Less words today, more pictures. Less rain today, more heat!

No, we didn't finish today, but we're really close, as you can tell from the photos. We had to stop early today because of the sun; it gets to beaming down on us as we work in the front of the house over the garage. But a lot was still accomplished today.

We welcomed back Byron, his first day back with us after his vacation. Unfortunately, he picked up a bug and wasn't feeling very well today but gave it the old college try and stuck with us 'till we quit. (You have the Superintendent's permission to take the rest of this Holiday weekend off and recuperate!)

Patrick was back to help us out with the electrical service. We appreciate his skills and his willingness to serve with us... we're glad we didn't have to stick OUR hands in that box!!!!!! Frank was again the subject of some light ribbing and we claimed that since he has such an 'electric' personality he needed the meter mounted on him. We all thought he looked pretty good with it in front of his face. Someone else quipped that maybe he just needed a surge protector. You can decide.

In true Independence Day tradition, Pam brought us homemade BBQ sandwiches. They were terrific! Thanks, Pam... you know how we look forward to lunch time!

In semi-full disclosure, your Girl Power Crew Chief, Perfection Control Chief, and Blogger Extraordinaire helped locate and cut the openings for the wires and get the piece of panel siding up behind the meter and electrical service to the house. There was a slight miscalculation during the process but you can't tell it and you will never, never, never, EVER know what happened... at least not until one of the group that was working today decides to blab. But remember, I hold the 'power of the pen'!

Well folks, I promised less words and more pictures and I'm not sure I succeeded in my attempt at the former. Enjoy the rest of the Holiday, be safe, and I'll see you tomorrow as we gather for Bible Study and Worship.

Preamble: This post is dated on Saturday, when I uploaded it but is a synopsis of Friday's work.

After Wednesday and Thursday work days that I missed, and because today was a Holiday for several of us, a full complement of folks helped to get a lot done today! It came up a rain in the afternoon but we waited it out and worked a little longer. What dedication! (You should have seen the 6 of us nestled on the front porch trying to stay dry. After the fact, someone suggested that we should have seen how many us could have crammed into the VW Beetle. Ah, shades of the '60s!)

Today saw another new face at our Ministry Project. My oldest daughter, Erin, worked all day with us and, together with Mary Alyce we formed the "Girl Power" Crew. I missed the pink dress code for the day, however, I am the owner of the pink power cord, remember! With Frank doing the cutting and the 3 of us putting up the lap siding, we almost got all of the front finished... a few more boards and then over the garage and we'll be done.

Kelvin, Russell, Superintendent Ed and Ken worked on the panel siding and now their only remaining work is a piece behind the electrical service (meter) and about a third of the long, right side wall where we began this entire project.

With a good push tomorrow, we should be pretty close to finishing, still with a goal of being completely done after next Saturday.

Food Service today was complements of Karen and grandkids who provided us each with a footlong sub from Subway. AND, she brought cookies! Thank you Karen for helping us out. As you have read in other posts, we look forward to the lunch time, earlier and earlier each day, I might add!

Our biblical reference comes to us today from Erin and provided by one of the resident dogs, Taylor. Now Taylor loves to escape the confines of the house and/or back yard and tear off down the street and enjoy her time of 'freedom'. Today, she ran off, had her 'time on the town', and then came dragging back to the house all hot and ready to go back inside to the air conditioning. Thanks to Erin, Taylor is now known as the Prodigal Dog. She always thinks things are better down the street but realizes, after her riotous living away, that things are not so bad at home after all. I'm always amazed, when I shouldn't be, at the ways God teaches us!

Superintendent Ed was teased and complemented all in one fell swoop by his oldest daughter's comments to a recent blog post. (By the way, you can comment on any of the posts and can read any of the comments, by clicking on comments at the end of each post.) Anyway, he wanted to show her how hard he works and how much he sweats (WE all know and you, the readers can only imagine) by ringing the sweat out of his headband. As we all can see from one of today's photos, he's a very prolific 'sweater'.

We all have been so supportive of each other and, despite the good-natured teasing that takes place, all work well together. There is a photo from today that shows 4 of us (the Girl Power crew) all working together to put up a piece of lap siding 12 13/16 in. long! How many church members does it take to...... I'm going to guess, several!

Frank incriminated himself today by pointing to the back of a piece of siding that he cut, that required a REcut. That's his finger in the photo pointing to the line where he was supposed to cut... and obviously didn't. At least it wasn't too short, Frank. You can always take a little more off but it's kind of hard to put it back on!!!!

We'll be back at it tomorrow, Independence Day, at 8:00 a.m. Have a safe and happy 4th.

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!