Today is Monday, June 29th. There was no construction activity at the house today and this post is solely to keep you informed as to where we go from here. The Superintendent and I have set a target date of July 10th for completion. We will work this Thursday afternoon and all day Friday and Saturday. Keep checking in to see when we will work after this week. It's time to 'bring this Ministry Project home' and see it completed! We will need those of you who can to help us as we give it a final push to the end.

We will be in need of someone, or multiple someones, to help us by providing lunches on Friday and Saturday. If you could help by committing to do that for those working it would be greatly appreciated!! Please contact Superintendent Ed or me so that we can coordinate appropriately.

Again, thanks for your assistance in this ministry and for checking in here on the blog. Until next time.........

Today's post begins with the irony that there are no photos from today. This day was, for me, a day of God's grace being manifested.

Superintendent Ed was working today with Russell, Mary Alyce (the Queen of Caulk) and Joan and, a NEW face to the Ministry Project, Pete. Frank and I joined them mid-afternoon and homeowner Ken participated all day today to help get the back of the house done and the front, left wall done to the top. Finally some visual evidence that we've been doing something!

Now about this irony and Grace...

It's ironic that there are no photos from today because that is where Frank and I were for much of the day. We photographed the wedding of Shawn and Sarah, Greg and Regina's son. You would have thought that a day spent taking photos would have included photos from today's work but it just wasn't meant to be. It was this same situation that showed me God's grace to us.

Our friend and brother, Greg, began a long time ago the planning and talk about getting this project accomplished. You might or might not have noticed that he has not been able to participate. God raised up another "Superintendent" for the project and Ed has given and given of himself beyond measure. Today's blog post is both a show of support for Greg and an expression of thanksgiving to God for his provision through Ed.

Greg has endured many trials over the past weeks... his brutal work demands and the stresses of his family. That's where the grace comes in. Today I witnessed a family celebration of marriage where a dying grandmother was able to attend the wedding of her grandson; a wife whose husband performed the marriage. The specifics are too numerous to go into but suffice it to say that it was by God's grace that she was able to be there. How much she saw, or heard, or what will happen now doesn't really matter. Her attendance was not just for her benefit but it was an inspiration to all present. When the car drove into the edge of the back yard, I couldn't help but think of the biblical story of the lame man whose friends lowered him through the roof in order for him to be touched by Jesus. (Thanks Frank and Christy!)

I also witnessed a grandfather with Alzheimer's almost flawlessly perform the ceremony and marry his grandson. (So he didn't tell Shawn he could kiss the bride, but that took care of itself! Who doesn't kiss at a wedding?!) It was the patience and guidance of the family that allowed this to happen. Again, a show of God's goodness to us in that, through Him and His love, we support and tolerate each other and He has blessed us with family... this family, for many families that were present today, and for our church family.

Truly "Blest Be the Tie That Binds".

Where to begin today...

There were 3 Hollywood deaths this week and we gave honor to them all in our own twisted, humorous way. Our Superintendent was greeted this morning with a "Heeeeeeere's Eddie!" Ed McMahon himself could not have done it better, right Ed? (More on the other 2 recognitions in a moment, but first, what did we accomplish today?)

Let me state that it was HOT again today. Seems like the weather is either hot or rainy, or both, these days. I guess that's what the summers in Florida are like, right? Superintendent Ed, Frank, Russell and I were there first and were joined later by Joan and Mark. If you were just casually observing the work of today you might not think we did much. But you would be...... wrong! We did get 1 full sheet of the 4X8 siding on the back of the house. It's going to take some time now whenever we're going to have to cut out for electrical outlets, pipes and wires. Maybe if we weren't so particular and perfectionistic (read me, I!) we could move with more speed. (I may be more precise and therefore slower, but at least I was willing and able to work longer than you old guys!!!) We also got all the trim boards cut and nailed up on the front of the house so whenever we get back to doing the lap siding there on the front we can move right on along!

Nancy and Amanda delivered our lunch today; mostly delivered, not completely prepared. Thanks for the food goes to Kathy and the Wednesday night crew who fixed the meatball subs and shared the extras with us for today. Thank you Kathy for the food, and thanks Nancy for the reheating and all the extras... the fruit and the drinks and the ICE!!!

