So we have been walking through 1 John as a sermon series the last few months. Sunday was on connecting with God from 5:13 - 15. Rick issued a 60 -60 challenge ( soulrevolution.net ) that for the next sixty days we try to connect with God every sixty minutes. Set your watch or cell phone to go off once an hour. At first I thought there is no way, I am way to busy ( but isn't that the point of the exercise?). Then I felt that prompting that I needed to do it. Sunday went pretty well, I actually remembered to set my phone, and took a brief time to just reconnect. Then came Monday..... I didn't remember till 8p! Well today I am going to try again!

I am a Sunflower What Flower Are You?

Blog Block

I was reading one of the blogs that I regular check and the author was complaining about "blog block". Today I was at her husband's blog and he responded to her question on how to get over blog block. One of the things he said was about enjoying the weather and then bloging about it. This inspired me.
We have been enjoying some rather sensational weather the last couple of days. It has been in the 70's, low humidity, and sunny. It is awesome!!!! God is so wonderful! I have really been enjoying it, getting some work done in the yard (not too much, lol).
I guess what I am saying is that I started this blog for two reasons.
1.For those that were interested to follow what I was doing when I took my six week sabatical in the spring of 07.
2. To help me put down my thoughts and try to process them.
The second reason is why I blog now, and I need to remember that when I get "blog block". So when I am going through that season that I am struggling, I need to write about it.

The before pictures. What Jimmy walked into when he was able to get back into his house.

Pictures

Kitchen in tennets unit.
Tennets front room.

Storage shed I built for Jimmy to store his stuff in.
House without temporary power pole in front.

Thought I would post some now pictures.

Anybody have an Ark?

I was beginning to think that we were going to need one last Wednesday. Twice during the day the skies opened up and it deluged. This involved us grabbing all the tools and getting them into the house, and the ten or eleven of us getting in there also, which didn't leave alot of room to do anything.

The Brothers (as they had become known) had gotten the cabinets in in both units and had gotten the counter top in in the back unit. They needed to cut the counter top for the front which involved getting the table saw outside, which couldn't be done since it was pouring. The group from Maine were also trying to work on the fence. I will not say that nothing got done Wednesday, but it seemed like not a whole lot got done.

Thursday saw the cabinets being finished up, appliances hooked up, the six foot part of the fence getting done, and bathroom closets being shelved, closet doors hung, and more trim being done.

Friday saw the power being turned on and the A/C being hooked up! It also involved me taking the bathroom windows out and turning them a quarter of a turn so that they worked properly.

Saturday I got most of the exterior trim on the windows done and started working on the shed, getting the foundation set, and getting the wood cut. It seems like I didn't get much accomplished these two days because it was so hot. I would work awhile, stop and get a drink, go in and cool off for a bit, and then go out and work some more.

Sunday I got the shed up and roofed, didn't get it completely sheeted though, also got two more windows trimmed on the outside, and the dishwashers hooked up and secured. I got done about 9:15p NO time and was getting ready to leave when Jimmy offered to take me to Houston's again. (Remember the Hawaiian Rib eye the last time I was down?) Well my eyes lit up and I said I needed a shower. Jimmy told me to go get a shower and get back in 15 minutes. I made it back in 20 minutes and we took off. When we got to Houston's they were closed, so we went to Zea's. We had Ribs that were to die for, and I had buttered sweet potatoes (Excellent!) and sauteed corn (also excellent!) Headed back to Beacon of Hope and crawled into bed a little after Midnight my time. Got up at 6a, packed, went over to get pictures at Jimmy's, gassed up and hit the road at 8:15. I got home at 4a on Tuesday. I will post a blog of pictures as soon as I have a little more time. Bye!

I'm Baaaack!

Just a quick post, I got in about 4a this morning after leaving NO at 8:15 yesterday morning. Very uneventful drive. Needless to say I am tired. I will post more about what got accomplished last week later, I need to get ready to go to work!

Cabinets!!!

Cabinets are in! Billy Ray and Scottie from Apoka, Fl got here this morning with their brother Robert. While BR and S were getting all the cabinets in, R was putting in the four windows that needed to go in yet. I do not know why I can't get the picture to go where I want them!

