Habitat for Humanity-Jimmy Carter Blitz Build

The Carter Work Project is under way in the Gulf Coast, with more than 250 houses to be built with Habitat for Humanity of the Mississippi Gulf Coast and 17 other affiliates from Houston, Texas, to Mobile, Ala. Lagniappe, with it's ongoing partnership with Habitat, is hosting all of the volunteers working on the 10 Diamondhead Habitat homes. The Diamondhead community is a community north of I-10 in Hancock Co. Lagniappe staff is spearheading 2 of the homes which are side by side. All photos were taken on day one. The before shots were taken around 9am. The after shots were taken at 3pm. Not bad for half a day's work. Commendations to all of the team leaders, including Jordan, Andrew, and Clyde.

If Andrew Had a Daughter

Kate Stevens

Homeowner of the Month

Lagniappe homeowner Suzanne Howell recently received the Waveland "Homeowner of the Month" citation and was very excited to call us to let us know that all the volunteers who built and landscaped her house were to be commended, for their work has paid off! She was so excited to have this honor and wanted to thank everyone for participating in her restoration!

Thanks, ya'll! Job well done.

Banana Update

Ah-the prodigal banana. Banana realizes that he is not perfect-he does not need to prove himself because look at him-he is full of spots. Messy, ugly spots. Spots that he cannot change. He needs acceptance-who will accept such an ugly banana? The One who created him. God longs to redeem us-much like this banana, although it is now so obviously flawed-to bring us into His glory and redemption and to rest in His arms saying, yep, I'm flawed. Love me. When no one else will have this banana, how excited Jesus is to receive this very particular banana!!!! We did eat the banana. Poor prodigal banana. I think that if he wanted, he would have removed that sticker and said, "look at me-I am who I am and I rest in Jesus for righteousness. I am sorry I wore this sticker because it didn't help anything." May we never ever feel the need to wear that blue sticker. But when we do, may we fall immediately into the arms of the One who loved us all along-and knew we'd have spots anyway. He made provision for our blue stickers-we all have our own blue stickers-yet He planned ahead and loves us amidst the blue stickers that cover us, protecting us from pain and grief. May Jesus strip away every sticker and show us how He loved us even when we put on that particular sticker.

What was this banana thinking?

This banana is just like you and me. Except we would not dare wear a sticker saying that. But deep in our hearts, day after day, we strive for this. Fix what we can. And fix it by ourselves. The truth is, there is only One who has achieved this and we must stop running and trying to be this banana. We will never ever ever be this banana. I am thankful that I can stop running and I can rest in the One who can wear this sticker. I try to have my perfection in so many different things-having great songs on my Ipod. Returning calls in a timely manner. Making my bed every day. It's all a treadmill to nowhere and we have to jump off the treadmill and give glory to God for rescuing us. You might not even think this sticker applies to you. Most of us would not admit that. But deep in our hearts we seek this on so many levels. Rest in the arms of He who holds you and keeps you from falling.

He who began a good work...

On the one hand, God's demand for perfection need not discourage you in the least in your present attempts to be good, or even in your present failures. Each time you fall He will pick you up again. And He knows perfectly well that your own efforts are never going to bring you anwhere near perfection. On the other hand, you must realise from the outset that the goal towards which He is beginning to guide you is absolute perfection; and no power in the whole universe, except you yourself, can prevent Him from taking you to that goal. That is what you are in for. And it is very important to realise that. If we do not, then we are very likely to start pulling back and resisting Him after a certain point. C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Fear and Trembling

I have almost all of the photos from our interns and will post more as they become available. Please be praying for each one as they finish their Spring semester. Pray for God to work in the "deeper magic" of the gospel during their time here. "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:12b-13). Lauren

Ashley

Claire

Davis

Elenor

Thomas

Loose Ends Wrapped Up

As we wind down for a two week break, there has been a few, ok alot of loose ends and hanging jobs to wrap up. Mostly thanks to Dutton Reformed from Michigan and Tuscumbia Pres from Alabama we were able to complete the following: cleaned up Leatrice Cain's trash pile and empty her house so work can begin, haul off all of Ann Jordan's construction debris, finish Ann Jordan's laundry room, get her CO, and move her in, haul away a debris pile at 105 Johnson St, help 1st Presbyterian Bay Saint Louis tear down tents and shower rooms and haul off their trash to get them back to functioning as before the storm, picked up rebar and block off a site, cleaned out Kathleen Hanback's house, insulate, and move drywall into the home so we can come back ready to paint, clean the big room, and finally whatever else the teams can think of and comment on because I hope ya'll read and keep up with the blog. On top of that these teams worked on our houses with plumbing, porch beam trim, a big roof tear off and redo, did some electrical trim out, hung sheetrock, insulated beneath a house, and probably more. So thanks to these two teams for doing the nonglorius dirty work that needed to be done and thus will make my time away even more enjoyable. Of course I will still be thinking about the inspections we are going through and the foundations we need to start but atleast that is looking forward rather than loose ends. Thanks Dutton and Tuscumbia for truly selflessly serving down here at Lagniappe, it is that work that truly encourages and serves us as a staff also.

