March 17 – “Did I mention windows?”

I went in to the house by myself today.  Chris decided to stay at Omega Bay and wait for Josh and Christi and their boys to arrive from Crosby.  Some of the volunteers got there around 9:30, so I took off and drove out to Seaside to check on the groups there.  The guys framing the school building were unbelievable.  In one day they had already framed out more than half of the outer walls of the classrooms.  I got to watch one of the "wall-raisings."  Flashes exploded all over the place as if it was the first one.  They told me it was just as exciting every time.    There were some teenagers working inside the other building.  They had already removed all the ceiling tiles from the nursery and main room.  They also discovered some surprises.  They didn't expect insulation to come crashing down on their heads.  They found some old computer network wires from about the 80's.  And my personal favorite, they asked what kind of critter laid little tiny white eggs.  Seems that the insulation was full of them.  I told them it was probably geckos, and you should have seen the look of relief come over their faces.  They never said what they thought they were, but whatever that thought was … it obviously wasn't pleasant.  Before I left the guy in charge of the teenagers asked if there was some more projects they could do.  The plan was for them to tape the windows for painting tomorrow, but the kids were getting bored today.  I left them some more ideas.   We went to Luby's for lunch.  Seems like it's been awhile.  Josh and Christi and Caleb and Zak came.  Afterward I went back to the house to wait for the windows delivery.  Not there yet.  I did find out that the group that was working with us was leaving at noon.  Their agreed-upon time with Nehemiah's Vision was from Saturday to Tuesday.  They didn't know if we were getting another group or not.  After they all left Nathan and Josh came and did some touch-up stuff on the sheetrock.  I cleaned up the work area and moved around the sheetrock leftovers.  I never have liked leftovers.  We'll probably need to buy some more sheetrock.  All we have is leftovers.  Did I mention that I never have liked leftovers?   Did I mention that the windows were supposed to be delivered today?  When we left around 4:30, they weren't.  Our contractor had already talked to them, though.  For some reason they thought he no longer wanted them.  But they still had them, so they were going to try to get them loaded today.  If so, they would just go through the back door.  We'll see in the morning … again.   Big decision behind us today.  I emailed and called my brother to let him know we are OK with selling Mom's house.  I talked to her and all three of my boys, and we are finally OK.  It just took us longer to process.  Now we need to find a place to store the stuff in her garage.   Psalm 23 is a great fall-back passage for any time. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."   Father, thank you for being my shepherd.  And thank you for trusting me to be a shepherd.