for me and i truly mean it. i get way more than i give.

friday was a half day for us and a wrap up on many projects. i personally went with my original team and finished up a few things on malcom's house and said good bye. that is so hard for us since we come to think of these people as our family. working on someone's home is so personal. after a few tears and a good luck prayer we left to join the team at trinity church where we had our candle light service. there was a team there all week working on the roof and we joined in doing some caulking and priming. i got to clean upstairs of the church where there were 3 rooms each with 3 foot piles of demolition leftovers. i admit i only got one one room done but that was a dent in the junk piles. we finished our work week at 12 noon and went back to camp restore for a pizza party, our final bible study, and showers! then we were on our own. we had to pack up and clean up and get to bed early the next day. we were on our own for dinner and many went to the quarter. we chose to go to magazine street - the artsy area of new orleans. we had dinner on the patio of "catch" a fairly new and wonderful restaurant. we got quite a kick of eating outside on january 22. most teams were back very early because we needed to be up by 4 am to pack the truck and on the road by 5ish. we were all anxious to get on the road or on the airplane to get back to our families.

i drove down but flew back. i was home by 11:30 this morning and while i missed m driving team i was glad i had flown because along with tee shirts and saints hats, i brought back a nasty cold as a reminder of my trip. i feel kinda yucky and i need sleep!!!! in my own bed

there is so much left to do down in new orleans. there are so many homes that haven't been touched but we did notice so much progress since last year. the lower 9th that was so bad is bustling with building and revitalization. many homes are in the process of being built and many are occupied. we all remarked how wonderful that was. what a treat it has for us to be a very small part of the rebuilding efforts. we are blessed. many of the homes that are not touched are at the point that they may have to be pulled down and demolished. the rot and neglect has made them very unsafe to work in much less live in ever again. how sad.

i am ready to start planning my trip for next year (after i rest up and get over this cold). i can't not go back. i love the homeowners we have worked for. what wonderful people they are. they are just like you and me. they had homes and families. jobs and cars. kids and grandkids. moms and dads. brothers and sisters. grocery stores, hospitals, churches. in a matter of minutes that was all taken away from them. remember - and this is a major thing to remember - it wasn't the hurricane that caused this trouble but the levees that broke and flooded over 80% of the city. yes - they maybe should have evacuated but how could they predict the levees wouldn't hold the storm surge. again - it wasn't the hurricane but the aftermath. i've spent a lot of time studying the storms and the levees and the people of new orleans. i have read almost everything i can get my hands on. i have read the minute by minute weather alerts and warnings. i have studied their mayor and the government in that city. i have talked to people who lived through the storm and the surge. i read the new orleans paper almost daily. i have no idea how to fix new orleans, the levees, or the government, but i know that i can do something for one person at a time. i can paint one room or clean one church room.

my homeowner is probably sleeping in his house tonight for the first time in 4 1/2 years. yes, i think it is inadvisable to be back there. yes, i know it is no where ready for someone to move back in, but yes - i know that he probably moved his bed into one of the bedrooms before our car turned the corner on the way to trinity church. he just wanted to "go home". he is out of money so his house is at a stand still. he has enough to have the plumber in to put in a toilet and a kitchen sink, probably balanced on a couple of orange crates and a sheet of plywood, but he will be "home". maybe someday he will get it all done but right now the smallest step home is the most important thing in their lives.

please keep them in your prayers. please think about coming with us next year. you have about 12 months to plan.

also - we give all of you a big thank you for keeping the home fires burning while we are gone. we thank you for your prayers and encouragement. we thank you for the warm welcomes we got when we got back. we do love each and every one of you.

if you want some dynamite insight into our week away log on to gulfcoastmissiontrip.com and view the videos. they are outstanding. we thank our leader dave moll for that. also, thank you for your comments on the blog, too. i really appreciate it. i think the blog was my way of decompressing at the end of the day as much as it was a way to give you a little taste of that was going on while we were gone.

we love you all.

where has this week gone?????

2010-01-21T21:11:00.000-06:00

here we are on thursday night. it is amazing how this week has flown by. i hope all of you have gotten a chance to see the website that has been following us on our jobs. to remind you it's gulfcoastmissiontrip.com. there are some great video's posted there.

today was so productive for our team. we have named ourselves the "no faux" team. that comes from a conversation between jen and steve about the colors that malcom has chosen for his rooms. jen suggested that if malcom didn't like the brightness of the colors we could tone it down with some faux painting. steve said "steve no faux" and there the name was born. i guess you had to be there but we thought it was pretty good.

we have the house painted and tomorrow we will go back and do some touch up's and then we are off to trinity church in the lower 9th across the street from the brad pitt houses to help them do some cleanup's from their week of work. we will stop at noon and the rest of the day is ours. since we went to the french quarter last night for our annual hurricane (one) and dueling pianos we are going to go to magazine street tomorrow where all (or many) of the artsy stores are. i don't know where we will go for dinner but it should be somewhere fun.

then - those that are driving home will be up and out by about 4:30 - 5:00 am and we flyers will be out by 6. it is always bittersweet for us to be leaving when there is so much still to do but so good to get back to our families. we miss you all.

tonight we took our team pictures and the group picture and then we went out and blessed lark's new car - purchased down here after his went kaplooie!! one mighty expensive take home gifts i would say. i just got tee shirts for my take home gifts - oh and hats too. hey - they are saints hats and you can't get those in illinois.

today was close to 80 at our job site. it was beautiful. it is going to be hard to leave this wonderful weather behind. i don't look forward to your 30's.

it is time for me to take my own advice and look at the web site. i love the video's

we will see you in a couple of days. we love you all and miss you. pray for our safe travels home.

we are family!!!

2010-01-21T09:19:00.001-06:00

Shhhh don't tell my team tht I am sitting here on the porch blogging this morning but I couldn't wait to tell you all the good news! We have all become families. Somewhere during each trip the teams go from a bunch of people from different churches and this trip different states to a family. It is like magic and you can't pinpoint exactly when it happens but it does. You have your inside jokes, your nicknames. You know about their families, what they do for a living, and even what they like to eat. You watch out for each other, not just because that is what you do for people but because they are your family. I love that magic! Ok I better get back to work but I just couldn't wait to tell you that the magic has happened. Please know that our newly formed "families" will care for amd protect your family. We send our love to all of you! Now we just need your christmas lists!

hooo boy!

