RVing With a Purpose

Sunday, March 10, 2019

We started this morning by attending worship with our wonderful host church. Pastor David asked Mark to be the acolyte today and Harry to lead the congregation in prayer. It is nice to be made to feel such a part of the family here.

After church we all went to lunch at Sammy’s Grill and had a great time. Some of our team members had never eaten crawfish so the waitress brought a few out for them to try. Good food and good fun.

We ended the day with our usual team meeting where we had a few refreshments and spent some time getting to know each other. Looks like it is going to be another great week.

Saturday, March 9, 2019

Last night for the first time this trip, we had a great night for sitting outside with our team. We all sat outside and watched “Forrest Gump” on our outside TV. Some had never seen the movie and for others it had been quite a while. We even had an intermission because the college students came back in from New Orleans to pick up their luggage. They were going to the airport to turn in their vans and meet their bus to start their 20 hour drive back to Michigan. We were able to get some more hugs and pictures and after our prayer circle, said our goodbyes. They were such great young people. Makes you feel hopeful for the future when you work with groups like these. After they left we finished our movie. By the time it was over we had to have some blankets but is was still a nice evening to be outside.

This morning it was cloudy but by afternoon we we had beautiful sunshine. It was warm with some gusty breezes. Our high today was 79. Nice. Team members were out and about playing tourist today with some visiting the old state capital and the waterfront in Baton Rouge and others making their way to New Orleans to the WWII museum along with some great food. Our new team members all arrived within a little over an hour shortly after lunch. Everybody is safely parked and the new folks have been on a tour of the agency. All the chicks are safely in the coop. It was a good day.

Friday, March 8, 2019

Today was a nice day in Baton Rouge. It was a little cloudy and a little breezy but a nice warm, not too hot day.

Today was a “see-you-down-the-road” day. First we said goodbyes to Dave and Rita. They are headed home to family and grandchildren. We have heard from them and know they safely arrived and hopefully we can get together for dinner when we get back to Alabama in a few weeks. Next we said goodbyes to Jean and Larry. This was our first time to work with them and we quickly grew to love them. Very talented and hard workers. They have the longest drive today, hoping to make it to Tennessee. We have not heard from them yet. Lastly we said goodbye to Bob and Anne. They had the shortest drive over to Fontainebleau State Park. They will get a little R&R before heading on their way. We had never worked with Bob and Anne either but also quickly grew to love them – easy folks to love. Last night they gave each of the couples here some Wisconsin Maple Syrup that Bob and his brother make every year. We haven’t opened it yet but are looking forward to some pancakes and syrup soon. Thanks so much, Bob and Anne. Thankfully they are both beginning to feel better from the Louisiana crud. We know they are safely parked for a few days too. Sad to say goodbyes but sweet knowing we may see some of them at annual meeting in September and you never know when you will work together again.

We took today to rest and work around the rig. Tomorrow we have three more couples arriving. There are a lot of NOMADS traveling this weekend so please keep them all in your prayers.

Thursday, March 7, 2019

Today began as a rather cloudy day but we have had no rain, so far.

Rita and Dave brought our devotion today. They shared a Lenten devotion by Rev Penny Ford of Trinity UMC in Tuscaloosa. From Mathew 3, Jesus fasted 40 days – 40 days of Lent. We have ashes placed on our foreheads in the form of a cross for Ash Wednesday/Thursday, with the ashes representing our mortality and the cross forgiveness. During the time of Lent, we are encouraged to give up something to focus on God, or take on something to serve God. Thanks, Rita and Dave.

After devotion we all headed back out to our regular jobs, except for the two that had to go to the urgent care. It seems we are keeping the urgent cares in business. One of the ladies at church said “Welcome to Louisiana. It’s the Louisiana crud. We have all had it for over a month now.” Not very encouraging to us because none of us have gotten over it yet. We are all tired of being sick.

Max, Larry and Harry went back to Mr Jessie’s house to complete the front porch. They got it all completed. Mr Jessie was so happy. We presented him with the Bible from all the NOMADS. When the guys were getting ready to leave he was sitting on the front steps. He said he just wanted to sit outside and watch the cars go by. So glad we could be a small part of getting him back in a home. Now, after the VA installs the ramp, he will be able to get in and out on his scooter and up and down front steps with hand rails.

 

Out at Norwich, we continued to do what we have done all week. Anne, Rita, Dave and Jean sanded and applied more mud. You can really tell the improvements that are being made, but it’s still not complete. At lunch the twenty college kids arrived to load our construction debris into a trailer and help clean up our worksite. They picked up all the drywall scraps and even loaded the two cast iron tubs into the trailer. They made short work of it all. Those are some strong young women and men.

 

At Baker Drive, Janet, Lisa, and Anne O continued to work on drywall. Bob and Mark continued to work on electrical problems and they had to take out drywall to find some of the electrical boxes again. The ladies are never going to finish if they guys keep cutting more holes. Bob and Mark did make big progress today. They got the lights on at Baker. Good work! After leaving Norwich the college group went to Baker and cleaned up debris there, also. Before leaving there they came inside and had a prayer circle with the NOMADS for the home owner and the work. The entire team has really enjoyed getting to know these students. They have been very energizing and inspiring.

 

Tonight the team went back to Freddy’s for hamburgers and ice cream. So good!! We are saying goodbyes to Dave and Rita, Anne and Bob, and Jean and Larry. They have been such a joy to have as part of this wonderful team. They will be leaving tomorrow and we pray for safe travels for them all. After Freddy’s, we returned to the church for Ash Thursday services. Yes, we had Ash Wednesday services yesterday but today we had Ash Thursday service. Our college friends from Michigan were given tickets to the LSU baseball game last night so Pastor David agreed to have services for them tonight. Wonderful time with the young people tonight. They too will be leaving tomorrow so we also pray for safe travels for them. Another really good day. Now if we could just all get well.