I suppose I should write a lengthy update on the last few weeks that have been so sparsely recorded here, but in truth, there isn't a whole lot to write about! God has been gracious to us and given us somewhat of a break from going here and there, hither and yon. We have had things on our plate here at home to take care of, but that is less exciting to report on. The truth is that preparations for
Liberty Day continue to monopolize much of our time. You know, all that fun office stuff that goes behind events: entering registrations, writing behind-the-scenes schedules and scripts, putting together handouts, name tags, prop, decoration and costume making/mending/upgrading, etc. Oh, yes, and rehearsing! The Second Virginia Convention met for a dress rehearsal this past weekend, Jonathan's voice teacher at RVC will be working with the Erberantey's this weekend, and if rehearsals are any indication of what the performance will be like, it should be quite the evening!
On the weekend of January 27 & 28 we were privileged to host
Kevin Swanson and his daughter, Emily. We are so grateful for the vision and ministry that God has given to Mr. Swanson. It was a blessing and encouragement to us and our church to have Mr. Swanson come and share with us the passions that God has placed on his heart, both on Saturday evening as he visited with the elders, and Sunday morning and afternoon as he taught the congregation. Mr. Swanson gave us all much to think about and seek after as we strive to glorify the Lord in our own lives, and in the life that we lead as a church family.
This past weekend brought another kind of "event" to us - but this time it was the type that is oh, so memorable, but not really one that one wishes to repeat. Ah, now where to start the saga...
(The site of the saga)Well, it all started when one gentleman - who will for the present remain nameless - procured a flooring job for another gentleman - also currently nameless - down in Wrigleyville.
(For those of you not acquainted with Chicago, Wrigleyville is that area of town surrounding the famous and historic Wrigley Field - home of Chicago's beloved Cubs.)
(The view from the roof of the worksite).
It being a very advantageous job, they bid upon the job, and, as their bid was accepted, they prepared to begin work.
However, due to circumstance, the site foreman requested that they come install the flooring on a Saturday - preferably starting and finishing the job on the same day. Of course, that was no problem at all as the gentlemen both had brothers available to help them on Saturdays.
So, this past Saturday the two gentlemen and their brothers along with another young man drove down into Chicago to install a considerable amount of tile. Due to the sudden death of a relative, one of the gentlemen was unable to stay through the day, reducing the number of working men to but five. Still, though the night hours grew rather late, they managed to finish the work.
Incidentally, we have had a cold snap this past weekend, in fact as I write the temperature has made it all the way up to 10 degrees and that is the highest it has been for several days. This past Saturday night it was well below zero.
Incidentally, of the three vehicles that had driven the 6-now-5 men down to Chicago, two of them were run by diesel engines, and the other... well, anyway.
Incidentally, diesel engines don't start in sub-zero weather.
Sending two of the young men home in the non-diesel vehicle, the remaining three called the ever-reliable AAA.
Incidentally, the gentleman making the call was not a member with AAA, but decided then and there that he really wanted to join. So he did, and, charging no fee beyond that of membership, they sent out a tow truck to assist them in traversing the 75+ miles between the job site and home. However, they were informed by the AAA "customer advocate" that the towing company was busy that evening and would be unable to pick them up until 2:00am.
The gentlemen figured they would find someplace warm to wait (as the building they had been working in was under construction and unheated, aside from a small and fairly ineffective radiator). As they also could confess to having an appetite that had been kindled by a long day's work, they sought out food as well. Of course, not many restaurants are open at 1:00am, but right next door to where they were working was a bar... But the bar was not serving any food either, so all they could do was wait hungrily and sleepily at the work site. They sat down to wait. And wait. And wait. One of the young men, in an effort to thaw his cold and tired limbs sat down upon the radiator and promptly fell asleep... only to awaken and find that he had burned his leg. The hours ticked by and finally the clocked clicked over to 4:00am. A cell phone rang. No, it wasn't anyone from home checking up on them, it was the alarm he had set for the morning before... The minutes clicked by again until 4:30 came around and with it finally arrived the tow truck.
One of the vehicles simply needed a jump, but the tow truck didn't have any jumper cables with them... huh? So hauling one vehicle onto the tow truck, and pulling the other behind, the three workers and the tow truck driver crammed into the tiny cab.
Incidentally, the driver had a bucket seat - which meant the three others had to sort of squish onto the remaining sort-of-seat-and-a-half. The driver offered them blankets and told them to make themselves comfortable - somewhat of an impossibility - but they did the best they could; one of the gentlemen sitting on the floor and the feet of the other two. Two of them sort of dozed (cautiously, though, as to avoid falling asleep and leaning onto - horrors - the
driver's shoulder). The third sought to stay awake to direct the driver over the many miles to home. Though, in truth, their destination was home to their brother and not to themselves, and said brother was the one who had been hurried from town earlier in the day.
It was around 6:30am Sunday morning, that the three gents bid adieu to their driver and called us and asked Dad to pick them up. Arriving at our place around 7:00 they were in high spirits and enjoyed giving us an entertaining - if somewhat disorganized - rehearsal of all that had taken place during the previous 24 hours. I assure you, the story is much more amusing when related directly from the horses mouth after 24 busy, sleepless hours. However, all they really wanted at the time was food, showers, clean clothes, and warmth. When that had all been granted they suddenly realized that they were in fact very sleepy...
"Adversity toughens manhood and the characteristic of the good or the great man is not that he has been exempt from the evils of life, but that he has surmounted them!"
~ Patrick HenryEpilogue:Three of the aforementioned gentlemen returned to Wrigleyville earlier this week to grout the tile that they installed on Saturday. It was, again, a late night. There is some indication that the foreman may hire them to work on another job site in the same area. They have some ideas about possibly having a little talk with him about the hours they can work. There is also a possibility that on opening day they may have tickets to one of those rooftops that overlook the field... So maybe, after all, it wasn't such a bad day's work.
