May 13 – “The diplomatic engineer”

It's already 10:30 and I'm just getting started, so this will probably be a short one.  My first task today was to write a wedding ceremony.  I had a meeting with the bride and groom tonight, and they wanted to get an idea of what to expect.  Weddings usually don't take long to write.  I have a base that I follow, then just add in some specific things that I find out about the couple.  This one is a little different, though.  They each are bringing kids into the family, so we'll include them in several parts of the ceremony.  They will also give them each a token of joining as a family at the time Mom and Dad give each other rings.  The wedding will be out on the beach right down the street from the church.  I think it's going to be a good one.   This afternoon I loaded up the truck with a bunch of stuff we had stored for Christina's garage sale.  It's this Saturday.  Chris was already there babysitting, so she and Jachin and I unloaded everything.  The truck bed was full of stuff, so I hope she sells it all.    I went to the house for another round of cleaning tools.  I forgot to wear gloves again, so my fingernails are once again mechanic quality dirty.  I guess I need to get some of that super orange hand cleaner.    Our contractor drove up as I was "cleaning up" from cleaning up.  We needed to talk to him about the tile floor order.  We made a change awhile back to the color of tile for the bathrooms.  The new bid reflected that change.  The cost of the new tile wasn't the same as the old one we had begun with.  It was twice as much.  Well, the old tile was $1.25 each.  The new stuff was $2.75 each.  Ouch.  With our insurance money getting tight, we wanted to go back to the old stuff.  Our contractor will check it out for us and let us know tomorrow.    The painters were there all day.  They were doing the prep work.  That means they were putting caulk over every single nail head in the house and along every seam on the doors and trim.  Their plan was to stay until about eight tonight.  Then tomorrow they will fix up some of the places where the sheetrock was damaged, and maybe begin staining.  Friday will be priming day, and Saturday or Monday the painting will be completed.  The engineer on our project came while we were there.  Chris asked if he was the guy who made us put the support post in when we knocked out the wall.  He said, "That depends."  Quite the diplomat.  He did his inspection of our doors, windows, and roof.  That means we'll be getting the certificate for the Texas Windstorm Agency that they require for us to maintain our insurance.  He made the comment that the shingle part of the roof looked great.  Thank you to our great volunteers who put it on.   Psalms 29:3-9 says, "The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.  4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.  5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.  6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox.  7 The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning.  8 The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.  9 The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare.  And in his temple all cry, 'Glory!'"   Father, I'm not sure what all those references mean without looking them up, but it sure is clear that your voice is amazing.  Amen.