2010-01-19T16:43:00.002-06:00

the day is done and i am very glad. we were back at malcon's.he asked us to retexturize some of the walls we had done yesterday so we did. then we installed a pull down attic stairway and primed 3 rooms. steve deAtley wins the A++ superman award for our team but the rest of us get the A+ supermen/women awards. i always love to see how a team meshes and becomes one. each of us seems to find a job that fits our abilities or our capabilities. it becomes like a ballet. each person learns where to be and when to be so as not to disturb the works of the others on the team. Steve and jen put in an attic pull down staircase. the kind that many of us have in our homes and garages. the notion of someone actually having tears in their eyes because of an attic staircase is hard to believe but there were tears in malcom's eyes today. he told us a few times that he would pay us back for all we have spent on his house. we told him that this was our privledge and that if he ever has any spare money, donate it to camp restore or to some other worthy charity that does God's work. that is how to pay us back. and to think of us and the teams before and after with love and prayers.

i just talked to pastor baerwolf and he said his day went well. he is a crew leader and the group he has is doing insulation. i also just talked to ted meyers. he is on a demolition team and he said he was dead tired. that is not easy work. we forget that so many of us sit at desks for much of the day or ride in a car for our jobs so when we call upon our bodies to do this kind of work we get real tired and sore real easily. but - we all have a clear idea of why we are here and what we have to do. it gets very addictive - you want to do just one more thing to get those people home. to have them settled in their home. i thought that after 4 1/2 years the need would diminish - it hasn't. our malcom lives in a fema trailer and has for 4 years. he said he will move in as soon as he has running water. he is our of money like most of the people here and will do without cabinets or flooring or the other things that we all take for granted just to GET HOME! just think of living in a trailer for that length of time. and let me tell you - they "ain't" pretty or spacious, or comfortable. malcom has let us use the bathroom in his trailer and jen and i have encouraged the guys in the group - all newbies - to go in to use the bathroom just to see what a fema trailer looks like, it is hard to describe. i have always wanted to post a picture of the inside of one of them but i don't want to intrude on their privacy by showing the inside of their "home".

ok - i'm gonna post some pictures of the crew and get ready for dinner.

those of you who have sent us cards in the mail - thank you so much. i received one today and it touched me so much. to know that we are thought of and remembered is so wonderful. thank you!!!

we love you all

ok - i admit it - i'm tired

2010-01-18T17:33:00.001-06:00

day one and we survived. i see most of the teams are back and many of us have taken our showers and look and smell a whole lot better.

my house was a 5 room house. we patched and sanded drywall and then we textured the walls and ceiling. i have never done that before and i must admit i have still not "done" it but i helped keeping the air compressor hose out of the way, filling the hopper with more of the texturizing stuff, and scraped the "goobers" off of the floor. i have to give the A++ superman award to our guy Steve DeAtley. he did all the work - holding that heavy hopper and spraying the walls. now - there were two people who followed after him and "knocked down" the spray stuff to actually make the walls look like an orange peel, hence the name "an orange peel finish". we also had one person working a room ahead of us doing almost all of the drywall patching and sanding. it was work.

they told us that our homeowner was a cranky guy but i didn't find that at all. malcom is a really nice man. he is 61 and has been living in a FEMA trailer for 4 1/2 years now. he is so anxious to just get back into his house. he told me that he spent 4 days in the convention center and saw all types of ugliness. he had tears in his eyes when he was talking even this far out. how sad.

the weather here is beautiful. probably in the mid-sixties. sorry to tell you that but it sure felt good. we sat outside in the sun for lunch in tee-shirts. you really have to take advantage of the good weather while you are here.

we are going to eat in a few minutes and i want to upload some pictures so i will sign off now.

please pray for us. tomorrow will be a very tough day for most of us because we have disturbed muscles that have laid dormant for years. we will be a limping, hurting bunch.

we love you all

good morning

2010-01-18T06:33:00.001-06:00

Hi ho hi ho it's ofdf to work we go!!! Pray for us as we start our first workday! We love you

it's bed time for ginny

2010-01-17T22:04:00.000-06:00

got our work teams, have had several meetings, 2 church services and on and on and on!!! whoo.!!

so far we have had good luck with everything except for one ticket for improper use (was NOT the baerwolf car) and one blown transmission. hopefully that is the end of the problems.

my team is going to be working on a house that the homeowner is still lliving in. i heard he is a bit cranky. this should be an experience! we have to patch some drywall, texturize some surfaces and - ta da - what else PAINT! what would a new orleans mission trip be if i didn't paint! it can't be much because it is a very small team - 2 girls and 3 boys. i am excited to get going.

the church services tonight were great. the first was at gloria dei a freshly restored church that had water damage probably in the 5 foot area inside of the church. it has been restored. some of our people will be working therre tomorrow doing a bible study for some of the kids. then we had a candle light service at trinity. a church that was almost completely destroyed. it is gutted and there will be a crew there tomorrow working hard to get it on the road to looking like a church again. we had communion there by generator and candlelight. it was very special.

there are two teams here that are not part of our group. one from wisconsin and one from minnesota. this is the first time that i have been here that we haven't had the place to ourselves. it is great to see how organized we are (thanks steve simpson) . in contrast, the those teams are not organized at all. they probably will lose at least half of tomorrow.

ok - i am tired. i am going to do about 10 minutes of research and i am gonna go nitey nite.

pray for us tomorrow that we can get done what we have to get done.

we love you and miss you all

ginny

we are crossing the bayou's

2010-01-17T11:40:00.001-06:00

We decidid not to take the lake route this year but to come in the way we usually leave. Usually we cross the bayoiu's in the dark and don't get to see any of this. It is awsome. There are thise little run down fishing villages all along here. Looks like the only way to get to thm is by boat and how they ever built a home is a mystery because it looks real swampy around them. Think there are alligators in the reeds? Bet I wouldn't go in that water. We'll be coming in on the west of new orleans instead of in the center like usual.and o yeah the sun is shining a bit.there are still some clouds. The second mardi gras parade of 2010 is stepping off at 1 pm this afternoon. It's the krewe of claude parade. Wow - new.orleans is in view about 20 miles ahead of us. How magnificent! It's 56 degrees and getting sunnier by the minute. This is God's special welcome for us. God is good! Ok I'm going to go and enjoy the view!

louisiana

2010-01-17T10:53:00.001-06:00

We just crossed into louisiana. 9w miles to go. There is no rain and the roads are dry. Yoohoo. I think we may be leading the pack right now but all seems to be going well with everyone. By the way I can't figure out to change any typos on the phone entries so to decode the mileage above it's 91 and probably a lot less than that since I've been typing this.

on the road again...

