As usual, I am up to my elbows in activities that most are unfamiliar with. I am deployed with the Red Cross as a Spiritual Care Responder. That means I have a background in a particular faith but do not use it to care for others. Instead, I help them access their own spiritual “toolbox”. For some that looks like a particular religion. For others it looks like spiritual practices such as yoga. For others still, it looks like questioning the universe.

In other words… We help people make meaning of what is happening based on their own resources.

This is really lovely work to watch someone grab onto the meaning that makes sense to them, because it becomes like a life raft for them.

Today I worked with staff and began surveying the shelters around me. I spoke with folks from the southern most points of FL and coastal GA who were in great spirits and grateful for the care. They spoke of relief to find a place with showers, hot meals and cots with bedding as though they were in a 5 star hotel. It takes very little to make people feel human and cared for when they are displaced by disaster.

Keep praying. Keep donating money, gift cards for businesses in this part of the country, and of course blood and time. We are going to need it.

In the meantime, I hold hands, hug hearts, smile, listen to books with children and bring coffee to tired shelter teams… And your support is what gives me the energy and drive.

Irma is coming. The winds are super high already and I am safe and ready. Rest well… See you on the other side of the storm.