Tommorow the kitchens should be finished out, coutertop down, appliances in, sinks hooked up. Robert should be able to get the windows trimed and finish the rest of the trimming. We are making some serious progress here. Jimmy also has a group helping that are from central Maine here that are staying at Berean Bible. They are working on putting up fence. I will attempt to post more tommorrow!!!!

The Big Easy

I am back in New Orleans for a week. I thought I would show some of the progress that has been made on Jimmy's house. The first picture got out of sequence and is what the tennent's barkyard looks like now.View in May.....

View now.
Tennent's LR/ Kit in May......
View now. There are three gentlemen from Florida that are going to be here tomorrow morning, that are going to set the cabinets.

I will post more later, I am tired right now, Bye!

I haven't posted in two weeks and feel I should put something down. Not a lot is going on. Got my annual case of poison whatever going on where I break out in a rash in varios assorted parts of my body. Not sure what I got into, but it sure doesn't agree with me. Other than that things are about the same. Work is crazy as usual, we are running on Just Andrea and I with the two key carriers right now. Missy moved over by Chicago, so we have our latest merch manager in training right now. I say our latest because it is the seventh one we have had in five plus years! Only one ops manager (me), and Andrea is the second store manager (she was our first merch manager). We are holding our own. We have been doing good the last couple of months, basically keeping up with last year, and doing a little more some weeks. That is the benchmark in retail, to do better than you did the year before. Have not done much on the volunteer front since I got back, other than SOS a couple of weekends ago. We had the opportuntity for about four or five churches to partner with the city of Mishawaka and Builder's of Hope to do a project for an individual. He had a large two story house that was in dire need of paint, and some minor repairs. We were able to accomplish the project in about four days. It was good. Gonna run now.

It is always amazing how God works when you listen and trust him to meet your needs. Wednesday of the week I was New Orleans Jimmy and I were sitting down going over his budget. He had left some things out of it, and other things were costing more than he thought. His phone rang. When he got off, he composed himself and then told me that the St Louis church that had provided him with the insulation and drywall were, now get this, buying all his flooring, kitchen cabinets, trim, three windows, his interior doors, and providing $1500 for appliances for each unit. He was blown away! He had been strugling through all that he had been thru, and wondering if he had heard God correctly and was doing what he wanted. This confirmed that he was in God's will and God has something awesome planned for him.
When I left on Saturday the last of the drywall was going up, to be finished on Monday. When Jimmy called me last Thursday to let me know he was in LA. He told me that the floating and sanding of the drywall was done, they were texturing on Friday, and priming this past Monday. He also told me another way that God took care of him. He returned his rental car after two and a half weeks. They told him it was going to be $900 plus. He said wait a minute it was supposed to only be $234 a week! They went in and then the guy asked him if he had the car for the entire two and a half weeks. Jimmy said Yes. They then proceeded to tell him that somehow the contract got closed out and reopened, and he only owed for four days, about $200. God is so cool!
I am planning on going back down the week of July 6th to try and get the laminate flooring down, cabinets hung, trim done and about seven windows in. I am trying to get some more people to join me this time. I know it is New Orleans in July, but it is inside work and the air conditioning should be going!