There were suggestions today that we should have had a couple of contests today (in recognition of the other 2 deaths): a Farrah Fawcett look alike contest (o.k. everyone, I KNOW you have one of those wigs stashed away somewhere in your closet). The other was that we have a Deacon Moon Walking contest in honor of Michael Jackson. Frank also must have mentioned a dozen times today that what we needed on the worksite was a radio so that we could listen to Thriller and every other album that Michael Jackson recorded. (Sorry Frank.) By the way, Frank, transistor radios are out now-a-days. And don't you have an iPod? I actually would have loved to have seen that, Deacons in Farrah Fawcett wigs doing the moon walk like Michael Jackson; aahhh, I can visualize it now.

Speaking of Frank, he tried to do his best Ron imitation at lunch today. In fact, he looks down-right comfortable in that chair with his feet propped up! (Sshhhh. I think we're keeping him from his afternoon nap.) Seriously though, thanks for your help, Frank.

Byron, not sure if you will be reading the Blog while you're away but you are testing our ability to keep some commandments. We envy you and we are jealous of your time away and the cool weather where you are.

Tomorrow, Saturday, is another work day. Frank and I will be unavailable in the morning but Superintendent Ed will be there along with a couple of others that I know about, so if you can join us, someone will be there all day. From here on out, the more hands we have, the faster it will go. If you are interested and able to help, please keep checking this blog for a schedule and/or call Ed or Doug. See you all tomorrow afternoon.

Today, Monday, is a glorious day! Every day for the Christian should be glorious but I'm speaking from the perspective of this Ministry Project.

Today was not a work day at the house but Superintendent Ed was on site doing some more nailing and to host our Building Inspector who was to visit again today. According to Ed, the inspector arrived around 11:00, went around the house again, requested that Ed put in even MORE nails, and then APPROVED the work! Ed stayed a while longer by himself to re-staple the house wrap that had been pulled up and to re-tape where it had been torn. Thanks, Ed, for your solo efforts today, and for supervising us so that we were approved.

I hesitate to take scripture out of context and twist it but this verse came to mind today when Ed gave me the good news, and I thought it was appropriate for the situation... with some selected words highlighted.

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. --2 Timothy 2:15

AMEN!

After today, I feel like I've become more of a meteorologist than a blogging, church member and construction volunteer. We've seen it all the past 10 days... rain, floods, lightening, thunder, sun, heat, and today--hail. That's right. This afternoon all hail broke loose after we had, thankfully, packed everything up. It cut our day a little short but we got the important part of siding the front done, and that's the layout.

The photos show the front of the house that's beginning to look like a house! Ken is so proud of the way it's looking and we were just getting rockin' and rollin' with the lap siding. If I must say so myself, it will look terrific when we're finished. Ken worked inside today replacing the drywall around the sliding glass doors to the patio where we had to reframe. And Ken, I do have 1 question for you. What are you doing using the table saw to cut that itty, bitty piece of wood? And what are you going to do with it once it's cut? Inquiring minds want to know!

Speaking of myself, most of the folks working are very quick to question my abilities. "Are you sure that hole's in the right place?" "Is this the side that's 1/4 in. higher? Are you sure it's not supposed to be 1/4 in. lower over here?" "Did you check to see if this is level?" Question after question after question. The other day I mentioned that Ron thought we ought to have titles; he's the Safety Director and Ed is the Superintendent. Today I've assigned myself a title: Project Perfection Manager. (It's very similar to being a Quality Control Manager but I like the word Perfection in my title. Hey, I'm writing the blog, I'm assigning titles, so I get to choose. Period.)

Carol once again provided lunch and included watermelon! Therefore her title continues to grow; it's now Carol's Catering, Deli, Grille, and Farmers' Market. We have become like Pavlov's Dogs... asking earlier and earlier, "What time is it? Is it lunch time yet? I wonder what we'll have today?" Carol, a simple thank-you seems inadequate; but Thank You.

As I mentioned to you in yesterday's post, the inspector is supposed to come out again on Monday. Today, Superintendent Ed went around the house putting nails everywhere! If we still don't pass on Monday, it definitely won't be because there aren't enough nails. That siding is going nowhere.

Mary Alyce was back out with us today and we had another first-time contributer to the project. Patrick came out to give us an opinion and instruction on dealing with the electrical concerns on the outside of the house. When we get ready to put the siding up behind the electrical service to the house we have a plan and we have licensed backup. Thank you Patrick and Dawn Electric for your support.

