Katrina

today has been a great day. i went and participated in a retreat with grace bible church. i think it was actually the second day of a leadership training session, but i really enjoyed it, despite being a little late. we had breakfast (oh yeah, big plus), then played dodge ball, then had a longish "training" time. then lunch. after lunch we had bible studies, discussion groups, more dodge ball a spelling bee (????), and a whole lot of dishes and general clean up. after all our planned activities were over, we headed over to the rec center to see about helping out with the relief efforts. now, for those of you who don't know, you can offer your time right here in nacogdoches to help out some of the refugees from the hurricane katrina. if you would like to help them out for 3 or 4 hours some time during the next week, they would love for you to come and sign up. there have been lots of people willing to help, so you'll probably sign your name for a later time(s) and come back. they can use lots of volunteers, to unload and transport donations (carrying boxes around with trucks is appreciated), play with the kids, assist in meal preparation, etc. just go to the nacogdoches recreation center/public library (north street in nacogdoches, beside java jacks, and almost directly accross from kroger), and there will be plenty of people there to help you get signed up and get to work. and here's a couple of links to give you more info about the disaster in general, and places to make online monetary donations.

Red Cross
Southern Baptist Disaster Relief

remember to pray for all these people with no homes and no belongings. there are people out there with nothing, including food and water, who have lost family members, and are going through a tremendous amount suffering, and quite possibly feeling in despair. okay, that's all i've got. please be thinking of them.