We awoke to a bright and sunshiny Memphis morning, just perfect for another stretch of traveling. We pulled away from Agricenter International at 8:05 and made our way a few miles northeast to I-40, where we joined the interstate traffic headed east on the big road.
Just a few miles past the Jackson exits we turned off on Highway 412 to wend our way through three hours of beautiful Tennessee countryside. Words can’t express the beauty of the scenes we saw, and we didn’t take pictures along the way, so you’ll just have to take our word for it, this area is beyond beautiful during the spring!
We arrived at our destination, the building site for the new Liberty Hill Baptist Church near Ethridge, Tennessee around 12:30. After greeting Lynn and John Worley, friends from our previous mission trips in Lady Lake, Florida, and Toccoa, Georgia, we met George and Margaret Bradley, who are the volunteer coordinators for the project.
When we got the Vibe off the trailer, I moved Big V out of the way so one of the workers could hitch it to his pickup and park it at the site (there wasn’t room for it where we would be parking Big V).
Meanwhile, Barbara started taking pictures of the construction site and then was asked by Margaret to be the official historian for the project.
Unfortunately, we weren’t here when the work started yesterday morning, so we didn’t have any pictures of the “blank canvas, but we found that a crew of more than 35 volunteers from a church in the northeastern part of the state had arrived Thursday night when there was nothing but a concrete slab. By the end of the day on Friday, all of the ironwork and wall frames had been erected and stabilized. When we arrived on Saturday, a small crew of volunteers was setting in the steel trusses for the roof.
We took a couple of hours to take Big V to the parking lot of the temporary church facility in town to get set up for the duration of our stay. The Disaster Relief Team of the Tennessee Baptist Convention had provided a special shower trailer for the volunteers that had not only six shower stalls, but a compartment holding a washing machine and two dryers. George Bradley told us that he had overseen the design and construction of the trailer, which was making its maiden voyage on this project.
While I made some final adjustments to our setup, Barbara took advantage of the time to wash and dry the load of dirty clothes that we had accumulated since leaving East Texas. Then, with our house set up, the laundry done, and my tools all gathered and placed in the Vibe, we drove the seven miles back out in the country to the worksite and began our volunteer activities.
The crew that started work yesterday had at least six construction contractors and a number of construction workers, and had a lot of experience working together. That being said, I found myself starting out on the project as a general flunky (which really is an important job because it keeps a skilled construction worker busy at what he does best, rather than fetching and hauling). My job for the afternoon was to wait beside the building with another volunteer while two other men brought the long sheets of roofing metal to us. We would then hold the sheet until one of the men on the roof called for it and hand it up to him so he could slide it to the workers who would place it and bolt it down to the trusses.
The first thing I was taught about this job was that as soon as the roofing sheet was out of our hands and being pulled up to the roof area, we were to step as close to the building as possible, the reason being that if the man on top should lose control of the sheet and drop it, it would slide to the area where it left our hands with the full force and cutting power of a guillotine blade…not something that anyone would want to have happen!
The work went well, and by quitting time at 5:30, about three-fourths of one side of the roof was covered. Meanwhile, another crew was working on the other side, setting in the channels to which the roofing material will be attached when we start the next session.
The work went well, and by quitting time at 5:30, about three-fourths of one side of the roof was covered. Meanwhile, another crew was working on the other side, setting in the channels to which the roofing material will be attached when we start the next session.
Barbara immediately went to work taking still photographs and movies around the construction site to document the rebuilding project.
With the site straightened up and the trash of the day thrown away, we returned to the church in town to change clothes, rest a bit, and have a wonderful home cooked dinner of spaghetti and meatballs with the volunteers before going into Big V to settle in for the night.
Sunday, April 5
Happy Birthday to Aunt T.J. Logan in Mineola!!!
It was a wonderful day for us today. First, we slept in, and then took our time getting ready to attend the morning worship service at the temporary home of Liberty Hill Baptist Church.
A few minutes before the service began we walked over to the church and met some of the members, all of whom went out of their way to introduce themselves and let us know how happy they were to have us here with them.
Then, we went into the sanctuary and enjoyed a great time of singing, worshipping, and hearing a much-needed and very meaningful sermon from Pastor James Nave.
