The Happy Church, Jackson, KY

 Can you be anxious about something and also be excited about it...at the same time?  That's how I felt all morning until we made it to Happy Church.  I couldn't wait to see and love on Anna and her family but I really didn't want to see the devastation and the heartache in people's faces.

We had rain off and on all the way down to Jackson.  At one point I looked out of the window and there were little waterfalls, lots of them cascading down the mountain into a quickly flowing rapid alongside in the ditch.  I began to wonder if we would make it there.

We were loaded with everything you could think of and then some.  Shannon and Steve had things in their car.

The river.

This made my heart happy.  My friend Anna!

I wish you could meet her.  She is amazing!  She is the most considerate teenager I have ever been around.  ALWAYS thinking and putting others first.  She amazes me!

It was hard for me to take pictures but I wanted you to see what they are dealing with.

This is what is left of the Thrift Store and the gym.  

They are using industrial fans to try to dry things out before the mold sets in.

Parts of the interior walls of the gym have already been gutted.

One of two structures where water didn't reach the upper level.

The back of Mike and Connie's house.

The front of Mike and Connie's house.

All of their furniture on the front lawn...destroyed.

The house behind the sanctuary.

Look at the line on the house.  That is the water level.

A house by the barn.  As you can see not much left of the house but the shell.

The barn.  When we were there at Easter they had almost finished remodeling the structure.  It was going to be used to house groups when they came to Happy Church. Destroyed.

This is behind Anna's aunt's trailer.  Here you can see the power of the water.  If you look way back in the v of the tree there are stacked timbers.  These timbers were once stacked way back there.

The water completely covered the trailer.  Anna said that they had about an hour to grab what they could carry and get out.  The road was covered and they had to drive out a different road and through someone's yard to get to higher ground.

I'm not sure that the trailer in the background can be saved.  And the smell is sickening.  I've smelled it one other time.  When I went down and helped with cleanup when Katrina hit in Mississippi.

Ann's uncle has been sleeping on the floor of the travel trailer which was also covered with water.  They are going to try to clean it up so they can live in it.  Right now Anna's aunt is living in the van.  Her cousin is staying with another aunt...there are about 8 people sleeping in the dining room of her house.  And Anna is staying with her mom which is not the best situation.

Because of generous donations we were able to get them some of the things that they need now and in the coming days of clean-up.  I was amazed that they could smile.  Thanks, everyone for the donations and prayers that were said for this family.

Shannon found some beauty among all the muck.

Once we had the family settled and had toured Happy Church, talked to Mike and Vanessa and some of the volunteers (Steve helped some men that had traveled from Covington, KY with some clean-up outside Mike and Connie's house) Shannon and Steve treated us to lunch at Hardee's.  Anna loves Hardee's.  They were low on just about everything because their truck from last week couldn't get to them and they have not seen it yet this week.  The only two things they could offer for drinks were bottles of 

water and Sprite.

I will never be able to express how thankful and grateful I am for everyone that has been on this journey.  It will be a long time before the journey is over.  I pray that we can mobilize teams of people to make trips to Happy Church to help them get back on their feet.  They play a very important role in the community on so many different levels.  

You will be blessed.

I want to help others survive and be the best they can be.  I have a passion for Appalachia and her people.  I pray I always have a deep compassion for others.  I know I'm a bit off my rocker sometimes (most of the time) but I'm doing things in my own way and if that helps and brings a smile to someone then I believe I'm doing the job that God meant for me to do.