Greater Things Are Yet to Come

The pictures serve as proof! With each day that passes, we move closer and closer to completing our work on Grandma Bet’s home. God has continued to bring together members of the community to see His dream fulfilled. Tom Wrenn has completed the soffit installation and also delivered the kitchen appliances. Rick Miller of Miller’s Central Air has finished the final HVAC equipment installation. Ronnie Hathaway of Hathaway’s Land Services, Inc. has completed the final grade. Paula Tharpe of Tiles by Fran has supplied all the master bathroom tile, which Mike Corby of Corby Tile is presently installing. Wow- isn’t God great at orchestrating all of this?! It’s amazing when we surrender to His plan how He uses each of us individually to work towards one common goal for His kingdom. We get the opportunity to exchange our small story for a role in His big one.

So, what’s left for Grandma Bet’s house? We know she’s anxious to get in, and we can’t wait to see the finished product ourselves. Excitement and anticipation fill the air! There are a few items that will be taken care of this week:
Plumbing top-out
Installation of fascia
Insulation in the attic
Installation of shelving and bathroom mirrors
Completion of master bathroom shower tile
Forming the driveway

Before the final inspection, there are more tasks to be completed:
Installation of medicine cabinets
Interior door hardware
Master bathroom shower plumbing fixtures
Final connection to appliances
Pouring the driveway
Installation of the irrigation system
Landscape and sod

Can you believe how far we’ve come?

Since this project is coming to a close, Kingdom Builders is praying for direction about several new projects that have been brought to our attention. Yesterday, I had the privilege, along with several other members of the Kingdom Builders Board of Directors, to meet a long time friend of Grandma Bet’s, known by all as Mrs. Pudding (Wesley). Presently in her seventies, Mrs. Pudding (pictured below with Lisa) is busy taking care of her eighty-two year old husband, who is blind. While talking, we were able to identify some of Mrs. Pudding’s needs, such as: an exterior handicap ramp, electrical repairs, possible termite treatment, and a new utility room and handicap bathroom addition.

“Never stop praying” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Please join us in lifting up our ministry and Mrs. Pudding’s needs before our Savior in order to gain the direction He wants to give us. We're not finished yet; this is only the beginning! As Chris Tomlin’s song, God of This City (click here for youtube video) says, “Greater things are yet to come; greater things are still to be done here.”

REMINDER TO ALL: Maurice (Deacon) Wilson's church New Life Assembly is having family and friends day this coming Sunday 6-7-09 @ 3:00 PM. Maurice said, anyone who is interested in some good fellowship is more than welcome to attend. If you have any questions, you can call Maurice @ 243-1053.

5-21-09 (Thursday)
Counter tops are installed and the electrical trim-out is almost complete. Central Contractors crews are presently working on removing an old driveway, completing exterior clean-up and rough site grading. Items left to complete before final inspection are: exterior fascia/soffit, attic insulation, master bathroom shower tile, interior door hardware, plumbing top-out, HVAC trim-out, install appliances, final site grading, form/pour driveway, irrigation, landscaping and sod...God has almost completed his work!

5-18-09 (Monday)

God's love amazes me, but what also amazes me is the love of those individuals who have donated their time, money, and energy for Grandma Bet...Jesus said, "Love your neighbors as yourself." I just got off the phone with Tom Wrenn, who has been instrumental in helping with this project. He and his wife, Christine have agreed to donate ALL their appliances to Grandma Bet for her new home...WOW!

5-18-09 (Monday)

Do we really know how much God loves us? And if we did would we would we live each day differently? Check out this song, my daughter (Chelsea) shared with our praise team (Caleb's Cadence). We had the opportunity to perform this song in our worship set this past Sunday...POWERFUL! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoC1ec-lYps

I say all this because God is still watching over Kingdom Builders and Grandma Bet. This past week I called Wayne Todd (The Bulb Bin) about supplying the ceiling fans and light fixtures for Grandma Bet's home. After he and his wife read the blog, they wanted to be a part of what God was doing with this project. Wayne is supplying all the ceiling fans, light kits, and light fixtures at no cost. God forgive us for ever questioning your LOVE for us.

5-13-09 (Wednesday)
Foster Painting (Gregg Foster) has completed the interior and exterior painting. Maurice Wilson (Grandma Bet's son) is standing over the newly installed kitchen cabinets by JM Cabinets, Inc (Jerry Morrison). JM Cabinets has provided all the cabinet materials at their cost and donated all the labor to build and install the cabinets. God, thank you for using people like Gregg Foster and Jerry Morrison to partner with us on this project.

5-8-09 (Friday)
Pictures posted show a Foster Painting Crew preparing trim and floors prior to spray painting interior walls. Thanks to Gregg Foster for this "in-kind" donation. God has used so many individuals in making this project a success!

5-6-09 (Wednesday)

Progress on Grandma Bet's home continues; Tom Wrenn (with a little help from Bo Seignious) has completed the interior trim work (doors, base boards, etc...) and Gourley Plastering has completed the exterior stucco. If everything goes as planned Foster Painting (Gregg Foster) will start painting this week.

Plans...recently I have been praying "God what plans do you have for me". This morning I read Ephesians 2:10, For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago (NLV). I came to realize that maybe we try to hard to figure out what God has planned for each of us. Are we waiting for God to reveal His calling on our life in the hopes of avoiding action?