Following the service, we made a run to the nearest Wal-Mart (about 4 miles from the church) to get some bread for an informal luncheon with the volunteers who were sticking around for the weekend.
Then, it was time for some Sunday afternoon downtime, including reading and a nap. We figured this might be the last chance to get a nap for a while, and we shouldn’t waste it.
Margaret had heard me practicing my trumpet last night, so when we got up from our naps and ventured outside, she asked me if I would mind playing something during tonight’s service. I said that of course I wouldn’t mind, so I grabbed the hymnal and looked up a couple of hymns that I thought followed up on the pastor’s morning message.
Late in the afternoon our friends from Virginia, Rod and Ruth Kunkel, arrived to join the volunteers, so we visited with them for a bit and then we all went to the service. Pastor Nave said that he wanted to do something a little different tonight, so we had a very informal time of singing and sharing. In addition to playing the trumpet, I ended up singing bass in a hastily put-together gospel quartet.
We had a great time worshipping and sharing together in a service t
hat helped set the stage for the coming days of working together on this special building project. When the service ended, the pastor’s wife, Corinne Nave, asked all the women to stay behind. We men weren’t paying much attention to what was going on, but we found out later that Corinne each of the ladies a rose to welcome them to the Liberty Hill Baptist Church family and thank them for the work they would be doing.
Monday, April 6
Happy Birthday to Cousin Lynette Sandley in Birmingham, Alabama!!!
After joining the crew for breakfast at the church, we discovered that the weatherman was, unfortunately, correct with his predictions for today…cold, cloudy, and rainy…not the optimum conditions for construction. However, the large crew of roofers and others gathered at the work site and got down to business.
Rod and I spent the day framing windows and setting the hat-channels that will eventually support the steel siding on the building. Meanwhile workers were busy all around us doing the many different tasks associated with building construction…roofing, installing windows, cutting and shaping the various pieces of steel, etc…much more work than one imagines when looking at a finished building.
Even with the cold, wet weather, the concrete people showed up to pour the slab for the fellowship hall, a building that will be 70 X 40 feet when completed. Because of the weather conditions and our time frame for construction, they had to mix special chemicals in the concrete so it will set up and harden faster.
Because it was so wet and cold, we all went back to town for a hot lunch that was prepared by Joyce and some of the other ladies…it was becoming very obvious that this will not be a dietetic mission trip!
The afternoon was more of the same, as we continued preparing the outer framework of the building for the siding that will eventually be installed by a group of Baptist Builders, and then we dragged ourselves back to town around 4:00, looking somewhat like a couple of nearly drowned rats and trying unsuccessfully to get the wet, red clay out of our boots and off of our jeans.
After I showered and changed into some clean clothes, Barbara and I drove to Wal-Mart to find an electric space heater for Big V. Because we are on only 20 amp power, we are very limited as to what we can run in the house, and found out the hard way that the electric heat pump pulls all the available electricity and then shuts down.
What we found when we got there was that they had been sold out of space heaters for several weeks, so we satisfied ourselves with buying a handful of necessities and then returned to the church for our evening meal and some visitation with the volunteers about the day’s activities.
The weather and work had taken its toll on our minds and bodies, and we were in bed and asleep by 8:30.
Tuesday, April 7
After a somewhat fitful night (we both woke up around 3:00 and I didn’t get back to sleep until 4:30), we awoke to the sound of our alarm clock going off, letting us know that it was time to get up and hit the work again.
We ate breakfast with the rest of the crew and then Rod and I drove out to the work site to begin our efforts, while Barbara and Ruth stayed behind to review the many, many photographs that they and others had taken of the church rebuilding. There is no doubt that with all the folks taking and sharing pictures, this will be a very well-documented project.
The first order of the day was to get a fire going in a large barrel so we could occasionally wander by and warm our hands. Then, we all settled in to the jobs that John Worley assigned us.
With the site straightened up and the trash of the day thrown away, we returned to the church in town to change clothes, rest a bit, and have a wonderful home cooked dinner of spaghetti and meatballs with the volunteers before going into Big V to settle in for the night.
Sunday, April 5
Happy Birthday to Aunt T.J. Logan in Mineola!!!