2010-01-17T08:55:00.001-06:00

We have been on the road for 2 1/2 hours now. Not much longer to go. The pouring rain has stopped and it is just kinda misting. Would love to see the sun. most of us have checked in at home and hear you all woke to the beautiful sight of trees being frosted over and all shiny. How glorious. We were all keeping an ear on the saints football game last night. What a great win. I had neighbors down in nola and they checked in with my hubby and said the town was just crazy. I bet it was. Once we get to camp restore our first job will be to set up our beds and take a shower. The church we stayed at in hernando doesn't have shower facilities. Sometime we will be meeting with our advance teams to get our work assignments. Then we will be off to gloria dei church to tour the facility and have a dinner prepared by pastor buss from down here and some of the locals. But wait - there's more... Then we are off to tour another church across the street from the brad pitt homes in the lower 9th. Some time in there the "newbies" and any others who wantto can get a tour of the lower 9th. Our flyers should be landing in about 2 hours so they will be at the camp as our welcoming committee. Just checked with our other driving teams and they are all doing well. That's a great sign. Not much more to tell you right now plus it is getting harder and harded to type with my thunbs on thi blackberry. Will try to post pictures sometime today if I can find a bit pf unscheduled time. Just gotta tell you about lamberts - the home of the throwd rolls (and no - I didn't spelled throwd wrong). We love you all. Keep us in your prayers as we will keep you in ours.

it's raining, itr's pouring, the old man...

2010-01-17T06:26:00.001-06:00

Good morning blog family. We are up and waiting for breakfast. The truck is repacked and ready to go. So far everything is great - thanks for your prayers. We should be at camp restore around noon with a full schedule of activities. We are touring a couple churches and having a real new orleans dinner. Soooo off we go! Keep us in your prayers and also prayers for our flyers who will join us later today

missouri

2010-01-16T12:32:00.001-06:00

The baerwolf car of 4 has just crossed the mississippi river in to missouri. 10 miles to our lunch stop at lamberts the home of the tossed rolls. This should be something. We need food - we're singing broadway show tunes! Maybe food will help!

and away we go

2010-01-16T08:48:00.001-06:00

We are on the road to new orleans with a stop overnight in mississippi. We have been driving for two hours and just passed paxton illinois. We stil haven't seen the sun yet and there still is snow on the ground. We just checked on the other drivers in our driving group and everyone is about in the same location as we are and doing well. I hward that lark has put the group picture from this morning on his blog already. Check it out! Jusr remember that it was before 6 this morning and some of us were still asleep. We were well fed though thanks to the saturday morning men's bible group. Thanks guys it was great! Ok that's all for now from the road for now. We love you all. Ginny

haiti

2010-01-14T19:19:00.002-06:00

hi blog family,

today is the day before the day before.... tomorrow we drop off our tubs, bags, and tools off at immanuel east dundee to be loaded into the truck. i am all packed and soooo excited but it is with a heavy heart that all of us leave. i am thinking of all our brothers and sisters in in haiti. i wish there was something i could do for the people there but i think it is the time to leave it up to the professionals. then if God leads me i will find a way to help. in the meantime we all can help with our prayers and our dollars. there are several ways to contribute. check out the red cross website for their method of donating. also lutheran charities has set up a fund. be careful that you do not get scammed, please. go with a legitimate charity and be sure YOU make the call - do not donate to anyone who calls you unless you are 100% sure who they are.

for now there are many, many things that need to be done in new orleans. i am sure that all of us on the team can't wait to get going and get working. we will spend the next few hours tying up loose ends at home and at our jobs and i bet that most of us will remember one or two that we forgot when we get on the road. hey - it's nothing that can't wait.

we received an email this week from dave moll, our organizer who told us of an easy way to log on to our blogs. i will try to post that info here. let's see if it works

Daily Updates Online - Pass the word to all of your family and friends … we will be providing daily online updates from the trip. We plan to do video and photo updates, as well as a couple blogs. The website is easy to remember … www.gulfcoastmissiontrip.com. Friends and family can submit their email address to receive email updates when new items are posted to the site!

hey - it did work. on the website there is a link to our two blogs, a video from last year and our route. i haven't explored the whole site yet so there may be a lot more. there was a lot of work that went in to that site. congratulations to the authors.

ok - it's time to get going. remember those loose ends i was talking about..... there are a lot of them right in front of me so i'm going to scoot.

please say a prayer for those brothers and sisters in haiti and also pray for us, that we have easy and safe travels. we'll be "talking" to you all along the way.

we love you all and carry you in our hearts.

ginny

this is cool

2010-01-13T12:51:00.002-06:00

I just learned that I can publish posts from my blackberry if I can just figure out how to get it to post so it can be seen. Now I can send posts from the road and from my project house. Isn't technology great!!! Wow!

time is a tickin' tickin'....

2010-01-10T08:23:00.001-06:00

remember when you were a kid and you just couldn't wait for christmas to come? remember asking mom or dad "how many more days now". remember how exciting it all was? that's where i am right now. i can't wait for next week. but - remember december 27th and you start thinking about the next christmas? when you wonder how it went so fast and how sad that makes you? that's also where i am.

i want to get going - to blast off to new orleans. i want to get back to camp restore and get back to work. i want to see my friends, i want to find out what i am going to do, i want to find out my team - i want to get going.

on the other hand, i don't want it to come. i don't want it to be over. i want to savor the time. i want to be able to expand the time - to be able to get more done, to help where i can, to "share a smile, share a hug, share myself".

it all goes so fast. as i get older i have tried not to wish my life away because time has a way of flying on it's own. i find that i have been thinking of this a lot. i know there are things that i have not done. things that God has asked me to do that i haven't. there are people i haven't "smiled at", there are people i haven't "hugged" and there are soooo many times that i haven't "shared myself". time keeps a tickin' , tickin', so it is time that i examine what i still need to do when i get back to give back.

today please say an extra prayer for the people in the south including our friends in new orleans. it is so cold for them. they do not have heaters like we do. they don't have insulation in their homes. they are prepared for heat - not cold. i worry for them. the heater in the house i worked in last year was about the size of a small carry-on suitcase. they hang on the wall and they are usually in the back of the house. i am sure many will be using their ovens to heat up part of their homes. i worry about the chance of fires when they do that. today will be 43 in new orleans. that is their high and that is very cold for them. keep them in your prayers.

i am now off to church. it is cantada sunday where all of our talented musicians and singers lend their voices to the praise of our God. what a wonderful send off to the immanuel mission team. we will leave with the memories of their beautiful voices in our hearts. thank you

i love you all
ginny

p.s. there are pictures of the furnaces at the bottom of this blog and also a picture of the underside of their houses where you can see how exposed their pipes and everything is.

