webspace

I officially purchased server space today! This means that I will soon have a legitimate web presence at www.chrisrouse.us instead of it just redirecting to my Blogger site. I'll make an announcement soon about the move. Probably sometime next week once exams are over and I can take time to figure everything out about this transition.

spring

I'm glad it's spring. And that in Kentucky it's legal to park your riding mower in the handicap spots at McDonalds.

Day 4

Anyone noticed my titles getting shorter and my posts getting shorter? It's late again and i didn't get the chance to editorialize about our day. Anyway, we finished the roof short of putting the ridge vent on. We'll do that first thing in the morning. Then we hit the roof next door and get started on that one. It will be a new experience for my team because this room as a couple new elements the one we just finished didn't have. It's going to be exciting. I'm thinking about finding a way to spring my spring semester down here next year since I"ll graduate in December. Be praying about that with me. We come back on Sunday morning. I'll try to find some time tomorrow to write a longer post. Goodnight.

New Orleans, Day 3

Just a quick note before I go to bed. We are almost done with our roof and we will definitely get it done tomorrow before lunch. The other sites seem to be coming along well too. One of the groups is the jazz band from a high school up in Illinois. They raised the entire cost of a house with concerts and are here this week building and performing. They played for everyone at lunch and had a few local musicians join them as well. I'll elaborate more tomorrow, but I wanted to get something out here in the blogosphere in case anyone is reading this looking for an update. Now I'm going to sleep.

New Orleans, Job Site, Day 2

Why would you ever complain, O Jacob,
or, whine, Israel, saying,
"God has lost track of me.
He doesn't care what happens to me"?
Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening?
God doesn't come and go. God lasts.
He's Creator of all you can see or imagine.
He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath.
And he knows everything, inside and out.
He energizes those who get tired,
gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire and drop out,
young folk in their prime stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don't get tired,
they walk and don't lag behind."

"Isaiah 40:27-31" The Message

This was New Orleans just about three years ago. Today, the water is gone, but the damage is still here in so many parts. We were driving around tonight and every house is tagged with an "X" and several numbers. Zero is a good number. Anything above zero means a body was found. And most of the houses weren't searched until September, a month after Katrina.

What's most amazing is that people stayed. They didn't abandon their city for somewhere else. Whether forced by socio-economic factors, or shear determination not to give up, people stayed and people came back. And now, volunteers by are coming down by the hundreds and thousands week after week to rebuild a city ravaged by hurricanes. To paraphrase, and add on to, one of the construction leaders this morning, "We are rebuilding this city and its hope one nail at a time." How true! Every sheet of plywood, every piece of lumber, ever roof shingle, every sheet of drywall: they are all attached with nails (and screws). Millions of nails are piecing the city back together.

We arrived early this morning and had a chance to look around a little bit at what was going on. Eighty houses on eight acres, I think it what we were told this morning, along with a community center with a full recording studio. The heart of New Orleans is found in the music and that's what Musicians' Village is aiming to restore. This new community will be incredibly strong just because of the common bond these new homeowners will have with each other. I imagine that once people begin moving in to their homes in a few months that there will be jam sessions unlike any anywhere else happening late into the night as people sit around playing jazz and sharing stories.


I've barely been here 24 hours and seen only a glimpe of the city and haven't even talked to any locals in the area we are working, and already I'm in love with this city. The roof that I'm helping put on is only a small part of this process. But to the person or family that will be living under this roof, it's one of the most important parts of their house. It's the part that protects them against all but the most severe weather. Rated to last 20 years and withstand 140MPH winds, whoever lives under it should not have to worry about it failing for years to come.

It's 10pm here. Not incredibly late, but after getting up at 6:30am (along with the 30 minutes spent outside at 4:30am when the fire alarms went off by accident) and the long hard day of work out in the sun, I'm whiped out. Check back tomorrow. Maybe I won't have to steal pictures from the internet by then. I'll remember to take my camera out of the van this time.

New Orleans, Afternoon 1

We just arrived at Celebration Church in New Orleans (just outside the city actually) where we'll be staying for the week. We got here at about 4:30. The story behind this place is that it's a church that was damaged during the hurricane and as part of the rebuilding process, they used hundreds of volunteers to start rebuilding the church and the shopping center that's attached that the church owns. Now part of the building houses volunteers and a free counseling service. They're still waiting on the remainder of $8 million to rebuild the sanctuary.

We're going to be working with The Baptist Crossroads Project and Habitat for Humanity in Musicians' Village. We'll be on site Tuesday through Friday helping build new homes in that neighborhood. You can see some pictures that I've stolen from the internet of Musicians' Village.

back porch in the middle of the night

It's been a while since I wrote. But something is troubling me and I'm not sure what it is, or why it is. I went to bed at 11:30pm for the first time in what seems like ages to read for a while, hoping to fall asleep like I had been doing in the recliner earlier. Once I finished getting ready for bed and picked up my book, I wasn't tired. I finished my book and started a magazine, which didn't work either. So I got back up and got on my computer. Forty-five minutes later, here I am on my back porch in a pair of gym shorts and an undershirt with my laptop writing. It's kind of cool outhere even though my weather widget claims it's 61 degrees.

All day Monday was troubling to me. I wasn't motivated or focused. I didn't really care about anything. I've allowed myself to become overwhelmed with things again, and I know it isn't healthy. I played one successful game of racquetball this afternoon before losing interest and getting frustrated and quitting early. It was frustrating to my friend too when I gave up on the game.

I'm not at ease. I'm worried about my mission trip that leaves on Monday because I haven't found a driver yet. I'm worried about the English paper due the Monday after I get back and the Management paper due Thursday after I get back. I'm hoping that I can get the English paper done before I leave.

There is a song that we sing at church sometimes that I think fits my mood perfectly right now.

My troubled soul, why so weighed down
You were not made to bear this heavy load
Cast all your burdens upon the Lord
Jesus cares, He cares for you.

Jesus cares, He cares for you
And all your worrying
Won't help you make it through
Cast all your burdens upon the Lord
And trust again in the promise of His love

I will praise the mighty name of Jesus
Praise the Lord, the lifter of my head
Praise the Rock of my salvation
And all my days are in His faithful hands

My anxious heart, why so upset?
When trials come, how you so easily forget
To cast your burdens upon the Lord
Jesus cares, He cares for You

"Praise the Mighty Name of Jesus" Robert Critchley

I started the year strong, reading my Bible every day. Then I quit. I gave up on it after I missed a couple days because of a busy schedule. I don't schedule any quite time into my life. My writings at the beginning of the new year were so ambitious and exciting. I wrote about being centered and at peace. I had no stress or anxiety. That was when I was still reading my Bible. Then I stopped and things started piling up again. Monday I was at my lowest point of the semester I think. I haven't felt that way since right before the retreat.

It's getting a bit cold to be out here even though there is a faint whisper of warmth in the breeze, so I think I'm going back inside to try to sleep once more.

Goodnight.