Today we did a lot of paint scraping and attempted to pull out a windowsill. We did not quite get it out all the way but we got a good start on taking the windowsill out. During our lunch time we came up with seven animal names for roll call and we all thought they were very funny. After lunch we did a lot more scrapping and then cleaned up. We also posed for a picture on the roof. That was what team three worked on during the day. Addie

Today was a bit of a slow start this morning. After a hard day of work yesterday, many of us need quite a bit of sleep. However, after a good ol’ cup of coffee and a wonderful breakfast from our kitchen crew, we are getting ready to leave for our work site.

Yesterday’s word of the day was GROW. As you can imagine, many of us had our first MGE’s (magical growth experiences) for the week–not enough materials, sizing up the enormous task before us, getting to know our team, ect. My particular team (Team Emily) found that underneath some ply board that had been nailed to the back of the house, there was clothes and pillows being used as insulation for the bathroom. It can be quite overwhelming to see how these people live and how much work needs to be done on their houses.

Today’s word is GROOVE because we need to get into the groove of things. Today our goal is to buckle down and start getting into the full swing of working. Now that we are acclimated, we are ready to take on these task with everything we have to improve the life of the people we are working for. (You might even say that it’s time to “get our groove on”).

God is Good,
All the time,
All the time,
God is Good,

Emily #1

Just finished up our chores from day 1. Our team was assigned bathroom duty. Better to get it out of the way early. Anyway today we started several projects on our work site. The house has a deteriorating exterior and we have started applying stucco to repair the damage. While that was getting started another small group started priming the side of the house for a fresh coat of paint. The project I enjoyed most today was removing the roof off of the front porch. Today we made great time and removed the shingles of the entire roof and then added a layer of tar paper over half of the area. We discovered that one of the boards on the roof had rotten through and has to be replaced. Tomorrow we hope to continue stucco work, start painting and begin laying down shingles after replacing that board.

Every thing is running smoothly.
God is good.
Phil W. (Crew Chief Team #4)

Today was a typical day for the directors. Planned our day, woke everyone up (has anyone seen Michelle’s iPod?), made breakfast announcements, ate breakfast (thanks kitchen crew!), tried to help everyone figure out where they were working today (successful), tried to fix the icemaker (unsuccessful), went shopping with Carol for groceries and miscellany, ate lunch, planned evening schedule, hitched a ride with a GRASP staffer to Team 3′s worksite, took pictures, did some work, headed back to the church, took a shower, checked with some of the new missionaries, wrote some W.O.E.s, made signs, circled for dinner, ate, blogged, and…well the rest hasn’t happened yet. I’m gonna sleep well tonight.

We arrived in Grand Rapids yesterday at roughly 7:03 P.M. and unloaded the truck. We all got settled and went to the sanctuary to be assigned to our work teams. This happened at approximately 9:17 P.M. and since yesterday was summer solstice, it didn’t get dark until like 10:30! Yeah, then we went to bed. This morning we woke up then ate some yummy bacon. And now, were going to work!
Sam D. :)

God is Good, All the time.

After 7 hours of travel everyone arrived safe and sound. I was placed in the second grouping of vans/cars 5,6, 7,8 and truck. We had some very interesting incidents with flying animals. One nearly missed van 7, and then the truck had an unfortunate incident with a pigeon. We shall keep the memories of that poor bird in our prayers. Most of the travel went fairly smoothly, until we arrived to an accident. Our travel team was the first group to arrive, and we were towards the first 1/2 mile of the stopped traffic. It took about an hour to travel that half mile. After passing the scene, everyone could not stop thinking about the people that were involved in the accident. There were at least 4 ambulances and a helicopter that were on the scene. We are all praying for the recovery of those that were involved with the accident.

After arrival we unloaded the truck with what seemed to be a never ending line of people. Set up beds, ate baked potatoes, got the lay of the land, found out work teams, then off to bed. The adults stayed up to figure out the work sites and plan out the events for tomorrow.
Please keep everyone in your thoughts and prayers, and I assure you that wonderful Monday stories are to come ahead!

All the time, God is good!
-Karen E.

We arrived at 7.10 pm this evening (June 21st, 2009) safe and sound, after being held up for a long spell by an accident a 1/2 mile or so ahead of us on Rt 23…. when we got here, we unloaded the truck, had a great dinner, got team assignments, chose our work sites and are all bedded down for the night…. lots of work to do at all our sites…. but i know we’re up to the challenge…. keep the folks in the accident, our client families and all of us in your prayers….. more later…
gene

Our family is just about ready to go. Phil has left to go find some memory cards for his camera. Michelle and Emily seem to be ready to go. And I’m running around the house trying to think of anything I may have forgotten. I suppose I need to give up and have faith that whatever we’ve forgotten, we’ll figure it out. I’m told they have stores in Grand Rapids…

It’s almost time…

-John

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