Merry Christmas

Our Christmas Gift

This year Billy and I decided that instead of buying individual gifts for our family and friends that we would use that money to provide clean drinking water for a village in Bihar, India.

Our prayer is that this gift will not only help meet their physical needs but also their spiritual needs through hearing about the living waters of our savior Jesus Christ for their thirsty souls.

You can read more about this project on the NC Baptist Men web site here:  NCBM India Well Project

Where have we been so long?

It's been a long time since I posted after coming home from Texas.  Since then Billy has made two quick trips back to Texas to bring equipment home and move some to another Texas town.We dressed up as JoJo and Mr. Scarecrow for our Sunday School Fall Party. I went with Mickey Mouse and Wonderwoman to the Fall Festival at church.  Billy was in Texas. My mother went as the Tooth Fairy. On November 8th our children gave us a party to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. Our son-in-law, Brandon, made this beautiful cake.Kim, Brandon, Amy, Josh, Matt & Tanya

Then Billy and I spent a week at North Myrtle Beach just relaxing and enjoying being together. I did not take a single picture.

On Saturday morning, while we were still at the beach, we learned about the tornados that struck in NC (and not too far from home).  Of course Billy was anxious to get home to see what he could do to help out. So on Sunday and Monday he went with a group of Baptist Men to do chainsaw work. Do you see those blooming trees in the background?  Looks like Spring doesn't it? It's cotton.

Home Again, Home Again Jiggety-jog

Remember that Mother Goose rhyme?

To market, to market, to buy a fat pig;
   Home again, home again, dancing a jig.
To market, to market, to buy a fat hog;
   Home again, home again, jiggety-jog.

I had good flights home today.  Kim picked me up at the airport and we got here about 2:30.  Then Billy came in at 4:30.  We ate supper and were both so tired and sleepy we were in bed by 7:30.

It is good to be home again.

Ride to Oak Island

Billy headed back toward home this morning.  He is pulling Kitchen Two. I will be flying home tomorrow.Today I had the privilege to ride with the Red Cross on one of their ERV runs.  Those are the vehicles that take the food that the Baptist Men cook out to the surrounding areas.  I rode to Oak Island with two very nice ladies.  Pat from Iowa and Cindy from Washington.We went to Oak Island Baptist Church which got about 10 feed of water during Hurricane Ike.  There were crews there doing a mud out. Someone was giving away non-perishable food and clothing. Even though these people from Amelia Baptist Church in Beaumont, Tx. were cooking hotdogs and hamburgers we gave away most of the food we had. There are alot of Vietnamese fishermen living in this community.Then we took a ride around the neighborhood to see if anyone needed a meal. Things looked pretty bad. But they have won.

After we got back Pat and Cindy with Red Cross took me, Janice and Betsy out to eat at Rooster's.  I had ribs.   It was very good and we had a good time.

New Arrivals

Last night I had a special treat and was able to go out to eat.  We went out to Baytown Seafood.  I had the grilled seafood which was red snapper, shrimp and scallops served over rice pilaf and grilled veggies.  It was delicious.

Today was another busy day.  I had to finish the airport pick up schedule for the new team coming in.  We managed to get everyone picked up, registered and in rooms. 

We have two new admin people so tomorrow I get to do something I have never done before.  I'll tell more about it tomorrow.  I just hope I don't forget to take pictures.

This is First Baptist Baytown where we are staying. Janice, Angie, Me & Jo This is part of our office. (Me, Jo & Betsy)

Billy leaves tomorrow (Saturday) morning pulling Unit 2 back to NC.  Please keep him in your prayers for safe travel.

Busy Days

Each day that starts I think that I only have a few jobs to do but it seems to take all day to get them done.  Today I have been working on the schedule for picking up the new teams at the airport coming in on Friday. Tomorrow will be finding them places to sleep and making arrangements to get the departing team transportation to the airport on Sunday.  In between we deal with the walk-ins that come to get the free blue tarps, take applications for recovery assistance and assist volunteers with any problems and questions they might have.  So it always ends up being a busy day. Here I am in the office at the feeding site with Mike, Peggy, Angie & Jo.  This is not where I work.  I work at the church. You never see Billy with a hat on.  Billy has been doing assessments this week.

Sunday, A Day of Rest?

No, today was the day I really started to work.  The old Admin team had 8 members and 4 of them left today.  Jo, Janice and myself are their replacements.  That would not be so bad except the other 4 are leaving Tuesday morning.  My main job is lodging.  That means when new teams (feeding or recovery) come in I get them registered and tell them where to sleep.  Believe me, it's not as easy as it seems.On the left is Betsy who helps her husband with recovery and on the right is Janice. Working on registering new volunteers on Friday is Jo, Sharon and the other Ann.

