working on their own

The rain drops continued falling on and off throughout the day but all that managed to do was dampen us on the outside as we went about our day. Atleast I had my good ole rubber boots to keep my feet dry and it made it a bit fun to tromp through the mud puddles - the farm girl coming out I think!

We started out early to meet Al, our HVAC contractor who is installing the system for Hsilda's family. He layed out the plan for building the platform to hold the unit. These platforms must be built high off the ground in case of another flood. Hsilda's will be 8 feet in the air. Her husband, George, will do the building. He will also be working on their home all during the holidays. He has done amazing work on his own and as long as we can provide them with the materials they will keep going. He was working on finishing the deck railing this afternoon while Hsilda was painting bedroom ceilings. They both do all this work with 4 children at home!

From there we headed to the island (Galveston) to pick up a trailer that Monty will be using with our incoming team on Friday. A few weeks ago we cleared brush and trees at Martha's and at Walter's. The disaster trash trucks are no longer picking up debris so we will be utilizing some of the youth on this incoming team to load this trailer with the debris and haul it to our local dumpster located at Mel and Billie's. We hope to keep the dumpster there and have it at our disposal all during their rebuilding also.

Making a trip to the island is never quick. Once we got there we had light issues with the trailer and finally had to give up and drive it back without lights. Thank you, Lord, for diverting the policemen to other folks as we made the trip! :)

We also ran into Pat and Chester who worked at the Presbytarian camp. They are no longer with the camp but hope to remain in the area volunteering. When I saw them Saturday Chester said he didn't feel well. Turns out they ended up in the emergency room later that day and discovered Chester has a very nasty case of pneumonia. They did run the test for the swine flu and he is clear. Please keep him in your prayers as he is quite weak and not well yet.

Our island construction coordinator, Sandy, sent us back with a couple of picnic tables to donate to the RV park where we stay. With each of them 8' in length it was quite a feat to get them loaded and unloaded but Tom, our park manager was thrilled to have them. He hopes to put them to use with a possible Christmas cookout for the park residents!

A special thank you to our dear friend, Gary from Illinois who phoned us today to wish us a blessed Thanksgiving and to send his love. He and his team came and worked with us years ago while we were in Gautier, Mississippi and he has covered us with love and prayers ever since! It's nice to have "family" all over the states! Blessed Thanksgiving to you too Gary!!!

And now the evening has come and I am putting together the material list for Hsilda and George to continue the work on their home. With our weekly UMCOR meeting tomorrow morning I will stop at Lowes on the way back and have a truck full by the time I pull out and into their drive. It's great to see homeowners working on their own and a blessing to be able to provide them with the materials they need to get done and get home!

Until next time . . . have you blessed someone today? Susan and Monty