A wonderful group supporting a great cause - re-creationusa.org

My parents invited us down for an event at their retirement park - some people at the park setup events a few times a year to provide some fun for the residents.  The groups/entertainers tend to vary year to year but in this case it was a group that had been there before that was very enjoyable. I suspect this group wouldn't normally go to a retirement park but there is a special tie to this one - the person that started the organization/group lives at this retirement park. 

I really wasn't sure what to expect - I had not heard of them before and didn't know anything about them at the time.  I've very glad we went though - the entire family enjoyed them and we saw an aspect of "whats right" with our country - this group demonstrated that.

The group of entertainers are a bunch of pretty young kids - usually age 18 to mid-20's that go around to VA medical centers and some other places to put on a choreographed singing show that is very uplifting and has the goal to remind the veterans that they are appreciated and not forgotten.  The group of kids can change year to year.  The kids all travel together in a van (by themselves) and tow a trailer containing all their equipment and such.  They all take turns in the driving and they put on around 140-150 shows a year (about 30,000 travel miles a year).  It takes around 2 years to visit all the medical centers and such.  They do make stops at churches and such to do fund raisers ans such - the manager follows them everywhere and takes care of all those details. These "kids" have way more responsibilities than many others their age and definitely have a higher maturity level from it.

They were excellent performers and all are volunteers - they don't get paid.  They donate their time, talent and perform all the tasks needed including setup and tear downs.  I wasn't expecting such a polished performance but was blown away at how professional they are. This organization has been doing this for over 40 years now.  I hope they get more recognition for what they do.

If you have an interest in supporting veterans, I would recommend looking into donating to this group. As the manager/CEO of the org/group pointed out - it isn't cheap insuring a bunch of young adults driving themselves around the USA.

For more information, take a look at their website.

http://re-creationusa.org/


If you get a chance to see them in person, I hope you are as blessed by it as we were.

Scott

A comedian and love for others

We really like Mark Lowry - we have watched his videos for quite a few years now.  In case you are not familiar with him - he is a very hilarious comedian, singer and may have other odd talents. 

Anyways, he came to the Tampa area a while back so we decided to see him in person.  I wasn't too thrilled initially about the location which was the Clear Water, Fl area.  Fortunately the drive was uneventful there and back even if a bit longer than expected (I do grown/moan/complain about Tampa traffic).  The event itself was well worth the time and money.  He is so very funny but also has a side we had not seen on the videos.  He called on the crowd to sponsor children through Child Fund (https://www.childfund.org/) where he sponsors a few children (I think he said 6!).  We decided to go ahead and do the same (er, 1 child right now that is) so we are sponsoring a girl in the Philippines. 

We received a little letter from "our girl" a little while back and it was such a sweet note.  Child Fund recommends writing and learning about each other.  The sad part is that I have been dragging my feet in regards to writing her a letter.  For a while, I just chalked it up to being busy - and at times I am.  I've started to figure out what is probably the bigger reason though.  It isn't because we have nothing to say but is more about feeling guilty when we admit to ourselves that we have such an overabundance of so many things compared to this little girl and her family.  One of the hardest decisions we make during the week is which restaurant do we want to go to.  Contrast that to mothers who have to pick which child gets food each day.  Our lives are very drastically different.

We were going to send a large shoe box sized bunch of stuff to our girl - colored pencils, paper, containers to put stuff but after getting it all and then checking the Child Fund site - it said it was only really feasible to send flat stuff like letters, pictures, etc.  It indicated that this was due to cost and "duty" fees or similar things - basically not very cost effective.  I'm still tempted to try but we'll see.  In the mean time, I'm trying to shake the embarrassment of "having too much" so I can write her and encourage her to love Jesus and pursue her dreams.  I think she mentioned maybe teaching someday. 

And by the way, Mark Lowry is a Christian comedian and unapologetic about it!  You can get more info about him or find his store at: https://marklowry.com/.

It is kinda funny - when we went to see Mark Lowry, we ended up parking "on the wrong side" of the building.. wrong only in the sense we had to walk a bit more but it was easier to get out afterwards though.  I wish I had known this ahead of time because we walked by Mark's transportation I think - I think it would have been hilarious to leave some funny notes etc for him.  Oh well, missed an opportunity that probably would simply had led to my embarrassment anyways.  