It was a wonderful day for us today. First, we slept in, and then took our time getting ready to attend the morning worship service at the temporary home of Liberty Hill Baptist Church.
A few minutes before the service began we walked over to the church and met some of the members, all of whom went out of their way to introduce themselves and let us know how happy they were to have us here with them.
Then, we went into the sanctuary and enjoyed a great time of singing, worshipping, and hearing a much-needed and very meaningful sermon from Pastor James Nave.
Following the service, we made a run to the nearest Wal-Mart (about 4 miles from the church) to get some bread for an informal luncheon with the volunteers who were sticking around for the weekend.
Then, it was time for some Sunday afternoon downtime, including reading and a nap. We figured this might be the last chance to get a nap for a while, and we shouldn’t waste it.
Margaret had heard me practicing my trumpet last night, so when we got up from our naps and ventured outside, she asked me if I would mind playing something during tonight’s service. I said that of course I wouldn’t mind, so I grabbed the hymnal and looked up a couple of hymns that I thought followed up on the pastor’s morning message.
Late in the afternoon our friends from Virginia, Rod and Ruth Kunkel, arrived to join the volunteers, so we visited with them for a bit and then we all went to the service. Pastor Nave said that he wanted to do something a little different tonight, so we had a very informal time of singing and sharing. In addition to playing the trumpet, I ended up singing bass in a hastily put-together gospel quartet.
We had a great time worshipping and sharing together in a service t
hat helped set the stage for the coming days of working together on this special building project. When the service ended, the pastor’s wife, Corinne Nave, asked all the women to stay behind. We men weren’t paying much attention to what was going on, but we found out later that Corinne each of the ladies a rose to welcome them to the Liberty Hill Baptist Church family and thank them for the work they would be doing.Monday, April 6
Happy Birthday to Cousin Lynette Sandley in Birmingham, Alabama!!!
After joining the crew for breakfast at the church, we discovered that the weatherman was, unfortunately, correct with his predictions for today…cold, cloudy, and rainy…not the optimum conditions for construction. However, the large crew of roofers and others gathered at the work site and got down to business.
Rod and I spent the day framing windows and setting the hat-channels that will eventually support the steel siding on the building. Meanwhile workers were busy all around us doing the many different tasks associated with building construction…roofing, installing windows, cutting and shaping the various pieces of steel, etc…much more work than one imagines when looking at a finished building.
Even with the cold, wet weather, the concrete people showed up to pour the slab for the fellowship hall, a building that will be 70 X 40 feet when completed. Because of the weather conditions and our time frame for construction, they had to mix special chemicals in the concrete so it will set up and harden faster.Because it was so wet and cold, we all went back to town for a hot lunch that was prepared by Joyce and some of the other ladies…it was becoming very obvious that this will not be a dietetic mission trip!
The afternoon was more of the same, as we continued preparing the outer framework of the building for the siding that will eventually be installed by a group of Baptist Builders, and then we dragged ourselves back to town around 4:00, looking somewhat like a couple of nearly drowned rats and trying unsuccessfully to get the wet, red clay out of our boots and off of our jeans.
After I showered and changed into some clean clothes, Barbara and I drove to Wal-Mart to find an electric space heater for Big V. Because we are on only 20 amp power, we are very limited as to what we can run in the house, and found out the hard way that the electric heat pump pulls all the available electricity and then shuts down.
What we found when we got there was that they had been sold out of space heaters for several weeks, so we satisfied ourselves with buying a handful of necessities and then returned to the church for our evening meal and some visitation with the volunteers about the day’s activities.
The weather and work had taken its toll on our minds and bodies, and we were in bed and asleep by 8:30.
Tuesday, April 7
After a somewhat fitful night (we both woke up around 3:00 and I didn’t get back to sleep until 4:30), we awoke to the sound of our alarm clock going off, letting us know that it was time to get up and hit the work again.
We ate breakfast with the rest of the crew and then Rod and I drove out to the work site to begin our efforts, while Barbara and Ruth stayed behind to review the many, many photographs that they and others had taken of the church rebuilding. There is no doubt that with all the folks taking and sharing pictures, this will be a very well-documented project.
The first order of the day was to get a fire going in a large barrel so we could occasionally wander by and warm our hands. Then, we all settled in to the jobs that John Worley assigned us.
