And I cried like a baby
Today, we hit the work site ready to conquer the world! We had trimmed work teams in 4 separate locations. Team one (Kirk, Paul W and Sammy) would be tackling flooring in project #2. Team two (Paul D, Mike and Kelly) would be moving on from electrical on project #4 to fixing what a crooked contractor had left a home owner in project #6. Team three (Joan, Mary, Cerela, Connie and Reagan) were heading to project #7 for sanding, priming and painting. That left us (Kraig, Tyce, Dirk, Mallory and I) on project #4 finishing drywall, mudding and taping. And we were ready and driven!!!
It didn't take long for the wheels to fall off that bus. Our homeowner came to check in on us. She wanted to make sure we had everything we needed (she is extremely kind and caring) and we could tell something was wrong. We asked if she was okay, and the floodgates opened. She and I talked at length about the stress she is under and her extended family who is refusing to help. It broke my heart to see her cry! She has been so kind to all of us.
Harriet is a mother that loves her family. She lost her mother at the age of 12 and at age 19 became the primary care giver for her disabled father and stepmother. She is the glue that holds the family together. So to see her cry truly tore my heart in half. It seems that her siblings (she is number 5 of 6 children) had promised to help her family get their house back in livable condition so she could move them back into the house, but last night that all fell apart.
If you know anything about disaster relief and the chaos that ensues after, you know that insurance companies are slow to pay, FEMA offers very little assistance, and contractors often require 100% payment before work can begin (and they don't always finish the work, just ask team two). Harriet has been paying rent for a place to live while the work on the house is done, utilities on both properties and a mortgage on the house she cannot live in. In top of that, her husbands hours have been cut in half since the storm and her job is basically nonexistent (she is a real estate agent). Life is hard!! Now, the siblings are arguing over who should help financially and refusing to help at all physically. It is tearing Harriet apart in the process.
All I could do is reach out and give her a hug. Such a silly gesture, but at that moment it was all I knew. I listened and offered what very little I could
We wrapped the night with devotions, as always. Harriet was on my mind. Her sad eyes desperate to find peace for her family and I could offer her nothing. I cried like a baby. In times like these I feel so totally inadequate. If you brought me here Lord to remind me how small I am in this great big world, it worked. I want so much to serve and to follow but I don't know how. I want to offer this dear woman comfort and all I have is a hug and some drywall.
I wish I could end this post on a positive note but I am spent. So I will cry myself to sleep wishing I had more to offer and praying that God will provide what Harriet needs most... Peace.
It didn't take long for the wheels to fall off that bus. Our homeowner came to check in on us. She wanted to make sure we had everything we needed (she is extremely kind and caring) and we could tell something was wrong. We asked if she was okay, and the floodgates opened. She and I talked at length about the stress she is under and her extended family who is refusing to help. It broke my heart to see her cry! She has been so kind to all of us.
Harriet is a mother that loves her family. She lost her mother at the age of 12 and at age 19 became the primary care giver for her disabled father and stepmother. She is the glue that holds the family together. So to see her cry truly tore my heart in half. It seems that her siblings (she is number 5 of 6 children) had promised to help her family get their house back in livable condition so she could move them back into the house, but last night that all fell apart.
If you know anything about disaster relief and the chaos that ensues after, you know that insurance companies are slow to pay, FEMA offers very little assistance, and contractors often require 100% payment before work can begin (and they don't always finish the work, just ask team two). Harriet has been paying rent for a place to live while the work on the house is done, utilities on both properties and a mortgage on the house she cannot live in. In top of that, her husbands hours have been cut in half since the storm and her job is basically nonexistent (she is a real estate agent). Life is hard!! Now, the siblings are arguing over who should help financially and refusing to help at all physically. It is tearing Harriet apart in the process.
All I could do is reach out and give her a hug. Such a silly gesture, but at that moment it was all I knew. I listened and offered what very little I could
We wrapped the night with devotions, as always. Harriet was on my mind. Her sad eyes desperate to find peace for her family and I could offer her nothing. I cried like a baby. In times like these I feel so totally inadequate. If you brought me here Lord to remind me how small I am in this great big world, it worked. I want so much to serve and to follow but I don't know how. I want to offer this dear woman comfort and all I have is a hug and some drywall.
I wish I could end this post on a positive note but I am spent. So I will cry myself to sleep wishing I had more to offer and praying that God will provide what Harriet needs most... Peace.
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