Eight bucks and a prayer can actually make a difference

I realized the other day that with the current devastation of Hurricane Katrina, I could watch TV, yell at the TV, cry at the TV, complain about our government or, like others, I could make a difference.

I was home with the flu and became a crazed CNN fanatic.My husband suggested I change the channel for sanity’s sake. I was saturated with world news and what was going on, or what I felt was not going on. I haven’t watched the children’s show, “Barney,” for years, but this week it would have been a welcome relief.

When I heard movie stars were giving millions, I thought our small stipend would never make a difference and I felt too far away to open up our home. So I called my brother Randy, who lives in Houston, Texas.

Randy shared that Houston’s community of churches has adopted a hotel to house families. In addition, the Texas government has found 18,000 empty apartments across the state. They are working on a plan to provide these to evacuees while waiving some of the restrictions to get these people into real housing. Three of Randy’s co-workers are still missing and many have lost everything they own. His company has set up a charity with an 800 number and their own caseworkers. They also continue to pay those affected by this catastrophe.

This company is “taking care of their own,” as well as looking outward and helping others. They are not waiting for someone else to do it.

My conversation with Randy revealed to me what I had been missing in the media coverage. While the media did portray many uplifting stories, and I appreciate the reality of the tragic ones, I was able to hear something firsthand from someone I know and trust.

Randy spoke of Mr. Sterling, a co-worker’s friend. Mr. Sterling and his wife now have over 30 people from New Orleans living with them. My brother and his wife, Martha, donated their RV and parked it in Mr. Sterling’s back yard. An elderly couple who found their way to this haven spent two days on their rooftop, then made the journey to the dome, then I-10. This was hard to hear, but what shook me was what the elderly woman had concluded. She said, “I am so blessed, and I see God working.” She wasn’t living on all the bad things that had happened. She wasn’t focused on all she had lost. Her conclusion was full of power and hope.

One of her temporary roommates, Mr. Wilson, also spent two days on his rooftop. My brother asked, “Do y’all know how hot those rooftops are in New Orleans?” He went on to share that Mr. Wilson had to take his shoes off because the rubber became too slippery. He then dug his feet in until they were bloody. When his feet became too painful, he knelt. When help came, he had to swim in the bacteria-filled water with bloody knees and feet in order to be rescued. Mr. Wilson said later that even through the pain of blistered feet and knees, he had no trouble running to the medic helicopter.

The Sterling home is overflowing with ordinary people who are going through extraordinary circumstances. But this circle of people is holding hands, singing, crying and even finding joy. No doubt they are feeling sorrow and loss, but they stated that the generosity and goodness they have experienced overwhelm them. Mr. Sterling is giving God the credit. I spoke to Mr. Sterling, and he told me, “The pain and devastation is humbling, but what is even more humbling is the goodness coming out of the pain and devastation.”

I didn’t think that my family’s small donation would make a difference until after Randy told me this story: Mr. Sterling was at the Astrodome looking for missing family members when, through a sideways glance, he locked eyes with some people who knew his family.

He couldn’t leave them there, but neither did he have room left. The gentleman shared that he didn’t want to stay because he was still searching for loved ones. All he wanted was a shower and a

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