Good Bye

Friday, the day our girls have been waiting for all week. We are finally going to Jonnie Joe's house to do some work for her. Today we did some minor repairs on her ceiling, painted the ceiling, twice, and a couple of the girls raked leaves and painted some outdoor furniture. Jonnie had made us chili for lunch so we just had to have some. It was very good and the sun was shining and it felt great and we were able to enjoy our lunch on the back patio.

That afternoon Mike showed up and found out that on Jonnie's stove only two of the four elements were working, so he decided that we would surprise her with a new stove. So together, Mike, myself and Kate headed over to Home Depot to choose a stove. When we returned and told her that we bought her a new stove, she cried with tears of joy. She could not believe that we would do this for her, but as we discovered she is always doing so much for others (Mike told us, as Jonnie would never brag about her good deeds). We also found out that her oven did not work. Now how can a dear sweet loving grandma not have a working oven to bake cookies for her grand kids! We all felt so blessed by having met Jonnie and getting to know her. She touched out hearts.

Tonight we first said goodbye to one group from Pennsylvania and then to the Old Order Mennonite girls who were also from Pennsylvania. We will miss them! They were a lot of fun and very good workers.

Slept in, at least of a couple of hours, because that is what Saturday's are for. After breakfast eight of us went to visit the Civil Rights Museum in Birmingham. There was a lot of information to take in, and it was very well done. While I was standing and watching some news footage showing a white man talking about the Negros, I became angry inside at the white man and voiced my feeling out loud. A black man was standing next to me and said that we cannot hate those people but we need to forgive them. I knew that, and know that, but found it amazing to believe that this black man would feel that way. But he's right and that is how many of the black people felt in those days, that they needed to forgive and love the people that hated them for the colour of their skin. Things have changed over the years down in the South and I am so thankful for that. God has created each and every one of us and loves each of us just the same regardless of the colour of our skin.

Returning back to camp we pulled out some leftovers and enjoyed a tasty lunch. We dropped Manny, a young Amish man who had been here as a crew leader for about six weeks, off at the train station. Then Tim and I together with Bert and Lenora went to a shopping mall and after a few hours, we purchased one item and they only bought a few socks. But we had a good walk inside where it was warmer. Supper was at a little BBQ place called "Full Moon BBQ". Lenora ordered a baked potato as a side and it was huge, sorry but I forgot to take a picture. My pulled pork was very good and we left feeling satisfied. Another day done and soon another week will begin.

Thank you Lord for giving me the morning, thank You for giving me the day, thank You for every thing you do!

Girls

Tuesday morning we were up and at it again. After the usual lunch packing, truck packing and breakfast eating, and devotional, we were on our way. Our first stop was to check out a new job near Jasper. At first we were not sure if it was a man's house or a woman's as the name was Jonnie, we discovered upon meeting that Jonnie Joe was a sweet older lady (78) who needed only minor repairs done to her home. Much of the other work from the storm had been completed a while back. She was in her bedroom when the tornado hit and a very large tree that was next to her house fell down onto the roof. She was unable to get out of the house until help came. She was without power for two months but was able to use the barbecue for cooking and said it wasn't that bad. This was the first home we have encountered yet that was clean and smelled nice. Jonnie Joe is such a sweet dear lady and as we listened she told us how since she found The Lord, later in her life that God has been such a blessing to her. Her parents had four girls prior to her birth and really wanted a boy so instead they gave her both her grandfathers names.

Our second job, a new one as well, was to replace the drywall in the ceiling of an older gentleman's living room. This home was extremely smoked in and I found the smell to be quite bothersome to me. We helped move out the furniture, plastic the floor and together with our girls we ripped down the crown moulding and brought down the old drywall. We wore masks for this job and I know without the mask I wouldn't have been able to stay in the house. Tim had a bit of a challenge taking down the ceiling fan, and once it was down and the drywall removed he knew why. He did fix it before putting up the new drywall.

We did manage to make a trip to Home Depot and purchase drywall and drive it back and bring it into the house all while it was raining. Together we put the new drywall up before cleaning up the mess and heading back to camp.

This Wednesday morning I woke up not feeling too well, was not sure if it was the smoke smell from the house the day before or what is was but I decided to stay back and try to get better. I ended up having a three hour nap in the afternoon which then kept me up at night. Tim and the girls were able to apply one coat of mud but since it was still raining a bit they were unable to do another coat. They did manage to give the walls two coats of primer. Then there were able to go back to the first home we worked on and clean up the yard now that a new empty dumpster had finally arrived.

I had hoped that I would be feeling better this morning but no such luck, so I read a bit then had my three hour nap before lunch in the hopes of falling asleep at a more reasonable time tonight. Tim took only two girls with him today as that was all he needed. They sanded, mudded, installed crown moulding, primed the ceiling and gave everything a nice soft yellow coat of paint. Job well done and completed!