We will be taking some time off from this project this next week. Several of us have had personal plans in place for a long time now so we won't be working a set schedule. Please stay in contact with Ed or me and we'll let you know what the schedule looks like.

I look forward to seeing you in church tomorrow!

Welcome to "I have good news and I have bad news" Friday!

Most people want the bad news first to get it out of the way and end on a positive note, soooo, here we go.

First, to give you an overall status check on the project after a week, all the prep work is complete and we are ready to begin siding. It has taken us longer than anticipated, but I guess that always happens. The crews each day have worked hard and I'm thankful for their enduring the weather... wet, wet, wet at the beginning and hot, hot, hot here the past several days! Y'all are the best!

O.k., you will notice from one of the photos that our work was 'disapproved' today by the building inspector. Seems like he didn't like our nailing pattern on one portion of one side of the house. It wasn't a big deal to us, all we needed to do was to pick up the nail gun and add some nails, which honestly we had forgotten. While we are to submit to our governmental authorities, it was frustrating that a small section forces us now to wait until Monday to have it reinspected to make sure we added enough nails! He did allow us to work on the front of the house and to begin putting up the lap siding; and we will tomorrow! We move on..........

Russell and Joan rejoined the 5 amigos of Ed, Mark, Byron, Ron, and me so we had a good group working today. Carol's Catering, Deli and Grille provided sloppy joes for lunch; with drinks and chips and gooey fudge brownies for dessert!

Take a look at the photos and you can tell how hot it was today. Mark discovered that pouring the cold water from the cooler over our heads felt tremendous, and was effective at cooling us off. We might have to have 2 coolers tomorrow; one to drink from and one to 'shower' with! You'll also notice that I found a job I liked... it was in the shade and I could wield the nail gun while lying down. Neat! Too bad there's no more of that to do!

Our superintendent, Ed, made a very un-superintendent-like mistake today. As he was changing blades on his table saw, getting ready to cut the Hardi boards, Russell said, "Is that the way that blade turns or are you going to cut it with the blade on backwards?" Ummm, Ed, how 'bout it? Which is better?!!!

Now for the good news. Byron asked to share a word of testimony regarding our work this past week. It was better when he said it but I'm going to try and share his good sentiments with you. As a real estate broker in these economic times, his work has been, should we say, challenging. He had been working with a client since April and everything had fallen through and it looked as if they were at the end of the road and had parted ways, from an agreement perspective. He put it away, and then this past Wednesday he got a call (while working with us on the house). (And speaking of getting a call, Byron lives with his Bluetooth ear piece in his ear and this post's photo of him in the trailer pointing to his ear is him indicating to me that he was on the phone. At least the trailer was shady and he was sort of away from all the noise we were making.) 'Out of the blue' both of these parties that were involved got together with a positive outcome. The same thing happened again the next day (which was just yesterday) with a client with whom he had been working since January! Byron's testimony was that maybe God was telling him that when he/we put our focus on others, we in turn are blessed... sometimes in tangible ways like these business successes and other times at later dates and in less tangible ways. We are told to be obedient and to 'feed my sheep' and not worry about tomorrow or from where our sustenance will come. God will provide. God is good!

Well, tomorrow is the last scheduled day for our ministry project. We obviously aren't finished but we will have to schedule from week to week from here on. If you are still able to help and would like to know when we will be working, please let us know and offer to let us call or e-mail you with dates and times. Keep checking in here and I'll give the blow-by-blow report.

'When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' --Matthew 25:39-40

Just a quick update for today, Thursday.

The siding was delivered today and that was the extent of our work! Ed and Ron were on hand to accept the delivery and check things in and the rest of us either worked at our regular jobs today or rested.

If you will allow me to whine (I'm going to do it anyway. Why did I ask?!) it's been really hot and we kind of 'hit a wall' and needed a rest. I'm sure we'll be refreshed and ready to get going again tomorrow and Saturday!

Some folks just don't understand editorial license so I feel compelled to express a clarification. Our pastor complained that he was completely misrepresented in my Tuesday blog post. (He should have known, however, that when you're dealing with this group, anything goes... and no one is immune from the writer's pen.) That not withstanding, he did NOT actually name names each time he vigorously used that hammer stapler. And while I can NOT read his mind to know what he was thinking when he was swinging that thing, I do know that voicing names he did not do. We can only guess what he was thinking but now that I've had a chance to think about it, since it is Shepherd Richard we're talking about here we must assume that it was something Holy. We're thankful that you were willing to serve and minister with us and to lower yourself to the level of getting sweaty and getting your nice white tennis shoes muddy!

