Wednesday Report - A Day Late!

Now that Lent is underway, I must confess that I was just too tired to blog last night. In an attempt not to slosh myself with soup at supper, I tried to lean over my bowl. I couldn't do it. I had to lift the bowl off of the table! I'm really getting old!

Yesterday began with an interesting experience when we stopped at Camp Biloxi to pick up some tools. Imagine my surprise when the first person I met at the tool shed was Seth, our site supervisor from New Orleans! (I visited New Orleans in early February with a group from Lutheran Campus Ministry; we worked on three homes over the course of a weekend and Seth was our project supervisor.) I asked Seth what he was up to and he said that he was guiding a film crew around the Gulf Coast for three days.

I went into the little green house to check signals on our remaining work at Marie's house and to inquire about the student beach clean up, scheduled for Thursday. I was wrapping up my conversation with Bob and Cathy when there was a knock at the door. Cathy answered and announced, "The film crew is here and they want to see you." I thought that she was speaking to Bob but I was wrong. They were there to see ME! 'Seems they liked what I said to Seth but didn't catch all of our conversation on film. "Would you be willing to be interviewed?" they asked. "In my grubbiest clothes, with no makeup on and my hair a mess?" Okay. For a good cause, I agreed to do it. But I did insist on putting my hat on.

I'm certain that I looked afright but there's a bit of irony to this event. You see, Seth will be heading off to seminary (Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS)) in St. Louis this fall. The organization whose work was being documented is an LCMS charity. But here they were, interviewing a female pastor who was wearing a Yale Divinity School baseball cap! God really does have a sense of humor and irony. Of course, that footage may end up on the cutting room floor!

Emily, Chelsea and Max collected the tools we needed and were very patient and encouraging while I was being interviewed. Once that was over, we took off for K-Mart to pick up bug spray (remember the cock roaches?) before heading on to Marie's house.

We spent the better part of yesterday working at Marie's home. We finished pulling down the drywall (except for part of the kitchen), pulled down ceilings and pulled up flooring. We encountered many more cockroaches and lizards but we were prepared! We enjoyed a picnic lunch beneath the trees before returning to work for the afternoon.

A word about flooring. In the bathroom, we found (in descending order): two layers of linoleum, plywood affixed with (now rusted) 3 inch screws, another layer of linoleum and the base floor, which literally crumbled beneath our crowbars. It was nasty!

Marie wanted to keep the carpeting in her living room, so Emily spent two hours on her hands and knees vacuuming it up. She did amazing work with incredible patience!

Once again, Max's height was a blessing. He could reach up and take care of tasks that required others of us to climb ladders! That was an immense help when it came to removing kitchen cabinets from the walls - especially those that had been installed in interesting ways!

After showers (have I mentioned that we've found the daily shower at the close of a work day to be a gift from heaven not to be taken for granted? It is!), we had a soup supper and Ash Wednesday worship. I'd estimate that about 90% of the people in worship were volunteers. We could feel the weight of the ministry that Pastor Bultman bears.

I'm having trouble uploading photos tonight, so I'll hold off on those for another time.

Chelsea has agreed to blog the students' activities for Thursday, so look for her entry next!

Grace and Peace,
Sue