RVing With a Purpose

Thursday, June 7, 2018.

It was another hot day in Hattiesburg, MS. No rain in the area. The morning really didn’t seem too hot but after lunch it was 94 and humid. Okay, we know – it’s summer in southern Mississippi. Of course it’s going to be hot. Unfortunately, we have looked ahead to the forecast for Tuscaloosa. It’s going to be hot there too.

Peggy brought our devotion today. She shared a devotion a member of her church had written. Jeremiah 20:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster to give you a future and a hope.” We talked about how sometimes we take God for granted. We enjoy the sunrise but forget the creator of the sun. We want to be blessed but forget the one who blesses. We need to seek the creator not the creation. This has been a great team for participation in devotions and for sharing. The most important time of our day. Good time!

After devotion we headed back to James’ house. Our main focus today was to complete the laminate in the laundry room and get as much trim installed and caulked as possible. Every one went to work and it was amazing what was accomplished. It was nice to have everyone back in the same place for our last day. It was a little crowded with the ten of us in James’ little house but it was good. We were treated to lunch at The Depot, a restaurant next door to R3SM. An anonymous donor gave us all $10.00 give certificates. The food was really good and was a real treat for the team. After lunch we did our first Bible presentation of the day. We had all signed the Korean Bible for our Korean home owner. It was so great to get to meet her. She was very touched by the Bible. She seemed to be very touched and excited to have a Bible in her native language. Chris heard her on the phone calling friends and family and telling them about the Bible. We wonder if she lost her Bible in the storm. Neat! On the way back to work we stopped by Mary’s to give her a Bible. Mary was very glad to see us, very appreciative of the visit. Both ladies shed a few tears. We then all gathered back at James’s house and presented him with his Bible. It was a very special time. He also seemed so appreciative of all that has been done for him.

After the great time with James we all went back to work and completed all the laminate, and most all of the base and trim that could be installed for now. There will be more after the tile is installed. It was time to clean the house and get all our tools back in our vehicles. The house is looking really good. It is looking like a home now. The tile, cabinets and final plumbing, electrical and HVAC and the house should be about complete. Darrel thinks they can have all that done in the next month. We truly hope so.

Tonight was met at the pavilion and had a time of food and sharing. We had some very good watermelon, ice cream and cupcakes. It was a fun time and a time to say goodbye. This has been a great team. They really came together to get it done. All but Nula will be pulling out in the morning. We hope to see you all down the road soon.

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Today we were back to the weather to which we have grown accustom. Beautiful blue sky with some white puffy clouds with a high of 90. We started the day with low humidity which was nice but by the end of the day it was sweaty weather. It started to feel a little oppressive again. It’s going to be hotter tomorrow if predictions are correct.

Wayne brought our devotion today, based on 2 Chronicles 1:1-12. This is the passage where God tells Solomon to ask for whatever he wants God to give him and since Solomon asked for wisdom and knowledge to lead the people, and did not ask for wealth, God gave him wisdom and knowledge plus wealth, possessions and honor. We again had good discussion and conversation. Thanks, Wayne.

We just thought we were through with the Lilac Street house. Today Wayne, Max and Debbi went back to Lilac to do a few final touches on the framing and realized they had missed framing two closets. So they spent most of the day framing a closet in the bedroom and a coat closet. They also cut the base plates out for the doors. Now, they have completed all the assigned tasks at Lilac. Wayne and Debbi went to the Korean Baptist church and met with the pastor and picked up a Bible and several other items that we can pass along to our home owner. Such a blessing.

After completing Lilac, we were all back together at James’ house. Today more doors were hung. All were completed in areas that have the flooring installed. Even the second large closet doors. Thanks Dave, Phil, Nula and Del who all worked on the doors. There was also more general cleaning. Peggy painted all the new trim for the doors and the base board. Nula, Carol, Anne and Debbi all worked on flooring at some time today. Later in the day Max and Wayne worked on trimming out the entrance door and started on the baseboard. The trim is really making everything look so good.

Tomorrow is our last day so it will be busy. Please pray for us to be able to finish our the project with no injuries and finish it well.

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Another weather change today. It rained before we left for work. It rained off and on all morning and then contrary to the forecast it rained off and on all afternoon and this evening. A few of the times it rained pretty hard and this morning we had a lot of vivid lightening, but for the most part it was just enough rain to make us bring the saws back inside. A pain. However, it was 76 when we were driving home and that was real nice.