Well everyone, as I mentioned earlier, we will be working all day Friday and all day Saturday. The building inspector is scheduled to pay us a visit tomorrow, Friday, so he can tell us how wonderful a job we have done thus far! Once he has complimented us, we can begin to cover up what we've done and install the real siding.

Thanks again for checking in on us on this blog and for supporting those of us doing the manual labor. I don't know about a village, but it takes a congregation!

One day at a time...

We're making progress and have accomplished a lot but we are beginning to hit a wall. The quartet of Ed, Mark, Ron and Doug were at it again today and have made it around to the front of the house now.

We've developed a system and are motoring along. Thank goodness that we were able to work in the shade today. (Ed, I don't know what we would have done without your tent!) God heard our prayers for dry weather and has supplied us with 3 days without rain. It was, however, a HOT one today! Us old guys (sorry Mark, I'm generalizing!!) are taking a lot of breaks. The front of the house is shaded by a nice big tree but today was the first day that we've had to break out the pruning utensils and cut shrubbery away from the house so we could work. Mark kind of disappears in the plants in one of the photos; sort of looks like he's in the jungle.

Well, let's see who I can pick on today...

Ron has decided that we all need official titles and responsibilities. He assigned himself the first title: Safety Director. Now I'm not real sure what the job description is but he did a superb job today of taking the boards we removed, bending over nails that were protruding from them, and placing them in the trailer. That's a very important part of the job and keeps us from stepping on nails. As the saying goes, 'a clean work site is a safe work site'.

Hey Carol, what's for lunch? Turkey on slider buns, wheat or white, with raspberry mayonnaise; chips; veggie tray; lemon squares (killer!); drinks. Yuummm!

Today's work included some tedious work around a lot of wires... wires for the phones, wires for the cable/internet, and wires for electricity. We did pretty good. We managed to not electrocute ourselves. And there was cable/internet all day. The phones, however, were a different story. Our disconnection of the phone line wasn't readily apparent; if you don't call out, you don't know anything is wrong. That was us today until about 3:30 when Marie asked, "Do y'all know why the phones aren't working? Did you have to work around some wires?" As a matter of fact... ummm, we did. Considering that this crew is good at what they do, it was not a big deal to get communications back up and running, although, when Byron and I first looked at all those wires in that box, we weren't totally confident. "Do you have an inside wiring service contract with your provider?" we asked. But wait! I think if we connect these blue wires--- Eureka! (Are we good, or are we good.)

The Hardi Board siding and the rest of the materials get delivered tomorrow and then maybe we'll start getting the house to actually look like a house again. It won't be an easy task; for most of the rough prep work we've done, accuracy and details aren't required. Anyway, thanks for reading the blog and keep checking back to follow along with our progress! (By the way, you can comment on any of the posts by clicking on comments at the end of each of them.) Enjoy!

Today, Tuesday, was a 'weather grace gift' as it was the first work day that it did NOT rain! God is good! (But we knew that already, didn't we?!)

A lot was accomplished today as Byron, Ed, Mark and Doug worked all day and were joined in the afternoon by Ron and... another new face at the work site... Pastor Richard! You can tell from the sweat on his T-shirt that he "...didn't just come for the photo op. Hand me something and tell me what to do!" As is typical of the Pastor, he doesn't let any grass grow under his feet, and he didn't let any grow under ours either! For some strange reason, he really took to the hammer stapler, stapling the house rap up. He was going at it with a vengeance and it seems that with every swing and blow he mumbled a different Deacon's name. (Not quite sure what that meant but it couldn't have been a positive thing!!!)

We found out at lunch today that Carol's Deli has undergone a name change. We feasted on homemade beef BBQ sandwiches and drinks. It is now Carol's Grill and Catering. (Thanks again!)

With superb teamwork, excepting a small portion of the left side of the house, we completed all the work necessary to begin putting up the Hardi Board siding. As you can see from the photos, we had to replace the framing around the sliding patio doors around back and for most of the morning there was a gaping section with no wall. There are a couple of photos that show the 'pass through' that was created and then the final cover-up and wrapping. I just realized why Ed spent most of his time working on that this morning. It was the only spot on the work site that was air conditioned!!! (That's why he's the superintendent.) Anyway, as you can also see in the photos, everything now is wrapped up and waiting to accept the siding.

