Digging Out

As we try to understand the recent devastation that the massive storms brought to the Southeastern States, we look at how it has effected us both mentally and spirtually. I have watched many hours of news coverage and seen the footage that was shot from aircraft, this massive destruction is almost impossible for me to wrap my mind around. There are some people that have lost all their worldly possessions and the lives of loved ones, and some that have no place to go  after the dust has settled, yet through this ,they are praising the Lord. Then on the darker side, we see the low life sub-human groups that are taking advantage of the misery of these , looting and pillageing, which takes away from the first responders to have to protect property when they could be helping the victims. Seeing this was getting me very down, but I received a call from my church asking for anyone that was able to meet at the church to volunteer in the relief effort. Well , I put on my old grubbies,grabbed my chainsaw and took off, not fully knowing what to expect. The people just kept pulling into the lot, about fifty in all, male and female, young and old (like me) ,but all ready and willing to do what ever they could to help.

The pastor lead us in prayer before we departed and away we went, then came a wonderful surprise. The first place we came to actually sent our group away because they had too many people there already, can you believe there were too many volunteers ? We had to take alternate routes to get to our second place ,and were told that others needed help more than he did. Now understand, he had trees down everywhere, his chimney torn off the house, power lines down, buildings destoyed, and he wanted us to go help his neighbors that he was worried about( God Bless this man). We decided to divide up the group and some stay and help , and the others to go to the neighbors house. I have got to say, my outlook on human kindness and selflessness has taken a whole new leap forward ! We had a great time, working , laughing, sweating, and crying, yes there were many times that I was brought to tears. There were sad tears for the loss of so many, and tears of joy for all the kindness that was so abundant. I thank the Lord for the opportunity to help just a little, and I also thank him for the lesson that he gave me, I will never forget !!