Caulk, Trim and Flooring

We were working in the parsonage again today – trying to finish up the trim in the house, doing a bit of caulking and also patching some of the holes in the floor before we put the laminate flooring down.  Just some quick thoughts from working today –

1. I took a short break this morning to drive over to Edgewater Retirement Community to help a couple get some donated plants for their house.  Our friend Jose from Primera made the connection for us.  They took 6-7 plants to replenish those that died during the hurricane.  I really enjoy Jose – he seems to have a really good heart and spirit.  In chatting with him, he offered to come help us work on the parsonage whenever we would need him.  However, I wish that I could really have a conversation with him – he is one of the people in the congregation that speaks more Spanish than English.  I really need to get working on my Spanish.
2. There were two water spouts that came ashore last night during heavy thunderstorms in Galveston (as they came onshore, they became tornadoes).  They landed about 35 blocks from where we live.  There was some property damage (one store on the seawall lost its roof) and three people had minor injuries.  However, it was a reminder to the islanders of the power of Mother Nature.  People are still holding their breath during hurricane season this year – wondering if another hurricane and destruction was headed their way… 
3. I enjoy working in the parsonage because there are so many things to do.  It lends to my short attention span.  Today I spent time working on one room and then the next, and then moving to caulking a little bit, and then fixing the floor a bit, and then back to trim.  I think it keeps my mind occupied as I switch from room to room.
4. We bought a counter top and a sink today for the kitchen.  Don’t know how to install either.  That is why God invented the internet.  www.google.com – “install counter top”.  www.doityourself.com – I think I am all set now. I have come to find that a lot of the work is learning and figuring it out as you go.  I enjoy that kind of stuff – it is challenging to my coconut.
5. Starting to think about sermons for Sunday – it is Labor Day – never has meant too much in the church calendar, except usually lower attendance.  I have a couple of ideas for sermons.  Sometime soon I want to talk about whether the church is a maintenance church or a missional church (using my friend Jeff Johnson’s work in his new book, Got Style? –check his book out on amazon.com) but am thinking of waiting until after Labor Day for that.  I could check out the lectionary (a group of readings predetermined for each Sunday).  Or talk about obstacles to living in the Kingdom of God – following up from last week’s sermon.  Don’t know – we will see which way the Lord leads.  I have a bunch of painting and mundane work to do this week where I can continue to noodle this out.
6. I had a profound thought about something mundane I was doing today – but I can’t remember what it was…sorry! 
7. I have a couple of fantasy football drafts coming up – exciting times – football season is closing in fast!  There are many days when I dream about when we are living in the parsonage and I have the big TV to watch football games…

Happy Tuesday to you – we will be touching up paint and Mrs. Salinas’ and also running some errands….

Dolphin World broken windows

Water spout tore off roof

Back online

It has been a couple of weeks since I have posted anything on the blog – many thanks to Jenn for the laborious hours she has spent keeping everyone up to date with what we are doing.

Anyway – I am going to try and get back int he swing of things and post some of the thoughts I have throughout the day.

We spent the day Saturday finishing painting the trim on Mrs. Salinas’ house. This has been the job that just doesn’t end – it keeps on getting bigger and bigger. I am hoping that we have just a day or two left on it. Anyway – by about 3:00 in the afternoon I was fed up with setting up a ladder, climbing it and painting a small area, climbing down, readjusting the ladder at a new place, and repeating the procedure. It was hot – I had already sweated through my second shirt of the day. I started thinking about what all of my friends would be doing on a Saturday at 3:00 in the afternoon – relaxing, being with family, etc.  Not many would be standing on a stinkin ladder, sweating their butts off, and every once in awhile dripping paint on their heads. I also started thinking about what my typical Saturday would be a year ago – watching football, relaxing around the house, taking it easy before spending time finishing Sunday’s sermon at night.

The last couple of weeks I have been preaching about sacrifice at Primera Iglesia – that the road the congregation must take forward is one of sacrifice that leads to the foot of the cross of Jesus. Standing on that stinkin ladder, I was reminded of the sacrifice that we have made in moving to Galveston and the witness we were providing for the Salinas family. I was reminded that we have given up much, but are still following the path that Jesus has set before us.

sonic ice cream

 

One of the good things about living in Galveston is that there are 2 Sonic Restaurants, only a few miles apart.  Not that they are at all healthy for you.  They are just like any other fast food restaurant.  We like the ice cream and slushes, especially when the slushes and drinks are half price at happy hour from 2-4 everyday.  🙂  So we frequently go to Sonic to cool off with slushes, but Tuesday night we felt like getting ice cream.  I wasn’t that hungry so I ordered a kids “candy” sundae (nice marketing words by the way-cringe).  It cost $1 and was pretty much melted in it’s tiny container.  It was basically the same as Tim’s, except much much smaller!  It cracked me up!  For future reference, it is better to get the bigger one and just freeze the rest if you can’t eat it.  Better yet, just share one and you’ll be fine!

