Thursday, July 29, 2010
Day 3 - Do Work...
Today was another great day on the work sites, despite the temperature getting up to 90 degrees. There is not a whole lot to update about the two jobs that we are working on, other then the fact that as the week goes on we get closer and closer to finishing the roof and well the bathroom on the other hand the longer the week goes on the more things we find wrong with the bath room. You would have thought that this situation was taken right out of a television comedy where the husband wants to make one minor fix in the bathroom and well you know the story ends and we are hoping that our story ends differently by Friday evening. (I apologize for the run on sentences but it is 12:30 in the morning and I am really tired but I also wanted to give everyone an update on our day so that means you get long run-on sentences with bad grammar.)
Every day when we get back from the worksites and after we have had the chance to go over to the school and shower we all (students and adults) find some quite time and do our devotions (props to Curt Equi for doing an awesome job putting them together). I wanted to share a little bit with you about some of my thoughts during my devotion time today. One of the questions that were asked was, “What are some of the most rewarding things you’ve done on the Mission Trip do far? Were they worth your effort?” That was an easy question for me to answer and it had nothing to do with any of the physical labor that we have been doing this week. The most rewarding thing that I have done with this week is to get to really get to know the five students (and two adults) who are on this trip. I just started working at Grace on July 11 and I didn’t meet Connor and Nick until this past Sunday which was the day we left for the mission trip but yet I already feel like I have know these guys for years and it is only Wednesday evening. It is amazing what God can do in your life in just a few short days when you come together as the Body of Christ and work together as one unit. I am so excited to be on team here at Grace Pres and I know that God has great things in store for the student ministry.
I am excited to get some sleep tonight to wake up feeling refreshed and ready to get back to work on the roof in the morning. Thank you for taking the time to check out our blog and please do not be afraid to leave a comment!
Every day when we get back from the worksites and after we have had the chance to go over to the school and shower we all (students and adults) find some quite time and do our devotions (props to Curt Equi for doing an awesome job putting them together). I wanted to share a little bit with you about some of my thoughts during my devotion time today. One of the questions that were asked was, “What are some of the most rewarding things you’ve done on the Mission Trip do far? Were they worth your effort?” That was an easy question for me to answer and it had nothing to do with any of the physical labor that we have been doing this week. The most rewarding thing that I have done with this week is to get to really get to know the five students (and two adults) who are on this trip. I just started working at Grace on July 11 and I didn’t meet Connor and Nick until this past Sunday which was the day we left for the mission trip but yet I already feel like I have know these guys for years and it is only Wednesday evening. It is amazing what God can do in your life in just a few short days when you come together as the Body of Christ and work together as one unit. I am so excited to be on team here at Grace Pres and I know that God has great things in store for the student ministry.
I am excited to get some sleep tonight to wake up feeling refreshed and ready to get back to work on the roof in the morning. Thank you for taking the time to check out our blog and please do not be afraid to leave a comment!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Day 2, back on the grind...
After a productive day 1 the crew couldn’t really think their efforts would match up to the amount of work we all had put in yesterday, they may or may not have been right. Chris, Ted, Joel, Kev, and Andy just about finished the first part of the roof, which was a stellar accomplishment. But more hard work was to come. At lunch time the team made a devastating trade that broke the heart of millions, Kevin and Ted switched with Nick and Connor to the most disgusting job of all time…. Sewage leaks.
With rotted wood and a stench none of you can fathom, the job for Ted, Kevin and Curt (our outstanding leader) seemed impossible or the three just didn’t seem up for such a tumultuous job. Crawling in the muck and mire of the under belly of a rotted house the trio got right to work. Digging, hammering, screwing, and breaking and entering were all in the agenda and unfortunately so was covering our noses, all this for one bathroom floor.
Through all the hard work time was lost, at the house of Harlen Marks, keeping the team from the long awaited barbeque. But before food came the shower, the best part of day, everyone could finally wash off the stench of the house (there are no words on earth to describe this smell.) The barbeque was nice, the food was delicious, and the food seemed to never end, leaving the team with even more leftovers then they had before.
(Words by Teddy H.)
With rotted wood and a stench none of you can fathom, the job for Ted, Kevin and Curt (our outstanding leader) seemed impossible or the three just didn’t seem up for such a tumultuous job. Crawling in the muck and mire of the under belly of a rotted house the trio got right to work. Digging, hammering, screwing, and breaking and entering were all in the agenda and unfortunately so was covering our noses, all this for one bathroom floor.
