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.
Getting ready to leave
Larry and Gloria pulling out
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.
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.
M&M’s at the banquet
With words about service and volunteerism
Week 12 Team
The award presented to the NOMADS for our work here last fall and this spring
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.
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.
Today was another really hot day. When we left for work today the TV station reported 100% humidity. Don’t know if that was exactly accurate but it sure felt it. It was hot all day until we were driving home. It had already rained at Oak Grove UMC before we returned and about 6:30 we had a thunderstorm with lots of lightening and it is still raining at 8:30. The locals will be very happy.
Bryant and Jackie had our devotion today. Again some of us gathered early for a time of singing with Gary and Bryant on the guitars. So nice to have good music. The devotion for today was from Hebrews 13:1-6 from The Message, with yesterday’s reading from the Upper Room. Good devotion with good music.
We were then all off to the job sites with us all returning to the same jobs as yesterday. Traffic didn’t seem quite a bad as yesterday. Back at James’ we returned to painting. Today the bedroom, laundry room and bath room were completed. The final coat of paint was put on the kitchen and living room ceiling. All the window and door trim was painted. Later in the day Bryant and Norman worked on installing the window trim. Hopefully they will be able to finish that tomorrow. The rest of us painted the second bedroom, laundry room, bathroom, started the kitchen. The ceiling in the kitchen and living room was completed. And the furnace room was also painted. We didn’t get the painting completed today but hopefully tomorrow. This afternoon, James and his son, James, Jr., cooked the team fried fish. James Jr. went fishing yesterday and caught bream, bass and trout. They fried it up for us as a way of saying thanks. We also got to meet James daughter and two of his many grandchildren. It was a special time with the family and certainly we appreciated it.
Jackie painting a closet
Trimming windows and painting
The folks working at Mary’s house completed all their work there for now. They worked on some electrical issues, and reinstalled the ceiling in the carport. We think the funding hasn’t come through for the flooring but for now we have been pulled from there and tomorrow we will all be at James’s house.
Carport ceiling with old plywood stripped off
Carport ceiling finished except for paint
Brush cleaning party
It was another good day. Tonight, four of the ladies had a ladies night out, NOMADS style. We left the guys at home and went to Lowe’s. We looked at tools, paint supplies, ladders and anything else that struck our fancy. Then after buying a few things we needed for tomorrow, we returned to Oak Grove. Yep, that was our ladies night out. Some would think that wasn’t very exciting or interesting but we had fun visiting with each other.
On the way home we drove by one of the houses we worked on last year. (Click here to read about it.)
