Anyone have a remedy for stair-itis?

It is Sunday evening around 11:00 here at the Overtoun House. Several are still hard at work, a few have headed toward the showers, and some have gathered in the "library," primarily because they are too sore to make the climb up again!  Did we mention the house has lots of stairs?

Much has happened since the last blog, most of it on the 4th floor!  On Friday, much work was done on the girls' floor, especially in the hall.  One of the volunteers here has painted an unbelievable mural on a couple of the walls of scenes in the OH gardens.  She is amazing!  The hall is completely painted, the doors hung, all the hardwoods down in all the rooms, all the bathrooms have been tiled and grouted (we found Kristen and Cindy's spiritual gifts!), cushions and pillows sewn, furniture bought, walls painted, artwork created, and pictures framed.  Some painting has also occurred on the Hills' floor and the downstair's bathroom.  Sorry, Mike, no frogs this year!  The guys' have new luxury shower facilites.

Last night Dave and Susan had a surprise anniversary soiree, complete with a sweetheart table, roses, candles, and gifts (thanks, Cathy!).  Susan had been threatening to buy Dave a kilt.  He kept telling her not to.  She got one of Bob Hill's kilts and had it wrapped up.  When Dave opened it in front of everyone, he was truly at a loss for words!  He didn't want to appear ungrateful, but he did not want a kilt!  We told him to put it on, but he would only wear it over his khakis.  When we finally told him it was really Bob's, he was so relieved! A delicious dinner of oven-fried chicken, grits casserole, and chocolate chess pie made us all a bit homesick for NC!

Today at church we had the opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the local people as we worshipped with His Family Church.  Although the worship style was a bit different, we felt the kinship of a shared faith.  Dave preached (we can't catch a break!) and we were all inspired to put our lives in God's hands rather than trying to bear the burden all ourselves.  Afterwards, some went to Luss, a village on Loch Lomond, others went to Dumbarton Rock, and a few stayed to do more work. The evening found us all hard at work again.  We have a good bit of work ahead of us for tomorrow, but we feel confident that we will get it done before winging our way to Raleigh on Saturday.

Tuesday morning we will bid adieu to Nelson and then board the bus to head toward Iona.  Internet connections may be a bit spotty, but we will attempt to blog while there.  We love you all and ca n't wait to share our stories in more detail when we arrive home.  Until then, perhaps these pics will suffice.

What's your accent?

Scots are known for their delightful accents.  As a matter of  fact, Glaswegians have some of the more unique brogues in the world. We have had a real challenge to understand, but we have found that laughter and smiles are pretty universal.When people hear you talk, what accent do they hear?  Is it a Christian accent they they hear? 

 Our fourth day was a great one.  We worked until lunch.  A lot of painting was accomplished.  The hallway got the first coat of paint, doors were painted, a closet was primed, and a shelf received its first coat.  Sheetrock was hung to cover holes in the library.Valances, shower curtains and rods were placed in a few rooms. It was a good morning of work.

After lunch, we headed out to Glasgow. It was a relief to put on our "normal" clothes and board the bus for a day of sightseeing.  We  toured the Glasgow Cathedral area and the Provand's Lordship, the oldest building in Glasgow.  Despite the signs to not touch the furniture, Jerry managed to find a piece of loose trim from an almost 400 year old chest! At the Cathedral, we had a wonderful tour guide who graciously showed us the hidden treasures of the church.  We then went on a private tour of the Glasgow City Chambers, a gorgeous building that has the largest marble staircase in Europe outside of the Vatican. We saw an amazing portrait of one of the city provosts that looked remarkably like Bob Whiteman.  Everywhere we went,  the eyes seemed to follow us! We were in awe of all the splendor of that building.  The ladies had a brief period of shopping while the men slept on the park benches in George Square, praying all the while that the pigeons would not decide to light on their heads!  We had a fabulous dinner at The Red Onion restaurant, met the chef who was a Heath Holloman clone, and even met some folks from Raleigh who were part of the US Air flight crew.  Unholy alliances were formed when it came to desserts, but after several tastings, Dave declared the bruleed lemon tart the blue ribbon winner!

After returning to the Overtoun House, we were informed that the Northern Lights were supposed to be seen, so several of us hiked to the top of the tower to look for them, but after about 11:00, we  gave  up the ghost because it was still not quite dark enough. You have to remember, we are higher than many places in Canada and Alaska, so the days are quite long.

The Great Cloud of Witnesses

Today we have considered the great cloud of witnesses that surround us and the image of Jesus going to prepare a place for us.  As we use our hands to prepare a place for people that we may never meet, these words have been a part of our experiences this day.  It has been a productive day and we look forward to seeing some progress tomorrow as we have a short workday.  We will leave at lunch to go into the city to do some sightseeing. 

As for our work today, Christina, Sue, and Mary Linda really transformed the library.  They cleaned shelves and organized the books into alphabetized categories.  WOW!  Buddy, John, and Nelson finished putting the sheetrock up in the bathrooms and in the kitchen on the girls' hall.  Cindy worked on several projects including painting and workworking.  Holly and Clara painted the hall along with finishing some mudding and staining.  Our wonderful kitchen crew, Cathy, Joyce, and Vivian, kept us well-fed throughout the day.  Susan and Ed found some wonderful finds that will be put into our new Grace room and finish up the Hayes Barton room.  We were thankful that George (the plumber) was listening to our shopping conversation and gave us the name of a great store (good prices and they delivered).  So, as you can tell it was a very productive day. 

During the productive moments, there were also moments of good conversation and laughter.  For new friends and fun times we are thankful.  Continue to pray for our safety as we work and for a good night's rest today.  Many did not experience that last night and we need it for the day tomorrow.  Also pray that we will be Christ's presence as we go out into the community together. . . may other's see Jesus in us.

Let Go, Get God

As we began our second day, our devotional focused on control.  We are people who like to be in control, aren't we?  As we thought together and began our work, we were reminded that trust is better than control.  We learn not only to trust God but also each other.

The work is progressing nicely. We have lots of different projects going on.  Painting is going on in the second Hayes Barton room that we have dubbed The Grace Room, tiling and grouting is going on in two bathrooms, the hall is being painted and stained, the library is being organized, and, of course, there is always work to be done in the kitchen! In the midst of it all, we have found time to laugh, pray, reflect, hike Dumbarton Rock, and eat well. 

Our team is having a great time, despite little sleep and sore backs. Continue to pray for us that we will be safe and healthy as we try to create beauty out of chaos. We miss and love you all!

We have arrived!

We have arrived in Scotland and have experienced a full day!  It is evening now and some are sitting by the fire while others have gone to enjoy a good night's rest.  We had a safe flight over.  It is funny how you can leave an hour late, but arrive fifteen minutes early, but that is what happened.  Then we boarded the bus (with Jim our driver from last year) to bring us to the Overtoun House.  It was good to see Bob and Melissa again along with meeting new friends.  After assessing the work to be done, a little unpacking, and lunch, the team quickly went to work.  There has been a lot accomplished, but there is still a lot to be done to finish the girls' floor.  Three of the rooms need the bathrooms finished.  So several went to work on insulation, putting up sheetrock, and tiling the floors.  Some started finishing mudding the hall and began putting a coat of primer on it.  We even got the new HBBC room painted so that we can start on hardwood floors.  We'll let you guess the color it became.  It will be beautiful once it all comes together.  The library work began with two team members and the cooking team also went to work.  We enjoyed a wonderful evening meal together.  It has been a good day.  We look forward to the day tomorrow. . . knowing that God has much in store!