Through all the hard work time was lost, at the house of Harlen Marks, keeping the team from the long awaited barbeque. But before food came the shower, the best part of day, everyone could finally wash off the stench of the house (there are no words on earth to describe this smell.) The barbeque was nice, the food was delicious, and the food seemed to never end, leaving the team with even more leftovers then they had before.
(Words by Teddy H.)
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Day 1
Today was an amazing day and we are so blessed to have the opportunity to be in service up here in Camden, NY. In effort to not make this the worlds longest post with tons a photos I decided to put a little slideshow together from Day 1 well actually it was Day 2 put it was our first day on the work sites so we are calling it Day 1. I thought that I would let some of our students help me out with today post so you could have the chance to hear how they thought today went.
Today was our first day of work. The weather was positively magnificent. After a delay to get more materials for our work, the day’s work finally began. Teddy, Chris, Andy, Joel, and I (Kevin Hull) started putting together scaffolding at a house to make our job (putting a metal, snow-proof roof over shingles) easier. After that feat was accomplished, we were able to stand at roof level safely. Then we had some real fun, nailing boards across the roof with a nail gun. After a scrumptious lunch, we locked into a groove: Chris and Tom (the world’s dumbest or strongest man) handled screwing the aluminum roof over the original roof; Teddy and I handled the important job of scaling the roof with wood planks and nail-gunning them down; Joel cut the wood precisely to our imprecise measurements, and Andy killed wasps. By the end of our work day we had finished putting the aluminum over half of the roof on the front side of the house.
The day according to Nick…
We went to this guy’s house, and he, like, told us about how he had prostate cancer and messed up his shoulder real bad and his bad knees too so he had troubles taking showers with his bathtub and that’s why he needs us to take it out and give him a shower. And also, his floor was kinda’ squishy, so that was a reason too. So, we (Conner and me – Nick), first we cut off some of the the trim molding and tear it back and unscrew a bunch of things so we didn’t mess up the bath tub and that kind of thing. Then we put down a tarp over the bathtub and kind of went to town on it – the bathtub – with sledge hammers. Then after we did about half the side, we had to take out the toilet so we could get a full swing and break that bath-tub up. That thing was big and heavy… made of cast iron, you know. Bring the power-house swing and all that. OK. So after we smashed up the tub and brought all the pieces outside, we had to salvage the trim so we could pull up the floor and check out what was under it. Find out why it was all squishy. After we (wait, I have to pick a scab… OK) got off the trim, we were all really hungry, you know, like starving, so we called Joel, and we were like, “Hey, man, it’s lunchtime, seriously” And we had lunch. And it was awesome. Um. During lunch I refilled my bottle with a little Gatorade and Connor did too (“No I didn’t”) so I refilled MY bottle with a little Gatorade and that was good because I definitely needed a little Gatorade later on. OK. Cool. Cool. So we came back to the bathroom and it was time to rip up the floor, so we ripped up the floor, like we were supposed to. And we checked under it and you know, it was bad. Yeah, it was bad. IN the one corner you could tell there had been a bunch of bugs. The floor was real bad, like a 4x4 area. Curt had to saw through it, break up some wood panels. Saw through it again. Break up some more wood panels. So we finally got to the bottom. And then we had to go to the bathroom, so we went to Dollar General (Wait, you were working in a bathroom and you had to go to a bathroom?) Yeah, because the bathroom wasn’t working. After we went to the bathroom at the Dollar General, I bought a water bottle and a little popsicle thing and I bought Connor a water bottle too. And that was good… refreshing water. We needed some nourishment. And I forgot to mention that with all the bugs and sawdust that was flying up when we were breaking it up, and porcelain chips from when we were breaking up the tub, iron chips potato chips you name it, we were sweeping it up. We had to pick our noses with all the dust in the air and eventually we got those, what do you call them – surgeon masks, medical masks, gas masks, whatever. Then we tore up a little more floor, cleaned up a little bit, tried to go home, then Curt found out his oil leaked in his toolbox and he had to clean that up and that took a few minutes, then we left.
