The Penultimate Day of Work

Isn’t “penultimate” a great word? It simply means “the day before the last day,” but it sounds so high falutin’!

What a great day it has been today. As we shared our gathering time tonight, it was interesting to not that the lows were minimal, and several people said that the whole day for them was a high. I’m amazed at the depth and sharing the youth have offered. It’s obvious to the adults that this trip has made a major impact on the youth.

Our day started at 6:45 a.m. again with Laura’s rooster alarm and Tim’s singing. We got up, ate breakfast, fixed our lunches, and then cleared the room of all our stuff for the wedding reception later in the day. It was amazing how quickly the room went from mission trip headquarters ground zero to reception hall. Even though the youth are working hard all day at another church, they worked fast and without a complaint out our home church to get it ready. What an amazing group!

Hazard Christian Church continues to take shape. Today was more work on drywall, more mudding and painting, some minor electrical work, and the start of the cleaning. We also had a few setbacks today, including a stubborn wall in the balcony that refused to be patched. Still, the transformation that’s taken place is nothing short of miraculous.

Tomorrow will be the Big Clean. We will clean up all the messes we have made and spend most of our time cleaning the sanctuary. We will also try to find all of Sean’s tools which have been spread throughout the church and return them to his cargo van. We’ll also pack up our stuff at headquarters and load it up in preparation for staying at the hotel tomorrow night.

The definite highlight of the day was the evening we spent at the home of Ivan and Sarah Jean Woods. Ivan and Sarah Jean are amazingly nice people who welcomed this group of 18 people into their home with big smiles and a lot of fried chicken! The Woods own about 15 acres near the top of one of the mountains and the peace and serenity is simply divine. We played horseshoes and basketball, got a tour of Ivan’s garden, and were all named official Dukes and Duchesses of Hazard and given certificates from the mayor. It was awesome!

The only low point of the day was saying goodbye to Sean, who headed home early to honor a previous commitment. Sean was planning on leaving early this morning but ended up staying until after dinner. I think the more he got into the day, the less he wanted to leave. We were sorry to see him go because he was such an incredible mentor and friend all week. We couldn’t have asked for a better leader. Please pray for his safe travel.

Blogging tomorrow will be from the luxury of the Holiday Inn Express! I look forward to sharing stories and pictures from the finished church. I’ll also have more details about our trip home. We can’t wait to see you all again. Goodnight everyone!

6-20-08