Morning Devo by Matt
Matt spoke about taking anything that might irritate us and pray about it.. God has given us the Holy Spirit to soften our hearts towards… and do you want to choose the change of heart that God has offered us. Because you have to choose it, in big and small things.
26th Street home
Rehab site, under the same Critical Home Repair program at COHFH. It was located 5 minutes away from Leo’s, where we ate the night before…. A good sign…
We learned more about the CHR program, where the partner families have to put in sweat equity, just like any other HFH program. In this case it was from 40-60 hours, 20 of which have to be on another homeowner’s home. We also learned about the budget… “Critical Home Repair projects typically cost just $3,000 to $5,000.” The home we were working on yesterday, as well as today… Even with the free labor (us), would have to work pretty hard to stay under the budget allocated.
The home had a lot of water, rot and storm damage. The paint needed to be redone, and each problem compounded another. The rot made problems for the siding, which allowed more siding to be damaged, the surfaces below, and sometimes causing large holes to be evident in the home.
But we removed the damaged wood to be replaced with new, and we tried to salvage/reuse as much good segments we could find, which were few and far between.
As we removed much of the siding, insects came out of the rotting wood, and it was a bit unsettling. Wasps were irritated and flew around us, including at lunch.
Today proved to be much warmer than the previous days, with many of the team changing into shorts as the day progressed.
All three newbies got to work with various power tools, including Eric’s (site supervisor) stepping away from the chop saw to make sure that Virginia got to learn how to use it.
This team is working well, and our love and support for each other is quite evident.
Several team members noted missing some familiar faces not being here, including Uncle Roy, whose work ethic could be seen in newcomer Matt and Shirley.. although unlike Roy, would eventually take lunch with us. Roy would have kept plowing through if he were here š
Margie
The homeowner’s name was Margie, and she got to talk with a few members of our team, including newbies Virginia and Frank. Frank was very touched by her story of personal loss, as well as a beautiful image of Jesus that her son had made before he died. Virginia had a tearful talk, hug and prayer with her about how both had lost husbands to serious diseases, and the difficulties and realities of life after a spouse. Virginia spoke of similar feelings of questioning God due to the hardship, but offered her honest story of hope she has in God, and how we are honestly here to let her know she is not forsaken. It was really quite touching.
James
Housemate to Margie, James was born missing a forearm. He was very plain and simple about it, and his work attitude was humbling. He was chipping and stripping the siding pretty vigorously.
Chris and Eric
Our site supervisors have differing personalities, and differing roles, but they are a joy to work with. Chris wants to make sure he does good work and really focuses on taking time with the volunteers as well as making sure it is a job well done.
Eric is a strong leader, with a strong joking side as well.. they both know how to shift the balance towards care for the volunteers and homeowners while Eric’s slightly more focused on keeping the budget for materials and time.
The team spent the full day on this site, and there was some question if we would have to split the team (we’re flexible like that) tomorrow, but we got late word that we’ll likely be working together at the new build site from last year
Evening
We had a team meeting tonight, with some awesome music/worship from Matt. The room was small enough that you could really hear everyone singing.
Peter did a devotional about your identity: both how you see yourself, and how God sees you.
We ended the evening sharing about the trip so far.
Everyone feels it’s going well, and our care for each other and those we meet is real, not forced, and quite honestly, led and empowered by God.
This team is full of nice people, but as they’re trying to be led by God moment-to-moment, they really are quite selfless. It’s something that you have to experience to really understand, and it’s a really beautiful experience.
Going to bed, and as we transition from rain jackets to shorts, we hope it doesn’t get tooo hot.
Tomorrow is team dinner, with a few invited guests, like Eric and Chris, and local friends like Aron.
Good night!
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