My Dad, the Blue Hat

You may have noticed in my last post that my dad was absent.  That is because he has been on the East Coast for the last couple of weeks helping with disaster relief, post-Hurricane Sandy. 

Here is where my dad and his group have been "bunking"!

Back when I was in college, my dad got involved with Texas Baptist Men Disaster Relief, and he began volunteering with their feeding unit.  If you know my dad, you know he is the BEST cook.  And he loves to cook.  So this gig is pretty much perfect for him.

Every year, during hurricane season, he watches radar and weather patterns religiously.  When a storm hits, it's very likely that my dad and his unit will get a phone call telling them to drop everything, load up and head to where the storm caused damage.  The Texas Baptist Men have a chainsaw crew and a mud-out crew, in addition to the feeding unit.

Over the years, my dad has moved up and is now a "blue hat".  All the volunteers wear bright, yellow hats, except for those in authority.  The ones with some authority get a blue hat.  I just wish my dad didn't wear his so high on his head like some character from King of the Hill.

(I'll probably get in trouble for that one.)

Regardless, I'm very proud of him, and I'm thrilled he has something he is so passionate about.  He spends much of his time throughout the year working on recipe ideas and portion sizes.  He desires to serve people in their time of need, but he wants to do more than provide them with a bowl of beanie-weenies.  (Not that beanie-weenies aren't on the menu occasionally!)  He works very hard to make sure that a decent meal is served, while still respecting the budget and resources allocated to him.  It's a lot more effort than most people would exert in his position, and I so admire that.

CBS 11 News in Dallas, TX interviewed him before he left for New York.  You should be able to access the article and video clip here:  Texas Baptist Men Responding to Hurricane Sandy

My mom showed us the clip when we were home last weekend, and the one thing I can't stop thinking about is how my dad could have used those few minutes of air-time for anything.  He could have made it about his self, or been overly dramatic about the stress of the situation.  He could have said any number of things, but he didn't.  Every second of what you hear from him is about the Lord.  I can't quit reflecting on that.

My brothers and I, and now even Jarrod, tend to call my dad when we get ourselves in a pinch.  He is a wise man.  He gives good advice.  He also knows how the world operates.  He doesn't always know the right thing to say, and he'll be the first to admit that.  But he does know how to comfort us by providing scripture and prayer.  In fact, sometimes it can be infuriating when I call him in a tizzy and just want him to agree with me that a certain situation sucks, but he won't do it.  Instead, he'll make it into a lesson on how to walk with the Lord.  I don't always want one of those lessons when it feels like my world is crashing down around me.  I'm even guilty of thinking he wears rose-colored glasses and doesn't realize how hard it is to practice what you preach.  And then I see him on TV in the midst of travelling to a disaster.  He's packed up, leaving my mom and their home behind, leaving his business for who knows how many days/weeks and going to love on strangers.  He could say anything to this reporter, but he chooses to use the time to give glory to God and to testify about how none of it could work without "supernatural" appointment from God.

In order to practice what you preach, you have to mean it.  You have to 100%, in your heart, live and breathe what you're saying.  That's the thing about my dad.  Someone else may stick to a script of facts and figures with a reporter's microphone in their face, but my dad plugs God.  I can't quit thinking about that.