Blessing

We were working on a house this afternoon on 3rd Street in Oakville. I was reflecting on all that we have done this week. We have made outstanding progress. Here is a list of the projects that we have completed.

We demolished a full size 40x70 pole barn to make room for a new house.

We demolished another full size barn that was 40x80.

We demolished a home that is 48x80 so that another new home can be constructed.

We have "mucked out" two homes.

We have stripped the aluminum siding off of another house.

Back to the house on 3rd Avenue....We were feeling the effects of the scorching sun when a lady walked onto the job site. I walked over to her and listened to her story.

"Are you guys with the Nazarene church?"

"Yes, we are..."

"Really?"

Then her story unfolded. She told us that she was from Louisiana and that she was working in Oakville with a Methodist Disaster Recovery team.

I asked her, "where are you from in Louisana?"

"New Orleans"

Then she told me that she was a member of New Orleans First Church of the Nazarene.

I couldn't believe what she said. In the next few minutes I learned that she was a member of the church and that she was the treasurer of the church. Then it hit both of us. She was a member of the church where our teams spent nearly nine months repairing the damage of hurricane Katrina.

What are the chances that a person from New Orleans and a person from Flint Michigan would meet in Oakville Iowa and that both of them would be doing relief work?

Here is the best part of the story?

She said, "You are the reason that I am here. Because you came and helped us, I decided to go and help others."

I am sitting in the Wapello church at the end of a very long day giving thanks for what He has allowed me to experience.

I am seeing lots of Kingdom signs reminding me that the "whole earth is full of His glory."

What does the view look like from where you are?