July 15, 2011- Friday

It’s Friday evening & I can’t believe how this week has flown by!!! This will be a much appreciated & restful Sabbath!!!

My alarm went off at 3:45 this morning, so I wasn’t totally groggy when Andrew called me at 4 am. It is Andrew’s birthday (45th) & wedding anniversary (13th) today so & sang “Happy Birthday” to him—I don’t think I’ve ever sung that song at that hour of the morning before!!!

Today was filled with the challenges of passing the forklift training test [Andrew, Carlene & I all passed—PTL!!!!!!!!!!!!], picking Carlene & Sam’s brains to try to capture all the information Andrew & I will need to lead the ACS warehouse [WH] operation next week so Sam & Carlene can have a break & return to their church & family activities, & saying “goodbye” to the awesome group of young people from Kansas City who have worked so hard & have blessed us so much this week!!!!!!! Before they left town, they stopped by the WH again & presented Mark S. with a bag of money they wanted to donate to help us minister to the people of Joplin—this was money they each contributed from their own personal spending money!!! We were all so touched by their sacrifice, & Mark told them we’d use it to help the people living in the tent city. Sam is planning to get a plaque, go visit their church some Sunday, and make a special report to their church family about their AWESOME ministry in Joplin. They processed approximately 250 – 280 pallets of donations in the two & a half days they worked with us!!!

Carlene had some serious software issues as she was trying to enter corrections into the AidMatrix database that is designed to keep accurate records of our inventory. The only person who has authority to give people access to the system has been unable to set me up in the system due to no internet service where she is staying. This was very disappointing to us because we were planning on getting our inventory records up-to-date before Carlene left tonight.

It was another sweltering day in Missouri with a temperature of 100° outside when we shut down the warehouse early at 4 pm. The weather forecast tonight is predicting 99° temps this weekend with no relief in sight next week.

Suzanne’s Natural Food Store in Joplin provides delicious vegetarian meals for the management team at the warehouse everyday & local Adventist Church members pick the food up & bring it to the warehouse for us. This is a tremendous blessing to our team! They advertised in the local media offering free vegetarian meals to workers & those affected by the tornado, & so the pastor’s wife, Jenny, contacted them & made the arrangements for us. This is a ministry I hope I remember to suggest to my church family back in MN as an awesome way to use a person’s cooking talents in disaster relief ministry.

Andrew & I have been eating breakfast & supper in our rooms at the motel in Carthage, purchasing food at Wal-Mart & utilizing our refrigerators & microwaves. Our rooms aren’t fancy, but are very cozy & comfortable & the owners are very friendly & helpful. It is located on the very edge of town by a lake & it’s wonderfully quiet & peaceful. When we leave in the mornings, birds are serenading us.

Another wonderful blessing I received today was a chair massage from a professional massage therapist. A group of therapists visit different agencies providing disaster relief & give free chair massages to the workers. What a great boost to the spirits & bodies of people working to help others.

In spite of my efforts to avoid this, Andrew & I took yet another “scenic route” to Joplin for our forklift training (if you can call driving on unfamiliar roads before sunrise “scenic”!!!) & it was only by God’s grace in answering our fervent prayers & “Susan’s” directions that got us to our training on time!!! Andrew has been so patient with my stubborn persistence in trying to conquer my navigational dyslexia from Carthage to Joplin. Tomorrow “Susan” will be our navigator to church.

While most of our volunteers were at lunch, I spent a little time practicing driving a forklift. Mark S. showed me exactly how to change the propane fuel tank & Mark G. gave me some very helpful pointers to avoid common problems. I found a pallet that was setting sort of by itself, approaching it from two different directions & raising it. Next week hopefully there will be some slow times when I can get more practice so my brain will have a deeper imprint & I will remember the proper procedures readily & become more comfortable using this machinery.

Andrew & I stopped at Wal-Mart again on our way home & picked up more fruit, juice & other food so we’re prepared for Sabbath. After eating & finishing my preparations for Sabbath it was almost sundown. Andrew came to my room & we welcomed the Sabbath together. Isaac (my son) called so I had a chance to talk with him & my precious grandson, Kayden. They’ve had torrential rain there, but praise God, He has kept them safe. I’ve spent some time documenting the day’s activities, & now it’s time to enjoy a good night’s sleep.

Please keep us in your prayers, that God will totally possess us & that we will hear His voice & follow His direction. We’ve been earnestly praying that God will send us the people we need this coming week & we solicit your prayers for this, too.

Goodnight from Joplin, MO where the devastation is incredible, but God’s intervention is GREATER & His Spirit is working mightily!!!!!!!!!!!