I know I haven't bloged..... but I have been busy! Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday I was at Jimmys house at 5a local time. Wednesday I worked till about seven and then went and took a shower, went and got something to eat and rolled into bed about ten. Jimmy called about ten thirty wondering if he had turned off the water, I told him he had and hung up. Then I got to thinking about it, I had turned the water back on.... had I turned it off? After about five minutes of argueing with myself, I got up and drove over to the house and checked ( it was about five minutes away). It was off. Went hame and went back to bed. Thursday we knocked off about six thirty, and went and had a snowball. I then went and took a shower, went with Jimmy down to the French Quarter so he could take a shower, then went to Hme Depot to check out some prices, where they had turned off the lights while we were still looking. After that we stopped and got some dinner. By the time I got to bed it was after eleven local time. Got up at four fifty on Friday morning so I could take Pam, who was the "house mother" at the homecoming center where I was staying, to the airport. I then headed over to the house after stopping at Lowes to pick up a few things. We again worked till about seven, I went and took a shower, started a load of laundry, and met up with Jimmy to go get something to eat. He took me to Houstons and I had the Hawian ribeye with loaded baked potato. Boy was that ever goooood! When we got back to the homecoming center I went over and flipped my laundry over to the dryer. I then started packing up. Went and got my clean clothes, packed them, and rolled into bed about eleven thirty. Saturday I was at the house by five again, got some things knocked off my list and started gather up my tools. I left there about twelve thirty, went and took a shower, finished packing, and headed for home. I got home about two on Sunday afternoon. Unloaded the car, unpacked, took a shower, and sat down to watch a movie. It was about ten thirty when I went to bed.
Monday up and at work at six, off at four, went home and worked around the house. Again bed about ten thirty. Up at eight Tuesday, worked around the house, went to work where we were extremely busy for a Tuesday. Didn't get out of there about ten. Went home, tried to relax and get to sleep. Got to sleep about midnight, back up and at work at six Wednesday. Got home from work and went out to mow in the back yard (it was about three feet high!) untill I ran out of gas. Then strarted raking in the back yard. Again to bed about ten thirty. Thursday morning up and to bible study and gas station (ouch!). Went home and mowed and worked in the back yard till five thirty. Took a shower and went to church. Came home watched a movie, went to bed about eleven, didn't get to sleep until after twelve. Up and at work at six, came home and took a nap. Went out to work in the back yard some more till I got rained out, then went and worked in the garage. Came in took a shower about ten, then went to bed. Got up this morning and went to my study, after which I went over and sold my scrap metal (got $139... a couple of tanks of gas, woo hoo!), and came home. Finally found the time to write this. I will blog later on what we got done on the house and what is yet to come! I have to get ready for work. Work till ten tonight and ten am to eight pm tomorrow.

This is one of my new favorite blogs. http://teamneworleans.wordpress.com/ It is the blog of the seven students from Azuza Pacific University, four of whom helped work on Jimmy's house last week.

Builders of Hope - New Orleans part 2

Well it is 10 pm Indiana time and I am just getting to relax, it has been a long day. Yesterday we had our two day laborers and they got up all the ceiling insulation we could before we had our plumbing inspection. The three young people from the Kenner church came and got one room sheet rocked. They are college students from Azusa Pacific University. There is seven in their group all together. Only one of the group had been to New Orleans before (she previously had family living here. None of them had been here since the storm. They got in on Saturday, and Sunday after church they took the "obligatory tour of the devastation". They went to the ninth ward and couldn't believe what they saw. And this is 33 months after the storm. The section of town we are working in is called Lakeview, and it was flooded when the 17th street levy broke. You can drive down a block and maybe one or two houses out of twelve have been repaired. It is just mind boggling. Jimmy says that just in the last six months the area has just started coming back.

Today we got our plumbing inspection and were told we can close the walls! The group from Kenner got another room drywalled, I got most of the ceiling drywall up in the Kitchen/ Living room of the one apartment. and we got the rest of the insulation in. Jimmy spent a lot of the day running (again), it is nice to have him running and fetching things. The worst part is that he has rented a Nissan Xtera (sp?) so he can't get a lot in, so he has to take multiple trips. Hopefully tomorrow he can stay there most of the day and help out. We are planning on going like gangbusters on sheetrock tomorrow.
Jimmy is a christian, but he has a lot of friends/ family that are not. I just ask that you would pray that we could be a witness to them by our actions and attitudes