ONE WEEK FROM TODAY!!

2010-01-09T09:28:00.000-06:00

what else can i say......... it's almost blast off time! yahoo!

news from the orientation meeting

2010-01-06T20:06:00.000-06:00

last night we had our orientation meeting. it was like a pep rally in high school without the cheerleaders and basketball players. it was so cool and the excitement was high. it was fun to see those we haven't seen since the last trip and was also great to meet the "newbies". i remember my first meeting - excitement mixed with fear and wonder. i saw that in the faces of the new members last night and some of the veterans, too. the feeling was excitement by all i am sure.

we keep adding team members so we are up to about 64 and counting. that is so great. but - just because some of you aren't on the trip, please know we are taking all of you with us in our hearts. please pray for us as we will for you.

there have been a couple of changes that make me a bit anxious but it is the best way to do things. camp restore has thrown open their case files and we have our choice of projects. our "general contractor" "general organizer" will go down a few days before we go there and get everything ready. at that point he will match talents with projects. new also this year is that teams will be more fluid than in the past. that will mean that just because you start with one team on monday, you may be needed with a different team on tuesday. the neat thing about this is that you get to work with and spend more time with more people. i think i like this new wrinkle. the drawback i see is that if your homeowner is present you may not get to spend that much time with them. i love to be with the homeowners but maybe this way we will get to meet more than one.

also new this trip is another opportunity to serve the people of new orleans. there is an outreach program where some of us may work helping at the art museum, a horse farm, or a youth center, etc. wherever we are needed in the community what fun. truly this year there will be something for everyone.

we also discussed the blogs and from time to time we may have "guest bloggers". i love the thought of sharing with you all different views of our experiences. so, be sure you check out lark sanders blog at larkn5.blogspot.com also. you never know who will turn up on these pages.

so - tonight i have started packing my "tub". it was fun to pull out my work clothes again. talk about paint drips! i also write the year of the trip and the address of my house on my work pants as a memory. that was cool to look at again. tuesday (senior day 10% discount day for us seniors) i will make my trek to fisher nuts outlet store to gather my ingredients for the road trip treats. that was the greatest discovery on my first trip - never had anything like it before but am addicted. chocolate candies, hot spicy peanuts, gummies, jellie bellies and much more all mixed together. what could be better!!! a junk lovers paradise. how can you travel without junk food? then when we get down there i have to get a case of zapps potato chips. if you have never had them - yummo. they have a crawfish flavor (now now - it's not as yucky as it sounds so stop making those faces!) chips. talk about an addiction!!! potbelly sandwich stores sell them but that is the only place up here that carry the zappos. the owner of zappos chips is also on the board of the camp restore governing group so that makes me happy too. boy - it sounds like all we do is eat but no - well, kinda. gotta keep up that ole strength you know.

well, for those of you reading this and going on the trip, i feel your excitement. for those of you staying home and keeping the home fires burning please know we love you and will miss you but you will never be far from our hearts and minds. i hope with all my heart that we will make you proud. and to those of you that couldn't go this year because of financial reasons or scheduling reasons, or anything else that makes this just undoable, our hope is that next year you can join us. we'll talk....... i promise..... we'll get you there with God's help.

we love you all -

two weeks from today it's blast off!

2010-01-02T08:23:00.000-06:00

2 weeks from today we'll be on the road. whew! back in the summer it seemed so far away. today it seems so very close. i can't believe how fast time has gone. i have so much to do here and at work before i can even think of going. as my mom used to say "God give me strength"! thankfully the time crunch is finally becoming real to my brain because i really work better under stress.

so.... this weekend is dedicated to rounding up my "stuff" to take. it won't take long if i just get down to it. at work it will be a different story. the stack of stuff seems insurmountable. that is where the stress is. hate to leave when it is not all done but this year i may have to leave some loose strings. oh well - like i said "God give me strength" and HE will and it will get done - i hope.

so - off to make my lists which i will promptly lose and have to redo.

stay warm this weekend and keep the mission team in your prayers as we prepare to go to NOLA and our 3rd mission trip.

love you all

new years eve 2009

2009-12-31T09:18:00.000-06:00

well, here we are at the end of 2009. so many things have happened in the last 365 days. some were great and some not so. hopefully 2010 brings a happy and healthy year for all.

i don't usually make resolutions because there is no way i will keep them past january 1st but this year i am making one. i resolve to lend a hand to those who need my help in any way that God leads me. i have been blessed with so much in my life. but, i also have some of the fears that others have. while i am not homeless, i worry daily that our jobs will always be there. while i have food to eat i worry that i may face hunger some day. while i have a loving family i worry that something could happen to them. think of those who have lost it all. lost jobs and family, everything but the clothes on their backs, their homes, their way of life. now think of the way that we can help. there are so many opportunities out there. i resolve to find them.

lark sanders has started a blog at larkn5.blogspot.com. it is going to be fun to follow this 2010 mission trip from both of our perspectives. if we are on different teams we will be able to share with you two projects from the inside. if we are on the same team it will be fun to share his "professional" view and my "apprentice" view. He knows what he is doing - i just do what i can. hey - i'm a pro with a paint brush or a broom but that's about the end of my professional talents. i can follow directions though and have learned how to stay out of the way. we will find out on tuesday our teams and what we will be doing. well, the teams all right but what we will be doing is fluid and subject to change at any moment. for example - every year i have been put on the landscaping team and those of you who know me well know i don't do landscaping. hate it. so i prayed! hard! and so far i have not had to even pick up a rake. but - if i had to do the landscaping, believe me, i would. maybe i'd even enjoy it.

it is time for me to get going now. i have to go find my "tub" and start packing it with my work clothes. i'm a girl - i pack too much. it takes time to get that much together....

