Month: May 2018

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

 

It was another hot day, with high humidity. But at least the rain held off until after supper.

We provided the devotion today with “The Parable of the Pencil” – one of our favorites. And really enjoyed the singing today with Gene and Bryant on guitar.

At work we both worked under the house all day. We spent the day with some other team members and Paul, a local volunteer, in the 56” high space installing ¼” plywood to cover the under floor insulation. Anne even had to bend over a little.  We all used our heads and backs holding up the plywood while we stapled it in place, in ways God never intended us to use them.  We will probably feel it in the morning . We completed about 40% of the installation. The Mennonite Disaster Services obtained a grant to make the house they build more energy efficient so this was part of that project.

After work we attended a dinner in honor of the graduates at Oak Grove UMC. Delicious prime rib with all the fixin’s. About the time we arrived back at the rig the bottom fell out and it rained for about an hour and a half.

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Today was another really hot day. When we left for work today the TV station reported 100% humidity. Don’t know if that was exactly accurate but it sure felt it. It was hot all day until we were driving home. It had already rained at Oak Grove UMC before we returned and about 6:30 we had a thunderstorm with lots of lightening and it is still raining at 8:30. The locals will be very happy.

Bryant and Jackie had our devotion today. Again some of us gathered early for a time of singing with Gary and Bryant on the guitars. So nice to have good music. The devotion for today was from Hebrews 13:1-6 from The Message, with yesterday’s reading from the Upper Room. Good devotion with good music.

We were then all off to the job sites with us all returning to the same jobs as yesterday. Traffic didn’t seem quite a bad as yesterday. Back at James’ we returned to painting. Today the bedroom, laundry room and bath room were completed. The final coat of paint was put on the kitchen and living room ceiling. All the window and door trim was painted. Later in the day Bryant and Norman worked on installing the window trim. Hopefully they will be able to finish that tomorrow. The rest of us painted the second bedroom, laundry room, bathroom, started the kitchen. The ceiling in the kitchen and living room was completed. And the furnace room was also painted. We didn’t get the painting completed today but hopefully tomorrow. This afternoon, James and his son, James, Jr., cooked the team fried fish. James Jr. went fishing yesterday and caught bream, bass and trout. They fried it up for us as a way of saying thanks. We also got to meet James daughter and two of his many grandchildren. It was a special time with the family and certainly we appreciated it.

 

The folks working at Mary’s house completed all their work there for now. They worked on some electrical issues, and reinstalled the ceiling in the carport. We think the funding hasn’t come through for the flooring but for now we have been pulled from there and tomorrow we will all be at James’s house.

 

It was another good day. Tonight, four of the ladies had a ladies night out, NOMADS style. We left the guys at home and went to Lowe’s. We looked at tools, paint supplies, ladders and anything else that struck our fancy. Then after buying a few things we needed for tomorrow, we returned to Oak Grove. Yep, that was our ladies night out. Some would think that wasn’t very exciting or interesting but we had fun visiting with each other.

 

On the way home we drove by one of the houses we worked on last year. (Click here to read about it.)

Monday, May 21, 2018

It was another beautiful morning in Hattiesburg. The high was suppose to be 83 but it was higher. It is still 82 now at 8:00pm. It was a hot and humid work day. Again had to work to stay hydrated.

We of course started the day with devotion. It is such a treat to be working with Gene and Bryant because they both play the guitar for us. Good music before devotion time and good singing with the guitars at devotion. Mary Ann had us read parts of The Carpenter’s Tools where we were each a different tool. It was good and fun. Anne was sandpaper and Max was ruler.

We then headed to the job sites. Anne worked at James’s house and Max worked at Mary’s. Both were about 30 minutes from Oak Grove UMC and only about 5 minutes apart. We met at the R3SM office for lunch but took our breaks separately. John’s house is a new build that was built by the Mennonite team. We are doing the inside work and are currently painting, and installing window trim. Today we completed priming all rooms. We have final ceiling and wall paint in one bedroom. All the ceilings have final paint except kitchen and living room. One of the hall closets was also completed. We should finish most of the painting tomorrow.

At Mary’s we repaired an exterior door frame, framed a window, painted trim, removed a section of of the porch ceiling and installed trim around two interior doors and some base board. If the flooring is there in the morning, we will be installing that tomorrow.

It was a busy day at both houses. James came by his house late this afternoon. He likes the paint we are using and we learned a little of his story. He was at his house when the tornado struck. His house was deemed not repairable and was bulldozed. He is very excited seeing the progress on his house. We don’t really know Mary’s story yet. More tomorrow.

Sunday, May 20, 2018

Our first day back in Hattiesburg, MS began bright and sunny. Don’t know what the high was or even what was predicted but it was cooler than Baton Rouge. Between 5:00 and 6:00 tonight we had a thunderstorm come through with lots of rain in a short period of time. The temperature dropped rapidly and it’s rather pleasant out tonight. From the sounds of the thunder we might get some additional rain which is needed badly here.

The team attended church together at Oak Grove UMC this morning where today was the Baccalaureate service. Pastor Andy talked to the graduate but his message was very applicable to all attending. The congregation at Oak Grove are very welcoming and supportive of NOMADS. They allow all our rigs to park in their parking lot, providing us full hookups at no charge. They also include us in their Wednesday night dinners and anything else going on at the church while we are here.

After church the team went to Cracker Barrel for brunch. We had a nice meal and good time visiting with everyone. This afternoon we had to pick up a few groceries for the week and then some of the team played a game of Jokers and Pegs. That’s a new game to us so today was observation. Anne’s phone died today so that has caused some problems. We currently have a spare phone and we have transferred the sim card in hopes that everything will be back to normal soon. Yep, we are going to have to replace our old Droid Minis soon. But we like our phones. Oh well, we may go shopping one afternoon. In the mean time, if you can’t get us on Anne’s phone, try Max.

Looking forward to beginning our work here tomorrow.