Builder's of Hope - New Orleans

Well, I am in New Orleans! The counseling Pastor at our church has a friend who inheirited a house in the Lakeview section of New Orleans. When the 17th street levy broke during Katrina, this house went completely underwater. The house had already been gutted and the mold remediation had been done. Someone had replaced all his doors, and gave him four windows to replace two that were gone and two that were damaged. The homeowner, Jimmy, had been living in L A and his business interests there have dried up. He was debating what to do, stay in La... or come back to New Orleans where he grew up. He has decided that New Orleans is where God wants him for now.
Enter Builder's of Hope. Our counseling Pastor contacted our director asking if we would be able to help out. The director threw out to us, and I definitely was ready for a road trip. We made plans to come down this week, the counseling Pastor and three of his buddys were coming along with me. On the 16th of May the counseling Pastor got a supena to testify Wednesday the 28th. He tried to get out of it, but it just wasn't going to work. Since he wasn't going the three buddys decided they weren't coming either. At this point, I was going "God, What's up? Do you want me to go, or what is happening?" After meeting with our director we came up with a couple of options, and the one that worked out was that I come by myself. We have made contact with a church in Kenner that is going to provide us with three volunteers all week! See, God had a plan we just needed to wait on him, and trust him. I kind of felt that peace about this whole trip, when we weren't getting many people to sign up, when I found out that Mike and his friends weren't coming, God knows who he wants to be here, and he is in charge. ( Boy isn't hard to let go and let him run the show?)
Anyway I left Thursday morning and drove to Little Rock, Arkansas to see my good friends Steve and Sara. It was a delightful visit. I am sooooo glad, and blest, to have these two wonderful people in my life. Friday I drove into New Orleans after making a little side trip to Lonoke, Ar. Got into town went by the house we are working on, and then went over to settle into were I will be staying until Thursday. It is called Beacon of Hope (same initials as Builders of Hope, BOH), and it is a ministry of St Pauls Episcopal Church in Lakeview. It is really nice digs. After Jimmy got free he brought me some baked Mac and Cheese, and chicken Parmesan that was to die for. It was local fare from some place he knows. We got to sit and get acquainted. Very interesting guy, Worked for Levi Strauss for a number of years doing marketing. Got to build some unique shops. He then felt being called by the Lord to go to LA and be a filmmaker. He has tried to do this and it just hasn't worked. That brings us to rebuilding this house for him.
Saturday morning, Jimmy picked me up about 6:30 am and we went and unloaded some appliances for a friend of his, and also some supplies that were given to Jimmy for this house. Our plan for this week was to get the house insulated, drywall up, and try to at least start the mudding. Jimmy had picked up a couple of day laborers to help unload and we had them start insulating. The really worked hard and got all the exterior walls insulated and the vapor barrier put up! I was excited, because I didn't have to mess with the fiberglass insulation when it was about 90 degrees and the relative humidity was about 95%! As it was I was really sweating my butt off (and there is quite a bit there to sweat off...). I got two of the windows in along with giving Jimmy ideas/ advice on how to do things. We also ripped the ceramic tile off the kitchen floor. Before the storm there was a wall between the kitchen and the living room which really made both areas small. Jimmy had ripped out the wall in between and wanted to run one flooring through both rooms. When we started ripping the ceramic out, we immediately smelled mold. The ceramic was on top of two other layers of flooring, and the bottom layer was where the mold was. We were glad that we decided to rip the tile out,that way we got rid of that mold.
Tomorrow, we are going to have our two day laborers back, along with the three from Kenner, and hope to get the ceiling insulated, and alot of drywall up!

I ran across this post on the 97secondswithgod blog. http://97secondswithgod.blogspot.com/2008/03/danger-of-mydo.html It really hit me. Check it out.

I am still alive

No, I haven't fell off the face of the planet, just have been busy. Been working on the Rebuilding Together house and working with Habitat when I haven't been working at the "paying" job. A lot of other stuff going on too.
We got sad news this week. Mike S.'s father passed away Tuesday. Keep Mike and Carolyn in your prayers. In the last thirteen months, Mike has lost a sister and both parents.
Heard a neat thing today. "If you want God to guide your paths, you need to move your feet."
Still planning the New Orleans trip for the week of May 25th. I am excited. I haven't been able to go anywhere since I did my sabatical last spring. I am hoping to stop in Little Rock for a visit, and also have the opportunity to go over to Mississippi to see friends there.
Hopefully I can post again soon! Bye!

Vacation??

