Disaster Relief again today. I taped boxes this time. I wasn’t good to begin with, but I got better by the very end. So maybe I’ll be able to do it better next time. Mom went too. She bagged up paper plates. Time seemed to go by faster, since I was busier than before.
I have an opportunity to go on a 18 wheeler truck to Oklahoma on Monday to deliver relief supplies to tornado victims. I may go; I haven’t decided yet. It would be fun, but probably a little boring. Who knows. I’d be helping people, so that’s probably a good thing. And it’d be a interesting way to experience the highways on a 18 wheeler. So maybe I might go. Who knows.

“15 If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.”

I volunteered at the Churches of Christ Disaster Relief project today ( www.disasterreliefeffort.org ). Basically my job was to punch the hand holds through the boxes. Does that make sense? On the side of the boxes there are hand holds which help when you carry it.
We boxed 1200 cases of food and supplies for tornado victims in Illinois, Missouri, and Oklahoma. At that particular time…when I was actually doing the boxing…I didn’t feel as though I was making a difference. However when I went by the office…to read through some of the thank you notes which had been sent, I could tell that we were making a difference in people’s lives. When someone’s house gets hit by a tornado and they have nothing but the clothes on their back…it’s very devestating. Then when they get a box full of food which says “Churches of Christ Disaster Relief” on it, it’s very heartwarming. I’m sure I will never meet any of the families which receive the boxes which I punched hand holds in. But somehow that doesn’t make a difference in my mind. Just the fact that its getting done.
I was probably the youngest person there. The boxing is done mostly by retired people. I guess it gives them something to do. When I retire I might like to help deliver the supplies to victims. Good way to see the country and help people along the way.

Most of what I learned before about 18 wheeler trucks were from movies and TV shows. BJ and the Bear. Smokey and the Bandit. I remember that episode of Alice where the brakes went out on the truck and Flo had to handle the truck around those hills. Or was that the Dukes of Hazzard. I don’t know.
Anyways we had that CDL (commerical drivers license) school at Antioch Church of Christ today. Most students were from Mt. Juliet. We are having to get class C drivers licenses if we want to drive the church van. New law comes into effect in 2 years.
The class itself was kinda long, but thorough. I thought they might have us out driving the van around in the church parking lot. Not so. We learned all about air brakes. Emergency brakes. How you can have seats in the aisles of buses as long as your transporting farm workers. I know all about driving 18 wheelers now.
I never knew so much material could be covered. There is apparently alot to driving trucks and buses.
I did notice something sorta strange in the church directory. In the formal picture…some lady was holding a picture of (apparently) her dead husband. He’s with her in spirit…and apparently on photographic paper. Just not in person. Maybe he died just a few weeks before the picture was taken and the lady was still grieving over it. Still, it appeared to me to be over the top…per say.