Community

This will be short--it's late and it's cold. We are concerned that it might get down to freezing tonight so Ken S. was turning on the water faucets--hopefully that will help as the pipes are all exposed and not insulated. Who knew it got that cold in Mississippi, this far south. I do want to let all of you know that we think of you often and love hearing from you. So our love goes out to all our family and friends.

The groups went to several homes today and worked together, assessed the needs of what still needs to be done. I ended up staying in camp as we finally got the right tent delivered. After breakfast we all tore down the existing mess tent that, while it had a lot of character and a certain charm, it wasn't very weather proof. After the new tent was put up, Lori had to go to a meeting so I stayed to spread the wood chips inside. When most of the group came back, everything had to be put back together before dinner.

After dinner when it was time for devotions, we were a small group. Tom and Mitch had gone to buy supplies for tomorrow; Ken L. was working on the "dragon" (the heater) so they can be warmer tonight than they were last night. Lori asked us to share, if we wanted, about our families, our work, our outside work activities, and our involvement in our church. As I sat listening to everyone's story--and it turns out we are a very diverse group and can be quite chatty--I realized that something magical has happened this week with this particular group of people from Washington, California, and North Carolina/New York. We are here to help a community of people and we have become our own community. We plan to share email addresses so we can stay in touch and I hope that we are able to do that. It reminded me of the time we spent in 40 Days of Community and I realize that community comes in all shapes and sizes and places.

Love to you all. God bless you.

Pat