Rebuilding After Hurricane Harvey

Last night I was able to attend a Wednesday night church service @ my church. It was an excellent time of praise and prayer for this part of our country. But it also allowed anyone who could come today, tomorrow, and Saturday, to start the re-building process for the church's ministry to low income/no income individuals and families. I had heard of Farrington Mission mentioned at church before, but had never been to the facility.  Today I participated in "clean out" and "tear out" all food, clothing, and anything that had been touched by floodwater 4 ft high and below.  It was a dirty job, and SMELLY, but nice to finally get my hands doing something after sitting in my house for 5 days.

I wish you could have seen the before picture, but this room was PACKED with clothing racks, shoes, etc. just like you would see in a store.

I kept my mask on because we were sloshing through wet carpet and the smell was getting to me.

We then emptied 2 more rooms of donated clothing items, and their hangers.  

It's hard to take pictures in the middle of doing things, but this is looking from the back of the property, to the piles of garbage that had to be thrown out (and this was only 2 hours after we started working).  There were probably close to 50 people who were able to come today to help.  I have friends visiting over the weekend, so I might not get down there again before I go back to work, but it was good to be a part of this and make an impact.  Their hope is to be at least temporarily up and running by Monday, especially with food and clothing options for people.  Being part of the Southern Baptist circle of churches, the word is out and at least 4 semi-loads of donations are headed this direction from various places.  Much is also being dropped off at local churches not affected by the flooding.  Please pray for endurance for those in charge, and that great things would be accomplished this weekend in order to get the place up and running again.  

To find out more, or how to help, please visit:

http://farringtonmission.org/howtogetinvolved.aspx

Hurricane Harvey as of Tuesday Morning

I sent this video to my family this morning, but thought others might be interested in seeing it, just to know God is still doing a very good job watching over me.

Camp Week in Seattle

My sister asked me to come help chauffeur people around this past week as the older girls attended 3 different camps, and M needed some entertaining while Mom and Dad were working.  Of course, it's always my pleasure to hang out more with this goofy face!

But we had to figure out some of our own activities.  So, we made a special lunch for Daddy one day.

M did a special job setting the table and was quite proud of herself.

Then we snuck in some time at a playground, which G joined us for briefly before dropping her off at her camp.

And we waited for C along the water while she finished her camp.

Last night, they had a block party on their street as a fundraiser for Seattle Children's Hospital.  C decided she wanted to do a face-painting booth. . .

. . .so she drew out some designs and made some signs. . .

. . .and she was the coolest kid thing on the street, with multiple people watching all the time!  I still haven't heard how much she made, but when I left, she was doing VERY well for the fund-raiser!  

I thought it was pretty cool that she free-handed her drawings, and came up with the designs after looking at a few pictures online.

Just a Little Encouragement

We sang this song in church this evening. Those words are powerful. I had never heard it before.

A Little More Home-like

After my roommate moved out, I switched some things around to accommodate the furniture better. Then I threw on whatever I had in the closet to make it look like an actual bed.

Today, however, I decided to make it a little more inviting. . .

. . .including a wee husky dog (courtesy of my nieces) to welcome you!

Come on over!  I've got plenty of room!!  ;)

Seattle/Washington Birthday Surprise

I spent this past week in Seattle with my nieces. . .

. . .and a friend of theirs. . .

. . .and then headed to Southeast WA to surprise my dear friend, Carly, for her birthday!!

I have the privilege of calling her kiddos my adoptive niece and nephew

At first, Abi wasn't too sure of me, so Mama had to help her out. . .

. . .but then she found out I'm pretty funny!!

I had some WONDERFUL blueberries while I was there--they were as big as my eyeball!!

I also went to a few friends' houses because that's what was on  the agenda for the week, and when you surprise someone, you just roll with the punches!

I enjoyed seeing the farmer's market. . .

. . .notice the farmer's market cat

Always so fun to catch up with dear friends, and their families!