Because Rod and I had worked together on the Crossroads Community Church in Lady Lake, Florida, John had us team up and start to work correcting some problems that had occurred during the framing of the church. It seems that in their haste to put all the walls together, someone had overlooked the fact that there was supposed to be a door at one corner of the building. So, we set about cutting out the channels that someone had so laboriously installed so we could install door frames. Now, keep in mind that the two building we are working on are steel buildings, and there is nothing easy about making changes. But, we soon had a new doorframe installed and tightened down, and were ready to move on to our next project.
Again, we were working on a door, but this time we had to take the door that was already installed at floor level and raise it exactly 21 inches to accommodate a platform that someone had added into the building plans. This was a bit more of a challenge, but in a couple of hours, we had cut out or unscrewed enough channels and beams that we could get up on ladders, grab the existing doorframe, and lift it into place before screwing everything back together. When it was finished, no one knew that it hadn’t been planned that way.
Meanwhile, Barbara was busy taking pictures and setting up a blog site just for the church rebuilding project. Margaret and George Bradley, the project coordinators, wanted some way to let the folks back home know what was happening here, and Barbara explained that she could set up a blog site and add to it each day, letting everyone who cared see a daily progress report.
Since it was still a little cool and breezy, we went back to town for lunch and a little break and then returned to the work site. The original plans were for the ladies to bring lunch out to the site, but the weather was refusing to cooperate today.
By early afternoon it started warming up and Rod and I were able to move over to the new slab, the foundation for the fellowship hall, and start measuring, cutting, and putting together the base channels in which the beams would be set.
It was at this point that I was reminded of the importance of the work of the instructors at our vocational-technical school in Liberal. I always admired and respected Ed Poley and his faculty at Southwest Kansas Vocational Technical School for the way they worked with our Liberal High School students who wanted to pursue that education and training. Ed and I worked closely together to give those students every possibility to get the best training possible, because they would be the ones who would be building houses, working on our cars, and assisting with important medical services in the future.
When we had completed the church project in Florida back in 2007, I told Ed that I had a whole new appreciation for what his staff was teaching. For those who don’t know, construction work involves a whole lot of practical mathematics, including theory and practical measurements, and the skills necessary to apply them at the work site; “close” and estimation aren’t good enough.
Again, we were working on a door, but this time we had to take the door that was already installed at floor level and raise it exactly 21 inches to accommodate a platform that someone had added into the building plans. This was a bit more of a challenge, but in a couple of hours, we had cut out or unscrewed enough channels and beams that we could get up on ladders, grab the existing doorframe, and lift it into place before screwing everything back together. When it was finished, no one knew that it hadn’t been planned that way.
Meanwhile, Barbara was busy taking pictures and setting up a blog site just for the church rebuilding project. Margaret and George Bradley, the project coordinators, wanted some way to let the folks back home know what was happening here, and Barbara explained that she could set up a blog site and add to it each day, letting everyone who cared see a daily progress report.Since it was still a little cool and breezy, we went back to town for lunch and a little break and then returned to the work site. The original plans were for the ladies to bring lunch out to the site, but the weather was refusing to cooperate today.
By early afternoon it started warming up and Rod and I were able to move over to the new slab, the foundation for the fellowship hall, and start measuring, cutting, and putting together the base channels in which the beams would be set.
It was at this point that I was reminded of the importance of the work of the instructors at our vocational-technical school in Liberal. I always admired and respected Ed Poley and his faculty at Southwest Kansas Vocational Technical School for the way they worked with our Liberal High School students who wanted to pursue that education and training. Ed and I worked closely together to give those students every possibility to get the best training possible, because they would be the ones who would be building houses, working on our cars, and assisting with important medical services in the future.
When we had completed the church project in Florida back in 2007, I told Ed that I had a whole new appreciation for what his staff was teaching. For those who don’t know, construction work involves a whole lot of practical mathematics, including theory and practical measurements, and the skills necessary to apply them at the work site; “close” and estimation aren’t good enough.
In that project and the one we are working on now, a small error in measurement at the beginning of a wall magnifies to a huge problem at the other end, resulting in having to do the whole thing over…wasted time, effort, and money Luckily, that hasn’t happened to me (yet), but I’m more aware than ever of the importance of precision, not only in the planning process, but in the execution of the plans, and I have the utmost respect for those who do this work on a daily basis.
