Sneezing Gypsum

After a week spent driving to work through my devastated neighborhood, I finally got the opportunity on Saturday to do something about it. I, along with hundreds of other volunteers, helped clean up flood-ravaged homes.

Our job was to stabilize the homes and get the homeowner in a position to begin rebuilding. This meant demolishing and removing everything—right down to the concrete slab and the wooden studs. Then the home will be sprayed and disinfected. After that, rebuilding begins.

It was hard work, but it was rewarding. I tore out drywall (my new nemesis), popped out window sills, and pried up carpet tacking. Collectively, we were able to accomplish what would have been a monumental task for a family or an expensive one for a contractor.

I was impressed by the spirit in the neighborhood. Individually or with a company, people streamed by offering water, free food, and free supplies. Children would tote a wagon full of trash bags and alcohol wipes. The Purity Dairy man carted around a cooler full of ice cream and popsicles (he was popular).

It was hard to hear the homeowner's stories, but sometimes that was what they most needed. Many of them are older and have a lifetime's worth of memories in pictures and letters that are now gone. Carrying bits and pieces of their home out to the huge debris piles was tough. One lady stopped us as we carried out her fireplace mantel.

"Can't we save this?" She ran her hands over the top. We turned it to show her the other side so she could make her decision. The submerged wood had dried and split; the back was black with the beginnings of mold.

She sighed. "I guess not. Throw it away." There were many decisions like that one throughout the day.

On Sunday, after a 6:30 a.m. worship service , we returned. Another house. Another tear out job. My body aches, but every bit of me that is sore is worth it. It was a massive reminder that I am so incredibly blessed. Not just in having my home, but in every possible way—spiritually and emotionally, I am rich in faith, in family, and in friends. If this had happened to me, knowing that people care so much would make all the difference in the world to how I would get through it.

To see this unfold on my doorstep is so different than just reading about it. It tends to stamp out a lot of pettiness and materialism. It has also shown me that we are capable of so, so much more than we realize. I've probably never had quite a work ethic as I brought to the table this weekend. It's incredibly motivating.

There is still much to do, however. Nashville is still bleeding. Clean up and rebuilding is an ongoing process, and we need to ensure no one falls through the cracks. If you can volunteer your time, Service International is continuing to send out crews from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. from Bellevue Church of Christ until further notice. You can find more information here, or just shoot me a comment.

When the Words Won't Come, Do the Next Thing

My momentum is shot. If you read the previous post it's pretty obvious why, but it bothers me just the same. I can't concentrate on anything other than the flood that poured into my world on Saturday and is slowly receding.

There is so much to do to clean up what is going on around me, and at some point I'm going to have to put my own internal house in order. I'm not quite sure how that is going to happen.

A while back I remember reading a book by Elisabeth Elliot, a woman whose missionary husband was killed in the jungle in Ecuador. She made a statement about how, when you don't know what to do, do the next thing. It may be a little thing, but it is the next thing. It's where you begin.

Looking at the monumental tasks that surround my community, it could be very easy to give in to a sense of hopelessness and frustration, but we need to do the next thing. I need to do the next thing.

A note: I realize my purpose for this blog is to talk about writing, and I apologize to any writerly readers that have landed here lately from other links and wonder if they are in the right place. You are, and I thank you for stopping by. Life intruded quite a bit in the regularly scheduled focus of this blog. I'll get back into the writing groove soon, I promise. Until then, please keep Nashville in your prayers. If you want to know what you can do to help, please scroll down to the bottom of yesterday's post.

Flood

I don't know how to process what happened this weekend. Writing has always been my outlet, so I'm hoping that updating the blog and sharing some of this will help me through it. When I leave my ultra-connected office in one part of Nashville, I will drive home into a neighborhood that has been devastated by flood damage.

This is River Plantation in Bellevue, on the western edge of Nashville. We were one of the areas that was hardest hit by the flood that has swept over the city.

Incredibly, I live across the street from this photo, on the "high" side. I was spared. I am blessed. We still have water and electricity. My home is safe and dry. We have no phones (including mobile) or Internet, but we can live without those for a while. Just across the street it looks like a war zone. On Sunday, with rain pelting down, the end of my street turned into a command post for water rescues.

An elderly couple trying to drive across this intersection got caught in the water and drowned. We saw the fire crew trying to revive them on the lawn across from my house. I can't get that image out of my mind, and I don't know how to unpack all that I've seen. 

This is the main road I drive on to get to the grocery store and the YMCA. Normally, there is a driving range on the left. There's a bridge in there, too.

More of the neighborhood. See where the water is eddying next to the bank? There is a car under there.

If you've never seen what it looks like normally, it's hard to gauge what happened here. The above picture is the main road into my subdivision. On left there are shops, including a hairdresser and a pub. In the middle of the picture there is a bit of metal sticking up out of the water. That is the light on top of a police car.

There are other areas of Nashville that have been greatly affected by what has happened. This is just my corner of it all. Because of other big events, this has not really been covered much by national news outlets, which is a shame because it is going to take a lot of support to get the city back on its feet.

If you'd like to help, you can make an online donation to the Churches of Christ Disaster relief. This is reputable organization, right here in Nashville, that can get aid to those who need it the most. I've volunteered for them before. You can also text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Most of all, we need your prayers to get through this.