Gruhn's Going Full Gear to Finish

I dropped by the Gruhn's home this afternoon to find a house nearly finished and an exhausted homeowner with a smile you couldn't wipe off his face if you tried. Our contractor is highly motivated to finish up our First Lutheran home and he has kicked into high gear. He put two of his best men including our own Joe on the job this week. The two put up all the crown molding and window trim; now the skilled pair are blazing through the flooring and kitchen cabinets. I think it's a matter of hours to the finish on the main floor.

I happened to bump into Robert at his house when he got off of work. He looked at the big picture window framed up in his living room and exclaimed, "It's beautiful!" He said he might cry. I wrapped my arm around him and we had a "man moment" to which he exclaimed in his beautiful hearing impaired voice, "Thanks, Craig!" I can't think of any better payment. I scribbled on my clipboard as I so often do to communicate with him. This time I only wrote two words: "Praise Jesus." He looked at it, nodded, and smiled.

The whole thing of what we are doing kind of hit me today when I parked my truck in the driveway and then walked half a block to use the city's port-a-potty on the street corner. Here's a house that is SO CLOSE to being livable, yet for more than a year now, Robert and his family and all of us who have worked on the house have had to walk half a city block to do something so many of us take for granted every day in our own homes. I know I'm fully vested when I'm dreaming of the day when we will set a toilet. That day is coming very soon.

This weekend will be a light one for us in the home. We could use someone who has used a paint sprayer before (or someone willing to try) to spray the basement ceiling black. We could also use a couple people to clean the glass in the windows and stain the trim around the inside of the windows. For various reasons, we are going to put off siding the garage and carpeting Kia's room until at least next Saturday (Aug. 1).

At the direction of our flood ministry team, I've contacted the Gruhn's contractor for another lead of another person he's working with who was touched by the flood. I called the homeowner tonight and she has an interesting personal story, as so many of these wonderful people do. Since we have such a light weekend at the Gruhn's (and things are wrapping up with them overall) this may provide another opportunity for some service, even as early as this Saturday. She's talking about having us clean a few things out of her garage. I'm hoping to know by Thursday.