Tuesday: I awoke earlier than normal so I could get to Main St UMC by 7. I thought maybe I could catch the sunrise, but I didn't quite make it. After breakfast and a quick devotion, we headed out to complete the job the team had already started. This was actually very uncommon for this area at this time - putting up drywall. They had stressed to the coordinator they wanted to do at least one construction job while here so this was it. It only took 3 hours to finish so we came back for an early lunch and went out to the next assignment. This house only had maybe 18 inches of water in it and had no furniture since the owner had just bought it before Katrina to rent. However, she has decided to live here because she can't bear to go back to her home in BSL. She told us about how she and her husband had spent 4 years fixing it up mostly on their own and he had passed away the year they finished. It has obviously been difficult on her. She was amazed by how much we got done this afternoon. All the paneling is out now and we've made major progress on ripping out the flooring. Tomorrow we'll finish up the floors and rip out the drywall. It felt good to get dirty and more hands-on today. I left them a bit early to get a couple pics since it wasn't cloudy in the west and to take a shower and get my stuff from the "bunkhouse" where I'd been staying. One big advantage the church has is heat. It will still be pretty chilly a couple mornings this week. After dinner and devotions, I took a walk out to what I would call the boardwalk area of the old town. I've seen it many times during the day, but it was a gorgeous, clear evening for a walk. I played around with getting a nighttime picture of the bay. I got a pretty decent shot at 15 seconds, which is the slowest my camera will go. Here's the neat thing of the day. I came into the fellowship hall area to type this up Tuesday night since they don't have internet here, and there is a group of youth from Clay City here! How cool is that?! They were approved to take 2 days off school to come down. Maybe I can get them to play some euchre sometime. :) My battery is about dead, it's late and I need ot brush my teeth so that's all for today.

Wed morning: I got up early and went to the beach to watch the sunsrise. So here is a rare sunrise picture from me.


It's lunchtime now and we have gotten nearly done with the house. Here is a picture of the Virginia team and the homeowner. She was telling me how her family had been in this area for 4 generations and many of her cousins have also been flooded out in the Slidell area. One of her cousins has lost his house 3 times for various reasons but will rebuild a fourth time at 72 years old.


Update on Katherine Larson: Kat's MRI showed a huge tumor
that was about the size of a tennis ball at the base of her brain and
also a stem that was about as big around as a penny and went from the
head of the tumor clear down to the c-6 vertibrae. Other than a slight
weight loss that the doctors had previously attributed to stress (her
mom being in Iraq) she did not have any sign of sickness until she went
into a seizure on November 6, 2005. My sister Trish who has been
watching her since her mom left for Iraq, took Kat to the Airforce base
Hospital where the doctor had her rushed to St. Louis Children's
Hospital because he correctly suspected that she had a tumor in her
brain. The Red Cross located my sister Kim in Iraq and she flew into
St. Louis on November 12, 2005, and doctors performed Kat's first
surgery on November 16th. God is faithful--they removed the head of
the tumor without any complications and Kat came through the surgery
well. Having the pressure of the tumor removed from her brain stem, Kat
is devouring everything in sight and she has kept her sunny disposition
and wonderful sense of humor throughout her ordeal. Dr. Leonard has
repeatedly remarked that this is a miracle and that she has done way
better that he could ever wish for. (God gets the glory for that!) I
know that Dr. Leonard is very concerned about the next stage of Kat's
surgery. After the pathology of the tumor came back, the doctor has
diagnosed her with a type one tumor that was not connected to any of
the surrounding tissue. Please continue to pray for Kat, she is
scheduled for her next surgery tentatively around the 8th or 9th of
December. We are praying that the rest of the tumor is unnatached as
well...the surgery will be performed in between the 1st and 6th
vertabrae, the nerves that control breathing, digestion, speech and
walking are located in this area. Kat is a beautiful 13 year old
christian girl who we love very much. All of your prayers are joyfully
appreciated.
Thank you,
Shannon Larson (Kat's Auntie)