Down and Dirty

Yesterday we received a phone call from the Methodist relief effort -- UMCOR. Charlie and crew were working in one of their homes and had "gotten in a bit over their heads." In all actuality they were a bit "under" as you can see by the photos.

Monty decided to put to use some of the experience he had in blocking and setting mobile homes. A plan was formed, jacks were brought to the site and today, with the help of our good buddy Chip, Monty and the team jacked up the floors of this home!

As you can see by the photos -- they were working in the crawl space ALL day long! They only had about 2 feet to work in. This required all of the work to be done in a laying down position or crouched so low your nose was touching your knees! They jacked up the main supports of the house, rebuilt them and gave the house a level and stable floor! They had to manuver 6x6 pieces of lumber underneath along with all the tools necessary to make the corrections and stabilize the home.

It was quite the job and as you can see by the latter photos it also took a bit of time to get ones self clean! The combination of dirt and sweat create some real messes but these guys never complained. They just kept working with the dedication it took to get the job done!

This home is located along a street where Hawcreek runs through their backyards and every single home was flooded. Some had their basement walls literally cave in and are undergoing major construction. It looks almost like a war zone all up and down this street! This home will stand firm from now on!

Many thanks to Charlie and his crews at UMCOR for all the fantastic work they have been doing!

Monty will be returning tomorrow but all that work will be inside the home -- not the crawl!

Pray for his muscles -- every single one of them is hurting tonight!!!

And as I sit here in the church, on top of a roll of carpeting ready to be put down in the entry I marvel at the beauty in the sanctuary! The carpeting may be going a bit slower than we would like but it sure does look nice. With any luck they might get the foyer and hallway done sometime soon!

Until next time . . . Susan and Monty