Monday, the First Day

First day of work here in Florida.  We started out with morning devotions in a meeting room next to the gym.  One of the other SOWERs shared his story about a health event 28 years ago that should have taken his life and how God spared his life.  God has given him many opportunities since then to testify to God’s goodness in his life and has given him the strength to minister in many ways, including involvement in the SOWERs, despite the weakness caused by this health event.  It’s quite a story and is a reminder that we serve a great God.

I’m sure everyone in that room has a story. Perhaps we will hear more of them, perhaps not.  Being one of the younger couples in this group, our story may perhaps be a bit more incomplete than some of the more senior members.  Sometimes pieces of that incomplete story don’t seem to fit together very well yet, so it’s encouraging to hear the stories of other people, how God has woven the pieces of their stories together in amazing ways.  God may not be finished with my story yet, but he has a plan, and I’m excited to be a part of it.

The first day always starts out a bit slow, as we all need to figure out what needs to be done and who will do the deeds.  Since the storeroom behind the kitchen is a priority, we all set to cleaning it out in preparation for someone to come in tomorrow to cut a hole in the block wall separating the kitchen and the storeroom.  Lots of old stuff came out, and a lot of it was loaded on the vehicle affectionately known as the convertible and driven to the dumpster.

This vehicle had a tree fall on it during a recent hurricane, completely crushing the cab.  The solution was simple: remove the cab and continue using it.  When it was driven to town, however, the cop that pulled it over said he never wanted to see it on the road again.

A couple things were just too big and heavy to move to the dumpster, so they got a ride on the tractor and made quite a clang when falling into the dumpster.

We divided up after this and Jim and I replaced rotted boards on the bleachers around the baseball field.  Wood just doesn’t last forever in the Florida sunshine and monsoon rains.  This task filled the remainder of the day.  Painting the boards will be a task for another day.

The women spent their morning doing some deep cleaning in the kitchen.  Stoves, countertops, sinks--all that stuff needed a good cleaning. No lack of work at a place like this.

And just like that, the first day is done.  Time to make dinner and take care of a few things before it gets dark.