Day One/Night One
So, what can I report on???? Well it was Auburn Homecoming and set up day. What was set up like? Well, it requires hooking up the “shack” and taking it over to Wesley Foundation…backing it into place and then getting the inside set up. New felt paper is wrapped around it so kids can paint on it, windows are taped with plastic to keep the wind out, and the mattress and my few belongings are put into place. Yesterday was cold and windy so that was a bit of a battle and I began to mentally prepare for how cold it would get.
The atmosphere in Auburn was of course electric and with it being Homecoming weekend lots of old friends were in town and came to visit. So good to catch up! My first group of kids came to paint and put new designs on the “shack”.
As evening came, the shadows dropped, and the temperatures fell as well. I enjoyed dinner with Auburn Wesley Foundation friends and caught up on family stories-I was able to get a nice fire started and enjoy some rich, hot, cream hot chocolate! Good stuff!
After being on my feet most of the day and getting set up-I was exhausted-grateful for the extra hour of resuming standard time but unsure if I would get to sleep. Last year the college students and the bar across the street made a tough combination. I put a light in the shack, cranked up the small propane heater and read for about an hour. The heater kept the cold at bay but I was also still several layers thick with a toboggan on my head and gloves on my hands. I thought of Ms. Blackmon.
Ms. Blackmon is in her mid eighties and lives alone. She is very shy and rarely goes outside. When we first visited her home, the wall paper was so old that it had turned a dark gray making her room appear small, dismal, and depressing. Her mattress was easily 40 years old and disintegrated in your hands as you tried to move it. She had no hot water. All of that has been repaired now and she loves to have visitors. Her dark walls were replaced with white paneling, the hole in the floor was replaced, we installed a vapor barrier to keep out the dampness, and gave her a new bed. Plus, a group installed a hot water heater for her. But, the picture of poverty still remains. Ms. Blackmon does not have central heat and air so one room has a gas heater and window AC unit. The rest of the house…she just gets along as she can. So, when I visited Thursday afternoon, I saw a little, old, grandmother glued to her little heater to keep the cold off her bones.
That’s how I felt in the shack. I sat as close as I could get to my little gas heater without burning my feet. Then I realized that there were gaps near my roof. I found some Kroger plastic grocery bags, a Tiger Rags bag, and used my jacket to stuff them into the 3 inch crevices to keep what little heat I had in and the cold out. Although the air stayed cold and bit at my nose…my sleeping bag kept me warm and the only real discomfort I had was stiffly crawling out of it as I awoke to an early 5:30 AM light. Overall, the night was uneventful-a few guys came buy late and asked some questions but gave a $5.00 donation. There were still a few partiers walking around towards midnight and one of my small metal, wire signs appeared to have tried to trip someone up and looked a bit “roughed up” but still functional.
The church crowd was encouraging and several people came by. Emily, one of our board members brought me a great breakfast and Garrett, our construction coordinator dropped by to visit and check in. Lunch was an incredible, tasty Firehouse sub from “Jimmy” who I got to spend some time with and learn about. It is now 3:30 and the sun is dropping, the shadows are lengthening and I can tell that a fire will be necessary in about another hour. So far we have raised $1465-a good start but a long way to go.
If you are warm tonight, reflect on how comfortable you are. Ms. Blackmon I told you about…well to bring this home, over half of the population that we consider “in poverty” is our elderly and children. The elderly live quietly and unnoticing on Social Security-about $700 a month…and just get by when things break, go wrong, or don’t work. Do you know someone like this? Maybe Jesus is asking you to find someone and step into their world.
Blessings!
lisa
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