Mississippi

Bayous, Beige, and Boatloads

My trip to Mississippi in five words or less!  Now, let me expand....

We were on the Gulf Coast, in Pascagoula.  One of our hosts told us that MS has two crops: cotton and pine trees.  I didn't see any cotton, but I did see pine trees.  It was unexpected.  Conifers are cold weather dwellers, although for all that, it is probably because of a lack of rain that they do better in a colder climate.  There is not much rain in MS, so I've been told.  That doesn't mean, however, that there is a lack of water.  In addition to the Gulf of Mexico, there are bayous and rivers, tall grass waving above the water, alligators hiding along the edge.  The same host mentioned above took us in his boat up the Pascagoula River, and what fun!  And I expecially enjoyed watching the approaching thunderheads on our way back to the marina.  (Although I am very glad we weren't on the water when the storm hit!)

The team with whom I went to Mississippi was assigned the job of painting the inside of a house.  Many homes have been repaired since Katrina hit in 2005, but some are still in the process.  We had the priviledge of helping Jimmy and Peggy, wonderful people!  The water level reached almost to the ceiling of their ranch home.  The home is now on 16-foot stilts, and the inside is beige.  All beige.  We painted seven rooms and three hallways, and each one is the same shade of beige.

I have to mention here that before I went on this trip, I didn't know what to expect.  I did not know what God would have for me to do.  But painting aparently is within my ability set.  And, actually, God has shown me through this, and through a hard but necessary conversation with a dear friend, that I am capable of more than I think I am.  This R.A. has been kicking my butt the past six months, but perhaps I have been too passive and given it the prime opportunity for the foot of RA to contact my posterior.  I am taking this as a personal challenge to try before I say I can't, to be grateful for each thing I can do, and to pray through the things I can't.  It will be my own serenity prayer.

And boatloads -- of food, that is!  Southern hospitality is never complete without more food than you could possibly eat.  And sooooooo good!  And if the sweet tea is any good, a spoon will stand up in your glass!