RVing With a Purpose

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

No storms again today, although they were predicted and came close to us. We are happy.

Again this morning we were able to walk before devotion. Today we saw a large doe and two sand hill cranes. It was so neat because the cranes were on one side of the road, facing the deer on the opposite side of the road. We didn’t know what they would do as we approached. The cranes took flight toward the deer and the deer ran to the crane side of the road and into the woods. Unfortunately, we did not get a good picture because we were walking directly into the sun. When we first saw them they were just silhouettes. We still see them in our memories.

Marsha and Calvin shared devotion with us today. They combined two devotions, one from Upper Room and the other from Max Lucado. Really good. They reminded us that our God of the Bible cannot be contained. In our quest to know and understand Him, we place constraints on Him. Isn’t it great to know that God is never surprised and never wonders “How did that happen?” He is big enough. Thanks, Marsha and Calvin.

After devotion, Harry and Anne and Max went back to work at Teresa’s home. Today we hand sanded the drywall joints and completed the second coat. We primed the door casing and installed the closet doors.

We completed those items shortly after lunch and went to join the rest of our team at Rhonda’s home which they started this morning. There is lots to do a Rhonda’s. There Max worked on installing new windows and Anne worked on staining and putting polyurethane on some beautiful door and window trim. This house is old, with some plaster and beautiful yellow pine paneling. Rhonda’s house is in the process of being bought out because of the amount of flood damage and the house we are working on is her replacement. We need to get two bedrooms, and bathroom usable so they can move in and they will complete the work as they live there. They are currently with some family but it is time to move. The family is doing a lot of the work themselves but they just need a little help. We will probably be working at Rhonda’s with our team next week. It was a good day.

BTW – you can forget the first line of this blog. Max is now outside taking pictures of a big storm going by us.

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

No storms today – about time. It was a little warmer than we would like but it was a beautiful day.

We had time for a little longer walk this morning. We again saw a beautiful deer while on our walk. She was right beside the road in the ditch that was full of tall grass. We almost walked by her without seeing her. She was not at all bothered by our presence. Cool.

Max and Anne led devotion today. We used Proverbs 18:21, Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit – you choose, and Proverbs 15:21. We challenged the team to speak nothing but life and encouragement. We all need to pray that God helps us to be a carrier of peace and hope amidst the chaos of our world.

Harry, Max and Anne returned to Teresa’s house after our morning team meeting. Today Max and Harry completed the installation of the drywall and Anne started the work on the taping and finishing of the drywall. Anne and Harry got all the tape up and everything with a first coat of mud. Max completed the trap door into the crawl space. It was a busy but productive day. The other part of our team worked installing siding on a small storage building. We all had dinner with some of the members of Winding River church. Such a sweet congregation. Hope you are having a great week. We are.

Monday, August 5, 2019

The first work day of our DR project in New Lisbon, WI. Firsts are always exciting. Before work we walked for about 20 minutes. Not quite as long as we would like but all we had time for this morning. The country road in front of the church has very little traffic so we are combining walking on the church property and the road. Certainly not as nice a walking area as some projects but it’s working.

Then it was time for our morning meeting. Barb lead our devotion time today and had us all read a part. We were all various tools in the carpenter’s shop. Today Anne was the screw and Max was the plane. The point being we are all tools in the work of Jesus here on earth. We all have a purpose and we all contribute God’s plan if we allow him to use us. Good reminder as we start working in Wisconsin.

After devotion we talked about the various houses needing work and what Lanette our project liaison considered our priorities for today. Max and Anne, joined by Harry, began work in Teresa’s house located about twenty minutes from the church outside of the town of Mauston, WI. Jack came with us to introduce us to Teresa, explain the scope of our work and get us started. He then left and went to another job site where the team worked last week. We first took down part of a wall and then framed in a new wall. We usually feel the first day is a really slow start but today went well. Harry is a new NOMAD. This is his first project but he really jumps in and gets to work. He is very knowledgeable and with the three of us talking through our work plan, we were able to get a lot done. We rebuilt the wall and installed most of the drywall. The remaining portion may go a little slower but we were pleased with what was done today. Out at the other job, Jack, Barb, Calvin, Marsha and Norm completed their tasks. However, as of this afternoon, other tasks have been added to that job site and after a contractor completes some of his work, NOMADS will probably be back to work there.

Today was another beautiful day but tonight we are again experiencing nasty thunderstorms. We have been under a severe thunderstorm watch since before lunch that continues until 10:00pm. The parking lot is full of water and the winds have had FRED rocking tonight. We had a little hail but fortunately nothing of any size. We are surprised at the weather. Thunderstorms three nights in a row. We could stay in Alabama for that. The prediction is more of the same tomorrow but then we get a significant drop in temperatures and some nicer weather. Hope they are right.

Sunday August 4, 2019

It was a beautiful morning in New Lisbon, WI. It was 62 degrees when we did our walking before church. It warmed on up this afternoon to the mid 80s and then we had more afternoon rain and cooler temps. Nice.

We worshiped with the congregation at Winding Rivers UMC and were made to feel very welcomed. The pastor is on vacation and will be back Thursday so a lay speaker from another church brought the message from James 2:15-17. We sometimes say “I believe in God But…..I want to be independent or I want to be happy at all costs, or ….. whatever it is for us. Is our faith dead? Good message from Pastor Carla. She is also an UMCOR trained case manager for the flood rebuilding efforts. We were impressed with the small congregation. They are very active in their community with all types of outreach activities including, of course, the flood assistance. Tonight the church fed the team a wonderful meal before our team meeting. We got to spend some time getting to know the church members better and then time getting to know our team members. Our leaders Barb and Jack gave us general information about the project and area and we will lean more about our particular assignments tomorrow. There are about 150 homes in need of repairs which is why we already have NOMADS teams scheduled for next year.  It was a good day and we feel like we will enjoy working here.