18? -- NO -- 8 teams of 10 each!!!

Numbers and numbers and they really climbed today!

Volunteers love it when school lets out. And this year is no different. Monty and I got our list of volunteers that we will be responsible for next week. We have 4 teams, a couple of them with 12 team members, another with 6, another with 45 and another with 18 --- or so we thought. When the phone call was made to verify arrival times, skill levels and the like we were quite surprised. Seems the 18 was really 8 teams with 10 volunteers on each team!!! That changed our numbers quite a bit! Do the math and imagine what our week next week will be like!! It means more homes will be added to the list and more homeowners receive the anticipated phone call saying their house is on our list.

I made the call to Mariano and Maria letting them know that materials to put new siding on the outside of their home and deck materials will be delivered tomorrow morning and quite a large team will be coming to use those materials on Monday morning and will remain with them all week. Even in Spanish I could hear their excitement and joy! Maria had been telling me she was praying every day that the funding would be approved and we could get them some help. Her prayers were answered!

Butch and Teresa were also thrilled when I told them their funding had been approved and we would be sending a team next week AND providing the materials they need to finish their home!

Garaldeen and Joe were also nearly beside themselves when I told them their funding had been approved and although not next week, the following week was their turn. I thought Joe was going to cry!

Art couldn't meet me fast enough when I asked him to meet me to line up a material delivery for tomorrow so we could bring in a team Monday. He had no idea it would happen so fast and was so out of breath by the time he met me he had to take a minute to let it soak in.

Hank and Cherie are a couple that has been waiting since we first met them in February. They live in a mobile home and have been doing what they can on their own until they also ran out of money. They are getting the last of their paperwork lined up and hopefully I will be able to take them to funding next week. In the meantime we will send a team to come in and clean out underneath their trailer in preparation for upcoming work. That even brought a smile to their 8 year old son who has been living in a mobile home without flooring and a bathroom that doesn't work!

As you can probably guess I wore the battery out on my phone a couple of times over today! Thank goodness for the charger in the truck! It's another of those days I love -- seeing the hand of God all over the place. Having others see His almighty hand and know that all is in His perfect timing.

As I "quickly" walked into Mccoys to get the materials lined up one of the gentlemen asked me if I always ran at that pace!!! He's just getting to know me! :) And when one of the UMCOR folks told me I would be able to slow down now and concentrate on just the construction and teams Monty laughed --- "bigger men than you have tried to slow her down, good luck." And I guess I have to agree. God built me with this drive to help others, to see what needs to be done and make a way to get it done. That's why He called me into this line of "work" and just one of the reasons I love Him so!

An update on Monty's step father, Tony. He is still seriously ill and is now in the VA hospital in Indianapolis. So far they cannot find the problem -- other than his while blood cell count is plumetting! Please keep him in your prayers. We all know the mighty healing power of Jesus and some of that power is needed now!

Until next time . . . do what you can to keep up with us . . . and . . . good luck!! :)
Susan and Monty