Why Hands

When I was thinking of a title, it took about 5 seconds before Hands came to mind. I sat down a little over a year ago and wanted to come up with a name for my company. Helping others and wanting to show God through my work is where I started and before I knew it His Helping Hands was born. Lending a helping hand to show Jesus to those around me.

Now onto the purpose of this Blog....

I just got back from our Mississippi Mission Trip this past Saturday. It was a neat experience with a lot of stress. 25 students and 11 adults traveled down to Canton, MS to experience the south along the lines of racial reconciliation. While we were down there we ran an outdoor VBS and a work crew replaced the roof on Ms. Jackson's house. Out of all the years that I have been to this area for mission trips, this roof has been the worse one I have seen. Normal roofs up here are 16" on center with 5/8 or 3/4" plywood. Every house I have worked on down there are 24" on center with 3/8" plywood. Another way to put it, watch where you step if not you could be sitting on the couch next to the homeowner. But Ms. Jackson's house had no plywood, rather she had 1 x6 pieces of wood. So there were gaps between each board, rotted pieces and even pieces that were never there. Ms. Jackson was probably in her late 50's or early 60's and was paralyzed from the waist down so she was bed ridden. This made the situation even worse as the roof leaked and came through the ceiling on top of her. The work crew was by far one of the best we had. The other adults might not have had the experience before they arrived, but they all picked it up quickly. The students also did an amazing job and we did get the roof finished. On the last day in Canton, the entire team goes around to all the homes that we worked on singing and praying for the homeowner. We also leave a small planter of flowers. Have you ever had those moments that are so clear to you that you feel Jesus in the same room with you. The team experienced that with Ms. Jackson, her response to the work we did, the singing and praying for her along with the planter of flowers. That moment was one that we all will never forget.

As I think back to the stress of the trip, I also remember that moment and it makes it all worth it.

This will either be my only post, or just the beginning

It seems that everyone has a blog, so I thought that it's time for me to start one. I joined facebook.com back in December 2006-so now on with this piece of technology.

This really isn't my first Blog that I created, just the first one for me! Debbie Shaffer, an adult leader for Senior High, came to me asking for help in creating one after she was diagnosed with Cancer. She felt this would be a great way to keep in touch with those who wanted updates on where she was with her fight. A quick update with that, she is winning the fight against cancer. She just joined us down in Mississippi this past week with our mission trip.

I have been wanting to start a Blog for a while now, so like the title says if it is my only post then I am done. Since I don't want it to be done.............I need to add a second post.