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Published: February 12th 2011
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Church hook-ups
Just like an RV park!! January 1, 2011—Happy New Year everyone! Dan and Joyce left Dallas the day after Christmas and are now in Florida. I'm hanging around until I leave for my first NOMAD project in the Rio Grande valley. Danette and I came over to Ward and Tarena's to see the New Year in. We stayed up and toasted each other and new beginnings, then talked until the wee hours. This morning I slept in, having gone to bed late. When I finally got up, we watched the Rose Parade which Ward had taped. That's kind of a New Year tradition in our family. Seeing the floats up close is one of the things on my bucket list. Just don't know when it will happen! After that it was football, football!
Jan. 2-6--Just took it easy during the week. Danette, Tarena and I went to the movies. Previously we had seen “The King's Speech” which was a wonderful movie. I recommend it to everyone. This time we saw “The Black Swan.” Boy was that a shocker! It was a psychological thriller. I can't say I really enjoyed it, but it was well done if you like that sort of thing.
On Wednesday,
Picnic Time
Team at lunch on the first day. You can see the long porch fronting the dorm rooms, etc. Danette had some outpatient surgery on her hand to remove the pins that were put in a couple of years ago when she fractured that hand. I stayed with her at the clinic and drove her home. She is a riot when she is coming out of the anesthestic! Her whole arm looked three times its size since they had wrapped a soft pillow over the dressings to protect the area. I had to make sure she kept the arm propped up all the time.
Jan. 7—The adventures start for me. I left Dallas, aiming for Pharr, Texas. Over 500 miles away, I decided to make it a two-day drive. (I'm getting lazy in my old age!) I stopped at one of the Texas State Parks. I have said before that this state really does have some nice parks. They are a little pricey for those of us on a fixed income, but worth a splurge every now and then. This park was south of San Antonio and called Choke Canyon State Park. I didn't see a canyon, I guess the lake had filled it. Anyway, it was a nice park and I had a good view of the
Hole in the Wall
Place where a new door will be between the women's dorm rooms and their bath so they won't have to go outside and walk around to the bathroom door. lake. For some reason, I didn't take any pictures. I don't know why!!
Jan. 8—I arrived in Pharr and found the little Spanish Methodist Church where we are parking. The team leaders, Olan and Lola were there, along with another team couple, Don and Evelyn. I was pleasantly surprised that not only was there 30-amp electrical hook-ups for the Rvs, but also sewer as well as water.
This evening we had the team meeting and everyone met everyone. We learned we will be working at another church, repairing and painting a dormitory the church uses for retreats and visiting missionaries and work teams. The church is part of a systematic outreach program in the surrounding communities and in Mexico. We are only about six miles from the border where we are parked.
There are eight of us on this team, three couples and two singles. We spent the evening getting to know each other and talking about the kinds of things we will be doing.
A quick recap about NOMADS for those that may have just tuned in: It stands for Nomads (or those who travel in Rvs) on a Mission Active in Divine Service. (The
Fellowship Hall
This is where we met each day for morning devotions, planning, had breaks and ate lunch. funny name for this group of volunteers is Nice Old Methodists Avoiding Deep Snow. I love it!) A bunch of mostly retired folk who like to travel and volunteer their time to do things at churches, schools, camps, homes, etc., that they would hire people to do at home! As volunteers we get to choose where we want to work (within some limits). We get a place to stay for the three weeks each project takes. We can work as many or as few projects as we like.
Jan. 9: Today we went together as a group to the Pharr Methodist Church, the center of the outreach ministry under which we are working. (The church where we are parked is completely Spanish and conducts services in that language.) The service was interesting in that the congregation is mixed population and the minister is bi-lingual. Announcements were made in both languages. The hymn lyrics were beamed in both languages up on a screen and were sung in both languages at the same time. It was a bit disconcerting to hear it. I tried to sing some in Spanish, but couldn't fit all the words in to the tune. My hat
End Wall of Bunk House
All the cracks here have been filled, smoothed and waiting to dry so sealer can be applied is off to the translators of both languages!
After church we went out to brunch together. I had traditional eggs, bacon, etc., while some had burritos. I love Mexican food, but thought I'd better save it for later in the day! Afterward, we drove over the church where we will be working, located in San Juan, Texas. (This whole area is one big metro-plex with all the little towns rolled into one! ) We walked around and got a good look at all the work to be done. It will take the whole three weeks!!
Jan. 10: Oh, Lord help me on this first day of work! The original sleep-in princess has to get up at 7:00 am!
Bootsie—I don't know what is going on here! When she first got me, I kept trying to get Marty up at a decent hour so she wouldn't waste her whole day sleeping! (Only cats are allowed to do that, you know!) Anyway, as you know, I finally gave up on that, but here she is staggering out of bed! I'm delighted, of course and ready help her greet the day by playing! Poor Bootsie, little does he know
Scraped Eaves
The eaves had to be scraped of old paint before repainting. he will be abandoned all day while I go to work. What have I gotten myself into?
I rode with Olan and Lola to San Juan. It is a beautiful, sunshiny day and temps are supposed to be in the 60's. Welcome to the Rio Grande Valley! At the church, we sit down to plan the day, have a devotion and drink coffee. Everyone seems to know what they will be doing except for me. I walked around to see what was going on. The buildings we'll be working on include the dormitory and two storage buildings. The dorm has a large men's' bunk room, two small women's bunk rooms and two bathrooms with showers. There are also several rooms used for a thrift store the church has. One of the special needs is a door between the women's bunk rooms and their bath area. The men start tearing down the wall to put that in the first thing. The building has what seems like a thousand cracks, some really bad, that need to be filled. Everything needs cleaning and scraping so it can be painted.
I have had a little experience filling a smoothing cracks, having lived
Three Cheers for Pizza
One of our lunch days we ordered pizza. in a couple of houses that were constantly settling, so I settled down to doing that. I figured with so many cracks that would keep me busy for a lo-o-o-ng time! When we stopped for lunch, there was a Bible study group in the fellowship hall, so we spread blankets on the grass and had a picnic.
Jan. 11-13: Uh-oh, the sunshine disappeared and took the warm temperatures with it. These days were cloudy and cold, and I'm working outside with “mud”, filling cracks. Wait a minute. I signed up for this area because it was supposed to be warm! And people say God doesn't have a sense of humor! Thank goodness everyone on our team has one though. We tell jokes, make corny remarks and kid each other all day. It's a great group and I'm having fun in spite of the weather! Tuesday night we all got together to eat $1 hamburgers for supper. Lola brought some games to play, but I was beat. I think everybody else was too, because we all went back to our homes after we ate! For some odd reason I went to bed at 8:30!
Bootsie—I don't know about this thing Marty is doing. She is gone all day. I greet her lovingly at the door when she gets home, but she says she is too tired to play. She falls into bed a lot earlier than she used to. The next day it's the same thing all over again. Oh well. I guess I'll get a lot of sleep! (Yawn)
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