Meet the Interns. Well, Not All of Them!

It's that time of the year. Flowers are in bloom, bunnies are frolicking in sunny meadows., birds are singing, and the interns are coming. We are anticipating a busy summer, though not on the level of last year. Over the past few months Sarah Denton and I have interviewed and hired 15 interns. They will participate with the staff in the restoration of creation through the declaration and demonstration of the love of God shown to us in Christ Jesus (That's part of the LPC vision statement). What this looks like is meeting with families, aiding teams with home construction, maintaining the LPC facility, and starting a youth ministry. Cristina

Ansley

Allison

Dustin

Julia

South Carolina, Michigan, and Yellow Houses

This is a group from Grand Rapids, MI, working on Kathleen Hanback's house. The bright yellow color makes sun-glasses a must in almost every weather, but is definitely cheerful. Frank and Mark-two of the youth leaders for this group-were with me in Biloxi in the spring of 2006! They nick-named me "hyper"...apparently they think I have energy...so you can imagine my surprise when I heard "hyper" yelled across the Lagniappe facility on Sunday morning! It was so much fun to have them back down here. Ya'll have no idea how wonderful familiar faces are; we look forward to your returns! These are some of the Michigan Boys--working alongside the South Carolina men. These guys worked hard all week, hanging insulation and sheet rock in one of our "rehab" houses. Apparently these fellows got kicked out the big house and sent "below" to work on a plumbing problem....:) That's what happens when you misbehave around here.

Beverly Miller

Late Sunday evening, Lagniappe lost not only a homeowner but a dear friend. Beverly Miller, friend of Earl Cox, suffered a stroke on Sunday night and died shortly after she arrived at the hospital. She was Earl’s closest friend, and he is of course, devastated. I have wanted to begin blogging about our homeowners so that you have a better sense of the people Lagniappe is serving. Unfortunately, it has taken death to make me realize how important it is that we communicate with others about the people we are serving. Death always seems to remind us of our mantra “people over projects.” Suddenly the home becomes nothing in comparison to the homeowner, Beverly Miller—the woman created in God’s image. I only met Beverly a few times, but as I have spoken with others who knew her well I gathered much about her personality and character. I do not know where Beverly was from, or really what her life before Bay St. Louis looked like. She was apparently a gifted dance teacher for years, with pupils still seeking out her expertise for their own children. Beverly loved antiques and enjoyed shopping at yard sales. However, the most important thing I know about Beverly is that she would give away everything she owned if she could. So often teams would return to Lagniappe bearing gifts Beverly had given them—old pieces of antique jewelry, pottery, sheets, etc. Beverly loved to give. As a native of Mississippi, Beverly fit beautifully into Southern hospitality. The moment you walked in her door she was offering you a drink, making sure you were comfortable, and making sure you did not need a snack before you left. Beverly cared deeply for her friend Earl, and Earl cared about her just as deeply. The home, built for the two of them, has been overwhelming to Earl since she passed. Therefore, please keep Earl Cox in your prayers for this is and will be a difficult period in the weeks to come. Beverly Miller is a woman who will be greatly missed by not only her friends and her family but by Lagniappe Church.

Are you feeling it too?

Last week Ruth had a great suggestion for a new T-Shirt, "Get in touch with your inner Jordan." I think this would be the appropriate logo.

The Goal of Festivus?

Time to take Festivus out of the closet again. Remember Matthew 18, reconciling with a brother. Festivus is the general revelation version from Seinfeld. Not familiar then google it or ask one of the LPC staff or interns. Reconciling and restoring. Why Opus? Just because.

CO

Just a quick blog, Kyle Foster's house passed his final inspections finally today and now all that is left is for him to close on the house and he can move in. As far as construction staff goes, we are done with this house. This is the house that we started three days before Christmas with the RUF blitz build and has basically been done for the past month except for fixing what the inspectors did not like. So to all that were involved, it is over and out of Lagniappe construction staff's hands.

Of Lives and Times...

“You come back to see me, darlin’! Don’t you forget me now!” Darlin’….darlin’… if you’ve never been called “darlin” by Ms. Delta then, honey, you hain’t never lived!!! My first recollection of Ms. Delta is the work order I received, which vaguely read, “Delta Sevin. Disabled. Needs Grant.” Well, as you can imagine, anyone with a name like ‘Sevin’ was totally going to get a grant! (When I later found out that her full name was Delta Bonvillian Sevin, I was SOLD!!! P.S. don’t tell the Restoration Committee…). Ms. Delta is just one of those women who I – being the mis-educated person I am – would call a Steel Magnolia… the Cajun kind… “Honey, my whole house got washed away, and I’m broke,” she told me, “I buried my poor husband after the storm and my son three months later, and I just buried my grandson…” But she was composed, kind, gentle, willing to open up and share her story, her heart, and all the nitty-gritty unforgiving details of her financial state. Now, five months later, we gathered together with her to dedicate her new home. The house is a stone of remembrance for us all; for Delta, a symbol of everything she has lost, the love of God and His people that has brought her back to her homeland; for LPC, a reminder of our mission and the beginning of a new partnership with C.A.R.E. (the Amish volunteer group who framed and dried-in the house); for me, a tangible memory of the grace God gave me as I plunged head-long – inexperienced and not at all prepared - into case management and grant writing; and for the teams who have worked on the house and spent time with Ms. Delta, a reminder that we are all part of something greater than ourselves.