Now what would my blog posts be without a little humor, hummm? There is a photo posted today of the typical Ron pose... sitting! I feel slightly bad in that we don't have a recliner on site for him like we've had in the past. (Sorry Ron, we love you anyway. Maybe the next project we can find a recycled recliner for you in a dumpster somewhere.) Seriously though, while we are good at ribbing each other we have worked hard and the fellowship has been tremendous. Truly this a ministry not only to Ken and Marie but to those of us who have been working and hopefully to the neighbors.

Speaking of ribbing, I usually get needled about something and usually it's about something that's not even apparent. For several days now I have been teased about a 'pink extension cord' that I own. Has it been with me at the site? No. Did that keep anyone from talking about it anyway? No. Did I cower and leave it at home? NO WAY! I brought that pink cord with me today and even posed for a photo with it. (It was a great value... an excellent cord for a low price. Even then, Ron said he wouldn't have it even if they had given it to him. Whatever.) Someone else asked today if the pink meant this was a Powderpuff Ministry.

Well, I'm going to close today's post with a reminder and a realization that this is truly a ministry, an opportunity for us to put action to our words. Thanks to all who are involved, whether you're on site, making meals, contributing dollars, supporting us with your prayers, offering encouragement, or any other way.

God is good!

Day 3 begins with apologies to the hymn writers...

"Heavenly sunlight" was the theme of the morning; as we arrived at 8:00 a.m. to begin our day's work it was beautiful. Alas, if it had only lasted longer than about 11:00 a.m. God, I know I'm not in any position to complain, but, about this rain...

This was our largest participation day so far with another new face in the crowd, Mary Alyce. So today we had Ed, Byron, Frank, Russell, Kelvin, Joan, Mark, Mary Alyce, Doug, and homeowner Ken. All the more to work hard and get wet! (More on that in a bit.)

The crew today was able to finish the preparations for the siding to go up on the long side that we started on Thursday. We finished the framing and under siding, marked the stud locations (the house studs!), nailed the flashing up, and wrapped with the house wrap. So, we're ready to begin siding there.

Work continued across the back of the house and around the other side and we managed to get it torn off and covered back up before we left for the day... not, however, before the rains came, but we were ducking in and out of the tents during the rains, everyone committed to the task! We'll have to do quite a bit of work around the patio doors, replacing some framing and even doing some drywall repairs inside. Ken began the inside work today.

Carol was once again the lunch wagon, today with sub sandwiches, drinks and some sweets. Thanks again, Carol... we couldn't do it as easily without those of you providing the noon sustenance.

That was also about the time that the rain began.

"There shall be showers of blessing" or in this case, there were also showers of water, and lots of it! ("Shall we gather at the river?") I still say maybe half of us should have been working on the siding and the other half building a big boat. I know, I know-- God promised to never do that again, BUT... "Lord, plant my feet on higher ground." You will notice in today's photos, we spent a fair amount of our afternoon huddled together under the tents, trying to avoid the rain. Unfortunately we all weren't completely successful. Someone (a Deacon, no less) suggested that we have a Deacon wet T-shirt contest. Now that you have had enough laughing to last you a lifetime, I mentioned that to say that we can have fun together and do ministry at the same time. (Thanks, Byron, for the suggestion!)

Remember I said that today's blog post has a hymn theme to it? Well, how's this for being apropos? "I've seen it in the lightning, heard it in the thunder, and felt it in the rain; my Lord is near me all the time, my Lord is near me all the time." And did we ever see it in the lightning! In fact one strike was so close, we not only saw it, some of us felt it! You know what I'm talking about? The kind of strike that's so close that you hear the sizzle, the 'sszzzt', the hair on your body stands up, and then you immediately see the flash and hear the boom. We've already been through that at IVBC, Lord!

We finished up a little early today because of the rain, but looking back, it's been a very productive 3 days. Thanks again to everyone who's had a part, and thanks to you for following along with us by viewing the blog; check us daily to see if we've added anything. See you at church tomorrow!

"Stir Your church, O god, our Father, move throughout its life today; cultivate a sense of mission in our hearts and minds, we pray. Help us to renew commitment to a way of ministry which interprets for our culture how Your truth can make us free."