It’s good to be back in the US office, and in good time, too. Lloyd is here today (the fellow that does most all of our shipping) but he is leaving tomorrow for a week, and then it becomes my job. The office is short-staffed these days, as Russ and Ken are away for the week, Tom’s in CO, coming back Thursday, and Rachel is still in Canada. So, it’s only Barney, Lloyd, Faith and I. It’s still do-able, just not as redundant as before!

Today, I finished up Jim / Leslie’s basement (as far as the mud-on-the-rock goes), basically just shot texture on the ceiling and some last touch ups on the archway.
After that, Melissa and I loaded up and headed south, leaving at around 10:30 I think it was. There was a light snow, but no accumulation on the roads. They were, however, quite wet. And that means a lot of spray coming up from the traffic in front. This is where I missed my Toyota, because the washer / wiper combination on my GMC doesn’t work well at all (something I’ll have to fix one day.)
There was some interesting ice patterns on the truck, photos to come later.

I’m still helping out in Jim’s basement, finishing up the sheetrock mud job. It’s going well, probably a couple more days yet to go to finish things off.
Yesterday Trevor came in and framed in the arch doorway, and then I hung the rock around it. It’s now taped and has the first coat of mud, and will sit for a day before I get back to it. But all in all I’m pleased how it’s going—I learned a lot from the last time (where I helped out with 2 bathrooms and a hallway a couple weeks ago.)
But I did buy a new tool (you see, a job’s not worth doing unless you can buy a new tool.) It’s nothing major - just a floor scraper - but something that will be a big help in days to come.
Tomorrow looks like fixing some shelves at the GS office. Oh, and answer the phone.

Today started with 20 skids of Tabernacle Furniture (temp link) arriving at our office at 8:00 am. With a borrowed pallet jack, our electric forklift and our pallet jack, we made quick work of unloading. By 10:00, we had about 12 skids worth pack high on our shelves. Such a blessing to have the tools to do a job right.
These are only for sale to ‘walk-ins’ right now, as we have shipping supplies ordered to properly ship these packages. There are no shipping orders till next week Thursday!
After, I packed up my truck and a borrowed trailer to take a load of these materials up to our Canadian office. Rachel and MJ are riding with - Rachel to work with JRC on By This Name, a new book coming out in April, and MJ to hang out with her friends up in Canada for a week.
So, if you need to call me this next week, don’t! (unless you just leave a message.) My phone will be OFF while I’m in Canada.

Sure is nice to get things done.
1) Hauled 3 desks down to Marc - cleaning out the warehouse for the Tab furniture.
2) Fixed the trailer brakes on the truck (was scheduled for last Saturday.)
3) Got the trailer to haul tons of stuff up north to the Canadian office.
4) Corrections completed on the Portuguese Lamb. (Need logos and title designed.)
5) Most of the corrections done on the French Lamb (need to replace the logos is all that’s left.)

I was going to come back after supper, but then I remembered I need to do laundry. No comments, please.

Today, it was a good day in that Majkl’s court case is being reviewed by a court that seems to want to get to the bottom of things, which is a good thing. See http://www.majkl.org/ for more details.

Also, today I was able to mail out the last check for my car purchase. That is a big praise item too!

2 Corinthians 9:6-15 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.  7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.  9 As it is written: “He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”  10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.  11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.  12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.  13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.  14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.  15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

Today I was thinking of the need once again to find a place to live. I’m not totally sure about the 3-5 year house-sitting plan, but it doesn’t look good in my favor. So that leads to the point of looking—either for a place to buy or a place to rent. I’ve always thought of renting as a waste of money, but with my current income, I might be able to borrow $50-75k. That, as you may already thinking, won’t buy much! So, the other options available are buying something like a camper-trailer, or renting something small like a studio apartment.
I know God is faithful and fully trustworthy. Just knowing what to do is often the problem. Some say, “What are you trusting God for?”—meaning: make a list and believe God to fill it. That sounds good, but my list is short: A place to live. A garage would be nice, a place for my tools and possibly to work on other’s vehicles and the like. But that’s extras that aren’t a part of the contract.

We’ll see what God does! In the mean time it’s prayer for wisdom and foot-leather (or is it elbow grease?)

Just a note on the basement story…did get the texturing done today (that is, if everyone likes it!)
All that’s left is clean-up and some small odds to fix. It’s been a big project, though it didn’t seem like it at first.

This week is just about over—and just about finished off the basement of Jim’s house. There is some sanding and a few touch-up places that need to be finished, but all in all it’s looking good. This isn’t the whole basement - the only thing left is the bathroom (which isn’t finished yet) and the family room. Time will tell when I (or someone else) can get to that.
There was also a few projects that was brought further to completion - The Lamb PowerPoint, and The Interactive Edition of The Stranger. All in all it was a good week.