Today was our first day of work. The weather was positively magnificent. After a delay to get more materials for our work, the day’s work finally began. Teddy, Chris, Andy, Joel, and I (Kevin Hull) started putting together scaffolding at a house to make our job (putting a metal, snow-proof roof over shingles) easier. After that feat was accomplished, we were able to stand at roof level safely. Then we had some real fun, nailing boards across the roof with a nail gun. After a scrumptious lunch, we locked into a groove: Chris and Tom (the world’s dumbest or strongest man) handled screwing the aluminum roof over the original roof; Teddy and I handled the important job of scaling the roof with wood planks and nail-gunning them down; Joel cut the wood precisely to our imprecise measurements, and Andy killed wasps. By the end of our work day we had finished putting the aluminum over half of the roof on the front side of the house.
The day according to Nick…
We went to this guy’s house, and he, like, told us about how he had prostate cancer and messed up his shoulder real bad and his bad knees too so he had troubles taking showers with his bathtub and that’s why he needs us to take it out and give him a shower. And also, his floor was kinda’ squishy, so that was a reason too. So, we (Conner and me – Nick), first we cut off some of the the trim molding and tear it back and unscrew a bunch of things so we didn’t mess up the bath tub and that kind of thing. Then we put down a tarp over the bathtub and kind of went to town on it – the bathtub – with sledge hammers. Then after we did about half the side, we had to take out the toilet so we could get a full swing and break that bath-tub up. That thing was big and heavy… made of cast iron, you know. Bring the power-house swing and all that. OK. So after we smashed up the tub and brought all the pieces outside, we had to salvage the trim so we could pull up the floor and check out what was under it. Find out why it was all squishy. After we (wait, I have to pick a scab… OK) got off the trim, we were all really hungry, you know, like starving, so we called Joel, and we were like, “Hey, man, it’s lunchtime, seriously” And we had lunch. And it was awesome. Um. During lunch I refilled my bottle with a little Gatorade and Connor did too (“No I didn’t”) so I refilled MY bottle with a little Gatorade and that was good because I definitely needed a little Gatorade later on. OK. Cool. Cool. So we came back to the bathroom and it was time to rip up the floor, so we ripped up the floor, like we were supposed to. And we checked under it and you know, it was bad. Yeah, it was bad. IN the one corner you could tell there had been a bunch of bugs. The floor was real bad, like a 4x4 area. Curt had to saw through it, break up some wood panels. Saw through it again. Break up some more wood panels. So we finally got to the bottom. And then we had to go to the bathroom, so we went to Dollar General (Wait, you were working in a bathroom and you had to go to a bathroom?) Yeah, because the bathroom wasn’t working. After we went to the bathroom at the Dollar General, I bought a water bottle and a little popsicle thing and I bought Connor a water bottle too. And that was good… refreshing water. We needed some nourishment. And I forgot to mention that with all the bugs and sawdust that was flying up when we were breaking it up, and porcelain chips from when we were breaking up the tub, iron chips potato chips you name it, we were sweeping it up. We had to pick our noses with all the dust in the air and eventually we got those, what do you call them – surgeon masks, medical masks, gas masks, whatever. Then we tore up a little more floor, cleaned up a little bit, tried to go home, then Curt found out his oil leaked in his toolbox and he had to clean that up and that took a few minutes, then we left.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Welcome to Camden, NY
Well we made it safe to Camden, NY and we actually made it here by 4:30 which is about an hour sooner than we originally thought we were going to make it into town. The car ride up was uneventful, which is always a good thing. We did drive through a heavy rain storm but we made it out safe and then had this beautiful view.
Some wonderful people at the Vienna United Methodist Church cooked us a wonderful dinner. You know those Methodists they know how to feed you well. Here is another beautiful view of God’s creation. This picture was taken from the window in the fellowship hall of the Vienna UMC.
After dinner we had the opportunity to drive around to the homes that we are going to be working on this week. All of our students are excited about the opportunity to be God’s hands and feet this week as we serve not only His children but God as well.
Thank you for all of your prayers and check back later for more updates.
Some wonderful people at the Vienna United Methodist Church cooked us a wonderful dinner. You know those Methodists they know how to feed you well. Here is another beautiful view of God’s creation. This picture was taken from the window in the fellowship hall of the Vienna UMC.
After dinner we had the opportunity to drive around to the homes that we are going to be working on this week. All of our students are excited about the opportunity to be God’s hands and feet this week as we serve not only His children but God as well.
Thank you for all of your prayers and check back later for more updates.
Friday, July 23, 2010
The Threat of Thunder Won’t Stop Us
Monday was a perfect day for a pool party and conveniently enough we had a pool party scheduled for our student ministries program. It was another hot and humid day in July, actually a little too humid because as time got closer for our party to start so did the threatening thunder storm. I was happy to see that a number of our students still made it out to our pool party and cook out even though we had to make them get out of the pool a couple of times when we saw lighting.
