The last day of our host week dawned early. David and Bruce had gotten everyone stirring. When I arrived at the church all the families had gotten their belongings outside their door for the truck. They stripped the beds and put the linens in a big pile. They folded their beds, and each Mom swept her room.
The overnight hosts--great guys that they are--helped roll beds to the hallway and move bins. The take down crew of Kitty L, Carmen, Alicia, John, Katherine, Sarah, Mac, Steven and Ed were busy bees getting everything done with time to spare.
Erik was the Van driver and he took Crystal to work, along with her children, then went to the Day Center with everyone else.
Denise can't get away from her IHN Coordinating job--she woke up this morning, in Austin TX on central time, to a call from the person who was staying at the Day Center (paid by FPC) saying her ride had cancelled. Denise relayed the message to Athens--and Ed to the rescue. The young woman was in a UGa dorm, and he picked her up in his sporty silver convertible and took her to the Day Center. She was very grateful to Ed--as was Erik who was waiting for her arrival!! What a great team we have.
The truck driver came as we were beginning to get antsy and everything was back in order for Sunday School. He tried the "Bergeman Method" and parked at the ramp. John and his kids who did the loading pronounced it better than bumping up and down the steps. Thanks for the great idea Carl.
Everything that belongs to First Pres (sheets, pillows, mattress covers, blankets, etc) was moved back to the IHN storage spot "Under the Porch" to rest for several weeks until called back into service.
The dishwasher was emptied of clean dishes, and four -- LARGE bags of laundry were put into the small kitchen with the names of the Sunday laundry do-ere: Sarah, Marie, Zanne and Debbie. They will be returned in a week or so clean and ready to be used again during our next host week.
Thanks to all 76 people and the 6 IHN Coordinators who made this week go well. Our guests were pleasant, grateful and well tended. We are blessed to have had time to interact with them.
A couple of things happened that I didn't know about until today:
--Denise said "On Thursday night two year old Melissa serenaded everyone at dinner with Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the ABC song. While it could be a bit difficult to understand, Melissa let everyone know when the song ended by clapping enthusiastically and saying 'Yeah!' It was very cute."
--Rick reported that when he had everyone in the Van ready to return to the church on Friday evening, that the UGa Homecoming Parade had all the streets blocked off to traffic. But Rick doesn't take no for an answer--he explained to the very nice police officer that he had nine people, including very young children and there was no way they could walk six blocks. The officer let him pass and Rick parked the Van in the FPC parking lot! Then he walked back to First Baptist for his car. Way to persist Rick!
At 1:00 pm our faithful Day Center volunteers Maggie and Virginia arrived and stayed until 5:00 when the log book and all the guests are passed into the good hands of the IHN coordinator at First Baptist. It's just a short walk across the street from the Day Center.
Speaking of First Baptist--kudos to them for taking over the Our Daily Bread soup kitchen when Oconee Street Methodist burned. The crowd has increased, and they began as the temporary home,
but recently made it a permanent move. If you know people at First Baptist please give them loud praise for their good work in this and so many ways.
Keep the IHN families in your prayers. Crystal and her family's time is drawing to a close in early December and they are in need of affordable housing in a safe place. These three Mothers are working hard to move into their own place and your prayers are greatly needed.
Til our first Host Week of 2014...thanks for ALL you do for IHN!
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