Our devotion today, brought by Carol and Dave, was on the conversation of the women on the way to the tomb to prepare Jesus’ body. It was a somber walk. They had brought the spices and the oil but had they not thought about the biggest obstacle, the stone. A 2000 pound stone that took about 20 men to move into place and they seemed to have forgot about it. They didn’t bring people to help move the stone. It wasn’t until they looked up that they saw the stone was already rolled away. When you look up, the impossible become possible. Remember, Jesus did not need the stone rolled away. The women did. We all need to remember to look up when we seem to have a 2000 pound obstacle. We need to look up when our concerns and anxiety seem to overwhelm us. Jesus is there waiting on us to look up. We had some good discussion today. Thanks, Carol and Dave for another good time of sharing.

We all went back to the same job sites we were at yesterday. We haven’t met the owner of the new house on Lilac Street where we are doing some framing of interior walls, but we do now know that she is a very sweet Korean lady. We wanted a Korean Bible to give to her so Max asked Debbi to see if she could find us one. The stores were no help but then Debbi called the Korean Baptist church here in Hattiesburg and they were happy to provide us a Bible to sign and present to her. We will pick it up tomorrow. Good job, Debbi! We plan to make our presentations Thursday.

At James’ house Dave and Phil continued on installing doors. The installed the two bedroom doors today and worked some more on the double closet doors in one of the bedrooms. They weren’t quite happy with the way the doors met. After much work and pondering on what they could have done wrong they finally determined it wasn’t anything they had done, it was a hinge mortise. It had been cut incorrectly. Guess we will check that a little sooner next time. Del joined Dave and Phil on the doors after lunch. Carol and Del with Anne helping at times, completed the living room laminate today. YEA!! We are pleased with the outcome even though it took longer than expected. We still have to put some laminate in the laundry room but it is a different product that was delivered today. We will see if we can get that completed tomorrow.  Nula returned from SC just in time for lunch and worked with us on the clean up this afternoon and then preparing the door trim for painting. Hopefully someone can get outside tomorrow to get some trim painted.

At the other house on Lilac street, Max, Debbi, Wayne and Peggy completed the wall framing, hung drywall in the furnace closet for the HVAC installers and built the shelf for the furnace. They also were able to get the deadbolt on the back door working. Interestingly, the problem with the back door here was also an improperly cut mortise. Paul (a local volunteer) also worked with us today and he installed the rafter hangers that were missing. This house was started by the Mennonites but there were unable to complete it prior to leaving Hattiesburg two weeks ago. These are all things they would have done with just a few more days here. We love it when our team members get to have the fun of learning new skills.  Yesterday Debbi used a framing gun for the first time and today Peggy used the framing gun and circular saw.  Congratulations ladies.  Another example of God not calling the equipped but equipping the called.  It was another good day in Hattiesburg. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little dryer and we will make some more steps toward helping these people get back in their homes.

Monday, June 4, 2018

We finally had a change in our weather. The high temperature was 90, only a few degrees cooler but the wonderful change was a reduction in the humidity. It was still hot but it certainly didn’t feel as hot. Sweat wasn’t dropping off of us in puddles today. YEA! Tomorrow our high is predicted to only be 86. That will be a real improvement. We will see what happens.

Today Phil shared a devotion based on John 10:31-42. He brought a lynchpin to use as an object lesson. Since RVers use lynchpins on our tow bars and trailers, it was a great item to use. Statistics on deaths and injuries due to lynchpin failures were surprising. Failure is caused because people are not vigilant in their use or maintenance. We must remain spiritually vigilant if we are to remain true to our calling and fulfill our purpose of contributing to the spread of the gospel. Thanks, Phil for a meaningful devotion. We so appreciate the effort and thought our team members put in their devotion.

It was then on to the job site. Chris and Darrell were already on site. They were discussing what they needed us to do today. The discussion concluded with us sending Max, Peggy, Wayne and Debbi to a new job site that needed some framing work completed today in order for plumbing, HVAC and electrical to be done this week. Another group began the inside framing but were unable to complete the building of several interior walls. We don’t yet know the owner of this house but hopefully we will get to meet them. This group worked there all day and will probably be there a good part of tomorrow.

That left Anne, Carol, Dave and Del to work at James’s house. Darrell delivered more material. He brought more trim which will need paint, concrete board to go under the ceramic tile, tile, and doors. It took him several trips which was fine with us because it meant we didn’t have to unload it all at one time. Work continued on the flooring in the living room and closets. Dave worked on the furnace closet. After lunch Dave and Phil worked on door installation. The entire team at James’s house worked on the closet doors installation late this afternoon. The big wide double doors were more that two people could manage. So it was another productive day. Still making progress. Still a long way to go.