Rainy yet fun!

Martin Luther King Day Parade!!

Anita painting doorframes at Tony's house.

A little kitchen teamwork with Patrick and Linda.

Bunkmates Patty, Anne and Julie.

Loading up the gear at St. Paul's

Anne and Julie sanding away at Eugene's house.

Jon impart the importance of dancing while drywalling.

Martin and Patrick look on as Pastor Laura tames the staple gun beast.

Can our fearless van driver, Deb, get us out of another sticky situation? Of course!

Mildred screwing in drywall in her home.

Sue, Christopher, Peg, Mildred, Sara and Vicente- Drywall Champs!

One crew worked on Mildred’s house. Mildred says she’s been through a triple whammy- first, her mother died. Then, her husband died of a heart attack at age 54. Then- The Hurricane.

Her Husband had an old friend, a fraternity brother, who painted portraits. Mildred always wanted this dear life-long friend to paint her husband. It never happened.

The friend felt terrible when Mildred’s husband died and Mildred didn’t have a portrait to remember him by. Mildred gave the fraternity brother an old photograph of her husband and asked the friend to paint from it. She was amazed at the finished product. The photograph had not been a good one, but the portrait captured not just what he looked like, but who he was. When she asked how the friend could do such a great painting from such a poor photo, he replied, “Because I know him.”

When Katrina was supposed to strike, Mildred took more care with that portrait than any other possession. She removed it from the wall so it wouldn’t be blown to the floor. She wrapped it in towels so it would not get wet from the rain. And she placed it on her bed on the mattress so it would hopefully be above the flood water level.

When Mildred returned home after Katrina she described Biloxi as a war zone. Her roof had been blown off. Water had flooded into the house. All the pictures and mementos of her husband that had dominated two walls in one room were swept away or ruined. In Mildred’s bedroom, the water has risen to the level of the box springs. Then the mattress seemed to have soaked the water up. On her bed, relatively dry and safe, was the portrait.


Lord, we thank you for Mildred. We thank you for Juanita and Eugene and Anthony and all the people whose homes we’ve been honored to work on. We thank you for their faith, for their example, for their courage to go on. We pray that you will become an even greater presence in their lives. A hurricane can’t match your power. A flood can never reach your depths. A tragedy can never come close to equalizing the glory of your Son, who gave his life for us. We shall weather every storm through our faith in your love. Amen.