Roofing Church in Ft. Myers

On Saturday, March 15th, Jonathan made a second trip to Ft. Myers, FL, to join the Mission Helps team preparing to roof the same Spanish church we'd worked on last month. That first very early Monday morning, March 17th, the guys gather in the dawn to get as much done as possible before the heat of the day.

 A "before" photo--the truss and roof job lie ahead for the same church we worked on one month earlier.

 Getting started moving the first stack of trusses.

 Girder truss being moved inside onto the concrete floor to be assembled.

 Thar she blows!

 Beehive of activity

 Many hands make light work! Lots and lots of nailing going on, as they had to nail three trusses at a time together, and had to do four sets of them. Everything has to be hurricane proof. In fact, even while the men worked that day, Mission Helps President Will Byler was keeping an eye on the weather as a big storm was heading toward Ft. Myers. He wrote to Jonathan that all day that storm kept defying the predictions as it moved more slowly than anticipated toward where this busy crew of men were putting up trusses on a house for God's people. It seemed that God's hand itself stayed the storm until dark and the day's work was done. Then the rain came.

 Girder truss being set.

 Another view.

 And another.

 This wall for the peak kept wanting to bow, so they had to brace it.

 Unfortunately, my handsome prince is taking all these pictures so he is not in any of these photos.

 John Dykes ("the big guy!") on site.

 Wilmer Paulus looks like a grasshopper next to Mr. Dykes!

 Neal Weaver seemed to always end up in the high places. "You make my feet like hinds' feet on my high places!" Once, Neal shared in worship time, he had stepped on a board in the trusses which came loose and he probably would have ended up 24 feet below on the ground if Jason Susan next to him hadn't rescued him.

 On this second morning, there had been rain in the night. The floor was wet.

Jonathan told me that they had one especially precious worship time, when the Lord's presence was very real. One person started, "Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!" And the Lord just came and melted hearts.

Second Half of Project

The gable wall being set in place.

 Trusses go up with scissor lift.

 The guys are getting a truss on the lift (below)

 Sweet picture of mother and baby as the church ladies have meal ready for the big crew!

 Back to work--another view

 Now the plywood is getting nailed on.

 And the other side. Jonathan was so thankful for all the young guys from two different churches who traveled in to help, one group after the other.

 The other gable wall ready to go up.

 Gable wall being set

 Hurricane clips being installed on other gable end

 The last truss goes in place.

Time for a snack! The ladies provided a very early breakfast, a late morning snack, a late lunch, a late afternoon snack, and a big dinner late in the evening!

 The porch roof is being framed in.

 Plywood almost done.

 Just abuzz with activity the fourth morning--in the fog. The men were so grateful that morning was cool and damp because they were starting the roof underlayment, which gets very sticky when the weather is hot. It was providential that particular morning was cool and misty.

 The other side. A fresh crew of young guys had arrived that morning, having left in the wee hours of the morning from Daytona Beach.

 One team is working on the wall at the back of the church.

 The windows had to be cut down a bit.  The guy cutting is Jared, who went on a Mission Helps team with Jonathan, Jeff Albertson, and other men to Ukraine a few years ago.

Jonathan got the young guys working at slapping up foam insulation on the walls. With so many guys, it was done in about an hour or two!

 Glass block was laid in the restroom windows.

The guys would have loved to get the metal roofing on, but a glitch happened where the contractor was not allowed to pull a permit for a metal roof. He could pull a permit for other kinds of roofs, but not this one! What a disappointment! Then the metal cutter ended up not checking  measurements,  cut the pieces about 2 ft. too short! So there was somewhat of a fiasco about all that! But praise the Lord for all that was accomplished. 

Jonathan tried to come home a day early, as there was nothing left to do for the time being. He was on standby for a couple hours at the airport, but the flight ended up full. So he was able to change his ticket a bit to come home earlier the next day. We ran into snow on the way to the airport--and quite a traffic jam on the way home on Monument hill, a place on I-25 notorious for getting slick. It took us 3 hours to travel home instead of just 1 1/2, but we were thankful to be home. 

Once again, God is good!

Spring Chicks!

Sammy ordered a batch of chicks which arrived at our post office Monday. Some of them we are keeping in our wood box by the wood stove.

Below, the children are carefully lifting each chick out of the box they were shipped in. 

Sammy intends to raise the chicks and sell them within the next few weeks. It's such a fun project for the children. 

Yesterday was a terribly blustery day! We received a severe weather alert saying not to go out on the roads due to a dust storm in our area. I was dreading having to go pick up a soils report and a plan for an addition for Jonathan's work from an engineer in Black Forest and then going to town to submit it to regional--in this weather. I was so thankful God worked it out that the papers weren't ready till late afternoon so I didn't have to go till today when the weather was safer to drive in  There were times that you could hardly see for the dust and sleet blowing like a blizzard. The children went out to the pasture to rescue a tarp--and played with it like a sail for a while.

 Here they are trying to get that tarp through our fence into the back yard.

 The girls made two fruit pizzas over Sunday and Monday. They are so fun to make.

 Crystal and I drove clear to Denver one day last week on a business errand for Jonathan--and for driving practice for Crystal, who successfully passed her driver's test and has her license now! On the way back, we stopped a couple places to snap pictures of western scenes with Crystal--for her graduation announcements. Here is one we took just for fun!

Meanwhile, Jonathan is gone this week to Florida--working with the Mission Helps team that is setting the trusses and doing the roof for the Spanish church that we laid block for last month. Below is a picture he sent us yesterday--this is the second day of work.

Jonathan said there must have been thirty-five guys helping yesterday--about 15 with Mission Helps and perhaps 20 Spanish guys. And more guys wanted to come help, but they had enough help already! They were praising God that the trusses were finished without anyone getting hurt! Now the roofing plywood has also been nailed on, and today they were getting that inspected before they could move on to roofing.

A glitch that happened was that the contractor in charge of the project found out that he could not pull the permit for the metal roof! He can pull permits for various other kinds of roofs, but not a metal roof for this kind of building. So the team may not be able to finish the metal roofing as hoped. 

However, they can change gears and frame inside walls and platform. 

Please pray that God will work out this glitch and that someone will be able to pull the necessary permit so the roof can be finished. Perhaps I will be able to post another picture today after Jonathan sends one.

He's thinking of starting a Facebook account so he can keep friends and acquaintances posted on progress on these projects.

Today, they were

Afternoon in Illinois with Sisters

Thorn between two roses [Well, when Crystal saw that, she said I should change it to say "Three roses!"
It's wonderful to have your daughter be so sweet about you!] Joella and Kezia with baby daughters Laura and Lydia

Kezia's Elizabeth gotta give us a big grin!

The girls took turns with all the babies!

Hannah wanted to hold Laura

We only had part of the afternoon together--so we had to make the best of it and get lots of visiting and lovin' done.

Who's dat?

Carrie's turn with Kezia's Lydia.

The little boys climbed trees.

Little Jonathan gathered prickly somethings in a pile.

And the guys spent the whole time trying to make repairs on Craig's van--

except when they got coaxed into getting a picture of our three families together. The Puffer family from NY, friends of Craig and Joella, was visiting Joella's family as well, so they kindly took the picture for us.