Billy

On that first day of digging in the dirt, it was clear who was in charge at this work site. Billy was clearly the one making decisions, and Ralph was glad to do whatever was necessary to build this house.

But the first time I rode back to the church with Billy, I realized that he wasn't a member of the church we were working with. He was another one of the tireless retirees who were called by God to help out in Mississippi. In fact, immediately after Katrina, he had given 2 ½ years of his life to this region and the city. He lives just south of Meridian, but he and his wife loaded up their Class C RV and parked it at the church. He worked so many hours for so long that he had to give it up for a time. He had worked 6 and 7 days a week for those 30 months, and it was taking a toll on his health.

Prior to Katrina, Billy had had a heart attack and had bypass surgery. Within 4 weeks of his surgery, his wife was calling the surgeon to find out if it was okay for Billy to be doing construction again. The doctor asked, "does he want to?" His wife said he did, and the doctor's reply was that it was the best thing for his health. Billy is 76 years old now and attributes his good mental and physical health to the fact that he's remained active for so long.

Billy has also been a missionary in Japan rebuilding churches. When he retired from the workforce, he had worked through a great deal of effort to become a full-time missionary until the organization laughed him away because he was 65 years old at the time. But rather than spend the rest of his life discouraged, Billy has remained faithful to what God has called him to.

The church has a great deal to thank Billy for. He was personally responsible for much of the portion of the church that was rebuilt. He personally did the wiring and architecture, and much of his time and effort were poured into that church. And the region has much to thank Billy for since the church has served as a center of operations for the area.

But Billy, like Ralph, doesn't crave the admiration of men. He's happy to be pleasing his God, who is the real reason for him to want to do the work. He's thankful for the work a carpenter in Nazareth did for him so long ago, which is why he's a carpenter for that Nazarene now. I'm so happy to have met men like Billy.

Ralph

On the first day of work in Mississippi, the church administrator, who had become the Katrina Relief Administrator took us to a couple of the homes we would be working on during the week. The administrator kept talking about the work that needed to be done, most of which would require some degree of skill. I mentioned that I have no skill, so I ended up getting sent to a property that they were building from scratch to help dig footings for a slab.

While I was there, I was working with a gentleman named Ralph. He seemed to be a long-term sort of guy, possibly a member of the church. I was just doing what I was told, so didn't spend a lot of time getting into a conversation with him that morning.

Until he got a phone call.

At one point during the morning I was holding buttresses in place while Ralph nailed them to stakes that had been driven into the ground. But Ralph got a phone call, and I couldn't help but overhear the conversation. Ralph's end of the conversations was filled with "oooh kayyys" and "soohhhs". But not a single "ya; knoooww?". So when he got off the call, I just had to ask what part of the Midwest Ralph was from.

He was originally from Ohio, near Toledo. When he graduated from a Bible high school in Atlanta, he was doing construction work back home when a friend asked him if he wanted to go to a county fair in Michigan with he and the girl he was dating. Ralph didn't want to feel like a third wheel, so the friend got him set up with a blind date. A month after the blind date, Ralph had bought Ruby an engagement ring, and a year later they were married. They've been married 53 years now.

It turns out that Ralph and Ruby are some of "those" people Mrs. At Home had told me about. They were people whom God had told to go to Mississippi to help out after Katrina, and they just haven't left yet. They've been in Biloxi for about 2 ½ years now. They had done the typical American retirement where you drive around the country seeing all the beautiful places, but they've now "unretired" and are working in Biloxi with the rebuild effort.

I have so much admiration for folks who value doing His work more than they value their own comfortable retirement. And I have a lot of admiration for Ralph and his life experience. The time of work was good work, but during the morning work and afternoon work, I couldn't wait until quitting time so I could ride back to the church with Ralph or Billy and hear their stories - how they got there, what God has done through them in those places, how God got them there, or just to hear their great stories of growing up and maturing in wisdom.