wishing you all a happy and prosperous new year. may we all help our fellow man in any way we are called to do. may we share our love and our blessings.

i love you all. see you in 2010!

new orleans mission trip 2010

2009-12-26T12:26:00.003-06:00

hi everybody.

well, the 2009 christmas stuff is all over, new years has never been a big thing for us at the goyer house, so all that is left is to turn my thoughts to the new orleans trip.

before we go any further i need to tell you about the absence of capitals. a few months back i spilled a glass of water all over my laptop. most everything works except the capital key. sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. so - to avoid throwing this through the window i just don't use them. i mean no disrespect to anything if i don't capitalize it.

anyhow - we leave illinois in about 3 weeks. as i look out the window on dec 26th i see snow falling and i hope that it doesn't snow like this when we leave on 1/18. prayers are needed from all.

we have a team of 61 as it stands today. that is just about perfect. a good share (last i heard was over half) come from immanuel dundee. i am so proud of that. we have some new people and some others have decided to take the year off. i am excited to spend time with the new folks and get to know them but i will miss some of those that i have worked with for the last 2 years. there are friendships that will never die. we have all walked hand in hand into the unknown and come away as friends and family. i just read in the latest email that almost half of our team members are first timers. for every new member that means that there is another voice spreading the word that the work in new orleans is far from over.

in november we had a mardi gras in november event. we had a great turn out. the latest information is that we made $3200 plus a matching gift from thrivent that took our total to $4000. this will be split between pastor buss at camp restore and our mission team to buy some supplies while we are in new orleans. there is always something that we need. small stuff like sand paper, nails, caulk, etc. you'd be surprised how fast this adds up.

even though we thank you for the support you gave us, we would still appreciate gas cards for the driving teams. this will free up some of the money each member pays to go for use while we are there to pay for the above mentioned things. there is also time to help someone go who just can't afford to go but would love to offer their help in new orleans. it costs each team member $300 to go on this trip. in this economy this may be prohibitive for some, but if we all work together we may be able to send someone who will make a huge difference in the life of someone. you can contact pastor baerwolf at immanuel dundee with any offers of help.

we will leave from immanuel dundee on saturday january 16th at 6am. we will start with a quick breakfast served by the immanuel men's bible study group followed by a team picture and a prayer for safe travels for all. more on the specifics of the travels in a future post.

pastor baerwolf has provided a prayer request sheet for prayers for the teams. prayers would be appreciated.

saturday 1/16 we ask you to pray for safe travel as we depart at 6:00 am from immanuel dundee and safe arrival to the methodist church is hernando, mississippi where glenda and her helpers will prepare a delicious meal for us and the traveling mission team will worship and spend the night resting in the church classrooms. pray as well for our advance team as they prepare to visit the work sites and make things ready for our arrival.

sunday 1/17 we ask you to pray for safe travel to camp restore in new orleans and safe travel for those that are flying - pray that the Lord watches over all those on the roads and that for those on their first mission trip will be given peace as they experience all the newness of this experience. ask the Lord to bless our worship at camp restore this evening as we gather around God's Word asking Him to bless and equip us for the work ahead. pray for all those involved as we are starting to get acquainted with all our new friends and roommates for the week ahead.

monday 1/18 we covet your prayers for health and strength as we go to our homes and projects for our first day of work so that we may not only work but reach out to those who are in need of knowing our Lord Jesus.

tuesday 1/19 we ask you please pray for our team members so that they are not disheartened if our projects are moved or if the team is changed from one area to another - pray for safety at the work sites and pray also for our family members left behind for spouses and children who are without the ones they love that God would visit them with His presence and help them face whatever challenges they may be facing.

wednesday 1/20 we ask you to pray for the gulf coast and the communities still ravaged by the storms of the past few years and for the trouble they have had to face in attempting to rebuild their homes and lives - while we do not understand all that has happened - we know how valuable our homes are and so we pray that God would give them strength for every day to face all obstacles in their paths and that He would open their hearts to hearing the Good News shared especially by our Evangelism team as they go on prayer walks and talk with the people of the communities we serve.

thurdsay 1/21 our prayers today are on behalf of our friends at camp restore - the staff who lead all the day to day operations of cooking and cleaning as well as all the volunteers in the Laborers for Christ who are in new orleans for three to six months serving as work crew leaders and giving their expertise to helping people get back into their homes - these amazing people have such a servant's heart and we lift them up to the Lord this day. Also prayers for those to get a good night of rest for those leaving on Friday and to be with those who are flying home Thursday night

friday 1/22. ask the Lord to give our mission team a sense of completion as we are at our job sites for the last time-help us to leave our homes and places of work with the assurance that the work will continue even after we leave and pray as well that the families who are blessed by our efforts thank the Lord for His grace in providing this love to them. pray also that God would give a good rest this evening for all those driving all the way the next day.

saturday 1/23 we pray that the Lord would provide safe travel for those driving and flying back home and that the friendships developed on the mission team would be broadened and deepened when we get back home.

we love you all and will miss you while we are gone but you will never be far from our hearts. please keep us in yours. for many of us this is a trip "outside of the box" that we usually live in. this trip will test us in many ways. some of us have never been away from our families for this long, some of us have never traveled so far, some of us will discover that there are no "left handed hammers" and some of us will find the power of power tools for the first time. what a growing time for all of us. some of us will find muscles we never knew we had (they will remind us loudly that they are there), some of us will experience a different tiredness, but we will all experience LOVE.

2009-01-19T20:33:00.000-06:00

GULF COAST 2009

2009-01-19T20:30:00.000-06:00

2009-01-19T20:28:00.000-06:00

GULF COAST TRIP 2009

2009-01-19T20:25:00.000-06:00

WE ARE HOME AND MOST OF US ARE BACK TO THE RAT RACE

2009-01-19T18:47:00.002-06:00

Well, we made it home. We were ok for most of the trip until we got around Kankakee and then we hit ice. That was fun! Not really. We left New Orleans around 5 AM and got home around 9ish at night. It was a very very long day. I was really glad to get out of the car and I can only imagine how anxious Keith and all of the other drivers were.

I have not processed in my brain all of the great feelings I have about the trip. My emotions ran high and low. I was so happy to see that New Orleans is better this year than last year. It seems cleaner and more houses are either done or in the process. I'd say it's about time. Our teams were more organized (thanks Steve) and had a clear direction as to what had to be done. We had the necessary supplies and if not it was just a short time before they were there. Last year we spent quite a bit of time standing around and that was wasted time. This year the "advance man" had it so that we just walked in and worked. How perfect!