Curt Moore & Ms. Delta

The House

The Home Dedication - Horseshoe Bay with Ms. Delta

Paint or Stain? The life worked in us

The real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very mment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. and the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day. Standing back from all your natural fussings and frettings; coming in out of the wind. We can only do it for moments at first. But from those moments the new sort of life will be spreading through our system: because now we are ltting Him work at the right part of us. It is the difference between paint, which is merely laid on the surface, and a dye or stain which soaks right through...

(C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)

Good Times

I was so glad to be able to spend time with these two beautiful and encouraging women in Mobile a few weekends ago. We had a great time and I am so thankful that Elizabeth Holman and Keri Norwood are part of my Lagniappe family!

The Progress of Restoration

Out at the Pillars, on Ruby St., a group of thirteen from Redeemer URC, in Indiana, is hard at work. They're bolting the deck to the house, which is no easy feat, considering the height of the house! They hope to get to the siding and roofing this week. This is an ambitious group! Thanks so much, y'all! The "Twins", our two sisters on W. Newton, are nearly complete! Last week's volunteers finished up the painting and flooring, and today appliances are being delivered! It seems that very shortly, these two houses will become home to some truly grateful residents. This house is currently having its interior done, the drywall is spackled and is now being sanded in preparation for paint. The Meadow St. Team is currently tooling up for a plumbing and electrical inspection, as well as cleaning up and preparing for drywall, and is currently composed of a coalition of western North Carolina Presbyterian churches, including Covenant Presbyterian Church out of Hendersonville, Trinity Presbyterian out of Ashville and other churches from Burnsville. They dedicate their time to the great need they see here in the bay, and heard of Lagniappe from an email post to the Eldars of the respective churches. Posted by: Cassie Phillips and Guru DragonFire, Americorps NCCC*

Catching up!

Last week Lagniappe was covered in Orange, between Auburn and UT students, and two houses are now standing where a week ago there were only 2 foundations. Here are some pictures-reminding ourselves and those who read this that God is indeedfaithfully at work here! Auburn Students framing the Jensen house. UT students at the Hanback site. Little did we know that Ms. Hanback's family are HUGE UT fans...they loved all things orange!! Here is the very first board on the Hanback house....and the whole truss process from ground up! And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you put up a truss! Thanks Auburn and UT!!!! Ya'll are amazing, come on back!

Lagniappe Landscapes, Part II

Above are a few more pictures of the recent landscape projects completed by the ladies who attended our women's conference. To the left is an example of the many pots that were put together for the porches of the Lagnaippe homes, and to the right is a photo of the completed landscape at the home of Suzanne Howell . Funds for these projects were donated by Garden Clubs from all over Mississippi, as well as plant materials and pots brought and donated by the ladies of Covenant Pres. in Nashville. Thanks, ya'll!

Lagniappe featured on Washinton Times Front Page

Katrina help rare in campaign talks By Christina Bellantoni March 20, 2008 NEW ORLEANS — Gulf Coast recovery efforts are the forgotten political story. The government's ineptitude in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 is a good red meat applause line for the Democratic presidential hopefuls, but the residents still sifting through broken lives in Mississippi and Louisiana stopped waiting for help from politicians long ago. "We struggle for a voice. I'm not sure if anybody else is listening, and it may take a Katrina in their neighborhood for them to listen," said Jean Larroux, a Presbyterian pastor and Bay St. Louis, Miss. native who returned home two years ago to work to restore the community. "Let Katrina hit Kennebunkport," he said. "I imagine that we wouldn't have to pray a whole lot about [getting them help]. I'm really not bitter. I'm just opinionated." As Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama campaign across the country, they consistently decry the "outrage" of millions without health care or the "unfunded mandate" of No Child Left Behind law, but rarely mention Katrina. They made some fleeting references to the storm while campaigning in Mississippi this month. "They're basically talking about the economy right now and the war but I haven't heard anybody say anything about the efforts as far as the Gulf South, other than when they came here and spoke," said John Kevin Garner, 39, who is helping his father rebuild their home in the city's Lower Ninth Ward. "They worry about Iraq so much, but don't worry about the people." While most said a new president would be an improvement over President Bush, Gulf Coast residents The Washington Times met from Biloxi, Miss., to New Orleans said they hear little from Mrs. Clinton, of New York, and Mr. Obama, of Illinois. New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin agreed. "I think they are, I won't say afraid, but a little hesitant to tackle the issues" that still confront the city "and the lack of preparedness to deal with future natural disasters," he told The Times last week in Washington. "The candidates are a little hesitant about fully embracing our dilemma. I would like to hear more about what they would do to bring about the full recovery of our infrastructure, which is in deplorable shape." Link to the entire story