Thursday, December 11, 2008

The House






Monday, during an ice storm, several board members and guests joined Lisa (we can use her name now) the homeowner at her house in Terril to survey the work to be done. We shivered in the gutted house and saw again the great potential of the open concept, the great windows, and the very nice lot for raising a little family.

I'm going to let the photos speak for themselves. The one where board members Ed and Nick are standing, talking to Earl, the master plumbing and heating guy -- they're standing in the bathroom. No, really. The frost footings are there for the water and sewer lines, but that part of the house had to be demolished so the bathroom, right now, is open air.

The house needs everything, but we're up for the challenge.

We can't do it on our own. We've had a donation of insulation as well as many hands ready to help. But everything from drywall to flooring to wiring to plumbing to a furnace and air conditioning to appliances is still on its way.

Will you help deliver it? Any day now the Fuller Center for Housing -- Iowa Lakes page will appear on the Fuller Center for Housing website at http://fullercenter.org/ The page will have the Donate Now button. Otherwise, feel free to email us if you have an in kind donation we can pick up.

Thank you for helping us create livable housing for our friends and neighbors in the Iowa Lakes.

Enjoy the photos.

And...this video, reminding us that God uses us "as is." You might think you don't have what it takes to serve God and do big things for Him as His hands and feet here on earth. Trust me, if Ed and I can do it, you can, too.

This song, by Iowa native Peder Eide, reminds us that nearly everyone God used whose story was recorded in the bible started out with serious deficiencies in ability, character, and motivation.

If you feel a pull on your heart and a recurring image in your mind of some way you can make the world a better place, I hope you will act on it. God will fill in what you lack.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Home for Christmas

Are you on Facebook? If so, we invite you to join our Facebook group here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=35209756523&ref=mf#/group.php?gid=34605411908/

The Fuller Center Iowa Lakes family is growing. We have our five board members -- a diverse group of our friends and neighbors in the Lakes area -- and more volunteers are coming forward. We will be meeting with our board soon to sign our Articles of Incorporation and ByLaws. We've received some in-kind donations for our first project house and will soon be able to receive monetary donations, too.

As a nation, we're in the worst financial situation since the Great Depression. Has that affected your giving? It will affect everyone and everything. It provides all the more reason to help our struggling neighbors make their homes livable so they can stay there.

I talk a lot in this blog about the call on my husband, Ed's, heart. We've been so affirmed, so blessed, so overwhelmed by how it's all coming together -- confirming what we've felt for years.

Okay, here's the video for this blog. It's by my favorite band, Downhere -- a new song that came out this Fall.



"Here I am, Lord, send me. Somehow my story is a part of Your plan."

"In this mess, I'm just one of the pieces. I can't put this together, but You can."

Blessings in this season to you all. In Advent we remember the light in the darkness. In His birth, we'll see the light fill the world. Thank you for glowing some light in the darkness, for having faith that He will put together your piece of this mess.