1 week to go...

I really can't believe I will be leaving Lakeshore in 7 days. It has been such a memorable experience and I don't think I'll ever be able to express everything that's happened in my time here, partly because I can't remember it all! I am looking forward to moving back to Louisville though, but these past couple of weeks have been really neat because I have been able to work on a lot of projects at specific houses. Along with a host of other little things, I have learned how to lay laminate flooring, put up trim and baseboards, and will hopefully be tiling two bathroom floors before the week is out. Liz, another long-term volunteer, and I have been working together on these named projects with a team from Ohio who'll be here for 2 weeks total. I will write more about Ms. Gillum's (the house where we've been) later and show y'all some pictures.

Pictures!

Hey everyone! I wanted to post a few pictures from my time with the Providence Baptist team. We put up Tyvek, as in the first picture, did collar ties, lots of hurricane clips, framed up two windows, and I got to use a sledgehammer to beat two 4x4 posts in a house. It was so fun and these are just a few of the highlights! In case any of you are wondering, collar ties are boards that go across the rafters on the inside of the roof; it looks like an A when you're done. Also, just fyi, the house that we are working on in the first picture is up 8 ft off the ground and we are on 3 levels of scaffolding, so we are really high as you might be able to tell!

I know I haven't been posting a lot lately, but I will try to catch up soon!

the past few weeks

These past few weeks have been really good and hard at times. Last weekend, I went home for the first time in 4 months. It was really weird to be back in Louisville. At first it felt like I was going back to a former life I had had in the distant past, but by Sunday it was feeling like home again, just in time for me to come back to Lakeshore. The weekend was great overall: I got to see a beautiful, Christ-honoring wedding and spend some time with friends I hadn't seen in a long time. It was, however, hard to leave because I so desire to be there for the Fullertons. I live with them and Ryan is the preaching pastor at my church; Christy, his wife, has breast cancer and will be starting treatment soon. I know, though, that God is sovereign and knew the timing of all these things when I extended my time here. So, when I got on the plane to come back, I was glad that I had excitement to come back to Lakeshore.

Since I have been back, it has been very busy for me. There was a team here from Providence Baptist Church in Franklin, MA this past week and I was able to spend a lot of time with them. I met them in June when they came down and became good friends with two sisters, Mandy and Jessica. So, I was really looking forward to seeing them again, and this time I was able to meet their parents as well. I worked with them out on the job sites all week and we talked and played games together at night; it was a blast! I think I ate about a year's worth of desserts in that week, but I had such a great time with them all. Now I am at the last month of my time here in Mississippi and it's hard to believe. I pray that God will bear a lot of fruit from this last month, that I will be very diligent in my online coursework, and not be anxious to get back to Louisville, but take each day and serve God wholly where I am, all for His glory.

P.S. I hope to post some pictures of the last few weeks soon!