A realization and a purpose

One week ago today, I realized how blessed I truly am. Every day this week, the Lord continually reminds me of that fact. On August 31, I was assigned to do a story about what evacuees from Tuscaloosa who were staying in a local shelter. No one at the paper had really focused on the shelter yet... we were too busy cleaning up and focusing on the damage from the storm. But at the door of the university's recreation center, I was confronted by a young woman from Mississippi who was desperately searching for her parents and siblings. She was evacuating her hometown when her truck broke down on the Pascagoula bridge. She and her boyfriend decided to leave the truck behind, and their belongings in it, and hitched a ride to Alabama, where they eventually ended up at the Red Cross shelter in Tuscaloosa. She was shattered.

Another person I talked to was a woman who had gotten a call from her niece in New Orleans the day before. She was trapped in a one-story house and the waters were rising. She couldn't get out. She was calling her aunt for help. And her aunt hadn't heard from her since.

Almost everyone I talked to was the same. They had lost everything, were looking for their relatives, and were wondering what to do next. One family that I talked to, the Stricklands, were trying to figure out what to do, whether to go live with relatives in New York or stay in Tuscaloosa and get jobs until they could move back to New Orleans months from now. After gas prices went up, they decided to stay. And so, I decided to follow their journey of adjustment and new beginning.

On Saturday a story ran in the newspaper about the family, how they had left their homes in new orleans, how the grandmother Ruth had left her photo album behind because there was no room in the car. All the family had was a few outfits each, and a 5-year-old grandaughter had only brought a doll. The thing that got to me was that these are ordinary people. The daughter, Patrice, has two college degrees and worked as a math teacher and counselor for years in the New Orleans City School system. One of her brothers worked in a law office, the other, as a janitor. And yet, they were now living out of a hotel room and applying for food stamps.

I first met the Stricklands that first day at the shelter. The next time I saw them, they gave me hugs as I met them at their hotel. The third time I saw them, they day they moved into their new apartment, they gave me hugs, and some shed tears. When they game to Tuscaloosa they were crowded in their Buick LeSabre and brought few belongings. When they moved into their new apartment a little more than a week later, they had a rental van filled with donated furniture and clothing.

When my story about the family broke on Saturday morning, they had 5 or 6 people waiting in the lobby for them as they came down for breakfast. Some people gave them cash donations. Others brought them new clothes or food. One woman took Patrice and her daughter shopping for clothes, telling them to pick out whatever they wanted.

As I visited and interviewed the family once more yesterday, I started to realize that I had a purpose. Eight months ago, I cried as I drove myself to my first day at work at the newspaper. I never wanted to work in papers. But, I felt like for some reason God wanted me to work here. And now, I'm starting to realize some of the reasons why. I love my job. I get satisfaction from feeling like I make a difference. I have made some great friends at the paper and by staying in town, I've met the guy who could be the love of my life.

Most importantly, through my job, I helped someone. I could have never have bought those clothes or gotten the Stricklands all that furniture, but by reading my words, the people of Tuscaloosa were influenced to do something for them.. something I could not havce done on my own. Perhaps it was my way of helping them. More likely, it was Gods way of providing for them. As Patrice told me yesterday, as one door closes, another one opens.

I used to view my starting a job as a door closing on my previous life.. college, grad school, the 6-year-relationship. Little did I know that it would be a blessing, bringing more than I could have ever hoped for. It feels amazing to know that I too have a purpose.