Snapshots from the GRB

Like many of you, I had the opportunity to volunteer my time at the George R. Brown Convention Center serving our "guests" from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. My first tour of duty was the overnight shift from 10 pm to 4 am on Friday, September 9. (I'm still recovering.) My second tour of duty was the evening shift from 4 pm to 10 pm tonight, Tuesday, September 13. Here are some highlights from what I saw and experienced this time around:

• I had dinner with Craig. He's a native of New Orleans and is here with his 7 year old deaf son ("Little Craig is his name on his birth certificate."), 15 year old daughter (Tia), and 67 year old father-in-law. His "old lady" is in prison at the state penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana. Craig is a house painter by trade, and also mows lawns for extra money. He hasn't found a job here yet, but is expecting to move into an apartment this Friday. When I asked him what he was feeling about all of this now, he said he looked forward to when his "old lady" got out of prison in a few months and joined them in Houston. He said that Katrina will have helped to get his wife away from the "bad people" in her life -- the people who played a role in getting her into prison. Every time Craig talks with her, he can tell that she is changing for the better -- that God is working in her life.
  
  
• Lynel and his nine family members had a misunderstanding with a hotel downtown. They thought they had their rooms for 14 days, but found out today that it was only for 4 days and were kicked out. The GRB is not taking any new guests so they had no place to go. While Lynel enjoyed dinner with another volunteer, I did some investigating to see what I could find for him. A quick stop at the Information Desk produced no less than 8 leads, so I called Lyndale Assembly of God first to check out their availability. While on hold with them, the volunteer eating with Lynel found me and said that his son found a hotel near the airport that was holding 3 rooms for them. The family quickly packed up and left -- before Lynel had even finished his dinner. One more stop on a family's search for normalcy.
  
  
• While we were cleaning up the dining area toward the end of the evening, I was searching for "yellow shirt" volunteers with nothing to do. I found a group of 9 of them sitting around a table. Jackpot! However, when I approached I realized that there was a guest at their table, too, and they were all listening to his story. He was a middle-aged man in a wheelchair with a bandage around his left foot. I do not know what he had to say, but it was great to see those volunteers so engaged in what he had to say. A little while later, after the group broke up, I saw him I told him he should have charged admission. He laughed.
  
  
• As the end of the shift was approaching, we were wondering to whom we would pass the coffee making duties. Somebody had to keep the hot stuff brewing -- especially overnight! Twenty minutes before our shift ended, some new volunteers began to arrive. One was a woman named Jean. Originally from Maryland, she now lives in the U.S. Virgin Islands -- and owns a restaurant! She instantly and willingly became the coffee master! God's provision is amazing, and so is this -- Jean flew to Houston for the sole purpose of volunteering. She had no connections to Houston, no family or friends here. She just wanted to help.

It was a great night and a great shift. And I am proud to say that my team's coffee bar passed inspection by a Health Department inspector dropping by for a surprise visit. Kudos to Rosemary and Bill for putting the half-and-half on ice. I think that put us over the edge.