Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Day Two: Meet the Parent

On day 2 we were finishing up house #1 when the homeowner came by for an update. I noticed her mother waiting in the car and asked if I could go talk to her. At the vehicle, I introduced myself as did she, Becky. She ferociously grabbed hold of my arm, thanked me for coming up and with tears streaming down her face, she told me her story of heartbreak and devastation in her hometown and how just days before, her sister succombed to cancer.
Holding hands, we shared dismay, fear, sadness, and finally, hope, restoration and love. Amidst the destruction, we found the warm physical contact between a South Carolina woman and an Iowa woman.
The physical presence of God's love from so many states across the nation through volunteers spread on every block in Cedar Rapids has reminded me that "when love is in the house, the house is packed."
These houses are stripped, there is nothing in these houses. . . except love. And the "house is packed. So much so, we left the backdoor cracked."

I Corinthians 13: 1-3

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Pray for Becky, that she will be drawn to what is unseen, drawn to what is eternal, drawn to Jesus Christ.

Pray for Immanuel Baptist Church and the other Christians in Iowa as they preach the gospel to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness . Isaiah 61:1-3