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.
² Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.
³ Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips will praise You.
⁴ So I will bless You as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
⁵ My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.

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

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

Work Weekend 52

 This weekend was cooler, which was nice.  We started with our safety meeting on driving safely.  Facio then had Debbie and I hang sheer on lot 14, 17, and 12.  These houses will have siding on it.  Jacob, Michael, and David worked on removing our power polls.  John, Steve, and Chris (Debbie's helper this weekend) worked on lot 6 porch. Andres, Carlos, Paul, and Brandon worked on lot 8 porch.  Jackie, Luisa, Leticia, and Maria continued blocking on lot 13 and 12.  Patricia and Lupe worked on adding decorative detail to lot 6 roof line.  Robert, Luis, Andy, and Tony,  Alfredo worked on attic access in my garage lot 10. We had additional help from Tim and Nick.

Tim and Nick helping hang shear.

David cutting green board.

Steve and Maria's front porch.

Carlos and Andres working on lot 8.

Brandon working on lot 8.

Lot 8

Lot 6

John working on lot 6.

Chris and Steve working on lot 6.

 Steve and Maria's house.

Patricia and Lupe adding detail.

Lot 8.

Debbie's house lot 16.

Lot 8

 Lot 6

Lot 16

Lot 8

 Lot 6 adding porch details.

Debbie's house at the end of the day.

We are making slow progress.  We are waiting on information on what to add to the gable ends of the house that will meet the energy specifications.  We still need the letter from the engineer.  I am not sure when we will have these things.  (Hopefully, this week)  We need to start roofing the houses. 

Prayer Request:

1) Wisdom for Facio and Toby on running the job.

2) We will get the information we need, so we can have inspections.

3) Endurance.  I am feeling very physically and emotional exhausted.


One of the hardest things about building this house is balancing everything at home while putting in the work at house site.  It is not about putting in the hours.  It is getting the work done each week.  So when you at the house you need to focus completely on doing the work and working hard then you leave and you have to focus on your family. I am still not good at leaving the house stuff at site.  It can easily consume me.  God has been so good to me.  I am continually needing to call out to Him.  He then provides for me.

Psalm 86

A Psalm of Supplication and Trust.

A Prayer of David.

86 Incline Your ear, O Lord, and answer me;
For I am afflicted and needy.
² Preserve my soul, for I am a godly man;
O You my God, save Your servant who trusts in You.
³ Be gracious to me, O Lord,
For to You I cry all day long.
⁴ Make glad the soul of Your servant,
For to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
⁵ For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive,
And abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.
⁶ Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
And give heed to the voice of my supplications!
⁷ In the day of my trouble I shall call upon You,
For You will answer me.
⁸ There is no one like You among the gods, O Lord,
Nor are there any works like Yours.
⁹ All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord,
And they shall glorify Your name.
¹⁰ For You are great and do wondrous deeds;
You alone are God.

¹¹ Teach me Your way, O Lord;
I will walk in Your truth;
Unite my heart to fear Your name.
¹² I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
And will glorify Your name forever.
¹³ For Your lovingkindness toward me is great,
And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.