you might think….
YOu might think we haven’t done much lately, but we have and I’m just figuring out how to add it to our site.
Crisfield 3- The end
We've been back almost a week now and I thought I better send out the last reports about the trip. First, though, a mighty big Thank you!!!! to everyone that was praying for us and supporting us financially and socially and everything. You are a huge part of the story and we wouldn't do it without you.
In the last email, I said that Bob wanted to do a debriefing, and that I would talk about that in this email. Sometimes things don't go the way we want them to. When you put your guts out on social media or the internet for all to see, it's easier to sugar coat everything and try to avoid offending people or making them feel uncomfortable. But it isn't the truth and I think it's worth it to be transparent.
Our team is mostly from the Upper Midwest, where things are done a certain way. We dig basements. We put ice guard on our roofs. etc. The agency we worked for asked us to do something that some people on our team felt would be ineffective and not achieve the best results. Which led to some fundamental questions about what we do and how and why.
A few years ago, we worked on a house in New Orleans that I had a hard time reconciling the "why" question. This house was half of a duplex that the owner was living in the other half. So this was going to be rental property. And the guy was a plumber. He knew how to do things. Seemed like a bad use of our time. I reconciled it in my mind by remembering that we volunteered to serve the agency we were working through. And if they thought that was needed, then I had to trust those whose authority I was under. And the same applies here.
AND-
Yes, it's done differently here. We are not in the Upper Midwest. We are in the Mid Atlantic. We voiced our concerns, offered suggestions, and they were heard and rejected. We are not the ones who live here and it would be arrogant and disrespectful to tell them they are doing it wrong. They are doing it differently than we would. Again, we are under their authority. We are in their sandbox, we'll play by their rules. I think we struggle with this because we put so much of ourselves into it. Our way was rejected, so we were rejected. After the last round of emails from Marquette, I was talking with a friend who doesn't live in the US anymore and he said, "I remember everything in the States was about being accepted… (is it still?) and if one gives any kind of criticism, then that is seen as rejection. It's actually quite shallow. "
And since then, I have tried to cognitively separate criticism from rejection. I'm seldom successful, but at least I know. So I guess the roundabout point here is that rejection of someone's idea is not rejection of that person.
And finally, we talked about the whole thing not really making sense. If you want to have the best return on your money, then maybe we should take up a collection and send it to the areas where disaster hits. Let the professional builders make some money and put it into the local economy that way. But I think that God's economy is not our economy. And what we do isn't just about rebuilding a home. It's about sharing hope. And community. And faith. And Love. It's becoming friends and sharing connections with the people in the van on the way out. It's demonstrating God's outrageous love for us by driving halfway across the country (paying over $200 in tolls alone) to dig out oyster shells and pour cement. Financially, what we do doesn't make sense. But maybe it doesn't have to.
I don't know if what we did to the house helped it in the long run. The floor feels better when you walk on it. And maybe the insulation we put up around the foundation will help keep wind and water out. And maybe the reason we went to Crisfield was bigger than that.
The drive back was pretty uneventful. It did snow while we were in the Allegany Mountains. But nothing that made driving unsafe. We were very well taken care of in Maumee, Ohio again. The people that hosted us came in gave us breakfast. We got home on Sunday night around 6:15pm.Central Time.
I didn't finish my paper, but I turned in what I had. The next installment is due next weekend. (It's a cumulative project)
Next trip that is currently scheduled is New Orleans on April 23-May 1st, 2016. If you want to come, we'd love to have you. There are five people signed up already and three or four more assumed going. That's a big start! For more info, See our event on our Facebook page: (click here for info about the next trip) Or you can call Rod or email.
I did put up more pictures of the trip. You can see them here: (click here to go to our Facebook page) or here: (click here to go to our Picasa Page)
If you would like a photo book from this trip, or one of those awesome green team t-shirts, let me know and I'll tell you how much they cost.
Thanks for joining this story. Hope to see you in New Orleans!
Rod
—
Are you a tool?
Christ has no body on earth but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out;
yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good;
and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.
(St. Teresa of Avila)
Crisfield3- the last work day.
What a day!
First I'll apologize for not getting any pictures up today. It is late and I have to pack because we're leaving first thing in the morning. And truthfully, it probably won't be until Monday. But I'll get them going.
Today we got as much done as we could with skirting the foundation of the house with styrofoam insulation and then hearty board. It's kind of like a cement board. The hard part was putting it up under the house along the perimeter of the deck. I know I won't explain it well, but suffice it to say that Howard and Jon and I were under the house on our bellies in a crawl space putting a wooden framework to hang the insulation, and then putting in said insulation. I only got claustrophobic once. Just as we were getting ready to clean up and pick up the tools, the guy in charge came by and asked us to get one part under the next porch done, so we did.
We left the job site around 1:00pm, went back, had lunch, and cleaned up. Bob wanted to spend some time debriefing the job, which is something he hasn't asked for before. When I write up the final piece, I'll talk about the issues we brought up and how we have left them. (Stay tuned!)
We went to the local museum and gift shop. Looked around. Bought a few things. Then drove around town for a few minutes. (It's not a big town.) Had some ice cream. And then went and parked by the dock and waited until 6:00pm when the homeowners we were working for joined us for dinner at a nearby restaurant. It was nice to spend time with them and get to know them a little better.
Then we were invited to the home of a local guy name Joe Pinto who offered beverages and snacks and talked with us about Crisfield history and some guesses about the future of Crisfield. It was really interesting. Joe is a fascinating guy and a fantastic host.
We just got back to where we stay and are cleaning up, packing up some, and heading to bed. We are going to get up early and try to leave here by 7:00am- which is an hour earlier than we usually do, but it's a long haul.
Pray for safe travel with tired drivers. Team unity with tired and worn out (physically and emotionally) people. Pray for our home owners, Mary and Monte and the next team that will come and work on their house.
Thank you for being with us and taking this trip with us. You are an invaluable part of our team.
Talk to you again in a couple days!
Rod
—
Are you a tool?
Christ has no body on earth but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out;
yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good;
and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.
(St. Teresa of Avila)