I'm just grateful that he is around sharing Jesus message using such a great medium and prompting everyone to do more than "help themselves".  

Hebrews 6:10

  God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

Hebrews 13:16

  And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. 

Hope God blesses you and you use your blessings for others!

Scott

The house - the good and bad

I had hopped that we would be well settled by now.  It has been about a year since we moved down here and there has been lots of change that was difficult for everyone to adjust to.  I had hoped that getting into a house and having some space again for everyone to get some "quiet" and "alone" time would help. I guess it has in some ways but I know I still just feel a bit overwhelmed.  We have been trying to get the house in order since we moved in and have had more challenges than expected or hoped.

We realized a bit before Irma that some of the "might be old water damage" indicated on our home inspection was really "ongoing water damage". I did know about some siding damage and that is on my list to fix - was trying to hold off until it cooled a bit.  My thinking was that it has been there for some time so a couple more months..  anyways..  probably will make sure I stick to the priorities instead of letting other things bubble to the top of the todo list going forward.

After about 6 or so roof quotes we decided on a company.  We decided to replace instead of patch - it just doesn't make sense to spend a substantial sum to patch just to replace in maybe 10 years.  We are waiting on a home equity line of credit (HELOC) though.  It would have been ready by now if not for Irma - can't image why a bank would want to do an appraisal after Irma before handing over money? Anyways, it appears they just did a drive-by to make sure the house was standing without any tree sticking out of it and it wasn't wrapped like a fairy tale moat.

So we should be able to give a date for the roofers soon.  I'll have to find the name of a guy that came out a while back regarding our "dryer vent" issue - seemed ok so I'll see if his company can fix up the siding.  My whole family seems to think I shouldn't try dealing with the siding (upper portion of gable) nor roofing myself.  Part of me REALLY doesn't want to admit how hard some things are on my back and knees. Hoping to get out of the "exercise through home projects" state and back into the exercises that actually do strengthen the back.

Hoping that getting through the roof, siding and hopefully finishing the master bath remodel will make it feel "worthwhile".  Ok, so there are a few other semi-related projects floating around that I have to complete as part of that (like getting the old ceiling fan off the floor in the master bedroom and getting the new one with lights installed).  I guess installing the new light switches will make things more complete.. I don't think my wife is buying the "but honey, I just like the open look of the light switches and the retro wiring".

[2017/10] Roof is fixed!  Big load off my mind.  I still have some work to do on the chimney though. I'm seriously considering Hardie Board even though vinyl siding wouldn't need painting.  I still feel that the vinyl is too likely to loosen and blow off without being noticed. 

[2017/11] Have some siding companies coming out to give quotes. Just need gable areas done - T1-11 siding there is rotted, swollen and falling off. I would prefer Hardie Board here but will likely do a quality vinyl.  Had planned to do it myself but am going to try and save my back and that of my overly eager father (gotta love him but .. ).

What we both do like is how the bathroom is turning out though - with a bulk of work by my mom and dad.  I'm completing a good amount of it but my dad did much and showed me how to do "rag rolling" painting and work with tile which I had not done before this.  There isn't much I can do to repay them for all they have done.

The main work remaining is the grout.  We picked up some and I am going to take some scrap tile and do a small test to make sure we like the color before I do the whole floor.  We really liked one of the grouts where we got the tile but it only comes in the sanded variety and we have some pretty small grout lines in places which are better suited to unsanded grout.

I've spent an awful amount of time on the floor and even laying across the toilet (yes - lid down).  It is almost funny the shape of the bruise that caused.  I had to tell my wife that in that whole bathroom - there are only 4 full size tiles that didn't get cut and those are the 4 in front of the toilet.  I did have to laugh a bit at that - just seems a bit "wrong".  Hopefully just one day of grouting and then a half day of mouldings - once we find the mouldings we want.

The theme in this post is "hope" and the happiness expected at the end if one endures the unpleasantness. Ok, so I crafted the theme from a different book (want to make a guess) and took liberty in its use - similar to some news organizations and most movies based upon books.

Hope you enjoyed this post.
Scott