Day 1

We started early with prayer and breakfast at church, all fresh faced and full of energy.  Here we are looking good on our van ride to GCH.  We spent an hour hauling furniture out of the house.  That was especially tricky for the upstairs team who had to negotiate a tiny enclosed stairway that makes a 180 degree turn.  But, the weather is beautiful and cool, and the house residents are excited.  We had guys hanging around all day.....waiting.....

The carpet got torn out downstairs.  The team ripped that out like they do it every day.  They were amazing.  We get the new carpet installed on Wednesday morning.  So, we can paint with abandon in there!

The biggest challenge for the upstairs team was this bedroom.  Two men share it.  One man had himself walled off inside the room in a small room he created out of cabinets and shower curtains.  One thing we consistently find at GCH is that people who have lived on the street hoard everything they can when they get a home.  That room was packed to the ceiling.  It took hours to empty it out.  

Time for lunch.  Our four member encouragement team went all out for lunch.  It is so fabulous to walk into a room and have drinks and lunch ready.  All we had to do was sit down and eat.  

The downstairs team painting in the dining room.  Go back and look at the before pics.  This room was all sunshine yellow, including those incredible mouldings.  Even with just one coat of paint, it is looking alot different in there.

It takes us an hour and a half to get home in the 5 o'clock traffic.  Time to debrief, make plans for the next day and crash.

We start again at 7am tomorrow.

Praise God:

• the weather was in the 70s
• the carpet came up easily and the padding is good underneath
• nobody needed so much as an aspirin all day
• safe travels in the traffic back and forth

Please pray for:

• the men in the house, having their space invaded....we have torn apart nearly every room.  Two of them are sleeping on mattresses on the floor tonight and their clothes are on the front porch.
• everything continues to go smoothly
• one resident Wes, who now want us to do his room even though he did not want us in there before.  We would like to be able to do something for him if budget and time permit

Thanks for your prayers!