Samaria

He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." - Acts 1:7-8

This week, I'm in Samaria. Not literally, but in Mississppi. In Biloxi, actually. Where Katrina did all the damage you didn't hear about. Yeah - that Katrina. The one three years ago. Biloxi is still trying to recover.

The church here has been running recovery all over the city since right after the storm. The church itself had been flooded by five feet of water, and they managed to recover pretty quickly and then the church became a center of operations to help the remainder of the city recover. The church we go to has had a partnership with this one for quite some time, but we never made time to come here. This year, there was a trip for families to go and help the recovery effort.

Even after only one day of work, I have so many stories to tell. I got to work with Ralph and Billy today, and just the stores of how they got here are amazing enough. This storm is full of stories, and I'm so happy that we decided to come here, because I want for all of us to have stories like those of our own. And I want to keep hearing all the other great stories.

So I will do my best when I have time this week to post some of those stories. You won't want to miss them. But my biggest hope is that you might be motivated to help wherever Samaria is - Iowa, Galveston, California, or even Burma.

A Bubba Story

I have a friend whose nickname is Bubba. And by all the things he works himself into, he's earned the title. He's just a great guy to get to know, but many of his stories sound like he's telling a joke, and you're just waiting for the punchline. Only the punchline never comes. Because it really happened. Here's an example from today:

I love living in Lowell!

True Story - I'm driving back home from our all-hand meeting in Charlotte - and running low on gas. When I get off 85 I see the first gas station has gas! Whoot! So I pull in behind this big F350 at the pump.

Well, I sit there a bit, I can see the nozzle in the truck, and figure the driver is in the store. I get a chaw of tobaccy and sit there a bit longer.

Eventually, I decide this is taking too long, but the dang lot is filled up, and I got a line behind me and to both sides and can't move - so I get out and go in to see if we can get stuff moving again.

I go into the counter and the lady what runs the place meets me at the door and says, "I know, he's been sitting in here with his friends eating lunch and say's he'll move it when he's done. I called the sherriff and he oughta be here soon."

I asked her, "Which one is he?"

She says, "The big one."

So I go saunterin' into the back of the store where they got the picnic tables and sure enough, there ain't no question about which one is the big one. Cornfed country boy! I mean, that boy looked like a Brahma Bull personified, musta been like 6.5' tall too! Sittin' and eating a samich with about 6 other guys - all of 'em in there
mid-twenties I suspect.

I walked up and said, "Excuse me, reckon that's your truck out there slowing things down?"

He stood up, looked down at me, and said, "Yea grandpa. It is. Wanna fight about it?"

I said, "Sure. Inside or outside?"

He asks, "Are you serious?" (Friends laughing)
I said, "Well, I was raised in a trailer park in Misipi. Spent two years in the Army and ten in the US Navy, three of which I served as a drill instructure. On top of that, I got five kids and everyone of them woke up in a bad mood this morning, which didn't help mine. So, I'm betting I know something you don't know. Not that I can benchpress more than you. Beside which, yer daddy ain't here to beat yer butt for disrepecting your elders, and I reckon he'll appreciate me doin' for him."

He said (with a skeered look on his face), "You know my daddy?"

I said, "I told ya I know something you don't know."

He said, "Excuse me sir. I appologize, I thought I'd just have a little fun with ya, um...I'll go move the truck right now .. and, um ... I didn't mean nuthin' by the grandpa statement ... I got nothing but respect for my elders and veterans. Please don't mention this to my pa, I'm real sorry."

He left to move the truck (which he pulled outa the parking lot and didn't come back) and the little lady walked over and asked me, "Do you really know his daddy?"

I said, "No ma'am, don't have a clue who he is."

His friends was rolling on the floor laughing, and I got a free tank of gas out of the deal!

You just don't meet better people than Bubba and his running buddies and all their family. Good to see Bubba get a free tank of gas. And I bet you don't believe the story. If you knew Bubba, you'd know it was all true.