There are a lot of statistics about how many square feet of various stuff we worked with but I don't have that info written down. I will try to get it for you. It is truly awsome! We did do work on 14 houses and that means that we got 14 families closer to being back in their homes. The fear is that people will tire of hearing about the Gulf Coast and forget how much work still needs to be done. I pray that that doesn't happen.

Getting back to my "real" job today felt so different from what I have been doing. I wish I could afford to spend more time in New Orleans and get further in the project. But, alas, money has to be made to pay the bills. Maybe when I retire I can give more time to what my heart has been telling me I should be doing. If the economy picks up I can retire but until then I will spend my week every January doing my small part.

I am going to download some pictures tonight.

Peace and love to you all

Ginny

EARLY SATURDAY MORNING

2009-01-17T04:02:00.002-06:00

We are getting ready to leave. It is 4:04. My group is different than the group that I drove down with. Pastor B and family are driving straight through to Michigan so I grabbed an empty seat with Keith. Keith's 4th passenger is driving the box trip back because the box trip driver had to fly home because he had a bad eye condition. Now, if you can follow that you must be reading this later in the day because I'm having trouble following it. The Baerwolf's were going to drop me by the side of the road somewhere near Joliet and hope one of the others on the team picks me up. No. really, we had a plan but this was really the best. This also buys them almost an hour earlier on the road.

I am packed, my bed is sanitized, and I am here in the corner staying out of the way. I don't look forward to this long drive but it is better than stopping midway. I am anxious to get home and back to my family and I am sure the rest of the team is, too. While we have been here working for other families we have missed ours dearly.

Time to get some last minute stuff ready and get off the camp's computer in case others want to use it to check the travel conditions.

Pray for our safe journey. And also pray for the folks down here. We have left them a bit further along with their road home but there is still much to do. Maybe even 10 more years. Can you imagine that? Keep the Gulf Coast in your hearts and prayers. Everytime we leave here we take a bit of this place with us and leave a bit of ourselves behind. It's hard to forget the hugs and tears of appreciation.

Peace and love to all

AWAY WE GO!!!!

2009-01-16T20:56:00.002-06:00

Well, we finished our assignments. None of us were completely done with our houses but we can see we have started and are a lot closer to getting some people back in their homes. Our Mrs Cloud, for instance, probably will be back home in about a month or less if the next crew coming through here will continue on with her house and not be assigned to something else. She still has the final electrical and plumbing to do and those craftsmen are hard to come by here. They have to be certified in the state of Louisiana and we cannot guarantee that we will have any of them so they may need to get a private contractor in. That may cause a hold up. Mrs Cloud did get her phones wired today so she is closer than ever.

We only worked a half day today. Immanuel Crystal Lake left about 2:30 or 3:00 today with a plan to drive to Memphis tonight and the rest of the way tomorrow. We wish them safe travels. We spent part of the afternoon riding the streetcars in downtown New Orleans. We got to see how "the other half lives". There were some beautiful houses down by St Charles Street and Tulane University. Then we toured the lower 9th ward again and saw the have nots. What a contrast!! We went to dinner at our new favorite place, came back and packed and now are all going to bed so we can get a very early start for tomorrow. We plan on pulling out of here at 4:45 AM with a stop at Cafe Dumont for breakfast. Nummy! The truck that is bringing our totes and bedding is almost all loaded already with the exception of the necessary stuff. We will pick it all up at Immanuel East Dundee between 1 & 2 Sunday.

Anyhow, I know I keep promising pictures and I really will but right now I have to get some sleep. When I get home I will go into detail and include pics including the Brad Pitt homes and a million shots of our home that a bunch of us who were strangers on Monday worked on as a family by the end of the assignment.

Pray for our safe return.

Peace and Love to all of you

Ginny and the rest of the gang down here! We love you and have missed you. We can't wait to see you.

SORRY I MISSED LAST NIGHT BUT I HAVE A SEMI-GOOD REASON

2009-01-15T21:38:00.003-06:00

Hi, all,

I had a hard time getting this computer to log on tonight. Sorry this is late. Last night I didn't blog because I had a real rough day. We started work at 8AM as usual and we really worked. We got the house mostly painted and the floors almost down. We worked until 6PM. We missed dinner so when I got back Pastor B insisted that they get me some food and off to Bourbon Sreet we went. I did get a shower before we left but that was about all. We had dinner at Pat O'Briens. I had crawfish ettoufee, red beans and rice and gumbo. I have had some wonderful food down here. For lunch yesterday I had a catfish po'boy. WOW! We discovered a new little restaurant in the area of our house - a real surprise. Loved it.... Anyhow - back to O'Briens - I had a hurricane and it was really good but not being a drinker it was almost more than I could handle. Wasn't drunk (especially by NOLA standards) but I was REAL tired. I was glad when we got back here so I could get some sleep. The French Quarter was very busy last night - a Wednesday night at that. Not my idea of a great time. I am glad we went but I don't want to do that again tomorrow night as we planned. We found this (to use an Illinois term) Sports Bar in Chalmette that was really neat so we are going there tomorrow for dinner with the whole Immanuel Team or at least those who want to go.

Today was back to Mrs Clouds where we finished the painting and the wood floors and the tile team came in and did that in the bathrooms, kitchens, and laundry rooms. She is so excited. She brought her grandson over who goes to the boys academy across the street and he was so surprised. He said to his grandma later - " it is so wonderful that all those white christians came down to help us and they did such a good job". When you get comments like that you remember why you are down here and why you deal with the aches from muscles you haven't used for many years, if ever. I am bone tired but it is a good tired. We have met some wonderful people. Many in Mrs Cloud's neighborhood have come over to introduce themselves. Most everyone who drives past while we are outside eating lunch or cutting flooring or doing anything else waves and smiles. Mrs Cloud walks through the house with tears in her eyes saying "oh my" with awe in her voice. She is a dear who has been living with her daughter for 3 plus years now. It is time to get that lady back to her home. It is getting there. The sad thing is that after tomorrow someone else will get to finish it or at least get it a bit closer. Tomorrow we install all her internal doors on her side and get started on the trim. The next crew will get to hang cabinets, finish the other side and do some outside work. Wish I had another week here. I would love to see the finished project.

