Alabama Day 2

Good evening all,

Well all are here! The last group (Rich & Parker) pulled in around 9:45 PM CT. The Illinois crew got here about 2:00 PM CT. Shortly after they got here we headed out to the jobsites for a tour. But wait, I'm getting ahead of my self here. Let's start a little earlier.

Last night most of us headed for bed pretty early around 10:30. The younger ones stayed up awhile longer conversing on their phones with those back home. After a 10 hr drive the air mattress felt pretty good. Why I woke up at 3 AM I'll never know. So laying there in the semi quiet with the AC turning on and off, a few snores from across the room and the hum of the fan I said a prayer, "Lord please be with us this week. If at all possible keep the heat down. Help us to be safe and may we serve the people as you would have us serve." I drifted back to sleep. Just before the alarm was to go off at 6 I got up. Bland and Tony were already stirring. Apparently Richard's double stuffed air mattress sprung a leak in the middle of the night so he didn't sleep as well. Davis never stirred. Before heading for the shower I gave the keys to Tony and he and Becky made the coffee, Bless them!  After a refreshing shower I headed over to the kitchen.

Now Henryville UMC has there coffee fellowship at 8:30. The team was up, some slower than others, and got our breakfast and was ready to go by then. After being greeted warmly by everyone that came in we were then invited to eat some more breakfast that a women's group had made for themselves for their 8:00 meeting. Being good Methodist we didn't turn down food.

We broke up and went into various Sunday School classes. The one that Becky, Brittney, Nancy and I went to was taking a contemporary Christian song and breaking it down and explaining what it meant to them. The song we discussed was one by Chris Rice, "The Color 9". The service today was about the Great Commission but about the fact that God would be there at all times. Through the entire service it just felt like waves and waves of the Holy Spirit were washing over us. Afterwards the people kept coming up to us thanking us for being here and welcoming those of us that had been before back. It was like a homecoming. Even the youth on the team spoke up on the ride to the restaurant about the energy and excitement that they felt during the service. What a great way to start off the week.

After stuffing ourselves at a local all you can eat dinner called Bruce's we headed back to the church to change to go out to look at the jobsites. After a quick meeting and welcoming the May's (Ed, Kevin & Colin) we were meet by Pastor Marvin whom we followed out to the jobsites on his motorcycle. We have two houses to work on. Both received roof damage in the tornados. The first house. Ms. Lang's, is mostly sheetrock finishing, painting, some framing, hanging cabinets and some trim work. The other house, Ms. Brutley's, is a little more complex. I'll give more info on both of these people a little bit later.

After our tours of the houses the team split and some headed back and some headed to Wal-Mart to get our supplies for the week. Several team members picked up Alabama t-shirts.

We headed back to unload and relax a bit before dinner. Dinner was much lighter than we had planned thanks to a very big lunch. A few brave souls (or foolish depending on your view) went for a run. Fortunately they all made it back. The rest of us pulled out some leftover pizza and sandwich items and got dinner laid out. A little while later we had our team meeting. Nancy lead us in a get to know you game where we were sorted by our birth month and then we gave our name and said why we were here. After the icebreaker Peyton, Katy and Kaelyn lead the devotion. Peyton read from Ezra 3: 10 and the foundation of temple. Katy and Kaelyn then talked about how a house must be built on a strong foundation and this being their first mission that this mission was laying the foundation for their faith. Wow, what amazing youth we have with us.  Afterwards  handed out the cards that Melissa Ward hand made for each of the team members. There were a few teary eyes as folks read what she had written to each. We discussed our plans for tomorrow and then we broke.

Everyone but Rich and myself have headed for bed. I'm going very shortly. Thank you all for your prayers and support. We mention you all in our prayers. We shall see what the Lord brings us tomorrow. So from Guntersville, AL good night and God Bless!

Jeff