Author: rvingwithapurpose

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

It was another very warm and beautiful day in the Keys. We led the team in an Ash Wednesday devotion today and talked about giving up things for lent or maybe following Pope Francis’ suggestions of trading one thing for another. You have probably already seen this, but reading it again might be helpful.

• Fast from hurting words and say kind words
• Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude
• Fast from anger and be filled with patience
• Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope
• Fast from worries and trust in God
• Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity
• Fast from pressures and be prayerful
• Fast from bitterness and fill your heart with joy
• Fast from selfishness and be compassionate to others
• Fast from grudges and be reconciled
• Fast from words and be silent so you can listen

The team also attended Ash Wednesday services at the church tonight.

After devotion, Sue, Anne and Lisa went to Dennis’s house and sanded the bathroom drywall and then painted the walls and ceiling with primer. It is looking better. After lunch they cleaned things up and then went to the Atlantis house and began working on the drywall on the new wall and trimming the downstairs double door. Max and Mark headed back to Atlantis after devotion and completed the new wall construction. After building it as suggested, they felt the wall was not quite sturdy enough and after discussions with Jim got permission to beef up the wall. They then installed the drywall and got the wall ready for finishing. The guys went over to Dennis’s for the afternoon and installed the bathroom vanity drain and worked on the kitchen sink drain that has been giving problems. There is still work to be done for the kitchen sink and washing machine drains. The drains became clogged from 2 years of non-use. Anyway, progress is being made on both houses.

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Happy Mardi Gras! Don’t know if you really wish people that but….

Today was a lot like yesterday. The ladies went back to Dennis’s house and sanded and put the final coat on the drywall. They then worked on a door at the church used for accessing the choir loft. It was stuck. They took it down and planed it down and then reinstalled the door which is now working nicely. Max and Mark worked at the Atlantis house building another wall in the kitchen. It’s a little short wall by the refrigerator. Mid-afternoon Anne, Lisa and Sue joined the guys at Atlantis and installed the sink. It was another busy but productive day.

Pastor Will invited us to a Mardi Gras party at his house tonight. Fortunately we did not have to go in costume. He was cooking gumbo for everyone from the church. It was quite good with King Cake for dessert. It reminded us of our time in Baton Rouge this time last year and all the fun we had with our team. We had King Cake almost every day with everyone trying to avoid getting the baby and having to buy the cake for the next day. Rita, if you are reading this – seen any Mardi Gras babies this year?? It was a fun evening and we met more people from the church and community.

Monday, February 24, 2020

Another beautiful Monday in the Keys. We are ready to go back to work today. This week we have Lisa and Mark and Sue working with us. We really don’t have to lead this group. We just have to do the paperwork. It should be another fun week.

Today Lisa, Sue, and Anne headed back to Dennis’s house. The first task involved putting on the masks and sanding the drywall. We already have an extremely high pollen alert so you just add drywall dust to it and grab a kleenex. The sanding was complete by mid morning and the mudding began and lasted the rest of the day. The best news of the day was that Dennis was finally able to clear the blockage in the drain from the old bathroom lavatory so we can now install the new one.

Max and Mark spent the day at the Atlantis house, first gathering up the necessary materials and then framing in and installing a double door. It looks good. We had thought we had finished that house but today found that they want another wall in the kitchen area and that will be tomorrows project. Another good day!

Sunday, February 23, 2020

It has been another windy weekend with cooler temperatures. Friday morning, after handing off all the paperwork for the project, Virgie and Dan said goodbye and headed back north off the islands. The last few weeks under their leadership lots has been accomplished and we have had a wonderful time working with this team. Their leaving put us back in leadership for the project for the next three weeks. Since we are staying for three more weeks, we decided that Friday was our day to exercise the rig, the jacks, etc and moved Fred one site down – back to our original site where we get much better satellite signal. Then it was the usual cleaning, laundry and paperwork for the rest of the day.

The plan for Saturday was breakfast back at Geiger Key with Mark, Lisa and Sue with a kayak trip through the mangrove afterwards. However, since some of us were in long pants and long sleeves we decided it was a little too cold and way to windy to be out on the water. We all opted for breakfast across the street at Coco’s Kitchen instead. Then we rode bikes to Blue Hole with Lisa and Mark where we saw both of the gators this time. We rode on to the end of the rode so probably around 8 miles round trip. Good ride. Thanks Mark and Lisa.

Today of course was church and according to the sign out front NOMADS were speaking. Last week Pastor Will had asked us if we would speak to the congregation and of course we agreed. Lisa, Sue and Anne told the NOMADS story. Our ladies did a great job and the congregation was very interested and appreciative of our talks. Now we are getting ready to go back to work tomorrow. It has been another great weekend in the keys.