As Francis Chain states in his book Crazy Love (page 169), Did you hear God calling you to sit in front of the television yesterday? Or to go on your last vacation? Or exercise this morning? Probably not, but you still did it. He goes on to say that the point isn't that vacations or exercise are wrong, but that we are quick to rationalize our entertainment and priorities yet are slow to commit to serving God. Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey what I command" (John 14:15). Jesus did not say, "If you love me you will obey me when you feel called or good about doing so..." If we love, than we obey. Period. This sort of matter-of-fact obedience is part of what it means to live a life of faith.

My daughter (Chelsea) attends a church (Calvary Chapel) in Ft. Lauderdale that has a outreach ministry slogan stating, Don't just stand there...do something! What are we doing to build the Kingdom of God each and everyday? Are we serving God out of obedience and faith?

4-29-09 (Wednesday)

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to listen to a sermon by Pastor Brett Morey about the presence of God, and how important it was for us as Christians to never loose site in seeking God's presence. Today as I drove up to Grandma Bet's project I felt the overwhelming presence of God...making it hard for me to leave.

As I sat in my truck I thought about this project from its beginning to where we find ourselves today. God has done so many things through this project as He broke racial barriers, built our faith, grew our relationships, and has left us all forever changed. The greatest change is our overwhelming love for God and others, His two greatest commands. PRAISE!!! GOD for what he has done and continues to do through His people. God you and you alone are worthy to receive all honor, glory and power.

"In-kind" donations continue to pour in through God's hands. Thanks to Mike Corby (Corby Tile) the tile flooring throughout the house is complete. Tom Wirth (Marlin Marble) has supplied and installed all the marble window sills. Seacoast Supply is on site delivering the stucco materials, while Gourley Plastering is preparing the house for stucco. Just before I left the project a Bagwell Lumber truck pulled up to deliver the interior trim package (doors, base,etc...provided in full)--WOW!

4-27-09 (Monday)

I will be out of town for our next scheduled meeting. I would like to reschedule this meeting for Monday 5-11-09 @ 7:00 PM (First Baptist Church of Lake Placid).

Remember LOVE GOD AND LOVE OTHERS!!!

4-25-09 (Saturday)

I woke up early this morning (not being able to sleep...on a Saturday?) to make a pot of coffee and spend some quiet time with my Savior. As I have told you before I am reading a book by Francis Chan called "Crazy Love". This book has really challenged me to think what it means to be a true Christ follower (Christian). As Christians are we obsessed with loving God and others?

Check this scripture out: When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. (Luke 14: 12-14)

Wow, do we give to those who are less fortunate than us expecting nothing in return? This is exactly what our savior did for us and he has asked us to do the same for others...Crazy Love.

Frederick Buechner writes in The Magnificent Defeat:
The love for equals is a human thing-of friend for friend, brother for brother. It is to love what is loving and lovely. The world smiles. The love for the less fortunate is a beautiful thing-the love for those who suffer, for those who are poor, the sick, the failures, the unlovely. This is compassion, and it touches the heart of the world. The love for the more fortunate is a rare thing-to love those who succeed where we fail, to rejoice without envy with those who rejoice, the love of the poor for the rich, of the black man for the white man. The world is always bewildered by its saints. And then there is the love for the enemy-love for the one who does not love you but mocks, threatens, and inflicts pain. The tortured's love for the torturer. This is God's love. It conquers the world.

4-20-09 (Monday)
God continues to answer prayer. The drywall is now completed (including texture). Baker Septic Installation, Inc. (Ann Baker) has supplied and installed the septic tank. All Around Septic & Sewer (Sharion Hudson) is in the process of installing the drain field (as shown in the above pictures).

The tile floor installation is presently taking place thanks to the "in kind" donations from Griffin's Carpet Mart (Tom Griffin) who has supplied all the floor tile materials and Corby Tile (Mike Corby) who is supplying all the labor for the floor tile installation. Mike hopes to complete the floor tile installation by the end of this week. Thanks Mike (and voluteers) the floor tile looks AWESOME!

4-9-09 (Thursday)
As Grandma Bet sits on the front porch with her grandchild; the drywall installation is taking place with the help of an "in-kind" donation from Wayne Gourley (Gourley Plastering) who is supplying all the labor and Seacoast Supply (Auburndale) who is supplying all the drywall materials.

4-6-09 (Monday)
I took these pictures this morning showing a Central Contractors crew installing underground electrical, cable, and telephone feeder conduits. After leaving the job site I called Maurice who said he had a praise report, stating that Seacoast Supply (Auberndale Facility) would be donating ALL the drywall for Grandma Bet's home. Also today, Bo Seignious requested an interior (pre-lathe) inspection, so we could start installing drywall. THANK YOU GOD... for all the needs you have met and continue to meet each day.

Matthew 6: 31-34 "So don't worry about these things, saying, What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear? 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. 34 "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today (NLT).

Do we make the Kingdom of God are primary concern above all else each day?

3-25-09 (Wednesday)

IMPORTANT NOTICE: OUR NEXT MEETING WILL BE ON MONDAY 4-6-09 @ 7:00 PM (FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF LAKE PLACID).