Happy Dances
So I just got back a little bit ago from helping pour a slab in Horizon City that we need to start building on this Saturday. The lady kept telling us all week that she had people who could help her do it, but when we dropped off more materials today, nothing had been done. No worries though, we're gonna make it happen and it's gonna be AWESOME. Today we put up the forms and leveled the ground, and tomorrow we'll pour the concrete...with a concrete mixer! Chris might even have to do the "Flat Slab Happy Dance," which he invented when we worked with a group from MN back in June. Maybe the 50 mph winds we are supposed to have tomorrow will even help it dry faster!
Last week, however, he was definitely NOT doing the Flat Slab Happy Dance when we built a house near Cristo Rey with a group from Martin Luther Chapel (Michigan State University). We invented a lot of other Happy Dances (for instance, the "The Piece of Drywall Fit on the First Try Happy Dance"), but the slab made the week challenging to say the least. We also fought high winds, especially on Monday, but four days and lots of minor fixes later, two people have a warmer, drier place to sleep at night It just goes to show that God's work will happen no matter what--He cannot be stopped!
It really was a fun week even with a crazy slab that made everything else crazy too, both on and off the construction site. I think all of the pictures below are of us working, but if any of you MSU people read this...I see some Scrabble rematches in your future!
Pouring the slab was a true community effort since the home was for an elderly couple, and the man of the house was nearly blind. People from both Cristo Rey and Sin Paredes pitched in, and those unable to participate via physical labor helped by cooking lunch for the workers.
Martha and friends by the San Pablo Lutheran Church van after church at Sin Paredes on Sunday.
Hanna made a new friend.
Lots of groups like to try and beat the Mexican kids at soccer, but this was one of the most intense matches I have seen...they picked teams!
Sunday afternoon, we went to the Mercado Juarez (which, by the way, was the busiest I have seen it in a long time with both locals and gringos...it was sooooo encouraging to see!). I think the lady at this stall was ready to hire Andy after the amount of time and money he spent there...
The view of J-town from our worksite.
The hill we had to climb up to get to where we parked the first 2 days.
Speaking of high winds, there are tons of pictures like this, of people holding up walls. It kind of reminded me of the Bible story where Aaron and somebody else did nothing else but hold Moses' hands in the air for an entire battle because if they didn't, the Israelites would lose. In some of the pictures, people have a wall in one hand and a sandwich in the other!
The guys.
The girls.
You can sort of see our way of fixing the gap that we wound up with underneath the bottom plate on the low side of the slab in this picture...shove a whole bunch of 2 x 4 scraps underneath and drive 10 in. stakes through the whole mess to keep it in place!
Melissa installing electrical boxes.
An outside view of our fix. These 3 had the job of putting together the puzzle as best they could!
You'll have to ask Maxwell about this one. I think he was inspired by the sledge-hammer...
A view of the front of our house after we got smart and started parking on one of the side streets.
Maxwell's crazy dancing was quite possibly the inspiration for the entire Happy Dance theme of the week. Jonathan (Rosy's son) thought it was especially hysterical!
Holly, Melissa, Abbi, and Jimmy taking a break.
James was assigned the job of watching all the tools that had already made it back to the truck while the rest of us were still cleaning up. I don't think he liked it at all ;)
Once we finished working, Pastor Martinez led us in a short blessing service. At its conclusion, Abbi handed the couple a quilt that her and Hanna's home church had donated.
Andy had the honor of handing over the keys.
They worked!
Perhaps the best moment of the week though, was at the VERY end...Pastor Martinez dancing with the group to "Jump on It!"
Oh and in case anyone is wondering, I did it: I bought a plane ticket to Chicago for the LBT conference in June!
Until next time, blessings!
Last week, however, he was definitely NOT doing the Flat Slab Happy Dance when we built a house near Cristo Rey with a group from Martin Luther Chapel (Michigan State University). We invented a lot of other Happy Dances (for instance, the "The Piece of Drywall Fit on the First Try Happy Dance"), but the slab made the week challenging to say the least. We also fought high winds, especially on Monday, but four days and lots of minor fixes later, two people have a warmer, drier place to sleep at night It just goes to show that God's work will happen no matter what--He cannot be stopped!
It really was a fun week even with a crazy slab that made everything else crazy too, both on and off the construction site. I think all of the pictures below are of us working, but if any of you MSU people read this...I see some Scrabble rematches in your future!
Pouring the slab was a true community effort since the home was for an elderly couple, and the man of the house was nearly blind. People from both Cristo Rey and Sin Paredes pitched in, and those unable to participate via physical labor helped by cooking lunch for the workers.
Martha and friends by the San Pablo Lutheran Church van after church at Sin Paredes on Sunday.
Hanna made a new friend.
Lots of groups like to try and beat the Mexican kids at soccer, but this was one of the most intense matches I have seen...they picked teams!
Sunday afternoon, we went to the Mercado Juarez (which, by the way, was the busiest I have seen it in a long time with both locals and gringos...it was sooooo encouraging to see!). I think the lady at this stall was ready to hire Andy after the amount of time and money he spent there...
The view of J-town from our worksite.
The hill we had to climb up to get to where we parked the first 2 days.
Speaking of high winds, there are tons of pictures like this, of people holding up walls. It kind of reminded me of the Bible story where Aaron and somebody else did nothing else but hold Moses' hands in the air for an entire battle because if they didn't, the Israelites would lose. In some of the pictures, people have a wall in one hand and a sandwich in the other!
The guys.
The girls.
You can sort of see our way of fixing the gap that we wound up with underneath the bottom plate on the low side of the slab in this picture...shove a whole bunch of 2 x 4 scraps underneath and drive 10 in. stakes through the whole mess to keep it in place!
Melissa installing electrical boxes.
An outside view of our fix. These 3 had the job of putting together the puzzle as best they could!
You'll have to ask Maxwell about this one. I think he was inspired by the sledge-hammer...
A view of the front of our house after we got smart and started parking on one of the side streets.
Maxwell's crazy dancing was quite possibly the inspiration for the entire Happy Dance theme of the week. Jonathan (Rosy's son) thought it was especially hysterical!
Holly, Melissa, Abbi, and Jimmy taking a break.
James was assigned the job of watching all the tools that had already made it back to the truck while the rest of us were still cleaning up. I don't think he liked it at all ;)
Once we finished working, Pastor Martinez led us in a short blessing service. At its conclusion, Abbi handed the couple a quilt that her and Hanna's home church had donated.
Andy had the honor of handing over the keys.
They worked!
Perhaps the best moment of the week though, was at the VERY end...Pastor Martinez dancing with the group to "Jump on It!"Until next time, blessings!
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