Flood: Heavy Heart

Yesterday I spent the day working relief efforts with my church. I planned on bringing my camera to capture photos of the devastation and of the service that so many people were providing. My camera never moved from my front seat, but those images will stay in my mind forever. I went to Wendy's house, where the waterline was at least 8 feet high through her house. A river literally rushed through her home destroying all of her belongings. I sifted through mud and debris for hours, hoping for a picture, a keepsake, a memory. Very little was saved.

Our church is continuing to reach out to numerous neighborhoods - and you can see some of the images HERE.

I left Wendy's yesterday drained, empty, and brokenhearted. I didn't go coach volleyball like my typical Tuesday night... I sat alone, prayed a lot, and wondered how I would find the passion to reach out again. And today, I feel much of the same. In the midst of the typical "end of semester push" that has happened for the last 5 Mays, this year I am finding it hard to care. As grade driven and overachiever focused I typically am, I just can't find the gumption to study, to write, to network.

Now don't get me wrong, I love where I'm at. I look forward to work every day, enjoy teaching volleyball lessons, and running training clinics. But today, that passion just isn't there.

My heart is heavy.

My prayers are constant.

My mind is elsewhere.

I can't focus on anything but Wendy, and all those like her, sifting through the mud and debris, hoping to find something worthwhile.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven... "
Matthew 6:19-20