RVing With a Purpose

Thursday, November 15, 2018

It continues to rain in Lumberton. Weatherman said it would be out by noon but he was wrong. It’s still lightly raining tonight. The river was considerably higher this morning than last night but is seems to have crested sometime during the day.

As is our custom we had devotion today, our last day to lead this team. We used a YouVersion Bible App devotion series “A Time Of Opportunity” based on the scripture Ecclesiastes 3:11. It seemed to be well received and we had some good discussion. We all then headed back to continue our work from yesterday. Today the cabinet installation was completed. The final base and crown molding was installed. All doors are now painted and hardware was installed today. Lots was completed. However, there is about a page of things still to be done. Out at Mary and Jim’s, Bruce and Gene got the new shower plumbed and the base installed today. They will be working on flooring next week. Very pleased with what our team has accomplished.

As is our tradition we all went to dinner tonight. And as seems to have become a tradition as well, we went back to Pier 41 for another very good dinner. Everyone seems to enjoy our meals there. The owner is always very welcoming and usually comes to the table and thanks us for the work we are doing in his community. Pier 41 is definitely a favorite with the locals. It always has a crowd. We have again enjoyed our time in Lumberton. Our team was such a joy to work with. We enjoyed lots of laughter and were blessed by their servant hearts. We wish them all safe travels until we meet again somewhere down the road.

We are taking a week off and then will return to help Mary Ann and Gene finish out the NOMADS time in Lumberton for 2018. When we return we will be team members so we will have a little more time to play. Hopefully we will have some weather conducive to playing tourist. Really tired tonight. Time for tea and then bed.

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

(Once again, we just realized our post for last night did not upload, so here it is.)

It continued to rain last night and this morning until right before we drove to the church for devotional. We now have new flooding in Lumberton. We walked down by the river this afternoon after work to get a few pictures. Fortunately, for now anyway, the flooding is only in areas they expect flooding and doing no new damage. It is of course many many feet below the flooding of Mathew or Florence. It’s not so much the rain we have received but what is flowing into the Lumber river up stream from here. It just has no where to go.

 

Susan brought us our devotion today using an Oswald Chambers reading to start. Based on Mathew 20:28, we discussed servanthood and that our motivation for service is love of God. We then had a great discussion on being “All In” with Jesus. Are we really “All In”? When do we have the most trouble being “All In”? Good discussion and good music. Really good start to the day.

We all went over to Jackie’s and started painting, calking and installing trim. Max and Gene went to assess another home in need of repairs. This house is about 30 minutes south of where we are currently working. They got to meet a really sweet horse that the team will enjoy feeding apples when we start working there. The house is a farm house that had a leaky roof. The ceiling is about to fall in the living room and dining room. We will be removing the ceiling and insulation and replacing it. It will be a lot of overhead taping and mudding. They put a temporary brace on the ceiling to keep it from falling on the lady who lives there. There are some other items to repair there as well. We won’t be starting this week but soon.

 

The rest of the day Gene and Bruce worked at Mary and Jim’s. They did the rough in of the plumbing and completed the sub-flooring. Tomorrow they will be installing the new shower. Jackie’s house is coming along. All the crown molding is now installed. The living room and family room are complete. Two bedrooms are complete. If it will ever stop raining we need to do some outside work.

Tonight, most of the team gathered in Fred for pecan pie made by Cindy. Wow! Cindy is quite the cook. She brought us delicious blueberry muffins one morning before breakfast and tonight she brought over two pecan pies. Thanks Cindy. Now it’s time for everyone to get a good night’s sleep.

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

We had another rainy, chilly day, all day and it sounds like the next two days will be very similar. Fortunately the rain has for the most part been gentle and we have had no flooding in our area.

Today’s devotion was from Mary Ann and Gene and Gene again provided us music with his guitar. Gene used the book “Finding God in the Ruins”. He reminded us that things take time using Nehemiah’s return to Jerusalem of when there is so much to be done. We can become discouraged. Remember, it takes time. When we are doing certain projects, it seems to take forever to accomplish certain tasks. Remember, things take time. All things in God’s timing. After our time of prayer, Mary Ann then read us a funny “Recall of Human Beings.” Click and give it a read.

The entire team went to Jackie’s this morning, where we resumed working on the cabinets, crown molding, and doors. Max and Gene went to Lowe’s to do our shopping and returned with the needed water heater and pan. We decided to just keep everyone in one place until after lunch and Max and Gene were able to get the water heater installed. This was a big step toward getting Jackie back in her house. Jackie come by after lunch and we discussed the her kitchen counter top options and bath cabinets. Gene and Bruce headed back to work at Jim and Mary’s after lunch. Jackie’s house is really starting to look good. Lots of little things left to be done but we are getting close.

After work everyone just wanted to return home for the evening. We have been busy the past few days. Anne needed to make another call to potential members. It’s raining again now. Maybe another good night to go to bed early – after some hot chocolate.

Monday, November 12, 2018

It was a cloudy morning and then around mid-morning the rain began and it is still raining. There is a flood warning out for the Lumber River again. We have rain forecast for the rest of the week. The soil here is still so saturated from the previous floods that the water is just sitting on top of the ground with no where to go. Fortunately, we are not suppose to get enough rain to cause significant problems.

Today since Gene and Mary Ann are here we had Gene playing is guitar and leading us in music for our morning devotion time. Thanks so much, Gene. Carol and Dave brought us another good devotion – this time from the book “If You Want To Walk On Water, You Have To Get Out Of The Boat.” Thanks, Dave and Carol, for sharing with us.

Today Anne, Mike and Susan, Dave and Carol and Cindy worked at Jackie’s. Gene and Mary Ann and Bruce went back to Mary and Jim’s house. At Jackie’s we continued to work on cabinet installation, crown mold installation, caulking trim and painting trim and doors. There was also some continuing drywall work. We are making a lot of progress. At least with certain items, we have the end in sight. Over at Jim and Mary’s, work was hard because of the rain. Cutting sub-flooring had to be done between downpours. Part of the work was just done in the rain. Mary Ann worked on covering the water spots on the ceilings. She also had time to really visit with Mary. It was a good day for all.

 

Tonight we all headed back to the Texas Steakhouse for dinner. They had some free meal specials for the veterans. Good food again and a great server. A nice way to end our day.