Judie

bearisgray... I can tell you how, because there isn't another option. What are you going to do? sit on the curb and cry.. go ahead.. someone may come by and hand you a bottle of water and pat you on the back, but no matter how long you sit there it doesn't change anything.. so eventually you get yourself up and start in. Everyone here has so much work to do that it's an impossible task, physically and emotionally. That's when volunteers and encouragers make a world of difference. No one here could have done this job.. but people from all over have come and helped clear rubble, pick up junk, load debris, cut branches and huge trees that have been blown down.. Our city, our people and my family in particular could never have finished the job laid before us. Not only was my house distroyed, but both of my children's houses were blown to bits.. then we had more than 10 inches of rain fall on the mess. It was horrible here. I've never faced such a thing.. Usually my family will gather to help each other, but we were all taken down to nothing, no tools, no clothes, no boots or shoes, we didn't even have a single car among the whole lot. That's when you feel so helpless and ready to just give up, but then someone comes and stands beside you and says, "can I help you?" and means it, because they are standing there with work clothes and boots and saws in hand.. well, you just start.. That's how.. We could not have done this without the help of volunteers. God bless them every single one. There is still so much to do here, so much that we can't see the end of it, but we are much more hopeful now. We have done so much. Jim and I have cut a huge tree (it had a 47 in. diameter trunk, it was a BIG tree) that fell into giant slices, and then split and stacked about 9 ricks of oak.. We still have more to do before this one tree is taken care of, but we can see the end of that task anyway. It's sort of like eating that proverbal elephant, you do it one bite at a time. What we have found is that at 65 and 69 we are still strong and able to do a full days hard labor. We probably couldn't have at the start of this, but we are getting stronger every day. God has made us wonderfully.. physically the more you need, the more you have. Hard work helps take the edge off the sorrow of what's happened. Sometimes we just need some help to get us started and some encouragement to keep us going. Your comments help keep me going. thanks.

bearisgray

I truly admire your spirit. It does seem that when push comes to shove, a lot of people seem to be able to come through stronger.

Can you imagine how awful it would be to be herded into refugee camps?

Judie

I can't even imagine those sorts of things. I do know there is evil in this world and sometimes you simply have no choice about where you're going. Life can be very hard, I'm glad that this is not my home and one day I will be leaving here. Not today, and not May 22, but someday. I can't even imagine sitting on any one of those hijacked planes they took into eternity. Beyond my ability.. I am still in awe of those men who figured out what was going on and took that plane down in Penn.. wow.. They did us such a wonderful thing, it could have been so much harder even than it was.

TanyaL

If ever disaster hits me I hope that I can remember your wonderful "can do" attitude. You make me feel like a better person just by reading your comments.

Judie

ahhh, thanks.. it's your guys (gals) out there that make me feel like I can get through this. It will be better in the end. We just have to get through all of this. I keep telling my daughter that it will be better.. I know it will. I fully believe God's promise that says he will take these bad things and use them for our good and his glory. I trust that's true. so I looking for a day that is brighter than today, coming our way, soon.

TanyaL

Don't you just wish God had an easier way of building character and teaching you to put all of your trust in him? This all or nothing is pretty da-- hard, IMHO.

Judie

Well, this is the accerated course we've taken.. I just want to know who signed us all up for that??

Building faith and character is something that takes hard times.. it's never fun, but it is always beneficial.

TanyaL

Amen!