We had a good day of work, but only were able to work half a day.
We finished up and said goodbye as we could to our homeowners, and then returned to church to pack up and have dinner.
We said a tearful goodbye to Chris H, who drove back to OKC by himself, a 9.5 hour drive. Thanks to Chris for all the leadership and fun we had with you over the last week. We also got reports from Paul and Denise that they were already home safely
Some of the guys got together to pray for Pastor Tim and his church.
and then we went to Holy Cow and got some of Frozen Custard. It’s customary on these trips to get frozen custard, one of (Uncle) Roy’s favorite treats. His birthday usually falls around the times of our trips, and he likes to treat us for his birthday. However, he lost the “treating” war to Lorin.
Driving to Shirley’s house for the last time, it felt bittersweet. There were a lot of thoughts that came into our minds- from whether or not we would be able to finish our goals, how we might balance the tasks we faced, and the relationships that could be harvested. We all prayed about it the night before, that we won’t forget that the most important aspect would be to minister to Shirley.
Paul reminded us of being okay with doing what we can in our morning prayer at the job site. From then on, we all seamlessly went back to our respective duties or to a new duty (for some, they needed a change of pace). We worked from 8:30 til noon and then we went down to eat at Chick-fil-A. We also invited Eric, Chris, and Shirley with us. Then we returned to work until 4 pm, which was an hour longer than our usual week. Frankly we didn’t want to leave; we really wanted to keep on working to finish the home. However, as Paul mentioned during group sharing, although our accomplishments are not 100% complete, God can still use what the was done faithfully to heal hearts.
After putting away all the tools and supplies into the Habitat trailer, we all toured the house to admire each individual’s handiwork. The ramp was 95% completed and fully functional. All eight windows, three doors, and coordinating trims were installed, pending for caulk. The front facing panel wall was fully painted with two coats.
It was four days of hard work at the Shirley house requiring 19 volunteers, 2 site supervisors, and one home owner. We were proud of all the progress we made as a team. It is tempting to compare which job was more important, but in reality, God blessed Shirley through each task. Craig, Kevin T, Chris C, and Eric provided Shirley with a new bathroom equipped with all new fixtures and a raised floor. The ramp team (Paul, Kevin L., Pam, Roz., Virginia, Patrick, Jimmy, Peter, and Randy) helped provide relief for Shirley’s bad knees. Now, she can walk comfortably up and down from her house rather than climbing stairs. The windows and doors team (Tommy, John, Art, Brandon, and Jeff) provided a whole new perspective of the world. She remarked to us, the beauty of seeing her front yard through her new double pane windows. Also, the scrape team (Jimmy, Virginia, Roz, Pam, Alice) were also blessed to know Shirley better as they worked side by side doing the same task.
We left the site with bittersweet prayer and blessing the house and Shirley. Site supervisor Chris H also prayed for our safe journey home. We also learned that Chris H, being touched by our Christ-like will join us on our next year trip (at another state) in high probability. If so, we hope that we get more volunteers so that Chris H, Paul, and Paul’s wife, Denise, can fully use their leadership skills as site supervisors to their potential.
After a hamburger and hot dog dinner, we had group worship and sharing. There were conflicts that got resolved, we encouraged one another to grow. and also reflected on how God used this experience to grow our own faith.
To celebrate our hard work and to have a last fellowship together, we all went out for late night cookies and ice cream in Bricktown, OK.
Tomorrow is our flight home. Please continue to pray for the continual relationship with Shirley and for a planted seed to grow.
