Author: rvingwithapurpose

Monday, October 8, 2017

It’s the second week in October and we are starting to have a slight feel of fall on the mountain. Highs still in the 80’s but no 90’s for a few days. It was a beautiful sunny day with a nice breeze most of the time we were walking.

We worked on marking things off our lists today. Max was on the tractor bush hogging the pastures most of the day. We have had a lot of rain this year making the grass and weeds in the pasture very thick and therefore a slow go for the bush hog. He took a break during the hottest part of the day and grilled us some steaks. Mmm good. He was back at it late this afternoon but still has a ways to go. He may have some time tomorrow to finish it up.

We walked up to Helen’s house just before dark and on the way back found a small rattle snake in the driveway. YUK! No more walking when it is getting dark without a good flashlight. Anne went to the house and got a shovel for Max to take care of the snake.

Anne spent most of the day paying the ladies bills, and handling all their mail. That chore is done for another month. Of course there was also some house cleaning and cooking.

It was a very quiet but good day at home. Nice to not have to be anywhere today. Thanks for reading our ramblings. Hope you had a good day too.

Sunday, October 7, 2018

Yesterday (Saturday) we worked around the house. We got all the laundry done and the grass cut. There was a lot of both to be done. After completing those tasks we took a nap. We had planned to go see the Aunts but decided we needed a little rest. We also got all the mail opened and sorted. Now we just have to take care of it all. Chore for another day.

This morning we were excited to be returning to Lester Memorial. Even though we went to bed early last night we are both still tired. Even so, we went to early service, Sunday school and then to visit the Aunts. It was good to see them again. They both recognized us which is always a relief as we know the day is coming when that will not happen. We showed them pictures from our recent mission projects and answered their questions. They seemed to be really interested and Helen as always told us how proud she was that we were out helping people. We were pleased to see how well they were doing today. Both seemed happy and well. After our visit we got some lunch and as we were leaving Oneonta we saw some of NOMADS drive past us. That was when we remembered the Sumatanga project starts tomorrow. We did our shopping and then decided to drive to the camp to say hello to the team. We know all three couples that are working there the next three weeks. It was good to see them all. We would love to have the time to go help out since the team is not full. However, we have so much to do before heading to Lumberton. We will see how fast we can get it all done.

Hope everyone has had a great weekend, got some rest and had a wonderful day of worship. Praying all our NOMADS friends have a safe week of work.

Friday, October 5, 2018

Just because it was the last day doesn’t mean we slept in. Nope. The ladies were still up at 4:45 and at Shiloh Church preparing breakfast at 6:00. We had a hard working team of cooks preparing meals this week. The meals were very good and their efforts were appreciated. It takes a lot of teamwork to feed 25 people three meals a day.

Some of the team members left right after breakfast. Max and Anne went back to the job site to say goodbyes and a big thank you to our excellent construction supervisor, Ray. We wanted to get some good last pictures but with the clouds and fog it was a little difficult.

Rain was predicted so we headed back to the campground to pack up Fred and make sure we had him back on hard surface before the rain started. We were concerned that we would have trouble getting out if the grass got wet and slick again. Our rig was a little heavy for the grassy sites. Fortunately the rain held off and we had no problems. We had a very nice stay at the Clear Creek Baptist Bible College. We really appreciate them allowing us to stay there. The remainder of the team worked until about noon and the next team will be arriving Saturday and Sunday. Praying they have safe travels and another productive week for New Heights Church.

We had an uneventful drive back to Alabama. We could definitely feel the difference in temperature when we got back to the mountain. Our mountain isn’t giving up summer just yet. The Kentucky mountains where definitely cooler. Oh well, fall will arrive in Alabama in a few more weeks. We have long lists of things to be done before we head to North Carolina to work hurricane rebuilding. The next two weeks will be very busy.

Thursday, October 4, 2018

Today was the worst day of fog we have experienced in Kentucky. It has been improving as we get on the main highway to Middlesboro but today it was really foggy all the way to the church. Very thankful for safe travel.

Two other couples are staying in Pineville at Clear Creek so Anne and Debra have been driving those ladies over every morning too. The early morning wake ups have us all pretty tired. The ladies did their usual routine of cooking three meals each day. We prepare a hearty breakfast, a lighter lunch and then a heavy supper. Tonight’s supper was roast beef, potatoes and carrots, green beans, broccoli salad and pecan pie. We have eaten way too much this week.

Out at the job site, the roof is now about ¾ complete. They may be very close to complete by tomorrow afternoon. The framing is coming right along. They ran into problems today due to plumbers installing some bathroom pipes in the wrong place. They had to move two walls to work around the problem. Ray, our construction supervisor, figured out a work around but it took some time. Max always learns a lot working with Ray. The build is going well overall.

 

Each year Ray brings gifts to give to the team members and they are wrapped and numbered. Tonight we drew numbers to see what we got. Max got a set of screwdrivers and Anne got some nice microfiber towels. Also, Pastor Mark from New Heights brought us Chick-Fil-A milkshakes. It was a fun night. Thanks, Ray and Mark.

 

It has again this year been a wonderful mission trip with Constructors for Christ. We think it has been the best project we have worked with Constructors. Already looking forward to next year.