Our Strong Tower: Week 53

Monday, July 15, 2013

Week 53

We have been working on our house for 1 year now. It has been a busy long year. It is exciting to see how far we have come in this year. Below is a picture of John and my lot (home).

Day 1

Week 53

We have a lot still to do, but looking back helps me to see how God has provided volunteers, energy, strength, endurance, and people with knowledge to help us over this last year. With the knowledge of all that God has done, I look forward to seeing how He will provide for us as we finish the homes. I know that God has the perfect day for us to complete our home. What an incredible day of celebration it will be! I look forward to having a party in our new home to celebrate this gift from God. He has blessed our family beyond our dreams. He has given us amazing friends and family. This incredible group of people take care of my kids, provide dinners for us, help work on our homes, and bring treats to share with everyone that is working on the houses. Thank you for helping us this year. You have made this year easier for us.

This week we were blessed to have Amanda and Trent come out to help us on Saturday. Amanda is Debbie's daughter, who lives in Ohio. Trent is her fiancé. They are here for a weeks vacation. I was great to have their help. I know Debbie enjoyed having them out there with us.

Amanda and I working on shear

Trent

After Debbie, Amanda, and I finished the shear, we were given the task of wrapping foil on the gable ends of the attic. (Praise God, we did get an answer from the man that did the energy stuff for our homes.) Facio and Toby have never done this before, so it was a weekend of trial and errors to figure out how to do it. They both were very helpful as we tried to figure out how to add this foil paper to the gable ends.

Brandon and Eric (Brandon's friend) working on Steve and Maria's porch.

Luisa and Evelyn working on blocking Leticia's house.

Naty and Maria working on blocking Leticia's house.

Debbie's home.

John, Steve, and Pat working on Alfredo and Naty's house.

Trent and Amanda

Debbie and Amanda

Lupe and Patricia have been working on adding decorations to our homes. Patricia hurt her finger on Thursday, so she could not work this weekend. Lupe and Alfredo continued working on decorations. Lupe had Steve help her add the decoration to Deena's garage.

Our porches have a lot of detail. Lot 6

Here is the decoration. Right now we think it reminds us of a Viking Ship.

Here is Stephanie (working of Patricia), Lupe, and Alfredo adding the decoration to Deena's home.

Lupe's porch.

Jacob, David, and Michael worked on finding the ends of the gas line. Our gas is going to be pulled to our homes. One lot caused them a lot of trouble. The pole that showed where the gas line was at was lost. Sunday. Steve helped them search.

Steve and Maria's house.

Lupe's house

Alfredo and Naty's house

Pat had a friend come for a visit. Walter meet Pat at the home site and decided to volunteer some hours to help us. Thank you for helping us out.

This was a good weekend. We were blessed with a lot of help. We had a great time working and laughing together. Our group is getting a long well together. We have fun joking with each other, Facio, and Toby. This makes the weekends much more enjoyable even when it is hot.

Prayer Requests:

1) The subcontractors (electrical, plumbing, a/c, fire sprinklers) have not been out in a week. Please pray that they will return to work on our homes.

2) We are still waiting on the letter from the engineer, so we can get inspections.

3) A roofer, who would come out to help and teach us how to roof.

4) Facio and Toby as they lead our group.

5) Our group: strength, endurance, health, and group harmony will continue.

Thank you for your prayers. Praise God for all that He has done.

Psalm 63

The Thirsting Soul Satisfied in God.

A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

63 O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly;
My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You,
In a dry and weary land where there is no water.
²Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.
³Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips will praise You.
⁴So I will bless You as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
⁵My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.

⁶When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches,
⁷For You have been my help,
And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.
⁸My soul clings to You;
Your right hand upholds me.

⁹But those who seek my life to destroy it,
Will go into the depths of the earth.
¹⁰They will be delivered over to the power of the sword;
They will be a prey for foxes.
¹¹But the king will rejoice in God;
Everyone who swears by Him will glory,
For the mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped.

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Home Ownership Program

We are doing a program through a organization that has been building homes in our area for 40 years. The program is designed to help lower income families buy homes. There will be a total of 24 homes built. The homes are divided into two groups. We are in the first group of twelve families. We work together to build all twelve families' homes. By the end of the process we will know our new neighbors very well. We are required to work 40 hours a week, split between two people. We do most of our work on the weekends. There is a contractor working with us to teach us how to build a home. We can not move in until all twelve homes are complete. It usually take one year to build twelve homes. We don't do plumbing, electrical, drywall, or stucco. We are the labor. The labor is our down payment down, sweat equity.

Deena and the Boys

Hi, I am Deena. I have four awesome young men (21, 19, 17, and 12). We have always wanted a home of our own. The place we are in was supposed to be temporary housing sixteen years ago. Now God is giving us a new adventure. We are going to build our own home and eleven others with our new neighbors. And God blesses us with neighbors who we already know! Jacob is my co-builder and my two teenagers will be helping as much as they can. God is always providing
for me when I least expect it. He is so amazing.

Where did this journey start?

For me, Tricia, this journey began with me wanting to own a home and God using this desire to grow my faith and dependence on Him. I have been trying to buy a home for 6 years with my husband, John. We tried many times to buy a home, but God always said no. A year ago, we finally decided to stop our search and learn to be content where God has us. God had different plans for us. In August, we applied for a self-help housing project. In October, we were accepted. I then told our neighbor (for 7 years) and friend Debbie. She applied and was accepted. In January, I told Deena a friend from church. She applied and was accepted. These homes are such a blessing. We sit in awe of what God has given us. We are excited to get started on the homes. God is our strong tower. He will give us the strength to build these homes.