A Little Piece

I thought for days and days about what I could send home with the guys from Boise out of appreciation for their hard work, and for showing us a tangible measure of God's grace by repairing our broken roof.

Alabama T-shirt? Sweet thought, but who am I kidding? They're hardcore Boise State fans. A couple of them did end up with a few "Roll Tide" souvenirs, though. :)

Coffee mug? Not travel-friendly.

Books? I never read books I receive as gifts.

I was/am stumped. In what tangible way could we show our appreciation? How could we send them off with a little token of gratitude?

Bottom line, we couldn't. Nothing seemed big enough. Nothing seemed appropriate enough. All we could give was some deep, heart-felt "thank you so much"es and hugs. And a few tears.

We started this morning the same way we started last Monday morning: in prayer with our fellow brothers in Christ. I cried both times - last Monday because I was just so happy they were here, this Monday because I hated to see them leave. In just five days' time, they took a tornado-stricken roof and repaired it almost completely. Just a few major details remain before we can move in - and those will happen soon enough.

We are extremely grateful to God for providing these men to us to rebuild what was broken. We are thankful that their families and friends lent them to us for a week. We are thankful for their sacrifice, for working in the disgustingly hot weather, and for being a blessing to us. All we could send with them today was our words - and even then, those were not quite enough.

Progress!!

Our first house sure has taken A LOT of prayer and A LOT of hard work! It isn't finished yet, but it's getting there! The guys from Boise have been working diligently in this hot mess of a town and they've done an incredible job. Today is their last day of work, and they leave on Monday. I am going to be sad to see them go - they've become like an extended part of our family!

Here is the progress so far:

The living room on April 27. I know I've already posted this picture several times, but... just a reminder of where it all started!

The back yard on April 27. I don't have a picture right now, but the trees are gone. Now there's just lots of dirt.

Talk about a skylight!! :) The guys had to cut away a large portion of the ceiling in order to rebuild it properly. It was slightly scary to watch the hole get bigger instead of smaller, but I knew it was part of the process! So... those are the old rafters and beams. They took those out and put in brand new beams and replaced all the broken or damaged rafters.

And yesterday, you could really see the progress from the outside!! When I went over a few minutes ago, the whole roof was COVERED! They had to remove all the shingles on this side of the house, but the hole is NO MORE!!!! Praise God!!

I can't wait to live with this guy in our big old beautiful house. It still has a ways to go, and we are hoping and praying for continued support from our friends and family. The living room will still need some work once the Boise dudes leave, and we also need help cleaning up the yard (still lots of broken trees & tree stumps), and help painting. So... if you are looking for a way to volunteer and help storm victims, here's your opportunity. :)

And by this time in two weeks, we will be married!!

Dreaming Again

A brand new ceiling fan for a soon-to-be brand new ceiling.

That's all it took to get me excited all over again about our first home.

A team of men (and one awesome woman!) from the Vineyard Church in Boise arrived on Monday to work in this tremendous heat to help us rebuild our roof. They have been so kind to leave their families and jobs for a week to come help little old us... and fix a house we weren't even living in yet.

There is still a giant hole in the roof of the living room, but they are working hard to repair the structure and should have some covering on it tomorrow or Thursday. But, already, the structure of my faith and of my heart has been restored.

I'm dreaming of paint colors and shelves and tile.... and of our own memories to come. Our first Christmas as a married couple, dinner parties with friends, family visits, and one day... a new life. :)