It's HOT.

It's HOT. I mean REALLY HOT !

All my Airstream friends are at the International Rally in Perry, GA. Through Feb, Mar and Apr I kept telling them, over and over that the main reason I would not be attending was because, "Why would ANYONE be stupid enough to go to mid-GA in JULY ?"

I'm hearing from some of them. "Is it hot in MS ?" But so far, the temperatures have been about the same here as they are in Perry. 90 or 92 during the day and 70 at night.

I took a short walk on the beach Saturday with a new friend. The "ocean breeze" that everyone here tells us makes all the difference only seemed to be coming from a small blast furnace. But coming home on the bike last night was chilly. Almost.

I'm up and out early this morning to make a Sam's run. Then I'm going to Ocean Springs to work with Camp Noah It's a faith based week long day camp for Katrina survivors K-6th grade sponsored by the Lutheran Social Services Disaster Response Team. It's about 45 minutes on the bike but next week it'll be in Long Beach which is only about 10 minutes away.

So it seems I'll be working with little ones again. I've come to realize how spoiled I am. The volunteers here get true joy from having helped rebuild someone's house. But, just as I don't think they really LOVE hanging dry wall, I don't LOVE shopping at Sam's or preparing vegetables in a hot kitchen. The joy is in having done it, not in the doing. But I get SO MUCH just being with these kids.

I'm reading "Ordinary Saints", "An Introduction to the Christian Life." by Dr. Robert Benne, from Salem's Roanoke College. He quotes Frederick Bueckner, "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."

Here I am, serving by helping these kids work through their losses and fears. And I can see that I am making a difference. But as a friend who hadn't read the blog for a while said last week after catching up, "That man is having WAY TOO MUCH FUN."

Yup. Sure am.

Update from Lizana

Well, another week and I'm still in Lizana, MS at St Ann's Catholic Church. Due to a paperwork glitch at the kid's camp, I've not been there for two weeks but things have been hectic enough here at Camp Hope that I don't know how I'd have done both anyway.

Last Sunday a group of teenagers arrived from Westover Church in Greensboro, NC. There are 173 of them and they're with us for a week. Y'all know how much I LOVE working with little kids. But, boy, this group may expand my horizons.

I have never seen so many faith-filled, service oriented, willing to work, HAPPY kids in one place in my life. I told one of the leaders, "I can't tease your kids at all. At least 10 times when someone has walked past me with cake, drink, ice cream, whatever, I've stuck my hand out and said, 'Oh, did you get that for me?' Every single time, they've immediately handed it to me with a smile and said, 'Sure.' and went back to get another one for themselves. I've almost had to ARGUE with them to convince them 'It was a JOKE. I don't want your drink. REALLY ! Please take it back.' "

They're living in tents, working in incredible heat. Without their electronic toys, computers or even hair dryers. Some are building but many are still tearing down or cleaning drainage ditches. One crew stays here doing early and late kitchen duty. And cleaning all the bathrooms and showers and common areas.

Everyone has shorter work days than the other groups that have been here because they have meditation, church services and discussion groups every day. I'll report on those later. I haven't fit those into my schedule yet but I'm definitely going to attend at least one.

They sure can EAT ! The Sam's runs are staggering. Memories for me - the Camp vehicle is a Chevy full sized station wagon, just like the Oldsmobile we had for years. Except it's a donated ex-police vehicle so it's got a BIG Corvette engine in it. Not that that makes any difference to the way I drive it, of course. About $850. every two days to keep up with eggs, milk, juice and snacks. Plus I've received deliveries from two Food Service semis so far this week. Tonight we fry 75 pounds of Catfish, hush puppies, corn nuggets, and french fries. Add 30 lbs of Cole Slaw, another 20 of baked beans, a HUGE banana pudding and you've got a meal for almost 200 people.

It's such a Blessing to be around this group. One of their kitchen staff co-manages their Sunday School for the pre-K through 5th grade. I asked how many? She said, "We have 400 registered. But usually ONLY 280 - 300 or so show up on any given Sunday morning." If they're responsible for turning them into these teenagers, it's a very successful program.

So, here I am, NOT doing at all what I came here for, still feeling incredibly Blessed to be able to help make things a little more enjoyable for people who have given up a week of their busy lives to help others rebuild their lives.

Life is Good !