Okay…enough of the sermonizing…by the end of the day we had set one side of base channels and other crew members moved in to help put in the beams (which are laid out on the slab, spaced, held together by steel half-channels and at least a kazillion screws). Finally, one wall (70 feet long, with a peak of nearly 35 feet), was nearly finished and ready to be lifted into place.
Weary with well-doing, we returned to the church in town for our evening meal and a night of rest.
Wednesday, April 9
What a day!
Today was jam-packed with activity at the work site, keeping me busy with the construction and Barbara busy with taking, editing, arranging, and publishing pictures for the church blog site.
Okay…enough of the sermonizing…by the end of the day we had set one side of base channels and other crew members moved in to help put in the beams (which are laid out on the slab, spaced, held together by steel half-channels and at least a kazillion screws). Finally, one wall (70 feet long, with a peak of nearly 35 feet), was nearly finished and ready to be lifted into place.
Weary with well-doing, we returned to the church in town for our evening meal and a night of rest.
Wednesday, April 9
What a day!
Today was jam-packed with activity at the work site, keeping me busy with the construction and Barbara busy with taking, editing, arranging, and publishing pictures for the church blog site.
The main task for the day was to raise the wall we finished putting together yesterday, spending quite a bit of time with it. Even with the help of the crane, it took a lot of manpower to raise the ends of the wall. At 70 feet in length, the wall had a great deal flex in it, so we men would lift up the ends and walk them to a vertical position while the crane lifted from the center. Barbara got some great movie shots of the lifting, but they don’t transfer into anything that we can put on the blog or in the journal; however, her camerawork was very impressive when she transferred the footage to a DVD.When I got a little break from working on the wall, I grabbed the camera and got a shot of some of the wives who were patiently waiting for the men to raise the walls and get on with the
building.When the back wall of the fellowship hall was in place, we began the construction of the front wall, a duplicate of the back. After raising it, we then constructed and raised the two end walls, a much easier task, but still time-consuming. In fact, it was nearly 6:30 p.m. when we finally called it quits…11 hours of straining and sweating, but a lot of pride in the accomplishments of the day.
Needless to say, the entire crew was beyond dog-tired when we got back to the church for supper, but with a good meal under our belts, we were able to participate in the Wednesday evening service before heading to Big V to collapse for the night.
Thursday, April 10
While today was not as lengthy and difficult as yesterday, it was still full of activity for the crews as we straightened beams and secured the walls we put up yesterday. The key words in construction, as we have found, are “level,” “square,” and “plumb.” When each piece or segment meets those qualities, the structure is at its strongest, and will allow the siding, roofing, and other elements to add to stability, strength, and appearance.
With that in mind, we checked every beam to meet the requirements so that when it comes time to set in the trusses and panel the roof, there will be minimal problems. As John Worley explained to me, the first part of the job is done correctly, there is a good chance that there will be fewer problems down the line; however, if the first part is incorrect, there is a hundred per cent chance that everything that follows will be wrong. As I stated earlier in the week, it is all about precision measurement and execution of each task.
While some of us were working on the skeleton of the fellowship hall, another crew was building the steel trusses for the roof, and yet another crew started putting up the siding on the back of the sanctuary building…plenty of work for everyone, and more than enough photography for both our blog and the church blog.
Friday, April 11
Rain came in this morning and more was promised for later in the day, so Rod, John, Lynn, and I found ourselves as the construction crew for the day. Pastor Nave delivered parts so we could build two 30-foot scaffolds, and the construction of those kept us busy for quite a while. Tom, one of the church members, came out for a bit to give a hand, but for the most part, it was the four of us taking care of some of the loose ends that needed to be fixed before we could continue construction next week. Meanwhile, Barbara and Ruth stayed behind to review photographs from the week and work on a DVD presentation for the Sunday night church service.
The weather was a little unsettled, but mostly we were getting clouds and cool winds. That is, until all of a sudden the sky turned black and it started raining and hailing. Rod and I quickly finished framing a door and then the three of us packed away our tools, secured the site, and headed back to Ethridge…it was already noon, and we decided that it was time to call it a week.
