May 25, 2024

So here we are after another year’s work.

We cannot put up a picture of us installing the end-of-the-week plaque this year  Andy did not start on it until Friday and nobody pushed him, so by Friday, he had a rough idea of what he wanted to do.  He got a board, blocked out a small portion of it on the bottom for all of us to sign, and will take it home and finish it, then send it to JD.  JD has promised to install it on the below the other ones we have on that wall.  Watch this space for a picture of how it looks when it gets put up.

We usually have a list of jobs for people to sign up for all week.  This week we pretty much skipped that.  A few of us signed up for morning devotions.  Andy provided more than his share of meals, as he typically does.  Everybody else just sort of filled in as needed.  We were a relatively small group this year and we did not make much of a mess.  Dino started the week by making his traditional Italian sausage and peppers for breakfast and we ate leftovers of those for much of the week.  Kristin made eggs to order for breakfast.  People pretty much stepped in to wash dishes. 

Now it is time to pack up and go home.  There is a little bit of cleaning to be done, but in recent years, Habitat has hired someone to come in and clean after groups leave, so we do not need to leave the place spotless like we used to.  Getting all the stuff we brought back into the cars we came in can be a bit more challenging, especially when people have bought all kinds of stuff to take home, but there was not too much of that this year.  Still we have some items of business to transact.  JD, Sherri, and Lorenzo all came by to see us off.  Goodbyes and hugs can take a while. 

So we have completed our work for another year.  In twelve years, I have worked on thirteen houses, helped put a roof on the Bargain Barn, and spent a day or two making improvements and repairs on the house where the sisters lived, and written thousands of words, some of them wise.  Our group has probably worked on about twenty.  We have seen lots of historical and cultural sites and gained an understanding of the people and the places around here.  We have built a community of friends here in Mississippi and surely among our group.  In addition to our long time regulars, dozens of people have joined us for a year or two. 

All of this began when one newly graduated medical student came looking for a place to work.  Thousands have followed her over the years.  Some of those have died, retired, or otherwise moved on, and some have proven impossible to replace.  Progress in Tutwiler can be painfully slow, often short lived, the setbacks can be tragic.  But in those years, houses have been built.  Many people are healthier and happier, lots of children have been given chances to learn and grow. 

In her devotion Friday, Nicole spoke about how we have just celebrated Pentecost and that the Holy Spirit has endowed all of us with different gifts.  We have seen the Spirit working in this community and in our own.  We hope to be a blessing to the people we have served here in Tutwiler.  Surely we have been blessed in the process.