RVing With a Purpose

Friday, December 20, 2019

FIVE days till Christmas!! Hope you are all ready to celebrate the birth of our Savior.

Today we slept in. Yea!! We were up in time to get our hugs and say our “see you down the road” to Mary and Ron who had their motorhome packed and pulled out a little after 9:00. We so enjoyed working with them again. We wish them safe travels to their next project. A little later in the day we took a long walk. We also spent time reorganizing our tools and truck and meeting with Jim, the construction coordinator, about next week. The weather is quite brisk for Florida and we have winds 28-32 MPH. We had to weight down our carpet outside the door with large rocks, and we might still have to go look for it in the morning. It was a quiet but busy day.

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Yea, It’s Friday!

I think the entire team is glad it’s NOMADS Friday. (Thursday for folks not fortunate enough to enjoy our four day work weeks.) It’s been a physically tiring week. It rained almost all day today and when it wasn’t raining it was misty and the wind was blowing 29-32 MPH. It would have been a good day to stay at home and sleep. We didn’t of course and Elaine led devotion for us and read a piece on the childhood of Jesus. Interesting to think about what Jesus was like when he was two or three or six, etc. He was fully human, yet fully God. He had to learn to walk and talk just like we all did. Thanks, Elaine!

After devotion and planning tonight’s dinner, Max, Kathy and Larry drove back to Sugarloaf Key to a new to us house. Bob’s house is almost completed and they went there to work the punch list. There was some touch up painting, installing trim, and cabinet parts, repairing “plumber’s” hole in drywall and caulking. They will have to return on Monday to continue working the list. The rest of the team went back to Dennis’s house and were joined by the team of college students who worked at the Sugarloaf Key house yesterday. The students joined in sanding drywall in the back bedroom and then in the living room. They seemed to be a good group and we enjoyed having them join us. While the students were sanding, our team textured the kitchen ceiling. Dennis made the final decision to texture the walls too so guess we will work on that next week.

We will loose Mary and Ron tomorrow as they drive back north to the mainland. We have really enjoyed seeing them again and wish them safe travels.

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

We had lots of rain overnight and into this morning. No getting to morning meeting with dry feet today. Mud puddles everywhere. It rained off and on throughout the day and then a cold front went through and our temperature dropped to 70. Our low tonight is 67 which is quite warm compared to the 26 degrees at home but the locals are complaining of it being too cold. Of course they are still wearing shorts.

Kathy and Larry led devotion this morning and Larry shared a little of his life story. He told of a glimpse of heaven he saw when he had a near death experience after a fall from a ladder a number of years ago. Thanks, Kathy and Larry for sharing with us today.

We all headed back to work at the same locations as yesterday. At Dennis’s Anne, Elaine, Mary and Ron worked primarily on the back bedroom drywall and hallway drywall. We also worked with Dennis on the walls in the living room and dinning room. Those walls are about ready for texture. Dennis has decided rather than flat walls he wants a knock down texture. Down at Sugarloaf Key Max, Larry and Kathy had help from an International Orthodox Christian Charities mission team. Nine college aged students with their leaders came to paint the ceilings for us. There was also more caulking, touch up painting, finishing the transition strips and putting down edging strips. One more door sweep is needed and we will be complete on this house (until the scope of work changes).

Tomorrow we will have the college students at Dennis’s and go back to a house worked on by previous NOMADS. Should be a good day.

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Today was another very busy day for the team on Big Pine Key. First things first, Ron and Mary brought our devotion from a book written by one of their family members who among many other things was at one time a Methodist pastor. The book was entitled “Light Through Little Word Windows: Two Letter Words from the Bible.” Today’s word was “be.” We haven’t actually read any of the book but the thought is intriguing. When you think of it, there are a lot of little words in the Bible and if we read if carefully, paying real attention to the little words what might we receive? Perhaps we will pay more attention the little words in the scripture we read tomorrow.

For work, we all went back to the same work as yesterday. Max, Kathy and Larry back to Sugarloaf Key, where they installed the last window, caulked, cut off doors, installed quarter round and transitions.

Back on Big Pine, Anne, Mary, Ron and Elaine had fun texturing the ceiling in Dennis’s living room. That project went well and Dennis is very pleased. We decided to do a little touch up on the kitchen ceiling and will probably texture it tomorrow. There was also more sanding and mudding walls in the kitchen and living room and the hall and bedroom. Lots of hard work. Lots more to do.