When we got back to the church, we found that we were under a tornado warning, so those of us who were here for the weekend huddled in the church to listen to the emergency weather broadcasts and have some lunch.When they announced that a tornado was crossing over from northern Alabama and was on a course for Ethridge, Barbara and I ran to Big V, closed in the slideouts, gathered our computers, cameras, Bibles, and my trumpet, and got back into the church, just in time for the bottom to drop out of the clouds.
While there is a “tornado room” in the church, we spent most of our time in the dining room area so we could listen to the weather radio and watch out the windows as the storm approached. We really got concerned when we saw the rain and hail blowing from left to right in front of the church and then suddenly switch directions and blow back with equal strength from right to left.
As it turned out, there was tornadic activity, but the tornado didn’t set down in Ethridge as predicted, not that we were disappointed. Since a second wave of activity was to hit our area later, we all stayed in the church until around 3:30. By then, the clouds had blown away and we were treated to clear skies, almost as if nothing had happened. Still, we couldn’t help but reflect on the fact that it was only one year ago tomorrow that a tornado struck the Liberty Hill section of the county, destroying the Liberty Hill Baptist Church and several houses, an event that brought us all together this week to join in the rebuilding of the church…what a dramatic anniversary remembrance!
Thank goodness we were all safe and sound, but the news reports were full of coverage of the devastating tornado that struck Murfreesboro, Tennessee, about 90 miles to the northeast of us.
We spent the evening visiting with Rod and Ruth, who would be returning to Virginia tomorrow morning. Since we don’t get to see them nearly as much as we’d like, we wanted to take advantage of every minute we could have with them.
Saturday, April 11
We got up early this morning to have a light breakfast with Rod and Ruth before their departure and then returned to Big V for a Saturday morning “sleep-in.”
When we did finally get ginning around, we took care of some chores around Big V, including doing some laundry and working on our TV system.
We haven’t had any TV reception since we got to Ethridge, and I thought that maybe we couldn’t get anything here without cable or satellite, but I found that John and Lynn, who are parked right behind us, get excellent reception in their Airstream trailer.
In addition to having TV problems, we have found lately that our cell phone batteries were running down far more quickly than they should. Barbara located a Sprint Store in Columbia, about 30 miles away, so we decided we’d drive up there and see about new batteries.
When we got there, we found that our batteries were bad, but that it would cost far more to replace them than to buy new phones, so we ended up replacing our old phones with newer models.
After leaving the Sprint Store, we went across the lot to eat at KFC and then found the local Wal-Mart, where we bought some ingredients we would need for lunch tomorrow. I also bought a new cable for the TV connections, just on the off-chance that it might help solve our problem with reception.
On the way back to Ethridge we received calls from both Leah and Mike, letting us know that they had seen a Facebook entry from Jeremy Denton, a former band member who graduated with Mike in 1994. In it, he just stated that he was in Murfreesboro and had survived the tornado. We asked both kids to try to find out a phone number or email address so we could contact Jeremy if at all possible, and, a short time later, they both called back to say they would email an address to us. What are the odds that we might be able to catch up with one of my former students and one of Mike’s best friends, in this place, all because of a tornado!
When we got back to Big V we put away the groceries and I started re-cabling the TV system. Hallelujah, we had reception! It turns out that one of our cables had a bad connector, resulting in the failure of signals to travel from the antenna to the signal booster and on through the digital convertor.
So we spent the rest of the evening finding out that nothing much was on TV, but we did have clear pictures of it…what progress!
As luck would have it, Mike and Leah both had somehow been able to leave a message with Jeremy Denton on his Facebook page, and we received a phone call tonight from Jeremy, who happily agreed to meet us at Spring Hill tomorrow to visit and get caught up with what had happened in our lives since we last saw each other 10 years ago.
John and Lynn came over to visit when they returned from a day trip visit to one of our Toccoa friends, Ken Hogan, who lives about 35 miles from here in Alabama. We stayed up late talking about each other’s day and showing John that we could get reception after all, even if there wasn’t anything worth watching.
Sunday, April 12
Happy Easter Everyone!!!
