"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you," says scripture (Matt 7:7). It couldn't be more true this week. God sent a skilled crew from Grand Rapids to Cedar Rapids to put our schedule at the Gruhn's right on track. Eight talented drywallers and mudders skillfully worked today to finish - that's right FINISH - the prep work for us to paint this Saturday. What seemed insurmountable just a few months ago is now attainable today. To quote former Hawkeye Basketball player Andre Woolridge when he hit a last second shot to beat #8 Michigan State, "If you don't believe in the power of God...there it is."
The crew showed up from Grand Rapids, MI yesterday and went to town on the Gruhn's home inside and out. One crew is finishing up the siding, two strong young men are cutting drywall in the hallway to the basement, two more retired men are skillfully scraping mud, and a lovely, older gentleman named Ken is scraping and painting the trim at the peak of the house. Ken told me, "We are not here by coincidence. God had this in His master plan that you and I would meet." It nearly brought us both to tears. The grand designs that the Gruhn family had, the contractor had, or even my overly optimistic schedule I drew up are being FAR OUTWEIGHED by the power of God's plan. Honestly, the house may be done by the end of this month. I never, ever, ever would have remotely dreamed that possible when I got involved in this venture in May. It just floors me. I hope it does you too!
We shouldn't feel bad that it is not us doing the work. Frankly, this is kind of what Dan Garrick of the Recovery Coalition told us he had in mind, that is, local churches would take up certain houses to be their hosts, then workers would come from out of state to lend a hand. Like many things in the Kingdom of God, we can accomplish more together.
Our hard work (and free labor) at First Lutheran is now paying dividends. For example, the contractor currently framing up the walls in the basement to be insulated and drywalled. Previously, we thought we would just slap up some paint on the cement walls. The whole house is being scheduled to be sprayed with texture by the end of the week. That means we will come in and put on prime on Saturday. I still can't believe it. If we have enough people, Pastor Dan would like to finish putting up a chain-link fence in the yard. Please stop by Saturday to help us paint or just to pray and celebrate God at work in Cedar Rapids! Yea!
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