RVing With a Purpose

Saturday, May 26, 2018

Finally, a day of rest. This morning started off cool – and foggy – then another hot afternoon and then rain. In fact the rain cooled the air so much we had to put on long sleeves while we were sitting out in the pavilion with the team.

We started out day with a 16 mile bike ride on the Longleaf Trace, a wonderful rail trail here in Hattiesburg. When we were here last year we started at the Jackson Road Station and road away from town.  (click here to read about it.)  Today we rode into downtown. On the bridge over I-59 several  someones have copied the “love locks” tradition from Paris. We rode past the trail gateway into downtown until we got stopped by a train and turned around. It was a fun ride and even though there were quite a few people using the trail today it did not seem crowded.

After we returned to the church we got together with the team for a pancake brunch. Max cooked up a couple of pounds of sausage patties and a pound of bacon (for future use) before we cooked pancakes and eggs. Carol brought some fresh blueberries to go on the pancakes. Great fun, but we ate too much and after we cleaned up we took naps.

We got together again later in the evening to decide which service we would attend tomorrow.

Friday, May 25, 2018

This morning it was time for seven of our team members to get back on the road. Mary Ann and Gene left before 7:00 and are headed back to Kentucky. Next it was Larry and Gloria, followed by Norman and then Bryant and Jackie. Safe travels to you all as you drive to your next destination. We enjoyed working with you all and hope to see you in Memphis.

We worked around the rig the rest of the morning. We had to get our tools reorganized and put away. Anne still has some work to do in the paint bins. There was also a lot of laundry to do. We got really dirty this past week especially when we started working under the house after the rain. Anne also spent a good deal of time on estate business. Carol and Dave arrived early afternoon and we thank God for their safe travel. They will be with us for the next two weeks. After they got parked we all went to the grocery store and then later went out to eat. Great to have some time to just visit with Dave and Carol when we weren’t having to be concerned about work. Oh, and Nula gave us some more banana pudding. Thanks so much, Nula! Hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday weekend. Don’t forget to remember what Memorial Day is all about.

Thursday, May 24, 2018

We have had pretty much the same weather all week. Hot and humid with sunshine until the afternoon when we have had thunderstorms.

This morning Gloria and Larry were responsible for our devotion. We again enjoyed good music before we started. We will miss Bryant and Gene’s music next week. Larry and Gloria challenged us to quit worrying and trust God, because He loves us. Thanks, Larry and Gloria!

After devotion we headed back to James’ house. Max, Anne, Gene, Bryant and Gloria continued the work underneath the house, installing ¼ inch plywood to seal in the floor insulation. One of the few times Anne found it to be advantageous to be short. It is hot and dirty work but we made some progress. We are almost halfway done. Upstairs, Mary Ann, Jackie, and Larry worked on touching up the paint and generally cleaning up and loading up tools. We only worked until about 11:00. We then headed back to the rigs to get cleaned up in order to attend the 2018 Appreciation Banquet Celebrating Volunteers and Partners sponsored by R3SM. It was a very nice event and NOMADS were recognized for our service to the community and received a very nice plaque, along with the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) who completed their work yesterday and are headed back to PA tonight. For those that don’t know, we are known as the M & Ms – Methodists and Mennonites. The M&Ms are known as the last to leave a disaster area because we work to meet unmet needs. A lot of the businesses and churches that have worked to raise funds for the recovery as well as other volunteers were also recognized. We learned that there have been over 35,000 volunteer hours worked in the Hattiesburg area the past year, valued at over 1 million dollars. Thank you, R3SM for all you do in the Hattiesburg area.

Tonight the team went to Leatha’s BBQ for our last dinner together. Great food and service at a small local BBQ, but the fellowship was even better. This has been another good team and we will miss them. Everyone but Max and Anne and Nula are leaving in the morning and headed home. We wish them all safe travels until we meet again sometime down the road. After a wonderful meal we returned to Oak Grove UMC and Nula served us all banana pudding. Thanks so much, Nula. The pudding was wonderful and gave us a little more time with the team.

We now have to do some work to get ready for the new team members who start arriving tomorrow. Looking forward to two more weeks of service and hopefully getting James’ in his home.

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

 

It was another hot day, with high humidity. But at least the rain held off until after supper.

We provided the devotion today with “The Parable of the Pencil” – one of our favorites. And really enjoyed the singing today with Gene and Bryant on guitar.

At work we both worked under the house all day. We spent the day with some other team members and Paul, a local volunteer, in the 56” high space installing ¼” plywood to cover the under floor insulation. Anne even had to bend over a little.  We all used our heads and backs holding up the plywood while we stapled it in place, in ways God never intended us to use them.  We will probably feel it in the morning . We completed about 40% of the installation. The Mennonite Disaster Services obtained a grant to make the house they build more energy efficient so this was part of that project.

After work we attended a dinner in honor of the graduates at Oak Grove UMC. Delicious prime rib with all the fixin’s. About the time we arrived back at the rig the bottom fell out and it rained for about an hour and a half.