We did get out earlier today and most certainly worked much harder than yesterday. We fell a number of trees and by my estimate, we must have moved more than 10,000 pounds of trees (mostly pine). The whole team worked hard and well.
On another note, between jobs I mentioned that I had the most irritating song going through my mind, a song implanted by Kole and Luke, it goes “Head and shoulders, knees and toes.” The other adults agreed with my assessment but thought I was lacking something spiritual. So of course, Tyler had to share that the song going through his mind was “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” (which we then recited). Evidently I am having a hard time concentrating on spiritual things.
One of the more exciting moments was when we fell a huge pine tree. We had been warning the team to keep and eye on it as it was large and would seriously hurt anyone in its path. Well, as it turned out, Tyler was in the path. And if any of you think that he can’t run fast, YOU’RE WRONG! I have never seen the big guy run so fast. He was in no real danger, but did trip on his way out.
At another location, Tyler and I had the responsibility to pull on the rope to guide another pine tree away from the house. What was supposed to happen is that once we knew the tree was coming toward us (a frightening thought!) we were to run for our lives. Eddie Exposito and his brother were cutting the tree when it started to lean our direction. Before I knew it, Tyler, who must have been damaged by his previous experience, was already in the neighbor’s yard yelling at me to get out of the way. The only problem was, the tree wasn’t going anywhere. Oh, well, better to err on the side of caution (or as Nanci Lea’s mother would say, “Better to be a live chicken than a dead duck!). We did fell the tree without incident.
By way of encouragement, we must give thanks to the Samuelsons for the use of their vehicle. It has been comfortable and I do believe that we put the U part of SUV into function. It was a utility vehicle. So, thank you Samuelsons.
Tyler taught us the use of code words on this trip. When we left Arkansas, it was comfortable temperature wise. As we went further south, it got a bit more humid. At one point, Tyler blurted out, “It’s burning up in here! Isn’t everyone burning up?” (meaning that he was hot). Well, of course we accommodated our brother and turned on the air conditioning. A few minutes later Tyler was heard saying, “The freezer door is open” (meaning that he was cold). So, for the rest of the trip we referred to being hot as “It’s burning up in here” and the need for the AC as “Open the freezer door!”
On the spiritual side, we did start the day reading Psalm 16 and encouraging one another with thoughts from the text followed by prayer for the day (and all of you).
Psalm 16:1
Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You.
Psalm 16:11
You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
Well, we are very tired and so, it is off to bed. We are very ready to come home and be with our loved ones and church family. God Bless!
Soli Deo Gloria,
Pastor Ed
1 comment:
I was reading in Isaiah Chapter 35 this morning. Verse 3 said to "Encourage the exhausted..." Those pictures display your hard work (I think all that sweat gives it away) and to me, an image of exhaustion at the end of the day. But yet, your smiles display your joy in this work for Him. It is a joy and honor to pray for you all as you work for the Lord. Ephesians 2:10 says "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." God's sovereignty continually brings this since of awe to me. In reading this scripture, God knew you would be doing this work. He gave you the heart for it. He prepared it for you. He knew the hurricane would destroy Louisiana. And He knew that this disaster would be used in many ways to display His glory.
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