It all worked out because when we were not in the pool swimming we were staying dry in the back porch eating cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chips, and some fruit. By the time we were finishing our dinners the storm was about passed and we were able to get back in the pool. The passing of the storm even left us this beautiful rainbow for us to look at with awe.
This was another wonderful opportunity for me to get to meet more of our students here at Grace and I am thankful the Deviney’s were gracious enough to open up their home and pool for us!
It all worked out because when we were not in the pool swimming we were staying dry in the back porch eating cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chips, and some fruit. By the time we were finishing our dinners the storm was about passed and we were able to get back in the pool. The passing of the storm even left us this beautiful rainbow for us to look at with awe.
This was another wonderful opportunity for me to get to meet more of our students here at Grace and I am thankful the Deviney’s were gracious enough to open up their home and pool for us!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Good Eats
The High Ground Service on Sunday ended minutes before noon so my son, Austin Luke, was not going to be able to make the 45 minute drive home without screaming because he would inevitable get hungry so we had to get lunch around church. Knowing that Austin loves eggs and pancakes Laura and I thought we would just drive over to IHOP (yes I know I-HOP is right across the street but with a 1 year old it was easier to drive). Well there was not a parking place to be found and there were people standing outside waiting to be seated so we knew there was no way that we were going to be able to eat at I-HOPE.
Earlier in the week I found a little pizza place in the Jenkintown Square Shopping Center so we continued on driving through the I-HOP parking lot to the pizza place. After getting Austin out of the car and walking around the side of the building we find out that the pizza place is closed on Sundays. Our quest for lunch was not going very well and by this point it was not just Austin who was screaming because he was hungry but we all were hungry at this point. Then across the parking lot we spotted her, Rosey’s BBQ.
If you have never eaten at Rosey’s then you need to go there right now because their food is finger licking good! I was so happy that I-HOP was packed and the pizza place was closed because other wise I would have not been able to enjoy the “crunchy spicy sandwich”! This sandwich was packed with delicious pulled pork, slaw, and spicy potato chips. Half way through eating the sandwich I had to stop and take a picture of this piece of art and trust me this picture does not give this sandwich justice.
I can not wait to go back and try some of their other items on the menu especially their ribs. If anyone wants to get lunch just let me know and to quote Rosey’s BBQ we can get some “southern taste up north” together.
Earlier in the week I found a little pizza place in the Jenkintown Square Shopping Center so we continued on driving through the I-HOP parking lot to the pizza place. After getting Austin out of the car and walking around the side of the building we find out that the pizza place is closed on Sundays. Our quest for lunch was not going very well and by this point it was not just Austin who was screaming because he was hungry but we all were hungry at this point. Then across the parking lot we spotted her, Rosey’s BBQ.
If you have never eaten at Rosey’s then you need to go there right now because their food is finger licking good! I was so happy that I-HOP was packed and the pizza place was closed because other wise I would have not been able to enjoy the “crunchy spicy sandwich”! This sandwich was packed with delicious pulled pork, slaw, and spicy potato chips. Half way through eating the sandwich I had to stop and take a picture of this piece of art and trust me this picture does not give this sandwich justice.
I can not wait to go back and try some of their other items on the menu especially their ribs. If anyone wants to get lunch just let me know and to quote Rosey’s BBQ we can get some “southern taste up north” together.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Monday Rewind 7.19
If you were not at the 9:30 service on Sunday then you missed an excellent sermon by Pastor Jim. (and no this is not just me trying to get some bonus points because it is only my second week on the job) Pastor Jim preached on the familiar passed of Mary and Martha from Luke 10:38-42. If you don’t have a Bible close by here is the passage,
“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
We can all find ourselves in Martha’s shoes okay maybe not because we are busy cleaning the house and cooking an elaborate dinner; but because we distracted by facebook, sports, work, friends, television, co-workers, this list could go on forever because we all have distractions in our lives. When we look at this passage Martha was not doing a bad thing she was cleaning her home and cooking dinner for Jesus! A majority of the time the distractions in our lives have nothing to do with Jesus Christ, but that does not mean that they never are. As Jesus points out to Martha, we need to take a step back and make sure that we have our priorities in order and the first item on all of our lists has to be Jesus Christ.
