We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers: constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father. (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3)
I can’t help but smile every time I walk through my house or yard, the evidence of your work and labor are everywhere.
The flooring strip that covers up the cracked flooring that used to bug me every time I walked into the kitchen.
The wonderful shelf above the dryer that helps me keep the supplies in order and out of reach of kids and cats.
The coat rack and table that Don made. I no longer have to stumble over coats, backpacks and shoes. It is just beautiful, the first day we used it, Adriyanna was running all over the house looking for her jacket in a panic. Wanting the keys to my van cause she thought she may have left it in there. I looked at her and said Adriyanna remember the coat rack! Oh yeah! It feels good to have a new organized departure!
The new front screen door and fixed doors at the other entrances. It is so nice to not have to tie the back screen door shut and not to have to listen to the doors flap against the house in the wind. WE All are still getting used to doors that really work, what an amazing gift.
The new gate on the porch is amazing with wheels that really work and don’t scrape the paint off. It looks so awesome and is so easy for the kids to operate.
The yards– the people who worked on the yards did an amazing job, the tree and shrubs look beautiful. I appreciate so much the effort taken to keep the things I love, they all have sentimental value to me each representing a person or kido from the past 10 years of ministry. Loving the rock on the flower beds, have dreamed about that for at least the past 11 years. I am so thankful for the people who worked in the back yard cleaning up all the trash and junk fighting through the sticker plants. I am grateful for the way all the trash was hauled away, you could have left it for me to handle but you even planned that out, what a gift! It all looks so clean and pretty or as Theresa would say “loved on”. Every time I drive into the driveway I can’t believe I live here.
Thank you to the guys who braved the ladders and cleaned the gutters. That is a source of overwhelming panic when I think of cleaning them myself so I am so grateful.
The concrete work-I am thankful for all the people who came out the Friday night before work day, You all worked so hard not letting the dark of night, the wind and chilly weather keep you from getting the job done so that concrete could be poured the next morning. I am so grateful for all the concrete work done around the house I know that I will see a big difference in the spring and summer and hopefully there will be a lot less moisture in the basement. We are excited about the bigger patio and hope to use it for more outdoor ministry with our neighbors and new kids. I also have to laugh when I walk past the air conditioner unit where a lot of concrete was poured, there are handprints on the house and I haven’t had the heart to wash them off yet, I love being reminded that you all truly were here.
The new Bike Shed is so cool, we actually got all our bikes in it this week. Now I can use the garage for the van this winter. It is so cute and so easy for the kids to put their own bikes away. Before we were either keeping them in the garage or hauling them in the basement which was a super pain and always cut our bike riding season short, now we can bike whenever we want without much hassle. Thank you so much.
I also want to thank Susan and all the ladies who brought food. You all were a huge blessing. I have had small work groups over before and always felt overwhelmed about food. It was so nice to have all that taken care of. I know it was a huge blessing to the people who worked but it also was a huge blessing to my kids. They don’t usually have that kind of food or that much food at the tips of their fingers so they took full advantage of it.
Thank you to all the people who sacrificed financially to make all of these things and more happen. I do not take that for granted. I know you all work hard for your finances and probably have things you could have used them on for yourself.
Thank you so much to the Mayers, Pickerings and Samuelsons. They served beyond the call of duty coming before, during and even after everyone had left to take care of the remaining details. I had so much fun laughing with all of you.
Thank you Krissa for organizing everything and reading between the lines in my vagueness.
I just am so grateful and so blessed. With all of the wonderful things that were done though, that isn’t even the thing that stands out the most to me about this whole experience. In the opening verse it talks about a Labor of LOVE. I have to say that is exactly the way I would describe that Saturday. It was overwhelming to see so many people each pitching in to get a very big job done. The thing that made it different was that everyone was there to do a job but you all had time to interact with each other and laugh together. I have been around many hard working people who were so focused on getting the job done they didn’t have time to interact with people. It was a task to them. One of my friends stopped over to see what was going on and all she could do is stand there with her mouth open and say, “WOW this is what a church is supposed to look like, I can’t believe this, it just gives me chills”. I love how several of you took time to show our kids how to do some of the jobs, it would have been easier to ignore them or tell them to run along, but you didn’t. They learned how to hammer, find studs in walls, drill, smooth out concrete, help with lunch, etc. They were shown such kindness, love, patience and work ethic. They don’t get to witness that very often and I think for that I am most grateful. When people come to the house now they are so proud to show everyone what they got to work on. I have been praying for a long time they would experience what it means to be part of a church family. Can’t put a price on that. I am still overwhelmed with how generous, considerate, caring and encouraging you all have been to me.
It would not be a true thank you without giving God the praise and glory. Through all of you He has reminded me of how big He is and how He is in every detail. Things that got done, I know, came from Him because many of the things were things I had only told Him. Many of the supplies that were left over just happened to be things that we were in need of. He renewed my hope in church and people through you all. He reminded me of His hope and friendship through you. He reminded me that I am not alone, that He is holding my hand and leading me, and has it all figured out. He is an awesome God and I know that without Him none of this experience was possible. He moved in ways I don’t think I will ever be able to communicate.
I pray that as time goes on you will not forget the power you all have in Christ, the difference you all are capable of making through laboring in love together. You have and can change lives through Christ. I pray that this experience has shown you that even in
Blessed beyond Explanation,
Miss Brenda
And the Obasi Kids
No comments:
Post a Comment