Well it is off to the salt mines again tomorrow. My vacation ends at 6am tomorrow morning. Not that it was much of a vacation in the true sense of the word. Last Saturday I did Rebuilding Together, Sunday I pretty much vegged out all day, read the paper, watched TV, took two naps... On Monday did some menial chores that needed to be done. Tuesday was the Habitat Blitz build (not Wednesday). We started at 9am with just the sub floor. When I left at 2pm, half of the singles were on the back side of the roof, the front side was almost sheeted, all the wall sheeting was on, windows were in, cabinet and closet backers were in, and they were putting in drywall hangers! I helped out there again Saturday. We were putting siding on and did the insulating. They had finished the roof on Tuesday, had gotten the rough plumbing and wiring in and inspected all ready. When we left yesterday, it was ready for drywall. I believe they were planning on having the drywall put up and finished this week, so that they could paint next weekend. This house is sponsored by the Bethel College Senior Class.
Wednesday I worked at the Rebuilding Together house. Hung an exterior door, sealed the deck, did some exterior painting, took out a couple of window sashes and got the glass replaced. Friday I worked at home some, out in the yard.
Today was a beautiful sunny day. It was supposed to get up in the upper sixties and it actually got up to 72. RVC had free tickets for the Silver Hawks today, so Leigh and I went. We got talked into participating in the Build a Burger competition. It is one of the between the innings entertainments that they have. We dressed as giant hamburger buns, I had to run down and lay down on the plate then Leigh had to run and put the patty on me, then the condiments, then she was to jump on top, thus making the "burger". We were competing against a couple of people that were on staff at the cove (because no one else from the church would make fools out of themselves, thanks Ryan!) at we lost. Oh well. After the Silver Hawks game there was a vintage baseball game. This is where people dress up in uniforms from the era and play according to the 1858 rules. The is actually a Vintage baseball league, and they play games throughout the summer, and have a tourney in October. We stayed to watch part of that. After three and a half hours of setting on metal bleachers my butt needed a rest, so we left. It was a very enjoyable afternoon.
Even though I had a very busy vacation, and did not get a whole lot of stuff done around the house, it was relaxing. I was actually only in the store one time the entire week, and that was for about two minutes last Monday morning when I stopped to drop off Missy's keys before the store opened. I only got one phone call from them and I called only one time (to find out if I had to come in and get my keys or if somebody else was going to be there to open with me tomorrow morning). I really do fell refreshed to a certain extent. I hope the auditor came in this past week, so that I do not have to look forward to that tomorrow!
Going to run now, time for bed!

Boy am I getting lax again. Nine days since I last posted. I love Z Pac! After starting to take it on Wednesday, I was a new person Thursday! I felt so much better.
Been busy doing a whole lot of nothing. Had to work at the paying job all weekend last weekend. Missy was on vacation this week, and Andrea's mother in law died Sunday night. That left me all week with the key carriers, which is not necessarily a bad thing. We already were covered through Wednesday, and the store manager from Valpo came over and closed Thursday and opened Friday. Andrea was back to close tonight. I closed last night and am on vaction until the 21st.
Today was Rebuilding Together day. As I said before I was a house caption for a home. Today was not exactly a wonderful day for it. After being in the 70's and sunny yesterday, it was drizzly and 40 today. Needless to say we didn't get much outside work done. We did get some inside painting done. BOH has taken on this home as a project, so we will be copleting what didn't get done today.
Vacation is looking pretty busy for me. along with working on the Rebuilding house, Habitat is having a blitz build on Wednesday. I also want to get some work done on the house. I need to work on the downstairs bath.
Going to run, Darryl gave me a couple of DVDs today to look at :)

I posted earlier this week about Rick's challenge to us... to meet Jesus and slow down a walk with him. I said I was going to try it. Well.... I haven't been perfect (then again, who of us are??) but I have been a little more intentional about seeking Jesus. I have been meeting God at least first thing in the morning, and most nights just before going to sleep. During the day I am not as consistant, but better than I was. Yesterday I put our finances before God, told him it was his money, just help me to be a wise steward. Today I sold my truck that has been for sale since the end of January, and I got $100 more that I wanted to get out of it! Isn't God awesome ?
For the lastweek and a half I have been fighting a sore throat. It has been coming and going. Well last night it came and didn't go, so I went to the Dr. this morning. I was running a slight fever, starting to get an ear infection, and have a little bit of Bronchitis. He prescribed the Z pac, so I started that this morning. Hopefully I will be feeling better soon.

Well I am creeping a little closer to my dream job. We have at least one yes to our board of directors, and possibly the other two by now also. Once they get into place, then I can be hired and start officially raising support. Mike told me that I should start unofficially raising support now.
We have projects galore. Of course we have the three houses in Bourban that went to Oz in October that we are working on. I was helping out with a Habitat house last week. I am project coordinator for a house for South Bend's Rebuilding Together/ Christmas in April on April 12th. (Anybody interested in helping, contact me.) Then the counseling Pastor at our church has a friend in New Orleans who had damage to a house from Katrina is still waiting to get it finished. So it looks like we might be going to New Orleans the week of May 25th to do that. (Again if anyone is interested, contact me.) We also Will be working with the city of Mishawalka on houses June 12th to 16th, and August 7-11. We may also be doing one in July or Sept, and one in October.
I do not know if anyone realizes how exciting this is for me! I have always enjoyed working with building. I also love to teach, and a lot of this combines both aspects. In some jobs we will be doing the work, in others we will be supervising volunteers. I just think this is what God has designed me for.
Gonna go, it is late and 4a goes around awful quick! Bye