This evening we had two people from the Walker County Recovery Team come and share with us after supper. It was good to hear how not only was MDS a good help in teaching them how to help but also the impact the volunteers have made not only in repairing homes but also giving hope to the people, many who have gone on to help others. This group brought some delicious pie, of course I am just getting that information from Tim as I cannot eat any of it right now. It looked sooo good!

One of the non-Mennonite girls allowed herself to be dressed up in Old Order Mennonite clothes and she was so sweet about it. Then all the girls and some men went out to play volleyball. These girls are such a delight, so sweet and kind and loving and a lot of fun.

Time for me to call it a night and get some sleep.

Thank you Lord for music to worship and glorify you.

Weekend

Weekend time, our time "off". The first thing on the agenda was to sleep in which we did, second thing was to wash our dirty work clothes, then decide what to do. Thankfully Norman came up with a great idea to go hiking at Oak Mountain State Park.

A number of us, ranging in ages, climbed into the van and made our way to the park. It was a perfect day for a hike, not too hot or cold. The oldest in our group, Verla who is also the head cook, is 76 years old and I was amazed at how well she did. The only time she slowed down a wee bit was when we were climbing very steep paths. We had an enjoyable time hiking and getting to know each other.

Arriving back at the camp we were greeted with a delicious supper cooked by Mike, who is the construction foreman. As a young man he once had a desire to be a chef and you could tell. We enjoyed marinated infused barbecued pork loin, baked potatoes and fried mushrooms. It was very tasty! Our evening was filled playing sticks, a game we learned in Mexico. Later that evening Tim and I drove a sweet young Old Order Mennonite couple to the train station. We had enjoyed the time we got to know them and were sad to see them go.

This Sunday we went to the Grace and Truth church where Mike and Sharon have been attending and enjoyed a good service. For lunch we went to Ryan's buffet, and I did manage to find something to eat although there was much I could not. Nap time was what I needed upon returning to camp and thankfully I was able to do just that.

Soon the new short timers arrived, we had our meeting and spent some time getting to know them. Everyone is from Pennsylvania, but not all are Mennonites. There is about 11 young women ranging in age from 18-23.

Monday morning Tim and I headed out with our "girls", two Mennonites and two non. We were able to get up the rest of the spindles on the second deck, repair the floor in front of the bathroom and replace some broken windows. We then had plans to go to another job site or two but no one was home. Oh, well we will try tomorrow. These young ladies are helping us to fill the void of missing Selena as they remind us of her.
We do miss all our children and wish the Internet was better here so we could do FaceTime but I guess we will just have to wait until we see them face to face.

I am planning to go see a Dr. Joe Fuller in Florida when we are done here at MDS as he claims he can cure me of my allergies. I have talked to someone he has cured and one of the ladies here has been cured of similar issues by someone doing a very similar thing. Tim will most likely stay on here while I go to Florida and then we will drive home together. I am feeling hopeful that Dr. J can help me and I will be sure to let the world know if it truly works.

This evening the young Mennonite ladies were singing and others joined in as well. Tim and I played two games of Dutch Blitz with some others and had a wonderful time.

Week one. Done.

Our first week serving with MDS is completed. We were able to wake up early and work hard all day, we didn't get too cold despite the occasional drizzle of rain. The Hamby's got their floor replaced with thick vinyl and it looks good. One deck is completed and the other just needs spindles on the hand rails going up the steps. The front deck has been repaired to make it safer and we are hoping that we can find doors to replace their current ones which are in disrepair.

We have met some interesting people and have enjoyed working with them. We hope that this weekend will be a time to refresh and renew ourselves for another week of work.

Thank you Lord for servant hearts.

Working hard

How do I explain what we are doing here without giving you some details, but yet I feel if others are reading this it might get a little boring, but then I am also writing this for myself to have a journal to look back on. So if you don't want to read all the details just know that we are working to make the lives of people here in Alabama at little bit better.

Tuesday we went back to the Voss home to do some more work and hopefully finish up. This time we brought heaters as yesterday we had no idea that the home had no heat. The flooring, laminate, got finished and most of the trim but unfortunately we were short a few pieces. The ceiling in the kitchen, living and dining room all got painted. I cut in while Jack rolled. The leak in the bathroom got fixed and we painted a few other trim pieces and cleaned up. Came back to camp, supper, meeting, bed, same routine every day.

Today, Wednesday we headed to a new home, the Hamby's, where we started building two decks on the back of their home. Such a sweet, kind couple and very helpful. Tim and Rob dropped us off to get started while they went back to the Voss house to finish the baseboards which Tim and I had picked up the night before. By the time the day was done we had two decks up with deck boards on, now all we need is stairs and railings. Not sure if we can work on them tomorrow as the forecast is for rain. We were also asked to replace the flooring in their living room but after Tim and Jack looked at it they feel the subfloor needs to be replaced as well. It is an older mobile home in much need of tender loving care and repair or better yet replacement which is not happening so we will try to do our best with the money we are allotted. Pray the the floors can be replace properly to give this family a safer home.

