Day 3 on the Job

Wednesday, just past the halfway mark. We are having a great time. Last night we took our staff out for dinner to a local sports eatery, The Rooster. The conversation was lively and the United States was playing Japan in the Olympics curling contest. I was very nervous for our team and I found out this morning for good reason! :)

Ok, we had a small work crew today. Two of our team were under the weather last night and needed today to rest. Please join us in prayers for their full recovery. That being said, we journeyed to our family's house and put in a full day of repair. We finished the first room yesterday for insulation and drywalling. Today we removed the wooden slats from the kitchen and insulated and drywalled one of the 2 walls we are doing. Tomorrow we anticipate completing the second wall. Our mood was good, but we missed our teammates a lot. Hopefully they will be able to join us tomorrow.

It is a beautiful part of the country here in Lee county. Every morning this week we have had fresh snow greet us, just enough to cover the driveway, a beautiful sight, but it makes for a slow drive down, and down and down the driveway. (it is steep and not straight). The drive to our family's house takes us through the valley for about 10 miles and it is scenic.

From another part of God's Country.

Love and peace.

Paul

A Small Part of God's World.

Well here it is Tuesday night on our asp trip. It is easy to see how fast the week will go by. The work assignment has a lot of work to be finished but this work never seems to really be work . We all work well together, we laugh a lot and it always seems to get done. We had a great meal tonight in town with our ASP staffers as our guests. There are so many people here who need Gods help and it is good to be a small part of that help. We are enjoying wrapping up the day relaxing by the fireplace in the lodge. Good night from Jonesville Virginia

John Almendinger

Day 2 -- Snow!

Well the second day of this ASP trip had something none of us have experienced during a mission trip to Appalachia but has been common all over the East this winter – SNOW! The center we stay at is on quite a hill for snowy weather. The travel down to get out to the worksite as well as what the drive back up to the center might be if the accumulation was a lot gave us great concern. But God provided a day that we were able to have a great day of work without having to worry about the weather.

Intermittent flurries mixed with sun and blue sky while inside we worked to remove the inside wall, install insulation, close up a window and put up drywall. Ben & Jess’s house at the beginning of the winter had an outer & inner wall but not a bit of insulation between the two. The difference in the temperature of the room we started in when we first got there and how felt at the end of our day was drastic. Now imagine five rooms like that. Fortunately several other groups had worked on the house before we arrived. Ben & Jess as well as the ASP staff have noticed how with each room, we are working on the third, has made a significant difference in what it takes to heat the house.

We had a great day of progress, and we are praying for God’s good weather and that we can finish the work we set out to do this week.

John O’Melia

We have arrived

We arrived in Jonesville around 1:30 pm today, and went out to see the house we worked on last year. The Johns (A, C and O) showed me around and we met the family. It was a nice reunion. The family is healthy and warm and dry. The house looks great. They said that sometimes it seems to be almost to warm, that's how good of a job was done by the ASP volunteers. Kathleen and Rex remembered John, John, and John.

We then went up to the ASP center and met the staff, Mitch, Alex, and Christina. Christina is from Madison WI, Alex is from Morgantown PA and Mitch is from the Twin Cities area. We settled in a little and then went out to meet our family. Mitch showed us what needs to be done and we met Ben and Jess and the 2 pitbull puppies and Oscar the fish (who is an Oscar). We will be insulating and drywalling their walls.

We came back after a quick stop at Walmart and Shoe Town, for some forgotten items. Dinner was chicken, mashed potatoes, green beens and salad. Desert was some chocolate chip cookies and some delicious brownies with heart sprinkles for Valentines day.

We are relaxing in the lodge having some good conversation and an good fire by John O.

Love to all, and a Happy Valentines day to all our loved ones (yes you too!)

paul

Winter Adult trip

On Saturday, February 13, 2 trucks, 5 individuals will begin their journey to the ASP center in Jonesville, VA. Hopefully mother nature will let us travel without incident. If all goes well and we are able we will post updates here. Check back soon.