We drove through the lower 9th ward today after work. They have come a long way. It has been cleaned up so much since last year and there are a few new homes there and some that escaped the floods have been rehabbed. There are still many foundations there without homes and there are still abandoned homes and abandoned lots. We saw the Brad Pitt homes too. I can't say I like them. They don't fit the New Orleans style - they are very ultramodern. I won't say too much because he is helping to get the rebuilding going and he is doing it in a very green way but I still don't know.... The homes that are being rebuilt are all being outfitted with a hatch in the roof in case this happens again. The sight of that is pretty disturbing to me.

Tomorrow we are only working until noonish and then back here for a pizza party and then devotions and after that a free afternoon. This is a real treat but we deserve it. We have worked on 14 homes this week and have made a dent in their "to do" list. We have drywalled, installed insulation, done tile and wood floors, hung cabinets and sanded lots of drywall and painted, painted, painted. We are a good crew. We even deep cleaned Camp Restore and helped out here. What a good feeling to get the kind of complements and verbal hugs like we have from the staff here. Anyhow think of the manhours we have donated to New Orleans and the people here 61 peopleX40 hours each. Then we donated $3200.00 in supplies and a full set of kitchen cabinets. The people of our congregations have been very generous in their donations and that is what we used to get things like the extra flooring for Mrs Cloud that she needed to finish the job. It is an interesting story of how she got on the Camp Restore list. She had hired a person to do her work and he bought the supplies with her money (the money from her insurance check). He then turned around and sold the supplies right out of her house just like a mini home depot. He then took off - never to be seen again. This is not a unique story here. Mrs Cloud had no where else to turn and Camp Restore took a look at her case and put her on the list.

I am going to bed now. I can't keep my eyes open any longer. I have pictures and will get them up here soon

Pray for us to have the strength to finish our jobs tomorrow and also pray for our safe travels home. We are all distressed to hear about your cold weather. As I type this my little weather bug on the top of my screen says Elgin is -14. We are sorry and very worried about you all. Stay Warm! We are praying for you.

Peace and Love to all

Ginny

Day two - OWIE,OWIE,OWIE!!

2009-01-13T16:40:00.002-06:00

I Hate painting! No, not realy - just a bit tired of it. We painted from 8 to 3. Can't tell you how much time I have spent with my arms over mhy head. Today I was a CUTTER - you know - edging. Yippee! Tomorrow they tell us that they will either be doing floors or splitting up and probably PAINTING! How unique! No, it is really necessary.

I will add some pictures on here but dinner is in 15 minutes so I am not sure how much I will get done. I hope to blog tonite but we may get out of here and go shopping for awhile. ust to get away for awhile.

Peace and love to all of you.

We are all safe and very very tired but feel that we are making some people here in New Orleans just a little more comfortable.

Ginny

p.s. hope to get back to you later tonite

DAY 1 AND AM I SORE!

2009-01-12T17:51:00.002-06:00

Whew, now I know I sit at a desk all day. Didn't know I had some of these muscles that I have that are hurting. Good exercise and better than a sleeping pill at bedtime.

OK the day started as normal - breakfast at 7 A.M. Now, I am a very early riser but I don't like to eat that early. I "suffered" and ate scrambled eggs and sausages. Glad I did, too, 'cause the rest of the day got a bit confusing.

First of all our house didn't have the required supplies yet so we hung around Camp Restore and deep cleaned. The place was a mess and one of our ladies took it upon herself to recruit some peeps to clean. So, while we were waiting for supplies we cleaned, moved bunk beds and sanitized anything that didn't move (and some things that did). About 10:30 we got a call that the supplies were on the way to our house so we all loaded up and found our place. It was in a real blighted area. The homeowner had been ripped off and was starting from scratch. He had had all of his supplies and tools and then someone broke in and stole everything - including pulling wires out of the wall. He now has a rotweiler. Anyhow, we had some cash and used some of it to get him drywall and cement board. The two rooms we were to drywall and tile were each no bigger than 4X4 and there were 8 of us. Our "advance team" guy came by and two of us were moved to another project. We went to Mrs Cloud's house on Hope Street. Isn't that perfect? Anyhow, Mrs Cloud has a double shotgun house (long and narrow with a kitchen/living room combo followed by a bedroom, followed by another bedroom). There is the exact duplicate on the other side that Mrs Cloud rents out. She was born in this house over 60 years ago and this is all she knows. The water was higher than her front door and to get to her front door you had to go up about 5 stairs to her front porch so you can tell it was very high. So, we drywalled, taped, patched, primed and painted. Tomorrow (if I am still on that team) we will finish painting and start on the ceramic floors and the laminate floors. Mrs Cloud has all of her materials so other than labor, she has paid for everything herself. Don't think she has that much left for labor and that is why we are here. I hope Dave (the other orphan) and I stay with this team. They are fun, work hard, and get along. No one seems to think they are any smarter or better than the next. We are young and old, boys and girls, skinny and not so, in good shape and not at all. A very diverse group to be sure.

So far the only embarrassing moments I have had was first when I asked this lady which church she went to and she said the same as mine. She also knew which pew was mine (for those of you who don't know, I'm very territorial about my church pew). Well, I surely had egg on my face! Then today I was walking into the bathroom to do some priming and tripped over absolutely nothing and fell face down on the floor. Worse yet, there were 3 young guys there who absolutely froze. I am sure that they thought they'd have to take the "old lady" to the hospital. The good thing was I didn't spill a drop of paint. I'm not going to tell them that my knee really hurts. Let's see what cute tricks I can do tomorrow to liven up the crowd.

O K - hate to go on about the weather here when you have blizzard warnings in Elgin but I just can't resist! We had upper 50's today and bright sunshine. We were outside eating lunch in shirt sleeves. The people who live here keep apologizing because it is so "cold". They look so cute in their jackets when we have tee shirts on. The grass here is very green and the yards around Hope Street need cutting. I'm sorry - the devil must have taken over my fingers and made me type that but it is beautiful. Next year you can all experience this kind of weather in January by coming with us. You will love it!

Everyone from Immanuel is doing well. Some of them have more energy than the 20 year olds. They have found out that there is something for everyone to do no matter what your age or experience.

Well, that is about all for now. We have bible study in a few minutes and I want to get ready, Hope I can stay awake. Not that bible study is boring but I am really really sleepy!!

