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Our Last Full Day of Work and a Salute to our Volunteer Cooks!
We started the day knowing that this was it, our final full day of work. We arrived on site ready to go on our remaining punch list items. We have reluctantly accepted the fact that we are not going to be able to finish everything. Our most patient and skilled workers busied themselves with kitchen countertop cutting and installing; kitchen sink and faucet installing; and more trim baseboard measuring, cutting, and nailing in place. Others of us were thrilled to finish a first coat of paint on both sides of 12 interior doors and rehang them. And yes, there were still caulking guns blazing.
Speaking of work. I would be remiss if I didn’t include a celebratory ode to our volunteer cooks, Ella Bastine, Carol Bunch, and Ceceilia Bailey. Talk about hard workers, they wrote the manual. They are up at 5:15 a.m. to start the coffee and breakfast, and they don’t punch off the clock until around 9:30 p.m. after evening clean-up and the next day’s prep. But if you thought cooking was all they do, think again. Of course, they go to the grocery store regularly. But, back at the church where we are staying, they also have water-proofed two outside tables, and power-washed another one. They have a “Mail Ministry” sending out cards to mission trippers unable to come on the trip who are ill or celebrating a special event; and they walk to the post office each day to mail out the cards. Yesterday, they helped harvest pecans on the church property! They are also our Ambassadors of Crazy Antics, the exact nature of which I am forbidden to specifically reveal.
Impending Hurricane Nicole and Standard Time are impacting our departure time tomorrow. Some of us will head home after breakfast to try to outrun the rain and get home before dark. But some will head back to the worksite for a final half day of work before making the drive home. Regardless of when we leave, we have all worked hard, accomplished much, and been richly blessed with a great time together in service.
Our motto is, “What happens on the Mission Trip, stays on the Mission Trip” …unless of course it just happens to tickle a certain writer’s fancy and ends up in The Mission Trip Blog! Till next time, Thank You for all your prayers and the support of family and friends back home.
