Joplin

So, I've been watching the news and this Joplin footage is just too much for me.  I actually started crying at one point the other day.  Too much! It reminds me of New Orleans quite a bit.  Seeing people lose so much is difficult.  So many lives were lost and people are missing too.  For some reason as time goes on I am more emotional about that type of thing. Maybe it's because I've experienced more and identify with people in pain more.  Maybe it's because I am closer to God and when His heart aches, mine aches too now.  I feel like I cry at stuff I never would have cried at before.  But, it's not bad.  Hopefully moved to tears will equal moved to action.  I've been pondering that lately.  At what point do we actually "DO" something?  It's not about guilt, but about love.  Enough love to help a stranger.  Interesting...

Hard to watch

At our last meeting we watched a documentary about Hurricane Katrina.  It was a lot of footage of people's home videos before, during, and after the hurricane.  It was hard for me to watch.  It just makes me completely sad.  I can't imagine being in such a frightening situation.  Most of us will never know what it is like to lose all of our belongings and our home and probably our job/school.  So much was lost in such a short amount of time.  Can any of us fathom water rising to the roof of our home?  When we went in 09, four years after the hurricane, I was so shocked to see how much destruction was still there.   I wanted to cry on the bus tour we took the first day.   I couldn't understand why there were still so many houses in ruin and buildings boarded up.  I'm going to try to do some homework on the logistics of why that is.  I'm hoping to see some change though this year.

Preservation Hall Band

We saw the Preservation Hall Band from New Orleans on Friday night at the Aronoff.  It was great.  I couldn't stop smiling.  And they were playing with a bluegrass band who sang such stirring verses as "You don't have to be a baby to cry" and  "Son of a gun we'll have big fun on the Bay-o". Loved it.  I'm hoping we get to see them in New Orleans when we go.

Let's get it started

Well, I'm on my way back to New Orleans Louisiana in July.  NOLA people!  I went with my church back in 2009 and we framed houses with Habitat for Humanity.  It was a great trip.  I don't think I have physically worked so hard in my life.  It was a good pain though :)

This year I am a part of the PHOTO TEAM!  Applause! I think there are somewhere between 30 and 40 of us doing that project. We are helping families recreate their photo collections by taking family portraits.  Most people on the trip are still doing Habitat for Humanity and others are helping in Vacation Bible Camp.

Somewhere I will post the links of some of the organizations we'll be working with.

We've had our first couple of meetings already and fund raising has begun!  I managed to get into a Go Group (team) with a couple of friends so I'm excited.  It will be nice to have the support of people I know.  This is a bit of a different venture for me.  I'm not photographer, but I wanted to do something that would allow me to interact with people from the community.  I'm excited to give back in a personal way.

Well more to come....Onward

Recreate...a theme

Well, I created about 4 pages of this blog a few weeks ago and it somehow disappeared when Blogspot went down.  So..here we go again.  However, it reminds me of the work we're going to do in New Orleans.  We're trying to recreate things. Homes, photos, programs.  It won't be the same, but can be just as valuable.