the word from pastor tim 8-30-09

Sermon: “Pursuing the Kingdom”

Text: Mark 1:14-15

To listen, click here:

To download, click here: Pursuing the Kingdom 8-30-09

working on the crockett parsonage

Friday afternoon we were rained out of finishing our outside trim work at Mrs. Salinas, so we worked on the Crockett Place Parsonage.  It is where we are hoping to live maybe sometime in October.  Oooo… the thought of moving out of the RV is exciting!  I like it and everything, but I will look forward to having more space, a real guest room, possibly an office, a stove, counter space, a fridge that keeps things cool, maybe laundry, AC that works all day…  Need I go on?  🙂  There is a lot left to finish on the house.  It still needs electricity turned on, bathrooms completely installed, coutnertop, trim, etc.  At least the walls are done and some of the doors.  Tim and I put in some of the trim.  I think it’s a fun job because you have to think about angles to cut with the mitar saw.  It’s an exact science.  It either lines up or it doesn’t, and you’re constantly thinking as you work.  Tim likes the finish nailer, a power tool that runs of an air compressor.  It makes life a lot easier!  We’ll be working on the house in our spare time.  Here are some pictures.

Tim working at the house

Tim cuts trim with the saw

 

Jenn's new favorite picture of herself. The sun is getting to her brain!

Nailing in the trim

Doorway trim

Before

After

Yay trim done in small room!

painting trim at mrs. salinas’ house

This week Tim and I have finally finished the trim work on Mrs. Salinas’ house in Galveston.  It is taking a long time to tape everything to do a good job and some of the trim is in awkward locations.  We are getting there though!  We just have a few things to touch up and should be done.  We worked there Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday this week just taping and painting the trim.  It would take a lot less time if we had more volunteers, but unfortunately, we don’t have very many scheduled.  I am looking forward to finishing this house.  I feel like we’ve been working on it forever!  Honestly, the scariest thing I did was painting the trim from the roof.  I felt like I was going to slide off and there was nothing there to stop me.  It was fun and challenging but intense.  We keep conquering our fears as we work on different houses and learn new things too.  Still looking forward to being done with exterior painting for awhile!

Tim the Tape Meister

Jenn loves painting trim

Ugh....found a few more spots to caulk

Tim finds an intelligent way to position the ladder on the steps!

Tim cleaning up his tapey mess

Taping the back door

Jenn braves the roof to reach the high trim

Carefully maneuvering

At the peak

Hanging off the roof

Finishing the side trim

Tim painting the pole

Reaching way overhead

Tim painting the ramp

guest blog- amber’s reflections on sunday and monday

Hey everyone!  Well, it is my final official blog from my trip to Galveston, even though it’s two days late and completed when I’m at home in Pennsylvania.  LOL 

You know, Sunday was a day full of God and relaxing!  Sunday morning was spent worshipping at University Baptist Church and then heading to Primera to listen to Tim preach about the word in Luke 9:51, an extremely obscure verse that probably left many people thinking at first: “what in the world is he preaching on that verse for?”  The verse launched us into an awesome sermon telling about how focused Jesus was on the cross, and that we also should be focused on what God is doing among us and focus ourselves on taking up our cross as well and following Jesus to do whatever he asks.  It was awesome.  You know, there are so many things that I believe God has set Tim apart for, and preaching is one of them.  He has such a gift for it; to speak the Word of truth into the lives of others…especially mine.  I know that Jenn and Tim like having me around down there, and I love to be hanging out with them and helping people in Galveston, but the truth also is that I love to listen to their perspective on religion and life, and to absorb as much of it as I can before I return home.  It’s so refreshing.

Rock-n-Roll, Baby!

Party time!

Aren't these good looking too?

 

 

Sunday was also a day to absorb Galveston itself.  We headed to the Strand where we saw the astounding Ike waterline height and stood next to it; at least six inches over my head! There Liz and I also bought Galveston sweatshirts for $10…no one else was buying, of course, LOL.  The Strand had a lot of neat shops, but nothing I would buy to take home with me.  After spending the afternoon catching up on our blogging and organizing pictures, we all headed to rent a 4 person surrey.  What a great time that was!  First, Tim was the driver and was almost-knocking us into a bunch of poles and pedestrians and other bikes, and we made great time all the way from 18^th to 50^th or something (wherever the statues are) and then turned around to head home where I took over the driving and Tim was rocking the bike to and fro like a monkey!  Of course, we had to race to catch up to another group of people and Jenn and Liz’s chain broke on their side of the bike!  Well, Liz’s they couldn’t get back on, but Jenn was able to pedal a little way back, except when her chain fell off again as well!  So Tim and I had to save the day, pedaling on the left-hand-side of the bike to make it back before 7:45!  AGHH!  But we made it…and they gave us two free future rides because the bike broke, LOL

Amber and Liz in the back seat of the surrey

Crazy driver and Jenn in the front seat

Race with the runner

Tim is driving a bit too close to the Seawall for Liz

Surrey full of fun!

