What It's All About

A volunteer from New London, Iowa

(So I'm a day early. Sue me. Wait, not Annie, Coolhand, or Sandi - you guys DON'T sue me...)

WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT

It is now February, and I have a headache. I think it is sinus-related, but I’m not sure. And the phone won’t stop ringing, which makes headaches so much more fun. And I’m busy, too. I’m so happy I could cry, and I just might.

But the weather is breathtaking. Upper sixties, blue skies, cotton ball clouds, bright sunshine... February in Ocean Springs has its definite high points. And volunteer groups just keep coming (hence, the incessant ringing of the telephone). More and more people cannot wait to get here and work out of the simple goodness of their hearts. And last night, headache and all, I remembered what life is all about.

There are thirteen here from the New London Christian Church in Iowa, along with two tag-alongs from Monmouth, Illinois. They range in age from middle-school boys to gray-haired men, which means their work days range from sifting through sand with a family looking for personal belongings to sheetrock finishing work. They arrived Sunday evening and will work until Friday before heading back on their LOOONNNGG trek to Iowa. They asked me to come to supper on Tuesday night and just share some stories of what it’s been like to be here these five long months. So I did.

When I sat down with them, they began what I learned to be a nightly tradition with them called “highs and lows.” They went around the room and everyone shared their low moment of the day followed by their high moment. Always in that order.

I was touched.

The adults were contemplative for the most part, one lady near tears upon reflecting that her low moment was having to leave work at a family’s house when there was so much more to do. Things like that you know. The teenage girls were contemplative, too, which was impressive. And surprisingly, so were the middle-school boys! Every one was thoughtful, a bit goofy from time to time of course because they are real people who love each other.

And like I say, I was touched. These were not new feelings that they expressed. These were feelings I knew all too well, the highs and lows of this roller coaster of the past five months, but I had been growing a bit desensitized to it all. And it surprised me to see it again. So real. So close.

I think I’ve been constructing a shell in some half-baked plan of developing a routine and trying to “get back to normal” (to use that blasted phrase). My shell was broken a bit last night, though, when I heard the highs and lows of a love-prompted day that makes life worth living in the first place.

And I thought that this must be what life is all about on some level. Highs and Lows. Wait, I’ve got them out of order: Lows and Highs. Every day’s got ‘em. Ignoring the lows is about as healthy as ignoring the highs I guess.

And I thought, Wouldn’t it be nice to spend your day doing your best to spread some love and then gather together every night with people who love you back and just throw it all out on the table, the good and the bad?

But always end on the good.

With hope.

Today, I have a headache. But the weather is simply gorgeous.