Recovery is a Marathon, Not a Sprint - Hurricane Harvey

It's important to remember that the road to recovery is not an instant process. Right now we have a ton of volunteers and people working to help those in need. I'm reminding myself, as much as any readers here, the process to recovery for people most impacted is not a single week of effort event. In some cases, entire homes were lost and without flood insurance, the financial devastation can be profound.

I'm proud to be part of the Vineyard Church association which is sending an equipped response team to the area to send volunteers and various professionals to aid in recovery. This will definitely help increase the impact we have as people have to go back to work and available time is reduced.

continued help

In the meantime, if you are helping with some giving @ nwvineyard.com/give please consider doing a recoccuring donation for a period of months to continue the help. I'm hoping that the impact the church community has in Houston is going to be a testimony to commitment as believers we have in serving those in suffering and in need.

not be forgetful

As a reminder to all my fellow followers-of-Christ, our actions are under scrutinity (just see the barrage of accusations against Joel Olsteen right now). As I was driving to a site on the first day back in my house, I saw a small church with a guy riding a lawnmower and trimming a lawn that already looked good.

It made me angry and sad at the same time.

Yes, I should not judge. That church may have had a large response team out serving, and I'm probably just seeing part of the picture.

However, that same part of the picture is what others would be seeing. Less than 1 mile up the road were houses devasted by the flood, ripping out drywall, furniture, and dealing with the loss of a lot of belongings. I pray that we all remember the hardship that others are going through and while we can enjoy and relish the moments of life we are given, let us strive to not forget those others those can't move on yet. Those who have lost everything, are in shelters, dealing with the emotional fallout of a disaster, and in the process of rebuilding a place they can call home for their family.