We got up fairly early this morning, even though our church service didn’t start until 11:00 a.m. Barbara stayed up until midnight last night putting the finishing touches on a 26-minute DVD that showcases the first week’s work at the new Liberty Hill Missionary Baptist Church, and we wanted to get into the building as soon as possible to see how it looked on their TV. Since the biggest portion of tonight’s service will be the DVD presentation, we thought it would be prudent to make sure it worked.
Once we found that the DVD was going to be okay, we returned to Big V and Barbara made multiple copies of it while I alternately practiced my trumpet and printed and attached custom labels to the newly-burned DVD’s.
A few minutes before 11:00, we made our way to the sanctuary along with the regular attendees, volunteers, and Easter visitors. As part of the service, I did a short trumpet solo. Several days ago Pastor Nave asked me what I thought of playing Taps to help set the mood of somber finality that the disciples and friends of Jesus must have felt following the crucifixion. I told him that I didn’t know that a full rendition of Taps might not be appropriate, but that I would come up with something.
As I thought about it for several days, I decided that I would tie in the opening strain of Low in the Grave He Lay and the final strain of Taps, both very familiar tunes that have a strong musical impact on most people.
Following a brief moment of meditation on the impact of the crucifixion and the playing of the trumpet solo, Pastor Nave preached a beautiful and very meaningful sermon on the meaning of the Resurrection and the few days following it.
The pastor and his wife, Corinne, invited the volunteers to join their family for lunch following the service and, not being ones to refuse food, we were happy to join in with their family celebration. Barbara made the potato salad that we learned about from Margarita and Maria, and it was a huge success. In fact, I later ended up making several copies of Cooking Puerto Rican, a little cookbook that we printed after our return from our visit to Puerto Rico.
It being a nice day and we being all dressed up, we also took a few minutes to have photos made with John and Lynn Worley, our friends from Ackworth, Georgia. We first met John and Lynn when we worked with them at Lady Lake, Florida, and have had several opportunities to either visit or work with them since.
When we had finished eating, we hopped in the car and started the drive to Spring Hill to meet Jeremy Denton; but, as we passed the first exit to Columbia, Jeremy called to say that he was in Spring Hill and there was no place to visit. So, we hastily changed our plans and agreed to meet each other at Wal-Mart in Columbia and then find somewhere to sit down and talk.
Once we got to Wal-Mart and saw an empty parking lot at the mall across the street, we realized that everything (except Wal-Mart) was closed because it was Easter. When Jeremy arrived, we decided to just go to the McDonald’s in the Wal-Mart store, a very fitting setting when one considers all the McDonald’s that we stopped at during band trips when I was the director and Jeremy was a band member.
It is said that it is an ill wind that blows no one good, and that certainly proved to be the case today, two days after the tornado in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, as we met with a former band student and one of Mike’s good friends from their days together at Liberal High School. Both Jeremy and Mike were percussionists in the marching and concert bands, and Jeremy was the drummer for the jazz ensemble, so we spent a lot of time together. Also, Jeremy’s folks, Bob and Ann, were very supportive and appreciative band parents.
We had lost touch with Jeremy after he moved to Michigan to work in the band instrument repair business, and we didn’t know which of us was more thrilled to be able to reunite today. We spent nearly two hours (and went through more than a few McDonald’s refill drinks), sharing the stories of our lives over the past nine years.
Jeremy, after working in instrument repairs for several years, became a backline tech for professional touring bands, and has literally traveled around the world in that job. He traveled with the Donny Osmond World Tour, has worked with Keith Urban, and is preparing to go on tour with Taylor Swift and Kellie Pickler…pretty heady stuff for a young man out of Liberal, Kansas.
We could have continued talking for hours, but we had to get back to Ethridge to prepare for the church service, so we took a couple of pictures, exchanged email addresses and telephone numbers, and went our separate ways with high hopes that we might be able to meet again as we travel and Jeremy tours.
Back at the church, we joined other volunteers and regular members for an informal service of singing, prayers, testimonies, and the DVD presentation, giving some of the members their first view of what was going on at the church site.When the service was over, several of us went to the kitchen area and pulled out plates of leftovers for a makeshift evening meal and fellowship session…the perfect ending for a wonderful day!
