Presbyterian Hurricane Ike Recovery
Texas City Update
What an amazing, bittersweet day. We are making such incredible progress on this house which only a few weeks ago was a rotted, termite-infested, storm battered mess. The last sheets of drywall were hung in the new room, and Henry and his apprentice mudders (Jen, Sue, and Lisa) jumped right in and almost finished the first coat. They have done an awesome job of getting the walls of the whole house ready for paint. Bruce has been working on the electrical connections and battling with Lowe’s to make sure we have usable materials with which to work, and Marlyn and Linda are keeping us well fed- and then some! After fastening the last drywall screw, John, Peggy, and I got to work on the siding and we stand a good chance of finishing tomorrow before we have to say goodbye to Mahn and his beautiful family. The personal satisfaction I was drawing from our accomplishments was rather starkly brought back to reality when Mahn emerged from his greenhouse with the news that his entire crop of water spinach had been killed in last night’s frost. He did not ever lose his smile, but it was obviously a big disappointment and will take weeks to recover.
His daughter Lynda explained that they would take clippings from neighbors’ crops to re-grow theirs. This community very clearly looks out for each other in ways that I’m not sure would happen in our fast-paced, goal-oriented communities in New Jersey.
Today we were blessed to have met Mahn’s wife, who although she never said a word, spoke volumes. She came and gave us all a hug and stood shivering in the cold as we presented the family with their quilt. After Marlyn explained about the quilt and prayed, and pictures were taken, she hugged everyone again. Then, she started for a third round of hugs, this time with tears streaming down her face and holding on longer and tighter to each of us communicating her thanks in the most genuine way she could. The tears seemed to be contagious (or maybe the air was extra dusty) because we were all wiping our eyes as we went back to work for the rest of the day. It is one of God’s special gifts that all of the well crafted words we use to try and convey thanks can’t even come close to the pure, heart-felt emotion of a simple embrace from a frail woman who may never even know our names, but knows that we are here for her because God called us.
We reflected on the ride home today about all of the work that we won’t be able to finish this week, but then reminded ourselves of what was done before we got here, and how another group will pick up where we leave off, and comforted ourselves with the knowledge that we are only a small part of God’s plan for this family.
Yours in Christ,
Dirk Beisner