Ya'all take care. Pray for us - tomorrow is going to be a tougher day. More than one of us will be moving a little more gingerly.

Peace and love to you all

Ginny and the rest of the Immanuel group.

p.s. Look for the pictures at the top of the page. Don't know what they'll be yet so we will be surprised together. Will post some right after I post this.

WE MADE IT!!! AND BOY, ARE WE TIRED!

2009-01-11T15:40:00.001-06:00

We made it - all of us are safe and sound. There were no problems on the road. Thank God for that.

After a pretty snowy start to the trip, we made it to about Kankakee and then there was just slush on the road and finally we had drizzle and dampish roads but really nothing to worry about.

We made it to Hernando around 4:30 or so. They fed us wonderful casseroles and home made dessert for dinner. We LOVED it. After dinner Pastor B held a short church service for us. It was nice to have a taste of home and to hear a familiar voice. We were up early this morning and had a quick breakfast on the run. To my GREAT dismay there were no grits - cheesy or other kind. The staff was told to make us breakfast like the Hebrews ate - on the run. DARN!

We got to Camp Restore around 12:30ish and got our lower bunks! That is a real joy. No climbing to that top bunk and face the fear of falling down as you are climbing up.

Camp Restore has really changed. It is staffed by all volunteers and it is a pig sty. I can't tell you how disappointing it is. There also were very strict rules last year that I see have changed this year - they seem to have been relaxed. It is nice that we have the whole place to our selves this year and have a smaller team. Last year we were over 100 and this year we are around 60. What a difference. The halls are much less crowded and less noisy.

A group of us went to lunch and had cajun food this afternoon - Muflattas (YUM) catfish po'boys and all of that kind of stuff - complete experiencing of the New Orleans lifestyle right off the bat.

We drove past some of the areas that were in a terrible state last year and there has been some progress. I am sure that we will see much more tomorrow and can tell you more about the progress that has been made. We still are seeing FEMA trailers all over the place. Not as many as before but still too many.

I have pictures and will download them either later tonight or tomorrow of some of the sights on the way down but I will tell you that we have SUN and green grass .

We will have dinner in about an hour and then a bible study and a church service. Right now I need a shower - real bad.

So, if you all will excuse me, I am going to take my shower so my tablemates will be able to stand me.

All take care. Pray for us as we go out on our assignments tomorrow and pray for those of us who will stay behind to clean this place. It needs us as much as the residents of New Orleans do - maybe more.

Peace and love to all -

Ginny

Gotta get to bed

2009-01-09T21:28:00.002-06:00

I've been messing around trying to post pictures and as you can see I figured it out. Yahoo!! Now I have to pack up this computer and get myself to bed. 4 AM is going to come real early!! Next time I write we should be in New Orleans. We got the truck packed this evening (well, I was there for awhile and there was still a LOT to do when I left but they had a good start) and it looks like we will be ready to leave at 6AM as planned. Hope the snow stops and the weathher clears up. Wish us good travels.

Nighty Night!!

Peace to all

Ginny

The Day Before The Day Before....

2009-01-08T19:59:00.002-06:00

Getting things ready to go - praying for no snow on Saturday morning but from what I heard today it sounds like we may have some. OH - if it's gotta snow let's hope it stays North! Checked the New Orleans (NOLA) weather and it is going to be a high of 60 during the day and a low of 40 at night. Rain on the last day we will be there but the rest sunny (remember the sun - that bright shiny thing up in the sky?). Got things at work about buttoned up - I am indispensable you know...not really. Just like I feel I need to clean my closets at home before I go on vacation in case something happens (don't want to be remembered as the girl with the dirty closets) I like to get my work "closets" clean before I leave. I don't want any panic calls.

We will be dropping our stuff off at Immanuel Friday between 6 & 8 PM so they can load the truck. We will all be coming at different times but if you want to drop by and say HI and Good Travels, please feel free.

The men's club has offered to serve us breakfast Saturday morning at 5:30. That is so nice and so welcomed! Especially because it's soooooo early. We leave at 6 AM. Our first stop is at Hernando Mississippi. We sleep on the floor in the United Methodist Church school. Ya'all thought this was going to be a glamorous trip - didn't you? The highlight comes on Sunday morning and the cheesy grits. Even if you don't like grits I guarantee you will love these. No matter what - we eat well during these missions even though we have brown bag lunches - that we pack ourselves - at the work sites.

In case anyone is worried about our souls. Pastor B is having a small Saturday night service in Hernando. And there will be another service Sunday evening when we get to Camp Restore.

We are sad to be missing the Immanuel Cantada so save some DVD's and CD's for us. I know you all will be in great voice. We will be there for you in spirit.

Well, I think I will go clean a closet or repack my stuff (again) or just veg with a wild game of spider solitaire. If everyone is as excited as I am to get this adventure started, sleep will be hard to come by for us. Lots and lots to do and think about before we push off Saturday.

Love and Peace to all of you.

Keep us in your hearts and prayers.

Ginny

New Orleans Update

2009-01-08T19:42:00.002-06:00

This is the week before the Gulf Coast trip and there is still more to do. I am backed but am sure I have forgotten something. I always worry about not having something but I still over pack.

I am riding again with the Baerwolfs. The ride with them is almost the highlight of the trip. What a fun group of people. I laugh A LOT!

I have been put on a landscaping team. Those of you who know me know that this must be God's little joke or a very good lesson in patience because I HATE landscaping and anything to do with outside work. I will be patient and ENJOY what I am doing but this may turn out to be a great lesson in following HIS direction. I am secretly asking for rain so we can paint or even sand drywall. Bet you can see now how much I hate landscaping if I would rather sand drywall! My hubby is getting quite a laugh out of my assigned job. He's been asking me to help outside for 20 years now and I have refused. Hope he doesn't think this will suddenly make me join the Curb Appeal people on HGT. But I think he'd pay big bucks for a video of me pulling weeds, planting shrubs. digging holes or mowing lawns. Gee I hope it rains!

Just to warn you, I plan to update this blog throughout the trip. You will be getting further updates as we go along as long as the blisters on my hands from LANDSCAPING don't get in the way. Will try to not bore you but hope to share the "magic" of the trip and how it affects us all here.

Pray for us that we make it there and back safely and that we have the energy to complete our tasks and that we remember that we are there to help rebuild homes but more importantly to spread the word and love of Jesus.

Peace to all

Ginny