Tree Man

In the absence of Southern Baptist disaster relief chainsaw crews in the New Orleans areas, I've become the official fallen tree inspector. Gustav and Ike toppled a fair amount of trees throughout the metro area but with the worst damage west of us, crews were sent, and rightly so, to places like Baton Rouge and Houma. Unfortunately, none of our churches has the equipment or training to conduct tree removal. Therefore all calls for such work have been given to me for assessment. I don't mind you see, in fact it gets me out of the office and puts me face to face with people in need. I like that.

The problem is, as was stated before, no one, including myself, has training on this sort of thing. I've got the intro down pat: "Hi, my name is David and I'm with the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans and we've received word that you have a tree down on your property..." That's not the problem. Its when I walk to the back yard that I have to pretend I know what I'm doing. I've stopped saying stupid things like, "So this is the tree?" Of course it is dummy, its the only one crushing the house. I just walk around the downed tree and look at it intently while the home owner tells me all about their frustrations with the insurance company, dealing with hurricanes, watching their friends and families move away, and so on and so forth. I also listen while they express their gratitude for me stopping by. They often thank me as if I rode in on a white horse, armor blazing in the sun.

To be honest, its not so much about a tree as it is about the person that I do this. Given the situation, we may or may not be able to remove the tree safely. But regardless, we always have the opportunity to build a relationship which can lead to our sharing the gospel. Its times like these that I wish I didn't have to spend so much time behind a desk. I rather be in those back yards investing more time with those people and letting them know just how much the God of all creation loves them and wants a relationship with them. There are thousands of back yards around our city where needs go unmet. It doesn't take a professionally trained team to meet those needs either. All it takes is matching our availability with the opportunity. Obedience to our Lord takes effort and sacrifice, every ounce of which is unequivocally worth it.