As I write this, I am not in Memphis, which is where I'm supposed to
be according to our itinerary. We are still in Gulfport. We decided
to stay to finish the cabinets which we bought today for Ms.
Washington. Sometimes when you send out emails like this, you want to
only share the good things, but some days aren't like that. There was
some drama and hard feelings today in making the decision to stay. I
learned that I didn't prepare this team well enough to handle
conflict. Maybe I should start at the top.
We started out the day groggy and during breakfast we made a plan
determining what we were aiming for, time wise. I thought we had
decided we just couldn't get the cabinets done. And I was worried
about finances to pay for them and still get home without hitting our
credit cards any more than we would have to. We got to the work site
and set to- people with a mission! (Really!) And we got a lot done.
And then Pastor Hartwell got there and took Bob and Susan and Jim to
the cabinet store to price and look at cabinets. This was only an
hour before we were supposed to start cleaning up and sorting tools
and getting ready to head to Memphis. There was a lot of running
around to do with getting Bruce and Jim checked out of their hotel and
such.
Fast Forward to 1:30pm. We are eating lunch and sitting down to talk
about what we're going to do. Most people were preferring to stay and
finish, but a few were preferring to get going and stick with the
original plan. Some tempers got heated and I can only imagine how it
would have gone if y'all had NOT been praying for unity for us. Not
everyone was happy with the decisions, but now as I write this,
everyone is cooled down and we have joked around together and played
on the beach together since.
I got a call this morning from a friend in Texas who wanted to donate
some money. She Western Unioned some to us here to help make sure we
have enough to do what we said we are going to do and still get home
without hitting our cards. (Each of the team members has paid to come
on the trip). After I picked up the money, I called to thank her and
she said the amount she sent was the amount she found in a cup
yesterday. It was for something else some time ago, but now it was
found and she believes it was sent for us to use. God is amazing.
So we are here in Gulfport tonight, one more time, I'm in the Burger
King parking lot typing up this email. Here is what we accomplished
on Ms. Washinton's house:
Fixed drywall "errors"
Sanded
Mudded
Sprayed/Textured the ceiling
Bought the cabinets and got them to the house
Installed MOST of the base line cabinets
Put in window sills on all the windows
Finished putting up trim siding on the house
Finished installing soffit and soffit vents
Put in screens in the attic at the attic vents to prevent bats
Jacked up the house to remove temporary supports and leveled the house
on concrete pillars.
Built a temporary hand rail on the front porch
It was a lot. We spent about $3100 dollars (most of it on cabinets)
Tomorrow we leave early for St. Louis. We are skipping Memphis
entirely (besides just driving through.)
Taffy has asked to see the Arch, so we will try to swing by it. (It
isn't exactly on the way to the church we are staying at)
We should still be in St. Paul by Sunday night.
Prayer requests:
Team unity!
Save travel!- lots of driving hours tomorrow
Thanksgiving for a lot of work well done
Thanksgiving for a lot of friends we have made
Thanksgiving that Bruce and Jim have made it home safely
Maybe more team unity.
Pictures are of:
Barbara with a mission!
Corring and Bruce putting up soffit
Erin hard at it
Erin putting up soffit
Playing tonight in the ocean
Jim with the cabinets
Rod with power tools - (WHO let that happen?)
Susan's place in the truck
Bob and the cabinet project as far done as we can get it
The girls
The three virtues
More pictures will be posted at our photobucket site once I get back.
It was hard to narrow it down to this few!
Good night. Long drive tomorrow.
Rod
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