Saturday, March 8, 2014

It's already Thursday?


It's picking up speed to the end of the mission. After months of planning,
multiple emails, phone calls, dreaming of the drive down, working on setting
up possible job sites, team meetings (oh the team meetings), organizing and
reorganizing it's coming down to the final day.

Rolling over and looking at the alarm clock, 4:00 AM. Oh good two more hours
until the alarm goes off. Buzz, buzz, buzz where is that darn snooze. Oh why
does my shoulder hurt, knees are a bit tighter than yesterday. Snoring comes
from a couple of spots in the room. Rolling over to find my shoes, heading
over to get the coffee started. Learning to make the coffee stronger as the
week goes on. It's taking longer for the team to come over for breakfast
now. Slowly they shuffle in. Partially ready for the day and partially ready
to go back to bed. The talk shifts back to last night and the time with the
"neighbors" from the Room in the Inn. It's obvious that it made an impact
with the team.

The plan for the day is to work on Carla's house until the rain comes. We
load up our lunches incase the rain holds off and we can work all day. We
gather for our prayer and head out. Arriving at Carla's we quickly unload
and start to work. It's supposed to be around 50 today but the thermometer
on the truck says 40. We get moving to try to get warm. The threat of rain
is off in the distance yet it feels like it could snow. So we make the
decision to take off the worst of the outer walls and replace them. We set
up a cutting area and start tearing off the walls. The team starts breaking
up the walls while trying to leave the plywood below. Easier said than done
at times. Once we get the walls off we take the measurements and get
cutting. Rich works with several of the team members to show them how to use
a skill saw. Everybody walked away with all fingers and toes attached. Some
tense moments were had when the team lead mistakenly thought the patio we
were on was farther out than it was. The main thing hurt was his pride even
though he did receive a nice strawberry on his knee. Carla came out several
times to watch the work. She seemed very please with the progress. While
putting up the walls it was discovered that as usual the wall studs were not
always 16". Some were 15 and others were 17. So it made for a game of hide
and seek for awhile. Eventually we got the walls up. It was now noon and the
rain was suppose to start around 1. We decided since we were at a good spot
we would call it a day. We quickly cleaned up and said our good byes to
Carla and Jackie and said we would see them in the morning.

We made it back to the family life center after a quick stop at Wal-Mart to
pick up some more Clementines. These seem to be the snack of choice this
week. We've already gone though 5 bags. Once back some head for showers and
some go for lunch. There is vegetable stew left over from last night which
tastes just as good as before.

The rain has begun by now. A cold dreary rain. The team takes advantage of
the down time to grab needed naps. A few work on Facebook post and some
write in their prayer journals. God knows when it is time to rest if we only
listen to Him.

We have our devotional time before dinner tonight. Amy and Megan are in
charge. Their devotional is based on Mark 4: 1-20 the parable of the sower.
They then tell a story of a soldier that is in a foreign land that doesn't
allow religious books. So he uses a deck of cards to minister to his
sergeant. They compare these stories to what we are doing now. We are sowing
seeds by our actions. By using what we have at hand to show God's love for
us and His people. Whether it be a hammer, drill, a paint brush, a kind word
or whatever we have it is a way to sow the seeds for the Kingdom. Afterwards
we each got a pack of cards with the story of the soldier on the outside of
the pack. It was a very powerful message.

Pastor Marvin and his wife Kim had invited us over to their house for a
cookout. After devotions we headed to their house. We were welcomed into
their home as if we were family. And in some ways we are. Hamburgers and
hotdogs were grilling. A feast was laid out before us. After a quick
blessing of giving thanks all ate heartily. There were a lot of
conversations through out the house. After dinner Kim served us dessert. Now
this was skillet cake, chocolate and peanut butter. I had never had it
before but it was excellent. Kim was explaining how to make this to Rich but
I missed the directions. It's probably a good thing. We all sat around and
shared stories and there was much laughter and fellowship. We soon said our
good byes and thank you hugs were given.


The team meeting we discussed the days events. Even though we didn't work
very long at the site time was spent by the team with Carla and Jackie. They
also visited with Raymond, I believe a son, who is bed ridden with cancer.
The mission is not only the physical construction but also the construction
of the Kingdom by our time and attention to the relationships that are
formed and presented.

All are in our prayers as we pray for all. Friday is upon us. One more day
here. All have said they can't believe it has gone so fast and I agree.
Anyone who has gone before can relate and anyone who wants to experience
can.
Here are some pictures from today!

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