Monkey Tim finds a new way to bring life to the ride- shake it up!

Liz gets a souvenir steering wheel

The bike is falling apart in many places

 

Monday, Liz departed and headed home, and I had the pickup from Sunday night so I drove it over to pick up Tim at 8:30 and then drove up near Houston to meet Jenn at Ira’s house.  While Jenn worked on a ton of paperwork, Tim and I tackled the jungle.  I used a pair of clippers to take out huge heavy weeds and then began with a weed eater—hint: never weed-eat in shorts!  Tim hacked away at the entire lawn with a mower, and then Jenn came out to help me with another weed eater.  You should see it now that it is completely mowed and edged well!  It is an amazing difference!  Praise God for the skills of manual labor!  LOL

Amber and Ira investigate weed whacking workings

Amber the amazing weed killer

Tim and Ira cut tree branches

Jenn weed whacking

Ira removing branches

Tim mowing the lawn

Amber at Target

 

 

Our last real stop of the day was CiCi’s pizza for a great lunch.  Best part of CiCi’s?  DESSERT PIZZA and BREADSTICKS!  Mmmm…icing and garlicy goodness….mmmm!  After that, Tim stayed out to do some errands while Jenn and I headed back to the RV to collect more pictures and clean out the fridge at Edgewater, LOL, and then blog a little bit.  Tim headed out to complete all the laundry, and then I slept at the RV to get an early start with Jenn in the morning so she could drive me to Houston. 

All in all, this Galveston trip was a blessing to my life.  I got to hang out with Liz, work hard, hear the word from Tim, complete more manual labor, spend time hanging with Jenn and Tim, work even harder, and then be goofy as usual.  The trip was completely worth it.  AND I met a bunch of other great people who I never met before, including Helen and Irene who sat next to me on my Houston to Philly flight and Philly to Wilkes-barre flight respectively, and chatted with me about their hurricane troubles and the people who helped them.  Everything was God-blessed, and I praise Him. 

May all of you who shared this blogging experience get a chance to visit and aid in some way, the people of Galveston, and may God bless you a million times over for it as well.  God bless Tim and Jenn in their future and may he guide them as he has so far…I can’t wait to see them again in October!  God bless you!

guest blog- liz- day 8

Day 8: My Last Full Day on Galveston

On Sunday, “the girls” got up to see the sunrise. It has kind of become  tradition that at least one morning we wake up early and head to the beach.  Although some interesting clouds blocked the sun the colors were still beautiful. Of course, I took a bunch of pictures!!

Jenn, Tim, Amber and I attended University Baptist Church and Primera  Baptist Church. I love going to church on Galveston because you meet many different people. They are all so warm and eager to meet you. There is something to be said for worshiping with a congregation of  people who know God, love God, and use their gifts from God for the betterment of themselves and their community.   Another reason I love  Sundays on Galveston is because Tim preaches at Primera. I cannot get 
over the amount of physical progress the congregation has made on the church. It’s wonderful to see the restoration underway.  Tim is running a prayer group with members of the church on Wednesday to help them progress as a church and decide what path they would like to take.

Pupusas for Lizzie!

After church, we went to Henry’s for some El Salvadoran food. There was an abundance of pupusas. We always say we should share an order but our eyes are bigger than our stomachs. Jenn and Tim will have some yummy leftovers for later in the week.

Yummy Quesadilla!

 

The Strand Historical District

These insane hats cost $52!

 

We had three more stops to make before the day was over. First, we went to “The Strand”. It is a cute little street with LOTS of shopping. Some of the stores were Soho-ish and others were souvenir shops. Later on in the evening, we went to try a surrey. It’s like a four person bicycle. One person drives. It was lots of fun.  Unfortunately, the chain came off twice. But, we still had lots of laughs and worked up a good appetite. Finally, we went to Saltgrass Steakhouse. The food there is always awesome!

Amber with cute flamingo

Beary good chocolate!

Astounding Ike water line

Here comes the Bride...

 

 

It was a great last day on Galveston!

tim stands in for houston texans

I'm a big tough Texan!

 

Saturday night Tim stood in for Houston Texans CB #32 Fred Bennett.  It was amazing how the coaches instantly noticed his superior talent as he was practicing outside the stadium.  Tim is quite an amazing football player.  Never knew he could play in the NFL!  What a gifted man of many talents!

more zoo pictures

I wanted to share a few of my favorite Houston Zoo pictures too.  I really enjoyed the day off hanging out there.  Whoever arranged the exhibits did a fabulous job.  You could almost see all the animals!  I thought all the architecture and layout was great.  I would definitely recommend visiting the zoo if you travel to Houston.

Colorful fishy

Big angelfish

Pretty flowers

Rhinocerous Hornbill

Zebra and baby eland

Big fishy!

Giraffe

Beautiful faces of the giraffes

Too bad it was fake...