As Pastor Jim pointed out Martha kind of gets labeled with a bad image here and we forget that Martha has incredible faith. Later on in the Gospels it is Martha’s faith that helps bring her brother Lazarus back to life. In John 11:27 Martha says to Jesus, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”
There is a lot that we can learn from Martha and I pray that this week you will spend sometime looking at the priorities in your life. It is just as important for us to have our priorities in order during the good time when “Jesus is coming over for dinner” so that when we are faced with difficult situations like Martha was with the death of her brother, we will be able to have the same faith a Martha and be able to lean on Jesus Christ for our strength.
Please feel free to let me know what distractions you have in your faith journey so I can be praying for specific situations this week.
“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
We can all find ourselves in Martha’s shoes okay maybe not because we are busy cleaning the house and cooking an elaborate dinner; but because we distracted by facebook, sports, work, friends, television, co-workers, this list could go on forever because we all have distractions in our lives. When we look at this passage Martha was not doing a bad thing she was cleaning her home and cooking dinner for Jesus! A majority of the time the distractions in our lives have nothing to do with Jesus Christ, but that does not mean that they never are. As Jesus points out to Martha, we need to take a step back and make sure that we have our priorities in order and the first item on all of our lists has to be Jesus Christ.
As Pastor Jim pointed out Martha kind of gets labeled with a bad image here and we forget that Martha has incredible faith. Later on in the Gospels it is Martha’s faith that helps bring her brother Lazarus back to life. In John 11:27 Martha says to Jesus, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”
There is a lot that we can learn from Martha and I pray that this week you will spend sometime looking at the priorities in your life. It is just as important for us to have our priorities in order during the good time when “Jesus is coming over for dinner” so that when we are faced with difficult situations like Martha was with the death of her brother, we will be able to have the same faith a Martha and be able to lean on Jesus Christ for our strength.
Please feel free to let me know what distractions you have in your faith journey so I can be praying for specific situations this week.
Friday, July 16, 2010
World's Largest Skateboard
I don't know where you go about getting one of those skateboards but I want one. I guess that it would also be helpful if you had enough open space to use it and I am thinking that Jenkintown is not going to cut it. You have to admit that having one of those would be a lot fun.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Pool Party/Cookout 7.19.2010
So I have never seen the Deviney’s pool but I think it is safe to guarantee you that it looks nothing like that kiddie pool. I have enjoyed meeting everyone so far and I hope to meet more new faces at our pool party and cookout on Monday night at the Deviney’s house from 6:30 – 9:00. If you need directions or the Deviney’s address call Joel at the church office or on his cell 908.581.2298.
We’d like to have a rough count so that there will be enough food, so please e-mail me back to let me know if you will be attending. My email address is joel@gracejenkintown.org. Remember friends are always welcome to come and we encourage you all to invite your friends.
We’d like to have a rough count so that there will be enough food, so please e-mail me back to let me know if you will be attending. My email address is joel@gracejenkintown.org. Remember friends are always welcome to come and we encourage you all to invite your friends.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
First Day
I woke up this past Sunday a little earlier then usually because I had all different thoughts running through my mind because this was my first day at Grace Pres. Excited about new journey God is leading me on but nervous about not getting to church on time. Excited about meeting new faces but sad about not seeing familiar faces. Those were just some of the thoughts and emotions running through my mind but as soon as my family and I got to Grace (we were early) we were welcomed with open arms and able to enter the Sanctuary ready to worship our Creator.
After a yummy lunch with the Hull Family, a 40 minute drive back to Lambertville, a nap, watched Spain win the world cup, and another 40 minute drive back to Jenkintown I was ready for the students to arrive for a challenging round of miniature golf at the newly remodeled Hilltop Golf. Fun was had by everyone who attended except when we had to play hole number 11. I think that was the hole with the most ridiculous layout for a miniature golf course. After everyone finished up their round of golf we walked down to Dairy Queen because there was really no other option then to walk to DQ since it was so close. Here are some pictures of us enjoying our ice cream!
After a yummy lunch with the Hull Family, a 40 minute drive back to Lambertville, a nap, watched Spain win the world cup, and another 40 minute drive back to Jenkintown I was ready for the students to arrive for a challenging round of miniature golf at the newly remodeled Hilltop Golf. Fun was had by everyone who attended except when we had to play hole number 11. I think that was the hole with the most ridiculous layout for a miniature golf course. After everyone finished up their round of golf we walked down to Dairy Queen because there was really no other option then to walk to DQ since it was so close. Here are some pictures of us enjoying our ice cream!
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