Monday, April 13
The main job at the work site today was to finish assembling the six steel trusses for the fellowship hall roof skeleton. With several new crews reporting this morning, we had some specialists in ironworking, and they soon found themselves atop the scaffolds and lifts as the rest of us got the trusses ready to be raised up by our very able crane operator. Another thing I’ve learned from this experience is that a crane operator can make the difference between a very difficult day and a relatively easy one. We were fortunate that our guy, one of very few paid professionals on the job, made the day go by as well as possible.
By 2:00 this afternoon we had all the trusses set in place and tied together, finishing that part of the job just as another thunderstorm hit, driving us all under the roof of the sanctuary building. Lynn Worley stepped outside after the storm had passed and took this remarkable photo of the two structures…Barbara is still suffering jealousy pangs, wishing that she had been the one to take this shot.
We returned to work after the storm passed, with a couple of the crews squaring beams and checking to see that they were all plumb. The rest of us divided into crews and went to work putting up the steel siding on the front and back of the sanctuary building.I worked with a group of men from Ardmore, Alabama. One of their members, Ken Hogan, had been at Toccoa last fall when we worked there, and will join us at Toccoa again next week.
We were more than ready when five o’clock rolled around…weary with well-doing, but also feeling pride in the accomplishment of another stage of rebuilding of this church.
We enjoyed another wonderful meal with the mission team tonight and then Barbara and I retired to Big V to work on the journal, two (2) blogs, and take care of some of our personal business.
Tuesday, April 14
We awoke to a cloudy, wet, and very cold morning, had breakfast with the other volunteers, and then headed out for our various chores.
I rode out to the work site with Mike and Renee Croy from Ohio. We met Mike and Renee at Toccoa last fall and were thrilled to have them join our little group here in Ethridge this week, even if we would only be with them through today. While I was working at the site this morning, Barbara was busy editing photographs and writing copy for the church blog site. She came out shortly before noon to take some more pictures and bring me a heavier coat, something I appreciated v-e-r-y much!
The weather never got any better than what we found when we woke up this morning, but we plowed on through the wet and cold, stopping often to go warm our hands at the fire barrel that Lynn Worley started shortly after we got to the site.
John Worley and his crew spent the morning getting the stabilizing steel on the fellowship hall while the rest of us tackled the siding on the sanctuary building. Our crew worked on the front, while another worked across the back of the building.
It started raining when it was time for lunch, so we moved all the tables and chairs under the roof of the front building and enjoyed our sandwiches and bowls of steaming hot soup for a few minutes.
When lunch was over, John took one of his crews and started putting up siding on the west end of the building while the other two siding crews continued work on the front and back. The crew I was working with had to leave at 3:00, so I called Barbara and asked her to come get me so I could go back to the church and start getting the trailer and Big V ready for travel tomorrow.
The rest of the team got back to the church around five, and we soon all met together for another wonderful evening meal, presided over by our chief cook, Joyce.
Tonight I worked on the journal while Barbara finished up the church blog and got it posted. Then, we settled in after a very busy day, hoping to get a good night’s rest before hitting the road again tomorrow.
Reflections on the Project
Each new project that we work on brings opportunities to learn new skills and meet new people. The bonding with new friends is pretty much instant; after all, teamwork is of the essence in a building project.
While we were busy learning and applying new skills at Ethridge, we also were learning about the geography, history, and local culture of southern Middle Tennessee. For example, did you know that Middle Tennessee has a large Amish population? We didn’t either…we knew that the Amish had a strong cultural influence in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and were unprepared for what we were to see and experience daily as we drove to and from work.
In this picture, Barbara was driving and came up on horse-drawn buggies traveling in both directions ahead of her. She said she nearly drove into a ditch, but managed to snap this shot through the windshield of the Vibe.
The main highways have wide shoulders that allow the horses and carriages to move off the main lanes, but on the narrower roads (like the 6 ½ mile route we took each day) cars and trucks share space with the much slower-moving buggies and wagons.
There is even a Greyhound bus station that caters to the Amish. 
The station includes stalls for horses and places for the buggies to be parked while the folks catch the bus to travel longer distances.
To see part of what Barbara did while I was working at the site, you can go to http://libertyhillbaptistchurch.blogspot.com
“…I have called you friends...” John 15:15
From Ethridge, Tennessee,
Jim & Barbara
