Miracles!

Bitty and Samson in their new bed--right next to the emergency exit! Just in case they decide to sneak out in the middle of the night!

And yet another house waiting to be demolished!

Today seemed like a day of miracles when it came to the work being done with our volunteers! We started out by loading another load of drywall for our extreme makeover house. We loaded it onto the back of Monty's truck and off we went to deliver it and take a look at the progress on the house. This team has been amazing in the transformation of the house! They have worked so hard and accomplished so much! How can we ever thank them? The only thing sad about them is that they left for home today! Once again, a group of people who were total strangers less than a week ago and now we feel like they are a part of our family here! We are keeping them in our prayers for a safe trip home!

I did more work on the last of the church beams and got the last one all but done. There is a small section near the center light that someone taller than me will need to reach and then all 5 of them will be done!

We had a wonderful surprise at lunch today. Calvary Chapel from Pennsylvania have been working on a group of houses in one neighborhood and one of the homeowners has been cooking meals for them. They invited us to join them for home cooked gumbo at lunch. There are 42 of these volunteers from Calvary and they are doing some fantastic work in these homes. They started a few months ago with the original tear outs and are taking them to completion. They are in the drywall finishing stage in most of them and doing great work. The people who made the gumbo also made chili, salad with all the fixins, bread and 3 kinds of cake for dessert! They have been cooking for this team all week and this is such a blessing for any volunteers who are here. They cooked dinner for them this evening also! And Monty (who has been waiting for some good gumbo) said it was the best he has ever had! They had been cooking it for 2 days to get it just right! It was fun to see what this team has accomplished and to hear them talk about how they are returning in a month or so. They had so many wanting to come on this trip that they had to cut off the number! Now that is working for the Lord!

From lunch we traveled to Gladys's house as that Indiana team was going to wrap up their portion of the work and head home today. This was the first time they would have the opportunity to meet Gladys. We all met at her daughter, Callie's, house. We learned that Gladys had 10 children and she is a great,great, great grandmother! Her son, Gerald, was also there and he is so pleased with the house he said "one of the children, who shall remain nameless, will be taking the house'!!!! :) The team enjoyed meeting Gladys and plenty of photos were taken. We hope to have them on here in a couple of days. She is an amazing lady and everyone was touched by her and her thankfulness! We look forward to continuing the work with part of the upcoming team from Ohio who arrive on Sunday. Scott, who has been heading up the project, presented Gladys with a framed photo of the entire crew who had been working on her house and 2 poems that had been written by him for his grandparents! They were beautiful and Gladys was so pleased. THIS is what this mission is all about!

Our team fromTennessee are continuing to work in the school teacher's house. We stopped by there this morning and they have really made alot of structural changes and are transforming the house into a home! They are planning on returning tomorrow and Friday. What an amazing group of people who have also worked until they are exhausted and have been able to be such a blessing to this family. They were telling us how a couple of them spent nearly all of yesterday underneath the house in the dirt and whatever getting the flooring put in. And they had on shorts! :)

Tonight was midweek church and we were blessed by the message Pastor Ken gave us. Reaching young people was the core of his lesson. Young people are looking for something genuine, something meaningful and they want to make a difference in this world. We are too quick to judge them based on their outer appearance. He talked about how TV has raised the past 2 generations and we cannot afford to loose another. He told us we need to take our holiness and put it in a basket in the back of our church and meet these youth where they are at! He challenged us to do something different, learn how to reach them. Our lives, homes and churches would be totally different if we would just stop and wait on God. Don't put God on our timetables! He also challenged us all to tap into the power that is inside of us that we have neglected! His closing of "all things are possible to those who believe" is something each and every one of us need to take to heart and put into action!

God has given each and every one of us gifts! We have them, we just don't use them! This coming generation needs to see the power of God, and they need to see it in us! The old saying that "actions speak louder than words" holds true to this day! We should all be willing to allow the gifts inside of us to flow. We never know who we might reach!

We thank all of our volunteers for taking their gifts from God and putting them into action! Thank you for taking a step out of your comfort zone and serving others in a way you probably have never done before! God will truly bless you ten fold!

Without all of you out there who read our blog journal and support us this mission would not be possible. We are completely dependant on your gifts! No gift is too small! We laugh, but it is true, our mortgage company does not care where we are or what we are doing, they just want that monthly check. Without your gifts in support of us we would not be able to mail that check. We thank those of you who are already supporting us and would like to give the information to those of you who would like to start. Please send your tax deductible gifts to Vineyard Community Church at PO Box 3277 in Bloomington, Indiana 47402. Please note on your gift "Katrina fund" as 100% of your gift is sent to us! If you should have a question as to the authenticity of this mission please do not hesitate to call the church at 812-336-4602. We are forever grateful for your gifts and promise to use them to do what God has called us to do, rebuild homes and lives!

Go out tomorrow, use the gifts God has given you, step out and go the extra mile, go where you have never gone before......be a blessing!

Until tomorrow......Susan and Monty