Colorado adopts Lucille

What a Monday!

I don't know if I can recount all of the details but I do know it was a busy one!

We opened our day with devotions with the Colorado team. They are 7 in number with the 8th landing at the airport this mid morning. They were all so excited about getting to work! We divided them up in 3 teams and before the day was over they were 1 team.

I delivered the first group to Lucille's house. Lucille called us a few weeks ago not knowing where to turn for help. She lives on the north side of highway 90, a place that should never have flooded. The problem when it did flood is that the water went across the highway but couldn't wash back out so it sat there for some time. Lucille's house is raised off of the ground about 3 feet and she still had about 4 feet of water inside! She lost everything. Her grandson took on the job of getting her rebuilt and back in her home. The problem with that is that he is in the navy and got called out! This left Lucille completely at a loss as to where to turn. When she called us we took the drive to see the house for ourselves and see what needed to be done. She was in the painting stage then but when we returned this morning with the crew we realized that some of the things her grandson had done were not quite as they should be done. The crew had time to visit with Lucille and she immediately stole their hearts! I had no doubt she would as she did the same with us! Being the servant hearted people that they are they gathered the other members of the group and they have taken her house on as their project for the next couple of days. They feel they will have the house nearly completed in that length of time and with that many of them they are probably right. It is always an added blessing when the volunteers have the opportunity to meet and work with the homeowner. It gives them all the personal touch and no one will ever forget the other. Life changing! The last time we spoke with the crew they were at Lowes. They were planning on breaking for dinner and returning to work. What dedication!

Monty was tackling his own project all day. One of our church members, a disabled widow was forced to move to another town after the storm damaged her house. When our home church made our first trip here the first week of last December this was the very first house we went in to doing a complete tear out. We had to tear out all of the walls, all the way up and including the ceilings. Nothing could be spared. This house has been sitting since that week. We were told about Barbara by another church member and have now spoken to her via phone who knows how many times. Monty went to check out the details and realized she had no building permit! By covering the details with her by phone Monty and I went to the city and got the paperwork done and the building permit is now displayed in her window as it should be. It took some doing since we are not the home owners but with God's help (as usual) it got done. Our pastor who works as an electrician went and checked out her electric and after the mold inspection is completed tomorrow we will be loading up sheetrock and insulation and delivering it to the house and starting the installation process on Wednesday morning. We will need to take this house to full completion and ask that you keep her, and us, in your prayers as we will need to be able to financially complete her home. Be sure and keep reading as you will get to take this rebuild right along with us via the photos we put on the blog.

I also went and visited with another church member to check and see how much more is needed in her home to complete it and get her back to normal. She has been fortunate to have her children helping her and she is probably 80% complete. She will need to purchase some kitchen cabinets and all of her flooring but we should be able to get volunteers in there in a couple of weeks. She was a very smart lady and saved her counter tops, all of her interior doors and all of the door casing and floor baseboards! Her water level inside was only about a foot! (only?)

I also visited another home where all 4 of the family members have severe asthma and are not able to do much of the work. He works full time and her health keeps her from spending much time inside to do any of the work. They have some insurance dealings to get cleared up first and then they will call back to get on our "waiting list". Our list just continues to grow and grow and we try as best we can to reassure people that we will get to them but the list must be done in a priority manner and that is tough to do. They all are very appreciative and completely understand. We just wish we had more volunteers as that is the only answer! Pray that God will continue to send them to us to bless the people here!

Monty also had 2 more loads of sheetrock go out into the community this afternoon. Once again, we thank Convoy of Hope for all of the work they continue to do in this area. As I have said before, within the next 2 weeks Monty and I will be the ONLY Convoy station in the area. We feel blessed to continue the work the Lord has started. He promises in the Bible that He will bring to completion that which He has started! Praise God for His faithfulness!

I would like to take a minute and thank 2 very dear friends at home, Joe and Gary, as we have heard they are taking care of mowing our lawn while we are away. Our yard is not very big but it does take time for these men to make the trip to our house and we are so appreciative of their support. Without people like these 2 we would not be able to do the work God has called us to do. And I also know that our neighbor, Shelley, has joined forces with Joe and Gary and is also mowing. It may seem like a small task but as you well know, it's the small things that add up to the big things! We love all of you and miss you so much! Thank you for your support! When we first put our mission plan into motion there were so many little things that came up and we got concerned over. We knew, and found it true once again, that certain friends become family and you all know who you are! God has blessed us with a very large family!!!!!!!

It is now after 9pm and I heard the Colorado team drive up. No doubt they are ready for showers and some rest before starting over tomorrow morning. But if they are like the rest of the teams, they will be up for quite some time discussing the day and making plans for tomorrow! God supplies all of them with an abundance of extra energy, also a promise He makes to us that He will supply what we need!

For those of you who would like to become an even stronger part of our mission you can send your tax deductible donations to us through our home church; Vineyard Community Church at PO Box 3277 in Bloomington, Indiana 47402. Make sure to note "Katrina" on your gift as all 100% is sent to us to allow us to continue to follow the calling God has placed on our lives! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your continued support. Without you we would not be able to rebuild both homes and lives!

May God bless each and every one of you. Thanks so much for reading. Susan and Monty