Thank you God for your provisions.

It Begins

Sunday morning in Alabama, we headed out to the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. In case you were thinking, yes, our group was the only white people in the congregation. It was a really good service. The choir sang four songs, at different times, and like any good southern church for the song "I can't stop praising my Jesus" it went on and on and on. I thought it was great because it reminded me of what heaven will be like and how we will never stop praising our Jesus! "Can I get a witness?" Amen! Rev. Arthur Price, Jr. asked that question a few times. Rev. Arthur was a very good southern preacher, lots of volume and knew his scripture well.

The sermon topic was "Change at the Core" using Romans 12:1&2 as the scripture. In Romans were are asked to present ourselves to Christ, then to separate ourselves from the world, and then to transform ourselves into becoming more like Christ. All of this change needs to come from the inside out by the renewing of our minds. Rev. Price used the analogy of a thermometer an a thermostat. The thermometer simply reads the temperature, it conforms to whatever is around it while the thermostat changes the temperature around it. I believe that God wants me to change my temperature to be like His and through my change maybe others will be changed around me.

This church, the Sixteen Street Baptist Church, has history in the whole civil rights movement here in Birmingham Alabama. In 1963 four teenaged girls, who were getting ready for Sunday School, were killed when the church was bombed. There is a lot of history here and we only know a small part of it. I am so thankful that things changed and I pray that today people of all colours and races will know and believe that ALL of us our created by our Heavenly Father and we are ALL deserving of love.

We felt very welcome in this church as many people came to greet us after the service. If you are ever in Birmingham I would suggest you visit them on a Sunday morning.

For lunch the whole group went out to eat at a Chinese Buffet. There was lots and lots of choices and I am sure that none of us went away hungry. Back to the "camp" we went, for naps and socializing while we waited for the groups that were coming in for the week. They arrived shortly after supper, filled in the paperwork, and we all had a short meeting before retiring for the night.

Monday morning we were up bright and early packing our lunches before 6:45 am and having breakfast at 7. After eating we participated in a short devotional before heading out to pack up the trucks for the supplies needed for each job. Today we had four jobs going, and our job had a few things that needed yet to be done to complete a home for a lady. Her home is situated in the middle of the bush, yet she is only five minutes away from Walmart and Home Depot. A very beautiful location with lots of trees, it felt very secluded. We, that is our group, installed some lights, almost finished installing some laminate flooring, hung some mirrors, put up crown moulding and trim. Thankfully, in our group, we had two electricians and a floor installer, which made doing this job much easier.

Came back to camp, unloaded our supplies and enjoyed our supper. Had another group meeting and retired for the evening only to repeat the whole thing again tomorrow.

Thank you Lord for people who are willing to serve in your name.

Alabama

The weather improved so we investigated the city of Montgomery. We strolled through Old Town, choosing just to see the buildings from the outside rather than take the tour since we felt it was not worth our time. Headed over to an area very similar to the Forks in Winnipeg where we walked along the river after we had enjoyed a southern barbecue lunch. The pulled pork and the chicken were delicious but the ribs were lacking in appeal.

Back on the road we headed up to Birmingham or rather the small town of Leeds just on the East side to check out an outlet mall. I was able to find some items at one store and a few things at another but otherwise it was not as successful as I had anticipated. For supper we drove a short way to a store called Big Bass Pro Shop Outdoor World. Wow! I thought Cabellas's was big but this was much bigger and way cooler. Even the parking lot was beautifully landscaped. We didn't think we could camp here overnight so we headed back to the mall where the one security guard I asked said it should be no problem. We find a quiet spot in the back next to a river and settled in for the night. Tim was already snuggled in bed and I was just finishing getting ready when we heard a knock on the door "security!". I opened the doer only to be told that we could not camp here but we could camp over at Big Bass Pro Shop, so off went.

We enjoyed a quiet night amongst the treed parking lot and in the morning we went for a lovely walk through the forest, where we discovered a lovely pond with a little dock. It was very picturesque and we enjoyed it very much. That afternoon we drove a very short way to the Barber vintage museum which housed many many motorcycles that spanned the ages from the first motorized bicycle to the latest models. It was very informative and quite interesting to tour through. It would have made it even better had there been a race going on in the track right next door.

Even though it was Friday and we did not need to be at the MDS site in Birmingham until Saturday we decided we would head there anyway as we did not know what else to do. We parked temporarily in the lot for the night as we needed to wait until a different camper moved out in the morning. Coming early gave us just a few more hours to visit and get to know some of the people that we will be spending our time with here.

Once the other volunteers left in the morning and the new ones arrived in the afternoon we moved our camper into position and got everything hooked up and connected and now we are ready to begin our work. Tim and some of the others went to visit the Zoo today, but I stayed behind due to my foot still being a bit sore.

Tomorrow is Sunday and we look forward to attending church and hearing the word of God preached.

God is merciful!