Rick really put a challenge out to us tonight. He is doing a series on Sunday to Sunday, and the topic this week was One Day. He talked about Christ's promise to be with us always. All we need to access this promise is to meet him. In order to meet him Rick 's plan was to take it one day at a time. In the Bible a day begins in the evening. Gen 1:5 loosely paraphrased is " ..it was evening and then the morning.. the first day. So to begin this journey before we go to bed we tell God that we are looking forward to being with him all day. When we wake in the morning spend the first few minutes with God, go over the calender of the days events, anything that brings anxiety... turn over to God. As we shower in the morning removing the impurities from the outside of our bodies, ask God to cleanse and remove the impurities from the inside of our bodies. We are to eat in Jesus' name. Ecc 9:7 says "Eat your bread with joy"... thank God for what he provides for you, and for being with you. We need to slow down and walk with God, no where in the bible does it say that we are to run, sprint, trot, speed with God. We need to slow down and meet God. We need to ask for his attitude. At the end of the day we need to thank God for the day.
I know that I didn't present this nearly as fluidly or eloquently as what Rick did, but it really spoke to me. I have been struggling lately to become intimate with God. I feel like I am so far away from God at times. What I pulled out of tonight was that if I want to be intimate with God I need to be intentional about it. (There is that word again Phil). What Rick was challenging us to do was to try and do this on Monday, or our next work day. I want to try this for tomorrow, and Monday, and Tuesday, and Wednesday....
So let us be intentional about being intimate with God.

I can't belive it has been a week and a half since I posted! Where does the time go?
I had a good week last week. Worked Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and then had Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off. Thursday I worked out in the garage finally, took a bunch of stuff out to the shed. Made quite a bit of room in the garage, actually got two cars in it again. I also put the plow back on my truck. Friday it started off sunny then started snowing mid morning for a little bit. Then it snowed heavier in the late afternoon. By evening it turned to a sleety/ rainy/ snowy mix and then it froze. The roads were a mess. We went to Good Friday Service. They had a Tenebrae service, which was real neat. Very introspective. I do not believe I have ever been to one.
Saturday I was suposse I imagd to go down to Bourbon to facilitate a group that was coming in to work on one of the Tornado rebuild houses. Cal a call from Chris late friday night saying the group had cancelled. He wasn't sure, thought that they were from Michigan, and Michigan really got hammered with the snow (like eight inches). We only had an inch or so, not even enough to plow. When I got up Saturday we had gotten more snow and it was still snowing. Went to my study, and then went out plowing driveways. Did ours before I left, did Mom's after the study, went over to do Missy's and she didn't even have enough to plow, I ended up just shoveling hers. I then went over to Phil's and plowed his. In the afternoon the sun came out and by evening the roads were all clear and melted. Leigh, Mom, Leigh's aunt and I went to church service Saturday night. It was pretty packed. That was nice to see for a Saturday night, because they have been running pretty light. Rick had sent out a pleading email asking people to consider the Saturday night or Sunday early service, because they expected the 10:45 to be SRO. I imagine people (like us) took the opportunity to come Saturday night so that they could spend time with family Sunday. Again the service was very good, and Rick had a powerful salvation message about where our priorities should be.
Sunday Leigh , Mom, Leigh's aunt and I went to Old Country Buffet for breakfast. We then went over to Mom's to celebrate my birthday, which was Saturday. Yeah, 49, one more year until I am o the slippery down hill side. Where did the first 49 go? And what have I accomplished? That is another blog, another time. I opened presents, got a book by Max Lucado, silicone cookie sheets, and money (always good). We then chatted (or the others chatted while I napped), then played Skip Bo. It was a very nice time. I then came home and took the plow off my truck, because basically all the snow had melted. It didn't get all that warm, mid 30's, but it was sunny all day.
Today was sunny and it got to the lower 40's. After I got home from work and we ate, Leigh and I took the puppies for a walk. we haven't done that in quite a while it was nice and relaxing. Going to go. Maybe if I blogged oftener they wouldn't be so long!

