Month: April 2018

Thursday, April 5, 2018

It was a brisk 47 degrees in Baton Rouge this morning. We did indeed use the fireplace this morning. It was a beautiful sunny and hot day by this afternoon. We have been blessed with wonderful weather while working in Baton Rouge. Great time of year to be here!

We lead devotional time this morning and it was well received. It’s always a little sad to us when we have our final devotional time with our team. It’s sort of like leaving your small group for the summer. And when we leave tomorrow, we don’t know when we will see some of these people again. We have had some really great people on the teams this past four weeks. We appreciate them all.

Today we had lots we wanted to get done and knew going in we would probably not get it all done. Our prayer was that we would accomplish what God had planned for us today and not our list. We feel we accomplished that.

The siding crew of Suzanne, Lee Anne, Mary and Jodi returned to working on siding and only stopped when the roofing crew called for help. The crew got all the remaining siding on the back wall of the first addition. They also worked on the caulking and paint on that wall. It is looking amazing. It is really surprising how closely it matches the existing cedar siding.

The roofing crew worked on getting the second addition in the dry. We hung the two fly rafters, and installed the sub-fascia and the drip rail. It was then time to begin the metal roofing. We completed about 2/3 of that. Max worked with Gene, one of the team leaders for next three weeks, to be sure he understood what we had been doing and how to complete what we have started on Richard’s house. Anne spent time with Carolyn, the other team leader for the next three weeks, doing the same thing. Gene and Carolyn reminded us this evening that they have our phone number if we are needed next week. We wish we could have completed the roof but it was more important first that we all remain safe and second that we leave things for an easy transition. We know we accomplished #1 and hopefully two as well.

It has been a wonderful month in Baton Rouge. A lot of healing has occurred even though we know we still have a lot to work through. We are in a better place today in spite of the problems with Aunt Jean this week. God continues to bless us and hold us in his hands. For all this we are very thankful. Please pray for our safe travel tomorrow.

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

We had severe thunderstorm warnings overnight but all we actually had at Francis Asbury was lots of rain and some thunder. As was predicted it was all over by 7:00am. The day began very cloudy with the sun out by 10:00. It is considerable cooler tonight and we may have to use the fireplace in the morning.

Lee Ann and Barrie had our devotion this morning and it was another good time of sharing. Charles came by and visited with us for a few minutes and then it was time to go to work. We were very glad that Stel and Jodi were feeling better and were able to join us today.

We expected everything to be wet and muddy at the job site and we were right on target. It was muddy and slick. We put down some wood to walk around the exterior. We started the day with the siding crew back on siding after taking the day off yesterday to work on the sheathing. Stel and Ron worked on framing in the door and building out the interior walls. Still have a little to do on the closet wall. Max and Barrie and Anne completed the sheathing and worked on the roof framing. We all helped put together the scaffolding for the siding ladies, Jodi, Mary, Suzanne, and Lee Ann. It was a busy day but we aren’t quiet ready to install the metal. We hope to get to that tomorrow.

Also, the new team leaders Gene and Carolyn, who will be taking our place, arrived today. We showed them around the job site, and tried to bring them up to day. They will be working with us tomorrow too. It is so good to have them here. We last worked with them in November, 2014. We have wanted to work with them before now but our schedules just haven’t matched up. Maybe we will have time to visit a little tomorrow. We will not have a lot of time though because we have to be packing up and reading to leave. Hard to believe tomorrow is our last day here. We are tired and ready for a break but will be sad to leave our homeowners and team. Until tomorrow.

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Yep, it was another beautiful day. Hot this afternoon with high of 83. Unfortunately, they are still predicting storms tonight. The weather is suppose to be out of here by 7:00am so hopefully we will not have a rained out work day.

Suzanne brought us a devotion today from The Upper Room. Thought provoking and good discussion. Thanks, Suzanne. Unfortunately, Stel and Jodi were added to our prayer list because they are both sick with colds. They didn’t work today and we hope they are feeling better after some extra rest.

We really missed Stel and Jodi on the job site today. We have gone from 13 team members to 7 today. However, they are an extremely hard working 7 and accomplished a lot today. We pulled the “Siding Crew” over to work with everyone else on the second addition today. Suzanne, Lee Ann, Mary and Ron worked to put up the sheathing. Barrie also helped with that for a time this morning. It is up except for one piece that we didn’t put up so we could more easily access the area. Good work! Max and Barrie installed the rest of the rafter blocking and then got all the purlins installed. You rock guys! Anne helped with what ever was needed but spent a good deal of time on the purlins as well. It was a very productive day.

We would appreciate your prayers for Aunt Jean. For those of you that don’t know, she has now had three falls in the past week, all three requiring a trip to the ER. This last one they admitted her and are trying to determine the cause. As of now all we know is that she has a UTI. The plan now is to discharge her Thursday or Friday to a rehab center/skilled nursing facility unless they find another problem. Hopefully with therapy, she will regain enough strength to return to assisted living. The case manager we talked to today said it might be time for her to have more care than assisted living. Our LOLs sure have had a rough year. We will see what tomorrow brings. Whatever it is, we know God’s got it, already.

Monday, April 2, 2018

Beautiful day with a high in the lower 80s today. We are really enjoying the weather here. It is going to get really cool later in the week but not nearly as cool places north of here. We heard about possible wintry mix at the Master’s this week. Surely not! I’m sure Rita will get that changed. Or maybe she will pack some warmer clothes. Have fun in Augusta, Rita and Dave!

Today our newest team members Mary and Ron brought our devotional. Thought provoking and very good comments and conversation with the team. Thanks, Ron and Mary.

After devotion, we loaded up the scaffolding into Charles’ truck along with the drywall lift and headed to the job site. It’s spring break for the Baton Rouge schools this week so traffic was fairly light. Everyone quickly got to work with Stel and Barrie working on framing the walls, and Ron and Jodi on demo of the sheathing on bedroom 2. By the end of the day all the exterior walls were up, the rafter hangers were in place, the sheathing down, and the door was cut from the living room to bedroom 2. Suzanne, Lee Ann and Mary worked on the siding. Jodi joined them later in the day. There is now siding on three sides of the first addition and one window is trimmed out. One more piece of siding and we will be ready to put the scaffolding up for the higher areas. Max and Anne worked on bedroom 1 addition, using foam insulation to complete the installation of the roof and then installing the ceiling and wall insulation. It is almost complete and should be completed tomorrow. Hopefully some drywall will go up Wednesday or Thursday. A couple of points of celebration today. The green screws for the metal roofing finally arrived today! We may install those in the morning before the roof gets too hot. Also, the conference bought us a tool specifically designed to cut the cement board siding. We used Gary and Avis’ tool last week but sadly they left us this weekend and for some reason took their tool with them. We asked Charles about purchasing one and he found us one today. Yea!! This tool makes cutting the concrete board so much easier and safer because there is no dust. Thanks Charles!

So a lot was accomplished today on what turned out to be a hot day. We were definitely happy with the progress and most importantly, there were no accidents. BTW, we have two team members who are not feeling well, battling colds, and we would appreciate prayers for them and that the rest of the team stay well.