We are all together!

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The weather didn't cooperate with us and with over 2 inches of rain last night, our first days building will be indoors. We began our first day focused on priming and painting the entire house. First went on the glue like primer. For most of us we'd never painted with such thick paint! We arrived at the site as a cool and clean group and by lunch time was already well worked and marked with new white spots. From the frosted tips of hair touching the newly painted ceilings to the soles of shoes. We made good progress and almost had the entire house primed before lunch.

Lunch was provided at the Transform Joplin warehouse. The warehouse has been donated to help with the rebuilding efforts and it was easy to see that the older, fully wood beamed warehouse was once a bustling business in Joplin. This is the location that all of the walls of the homes are pre-assembled and then transported to the worksite for raising. This group of people definitely put thought into this effort and made it as efficient as possible.

By the end of the day, we had primed the entire house (two coats on the ceiling and one on the wall) and had begun putting on the first coast of the eggshell paint. Feeling very good about our progress. As is typical fashion for Thrivent Builds teams, we wanted to keep working...to just finish up what we had started. After work, Amy from Immanuel Lutheran Church gave us a tour of the tornado path, sharing with us information about the path of the tornado, the devastation the city encountered and how it is now being transformed and revitalized with the rebuilding efforts. The people of Joplin definitely are resilient and focused on the future...although from the stories we are hearing, their lives will never be the same, and now our lives will never be the same!

Dave, the final member of our team arrived during the afternoon and we are now a complete team. We shared dinner together at Big R's restaurant for some hometown BBQ. We all enjoyed good food from all you can eat ribs to a "block" of Suzie Q fries. Emily and Pam even got their picture taken in front of the smoker as they are out resident experts on BBQ and grilling! During our team reflection, we heard the lyrics from the song "Unwritten" by Natashia Beddenfield and applied them to ourselves. We are encouraged to live life with open arms and write an amazing story, because what lies ahead of us is still unwritten!

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