Another week, another post. It was good to see my friend Steve last week. He and his wife came up from Little Rock to help out a friend of theirs that had surgery. I didn't get to see Sara :( , but Steve dropped by our Thursday morning study and we got to spend about three hours catching up. It was good to hear what God has been doing in their lives. Even though we miss them bunches up here, they are where God wants them.
Anybody need a job? We had to term two more associates this week. It is difficult, we are trying hard to find the right people, not just a body to take the space. Hopefully we will have a back room coordinator in place next week, and that will help us out there. We have been struggling to get the right combination back there.
Mike and I have a meeting this afternoon to see about insurance for BOH. It will be interesting to see what is available for us. I understand that Pat has been having a real challenge to find something for us. It is the nature of what we are doing, construction, with volunteers. It is one thing to have employees, they theoretically know what they are doing (at least they are supposed to), volunteers are something else (Tim Taylor types come to mind, LOL). Hopefully Mike will have more info on where we are with our board.
It is supposed to be a relatively nice day today. Supposed to get up to 50! And the sun is starting to come out. This winter it seems that we have had so many more cloudy days than usual. I don't know if that is true, or if I am really getting tired of northern Indiana winters. After being back up here for ten years, maybe that is it. Possibly it is time to start being snow birds! Or possibly just outfitting the whole house with sun lamps!
Well I suppose I better go and actually accomplish something today. Since I built a new house for the puppies, I am going to use their old one for storage, and actually get my garage so that you can walk through it (and maybe I can find something when I need it!)

Yeah, I know, it has been a couple of eons since I posted. Just not in the mood.
A lot of things going on in the last couple of months. I got a new to me pickup in January. It is a 2000 Dodge 2500 extended cab long bed. It is wonderful.... except the gas mileage. I traded my car, which got like 22 - 24 mpgs, for 7 -9 mpgs. Oh well, you can't plow snow with a Plymouth Breeze. LOL. I also got an eight and a half foot snow blade to go with it, now we haven't had a whole lot of snow. We have had some, just enough for me to practice with. My brother is really loving it, because he has lots of driveway I can use to practice on!
I happened to run across this truck, which is exactly what I have been looking for for like four years, and decided it was time to get it. With me pursuing this ministry I really needed it. It would have been nice to have it last spring when I was in Mississippi, but it wasn't God's timing.
We are still working on getting our non profit going. We have separated from the organisation that we had been partnering with.. all parties thought it was for the best. We definitely will be working with WCN, just not a part of it. Right now we are trying to line up a board of directors, and then we will be ready to file for our non profit status. Also when we get the board in place then salaries can be determined, and I can start raising support. I am sooo ready to get out of retail.
Speaking of retail. things at Marshalls are about the same. Sales have been pretty good, we are trending up over ly. We are just having our usual chalanges with hanging onto/ hiring associates. The company changed the policy on tardies and absences last May, and it is starting to catch up with some of our associates. We have had to term three associates in the last two months for it.
Then there is the new associates that we hire that do not show up for orientation then. I realize that we do not have the best wage out there, but with things the way they are, at least it is a job. Besides, they get to work with me, and what a GREAT fringe benefit that is!
I have done a little more on the house since the first of the year too. I had a wood furnace when I lived over in Shipshewana, and for the last four and a half years it had been setting in Phil's barn. So I closed in the stair/ outside entry for the family room and put the furnace in there. I had cut some wood in the fall of 2006 and had it stacked here. I have got the furnace going and it is wonderful! It keeps the house between 70 and 80 degrees, vs 62 to 68 degrees we kept it at with the gas furnace. I got our February gas bill and it was one fourth of what it was last year, and it was so much more comfortable in the house. The electric bill is about 25% more, but I can live with that. I also built a little room on the side of the furnace room for the puppies, just got that closed in on Saturday. So far they seem to like it. It should be some what warmer than what they had before. Two of them turned 14 in January, and the other one was 13 in December, so I think they appreciate the additional warmth. It is real interesting how deaf they have gotten in the last year. It used to be I would open the sliding glass door and they would hear me. Now I go out in the morning, walk into their house , start talking to them, and they are still zonked out. I sometimes have to start petting them before they realize I am there, and that of course startles them. Of course they can't hear me yell at them when they go charging off to the back corner barking up a storm either.
Well I am going to log off now, maybe it won't take me two months to post again!