Then I got a call last week from Doug who works with the youth group at church. He told me they were going to be doing some service projects on Friday and wanted to know if I needed help with anything. It took me a bit to figure out what I could have a group of teens work on. Taking help means being organized in order to coordinate a number of people and that takes time and planning. I managed to put together a list thinking that I might not have enough to keep them busy for the 4 hours. Boy was I wrong! The night went awesomely well. There were 5 teens and 2 adults (Ron and Mitch- you guys are handy!). All in all they got a ton done and far exceeded my expectations! They got one of my cars vacuumed out and wiped down since I was going to be trading it at the dealer's the next day. I have this awful habit of saving boxes from things we buy and things we've had shipped to us. My box hoarding was out of control until they stepped in and broke down probably at least 30 boxes. They almost filled the back of a pickup truck with these. I had them take some electronics away as well...a TV, broken air conditioner and various computer pieces. This purging felt SO good! Then, in preparation for construction to finish the upstairs, I had them work on moving a bunch of items that were up on the second floor (it's like attic space currently) down to the basement. They probably moved 2/3rds of what was up there down 2 flights of stairs. One of the teens cleaned and organized Corey's work bench which was pretty out of order (mostly from me not putting things away since he died). Let's see...am I forgetting anything? Mitch had brought his tool belt with him and must have been itching to do some hammering because he got busy fixing one of the doors in the basement that wouldn't close right. They found things to do that weren't even on my list! Great job guys! You're welcome back any time ;))
I also have been meaning to put a thank you out there to an anonymous someone who paid for 3 weeks of babysitting for me. I have a fabulous sitter, Hannah, who comes over every Thursday evening for a few hours so I can have a break and get out of the house and not have to do bedtime. I look forward to this time each week and so was pleasantly surprised when Hannah told me that someone had already paid her for the next few weeks! That was a cool blessing!
I certainly have no shortage of things to be thankful for. I can't say enough good things about my church family. They are absolutely amazing. I have never known a church to have such a heart for people in need, and their compassion extends out into the community on such a consistent basis. I don't think there has been a time when I have said hello in a quick exchange with Pastor Bernie and he hasn't asked me how everything is going and is there anything I need? I feel very loved and am so appreciative! The funeral director for Corey's service and burial made the comment that he works with a lot of churches in the area and has been very impressed with all that goes on at Grace. He likened the people at Grace to ants working away busily. I have been blessed to be a recipient of this church's love in action!
I also have been meaning to put a thank you out there to an anonymous someone who paid for 3 weeks of babysitting for me. I have a fabulous sitter, Hannah, who comes over every Thursday evening for a few hours so I can have a break and get out of the house and not have to do bedtime. I look forward to this time each week and so was pleasantly surprised when Hannah told me that someone had already paid her for the next few weeks! That was a cool blessing!
I certainly have no shortage of things to be thankful for. I can't say enough good things about my church family. They are absolutely amazing. I have never known a church to have such a heart for people in need, and their compassion extends out into the community on such a consistent basis. I don't think there has been a time when I have said hello in a quick exchange with Pastor Bernie and he hasn't asked me how everything is going and is there anything I need? I feel very loved and am so appreciative! The funeral director for Corey's service and burial made the comment that he works with a lot of churches in the area and has been very impressed with all that goes on at Grace. He likened the people at Grace to ants working away busily. I have been blessed to be a recipient of this church's love in action!
I hope that you can see how much you have blessed the people at Grace as well. (I say this based on my experiences with you as well as what I've heard others comment about how you've blessed them.) Your example in suffering, your faith, your reliance on God, your amazing graceful spirit that allows "us" to help and even make blunders in our inadequate efforts. God uses you in our lives too. Love you...
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