Sunday Night

We slept great but short as we had to set up for church. The 8am service was excellent. It was a true "Amen" experience. There was a small choir, drums, and a great gospel pianist. It was lively, inviting, and wonderfully multi-colored. We exchanged hugs during the meet and greet time.
We didn't fix the car, but the church loaned us their van which worked well. We went to New Orleans for lunch. The signs of the destruction have lessened over the months, but there is still countless homes and businesses destroyed, damaged, being rebuilt, or moved. It is sobering to see thousands of damaged cars parked under mile after mile of freeway.
We walked around the French Quarter and were again reminded of the pure hedonism of Bourbon St. Our lunch was at a delightful authentic Cajun/seafood restaurant. We had shrimp, alligator sausage, jambalaya and the like. Tasty and fun. We did a little dancing in the streets complete with West Side story reenactments.
Bay of St. Louis (on the way back to Gulfport) was hit hard, mile after mile of homes were literally wiped into the bay. Back at the church we walked through the houses we will work on. Each of them (and most in the neighborhood) had 3-8 feet of water go through them. They have been gutted and are being completely rebuilt on the inside. Most of the roofs have been repaired, but a good majority of the people are still living in FEMA trailers while working on their homes. The work to be done and the loss is beyond comprehension.
We hit the local IHOP for supper and did a late devos. We are reading The PAPA Prayer by Larry Crabb and working on prayer exercises from sacredspace.ie. Good stuff.
We are around the corner from a Krispy Kreme and celebrated Father's Day with 6 dozen glazed - hot!
On our way back from New Orleans we stopped in Kiln (pronounced kill). The boyhood town of Ole Number 4. It is a small forgettable town with a county-wide high school. Two years ago they put up a bronze statue at the high school football field. We stopped for pix and to bow low to the mighty one. Our hearts were strangely warmed. We didn't have time to find his house or his mom's restaurant.