Got Them Low-Down, Mean and Nasty Dry Wall Muddin' Blues

The transformation of Marilee's damaged house into a home again is not complete but the progress to achieve this end has been advanced this week.  And we realized today how much we have accomplished and also how weary we all are after our week of work.  We continued today with dry wall installation and mudding.  The big challenge today was moving Marilee's new stove and refrigerator from her back yard into her house.  Removing the doors was the key to success since the refrigerator was wider than all of the available door openings.  Marilee was thrilled with the results.  We took a team photo with Marilee and said our farewells this afternoon.  We feel a kinship with her and will pray for her continued progress towards restoring her home.

Tonight we treated ourselves to a night out at the Grand Ole Opry.  The performance tonight was in the historic Ryman Auditorium which was the early home of Grand Ole Opry.  This building was originally used as a church.   This is a photo of one of the original chandeliers from the lobby of the Auditorium.

We had a wonderful time at the Opry and as we have all week, enjoyed the fellowship with each other.  We have also learned from the other churches who were here this week and our fellowship with them will provide us with wonderful memories.  Our contact with various members of Westminster Presbyterian has also opened our eyes to how other congregations face the needs of its members.
Tomorrow we will start our journey home to Wilmington with satisfied feeling that our work will make a big difference in someone else's life.

Living and Working in Nashville

We continue working at our house in Madison where there is still much to be done.  This morning we met and spoke again with the owner, Marilee.  We wanted to inform her that First Presbyterian Wilmington would like to give her a gift of a pair of closet doors for her bedroom.  She was very surprised and rather overwhelmed that we would do this for her.  But she was very pleased and grateful for the gift.
Bruce worked this morning at another location with one of the crews from the Spotsylvania Presbyterian church.  There was insulation to be installed into a very confined attic space.  Bruce volunteered and it turned out to be a difficult task with only 2' - 3' of overhead space to work in.  Progress at Marilee's house was good today with more dry wall and mudding completed.  It was a hard day of work and all of the crew from the three churches are getting weary.  The Virginia crew prepared supper this evening.  The Delaware group went out to enjoy a local restaurant.
Our mystery guest was with us again today.  His name is Darrell Holt and he is a member of Westminster Presbyterian church where we are staying.  He simply volunteered within his own church to work with any visiting church members who were here this week.  He so enjoyed the first two days that he continued for two more.  We have enjoyed meeting him and getting to know him better.  Our devotionals have been done jointly with the "other" Wilmington church.  It has been enjoyable to get to know them.
In this message, we thought it would be good to give a glimpse of our living quarters and routine.  Karen and Hannah spent a couple of hours Wednesday morning cleaning toilets, kitchen, bedrooms and lounges while the rest of the folks went out to the job sites.  They decided that the "No Boot Zone" regulation had to be enforced and so some new signs greeted the returning workers at the door.  We must remove our boots at the door, store them in the hallway and not track dry wall dust and other debris into the sleeping quarters.  It worked.  You see the photo with the results.  Our sleeping quarters are tight and at night are a virtual Sonata of Snoring.  The sleeping quarters, which you can see in the photo, begin to come alive at 5:30 AM as people begin getting ready for another day of work.
Last night we were guests at Westminster's Wednesday night church wide dinner.  It reminded us so much of WNL when the children here lead the singing of the blessing.

We continue to enjoy a sense of fulfillment in knowing that we are helping others in a time of their need and perhaps standing as a witness to the grace and love that God has for all of his people.

The Sun Appeared

Another day and more mud, but today the sun came to visit.  What a great day we had.  We were privileged this morning to meet one of the owners of the house we are renovating.  Merilee told us how much she appreciated what we and other volunteers are doing for her and her two elderly dogs.  Merilee co-owns the house with her sister and they continue to live in the house even when it is a construction site.  When the flood occurred, the water came down the hill so fast that they could not bail out fast enough.  The hydrostatic pressure against one of the load bearing foundation walls caused it to fail.  She spent her life savings rebuilding the wall with nothing left for all of the other work.  Her faith is strong and she listened to God's message to her about how to proceed.  A colleague where she works, showed her the passage in Ezra where God tells the Israelites that people will come to rebuild.  Her demonstration of faith was inspirational to all of us as we listened to her story.  This in a capsule is why we all receive so much more than we give on a mission trip.

We have had a mystery guest working with us.  Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog to learn more about this mystery guest.

Rain and Mud

It was a dark and stormy morning and we didn't want to get out of these things referred to as beds - the finest of two by four construction.  When we arrived at the home where we are working in Madison, TN, we were happy to discover that we had three added team members from Spotsylvania Presbyterian Church in Virginia.  We continued to put up dry wall and mud.  An errant dry wall screw found its way into a copper water pipe and we had a sudden new water feature in the house.  This was not in the architects plans.  Other than this mishap, we had a very productive and satisfying day of work.  The food this evening was prepared by the team from the other Wilmington, that is Delaware, and was delicious.  Puerto Rican cooking with black beans, rice and green peppers and delicious chicken was spectacular.  Devotions at 7:30 this evening led by our own Hannah and held jointly with the Wilmington, Delaware members, gave everyone an opportunity to reflect on the day and all of God's blessings that we enjoy.

North Carolina "Mudders"

The team is staying at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Nashville and has joined with a number of other congregations in the continued response to the devastation of the flood.   Part of the work is "dry wall" that requires taping and "mudding"....so we have a new Presbyterian identity!   We will try and send some pictures once we have a break from our mudding!

Micki for the Nashville Mission Team

Arrived safely in Nashville

The team arrived and is being oriented.  Will write more later.

Micki

Leaving in a Mini-Van!

The Nashville Mission Team is packed and ready to leave bright and early on Sunday morning, Nov 14.  It should take us about 11 hours in the mini van  to get there. I think that we will have bonded by then and be ready to begin our project on Monday morning! Please pray with us that the Lord uses us in Nashville.