Here are a few pictures Billy took before I got here. Well I guess someone else took this one of Billy doing roof repairs. Knowing Eddie I would guess that he is witnessing to this homeowner. Ronnie doing one of his favorite jobs. He must have worked very hard. Eddie and Billy putting tarps on a roof. Ronnie is rested and back at work.

Late yesterday afternoon Billy & I went for a ride to see some of the places he has been working. This house in the same neighborhood had a nice waterview even from the back.We drove over this bridge....just as the sun set.  Those light are not a town but a refinery.

A long Day

After staying up until 1 last night (this morning) I got up at 6  to check my email to see if my flight info had come in.  The awaited for email did not come in until 9:30 and my flight was leaving at 12:07.  I went by my son, Matt's house, left my car there and he took me to the airport, arriving in plenty of time.

Janice Johnson was on the same flight and we ended up with 8 of us by the time we landed at 3 something in Houston.  We rented two mid size cars provided by the ARC and had a time getting everyone's luggage in them.  Had to put two bags on the top.

I think Billy was happy to see me.  Hopefully I have some pictures tomorrow when I get the camera back from him.

Heading Back to Texas

Billy, along with Ronnie, & Eddie left on Monday morning driving back to Baytown,Texas to do recovery work.  They report that they are working very hard.

I agreed to go back on Friday to do Admin.  I will be flying, courtesy of the Red Cross.  It is now 12:12 am Friday morning and I have not received my flight information I was hoping to get before I went to sleep.  I guess I will give up now and go to bed.  Hopefully I will get word soon enough in the morning to be able to get to the airport on time.

I have received two emails from Gaylon, the Baptist Men Disaster Relief Director, asking us to please be patient.

Yes, We are at Home

We left Baytown, TX at 3 pm CST on Saturday and arrived home at 11 am EST on Sunday.  That was a 19 hour drive with very little stopping.  Our friend JD did alot of the driving. Me and Billy went straight to bed once we got home, even before unpacking the truck.

Here I am with Iva, Vickie, Violet & Eloise, friends of mine that arrived on Friday night. This is one of the last pictures I took before heading home.  This shows all three feeding units.

Baytown, TX

On Sunday afternoon we started our move to Baytown, TX.  It is very near Houston.  We arrived on site Monday morning.  The town of Baytown did not get alot of damage but is mostly without power.We have 3 different NCBM feeding units on this site.  This is the first time I have seen Red Cross and NCBM working side by side on the serving line. People can walk up to get food.... or they can drive up. This lady from Denver, NC cooked porkchops all day right outside my office.  They smelled so good.

Billy is doing maintenance and I am  doing administration.  We both have been working very hard.  I have been too tired at night to do any blogging.

Hurricane Ike

Billy & I left home Thursday night and headed for Houma, Louisiana.  We stopped in Lugoff, SC and spent the night.  Friday morning we were redirected to Camp Living Waters near Hammond, LA. were the NC team was being evacuated. We arrived at 6:30 and just in time for supper.  After a good nights rest we went on down to Houma to retrieve these two bladder tanks that did not get moved Friday. We saw some flooding on the way down and back. Lots of water everywhere but the road was high and dry.We had some tire trouble on the trailer on the way back but got back in time for supper.  The unofficial word is that we are going to Texas but haven't heard where in Texas.

A Little Sewing Project

My Aunt Barbara Jo called today and said she had a little sewing project she wanted to do.  Of course I have plenty of fabric so I told her to come on over and see what she could find.  She wanted to make Ditty Bags for the Anchor House Mission in Pametto, FL.  One thing you need to know is that my aunt knows how to get people to do things. I sewed the bags.... and she pressed.  We made 8 bags in about 30 minutes. Then I gave her some more fabric and she went over to my neighbor, Violet's house and they made 8 more bags. This is what they look like.

If you would like to made some to send to the mission go to their website and click on Ditty Bag Program.  Barbara Jo plans to send some Walmart gift cards to purchase goodies to go in the bags.

Here is what else has been going on.

Me and my mother Mildred have been volunteering at Faith Christian Ministries.  Here Mildred, Tony and Brenda sort clothes in preparation for the bag sale coming up.  This has turned out to be a great place to volunteer (good fringe benefits, if you know what I mean, all you thrift shopaholics) We were scheduled to go to MS on Labor Day for Hurricane Gustav but the Baptist Men decided they needed Billy here more.  He has been on the phone a lot, worked on Baptist Men equipment and carried and set up this shower unit in Clinton in preparation for Hurricane Hanna, which fortunately wasn't needed. My quilt bee, Rachel's Remants, is having a quilt showing at Via Cappuccino in Rocky Mount.  Last Thursday night we had a opening reception.  That blue and yellow star quilt is one of mine.  The lovely ladies are Linda, Ramona and Maryann.

NEWS FLASH

Some time tomorrow afternoon we will be heading to Houma, LA to help with the feeding/recovery efforts there.  We will be gone about one week. Check back daily for updates.