Letting it all sink in

Its been quite a time over the last week or so. A new President, a miraculous plane crash, and an entire week spent rebuilding homes and lives in Pearlington, MS. I have so many images and thoughts floating through my head right now that I literally don't know where to begin. So, I thought that instead of talking about the bright things of the past week, I'd lay some background details on you so that you can understand some of these new wonderful thoughts in context.

For the past several months I've been dealing with a new law that's been taking effect since November. Ostensibly its supposed to be a children's product safety law designed to prevent the sort of lead contamination we have seen in toys in the past. Unfortunately, the law is extremely broad in its approach and also extremely vague in its interpretation. The end result is that while the law says one thing, retailers are being forced to interpret it another way leaving manufacturers with lots of bald spots on their heads from where they're pulling out hair on an almost daily basis.

This has been an extremely stressful few months. In addition to the self-inflicted school finals and final projects, I have also been working extremely hard to finish my film. On top of that, I have been given more responsibility at the USF scoring table due to the worsening condition of my Uncle. With the economy in the toilet and bad news on television on a nearly continual basis, in addition to everything else, I was really feeling the stress to the point that it was starting to effect my health.

Its hard going to school for a semester. It not only throws off your relaxation schedule (I'd like to occasionally have a weekend off, for instance) but it reeks havoc on things like your diet, exercise, and stress relief. Throw on top of that the stress of doing projects and taking tests and going to school is not really for the faint of heart. Really, the young need only apply.

But I was handling it well... if it hadn't been for everything else. In the week before I left for Pearlington, I had to tell myself to calm down and think of things besides work on many occasions when I felt my heart beginning to race and my blood pressure begin to rise to extremely dangerous levels. I really worried for my health and my life and the thought of spending an entire week at hard labor seriously gave me pause.

Ultimately, however, I decided that if I didn't get away from my current life for a week I would probably have a heart attack. I made a vow with myself to turn all my problems over to God for a week and just do His work.

You have NO IDEA how good a vow that turned out to be. I didn't call work. I didn't think about my movie or future projects. I never checked a basketball score. I shut out the rest of the world and just lived in community with Christians for a week doing His work. I built a roof. I played cards. I joked. I sang. I sat around a campfire for warmth. I slept on the floor. I walked everywhere. And for one week, all of my problems became His.

It sank down into the 20's most nights. The floor was hard and the heat didn't always work. Standing around and climbing ladders all day, only to be broken up by long walks to a tool shed, or heartbreaking conversations with homeowners, combined with a lot of shivering when an icy wind cut across the lot, made for long, hard days. But I returned home destressed, rested, replenished, and inspired.

There are so many things I need to tell, but first, I wanted you to understand where they were coming from. It was a hard week, but it was a vacation compared to real life.

And now, back to the grind...