(all photos today by Ben Dement)
Today was pretty amazing for us all. If you don’t know already, one of the groups is working on a house for a couple named Annette and Lewis Talley. Lewis was taken into the hospital on Monday as we were pulling up to begin working. For me, this project only seemed to be all labor. I didn’t know the couple, and I didn’t know their situation so I could only assume that we were just there to work physically and never did it cross my mind to actually tend to their spiritual and somewhat emotional needs. I didn’t actually sit back and realize that these were real people with real problems that really needed our help.
After I kind of came to that “realization”, today was a lot harder, but also a lot easier for me. It was hard in the sense that I couldn’t really do anything to solve their problems. But, it was easier for me to step in and put strong care into my work. I found myself praying for the team and especially for the Talley’s as I was cleaning, or putting on the door to the front of the house with Slim. Around 10 o’clock, Emily Davidson, myself, and Pastor Scott (from the Dalton Grace Church) went to the hospital here in Dalton and visited with Annette and had hopes to sit with Lewis for a while. It was hard to listen to Annette because I wanted to cry. Such a familiar situation that she was in, I could relate to and yet I could do nothing. But, I found peace this morning when she told us that Lewis had rededicated himself to God. The doctors expected Lewis to pass away yesterday, but I guess on this trip, we are realizing that God really does have a plan for all of us – even the ones who have gone astray a bit. And I find great comfort in that.
--- Jade Kerr
It’s our third work day and we got a lot accomplished today. It was significantly warmer today than yesterday, so that made things a little more interesting. At Miss Yvonne’s today, I was so impressed with everyone’s hard work. We’ve gotten to the juncture in the week where everyone is very, very tired but I’ve been amazed at the good attitudes and hard work that everyone’s still putting forth. A group of kids spent the entire day working on the outdoor painting on her house, doing the difficult parts like trim up high. They also painted the bathroom a shiny new color that Miss Yvonne picked out and a very awesome group of boys worked all morning in the attic, hand spreading insulation…a very dirty and hot job. I, being somewhat limited in my ability to help out with the above projects, carted insulation packs inside to be carried up the ladder but mostly spent time with Miss Yvonne. She’s such an amazing person and it’s really a joy to spend time with her. I’ve never been around someone so very grateful. She loves to sit and chat and today I learned a lot of things about her. She’s such a compassionate person and has had so much difficulty to deal with but she’s not bitter. She was widowed with a three year old back in 1969 and then she spent the rest of life taking care of her parents, her father who passed in 1995 and her mother who she took care of up until she had a heart attack a few years back and was no longer to keep her at home. She’s all alone now, because her daughter lives pretty far away. She’s said on multiple occasions that she’s going to miss having us here so much. I’m truly going to miss her as well. It makes all the difference when you’re about to attach a relationship with the work project…it becomes so much more important.
VBS was really good today as well. We had more kids than yesterday but it was still a small number. But they loved it and were so grateful for us being in their lives. Every time I turned around, one of our youth had a kid in their lap or was kicking the ball with them or swinging them around. The faces on these kids makes all the hard work and heat worth it. There’s a little boy named Geraldo that I’ve become quite taken to. He wasn’t there at first and we were about half way through with the activities when he comes running up, out of breath and throws his arms around my neck. “We made it! We made it!” He and his siblings had run as fast as they could to get here and were so excited. It’s more than projects and tasks…it’s building relationships with amazing people and you can’t help but be changed by it. It’s amazing to see what God is doing and I cant wait to see what happens tomorrow.
--- Brandi White (Leader)
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