God Bless

Paul

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

What did I get myself into? How would I possibly be able to do this? Sleep "dorm style" with at least 20 other women, most of whom I didn't know? Sleep, eat, shower...ALL dormitory style! THAT was my "worst of times". And you know what? Not bad at all. In fact, I will leave this ASP experience with many new friends. From Carol who came to WV with ASP via Maryland. To the Friedrich/Flannely clan (who I'm still trying to figure out...Sarah belongs to who???). OK, we may not have had dessert every night - bad. But nitely runs to DQ? Thats definitely a GOOD...or maybe a bad...plus it was a DQ BRAZiER - so I took that as a sign that God MUST have been smiling on us!
My "best of times":
6:00 Wake-up with the "Coffee Crew" and hearing the jokes of the previous evening (the funniest ones always came from the guys)
Hugs...PLENTY of them
My BEAR picture
The Wasp "Ninja"
The bracelet Sarah made me with the penny the train flattened
Cassie telling me she loved my curley hair
Everyone on my crew who let me get away with things only a "newbie" could (and not telling me)
Being the only crew that actually prepared AND sang their theme song (thanks Amy! - bragging rights are always good)
Being one of the few people to have actually seen the bear (YES, BRAGGING RIGHTS ARE VERY GOOD!)
Roy, Rosebud and Andrea and being able to bring some sunshine (both figuratively and literally) into their lives
Amy, Bubba, Destiny and Alex. Here's to hoping that we will be able to help them get "warmer, safer, drier" to
Thursday night's picnic and being able to introduce Andy to my "families"
Babies, dogs, and PUPPIES
West Virginia
Adriana

Note: this was written in WV, but posted late. Sorry for the delay.

Day 5

Today was the last day of being on our site. Our crew, Ray Markunas, Doug O'Melia, Peter Friedrich, Sam Bruno, Danika Yacik, Kim Hutchins and myself have worked all week to get a new kitchen floor installed for Doris, our homeowner.

Doris is a very sweet person who takes care of her daughter Tina's four girls, who range in age from 2-12. In addition to these six individuals, she also has her son his girlfriend living with her. Doris used to work in the coal mones but had to quit after getting hurt. Throughout the day, Doris gets many visitors and enjoys talking to all of her cousins and neighbors who stop by.

Our goal today was to get the water heater hooked back-up, all the kitchen flooring down, some installation installed in the part of the kitchen you couldn't get to from underneath the house and all the appliances back in their place. It was a very tall order and when we took a break for lunch at 1:30 I was not sure we would get it all done.

We were all beginning to get very exhausted and it was difficult to ramp back up after lunch. (Lunches are always an experience with our crew!) We did eventually get back on track because we had a goal to reach. Lots more cutting was needed to fit the OSB, the shims and the cross beams nailed into place. The sun was beating down on everyone and the two youngest girls, Kinsey and Kassidy wanted someone to play with them, but we continued on.

During a small break from the sun, Doris began talking about how raising the four girls with little help from their mother and how everything in general was very difficult for her. She said she prayed to God to make things easier and to help her get through this timein her life. I was a little speachless and really didn't know what to say. I then turned to her and said that we were here to help her and I hoped that we made it a little easier on her this week. It was a very moving moment.

Many individuals say that people are brought into our lives for a minute, a week, a year or a lifetime for a reason. We may never know why we are brought into people's lives but there is a reason. Nothing is a coincedence and this became crystal clear to me when I thought back on this specific conversation. We were not only there to help Doris and her family but she was there to help us. When I think back on the experience with Doris a memory will pop into my mind and something new will be revealed to me. It may be about Doris, one of our crew, about ASP, about West Virginia or nothing that relates to this trip at all but it will be special and will be different for each one of us. God works in mysterious ways and we have to trust in his power and the message he has decided to reveal to us.

We did get all the OSB down and nailed in place, the water heater hooked back-up and some installation installed in the kitchen. Next week's crew will finish up her kitchen with luann and tile. She is so excited to have a warm house this winter and firmly believes that the Lord has brought ASP to her to help her out.


Tricia Flynn