Being in Gulf Shores has created challenges for my training for the ride-mainly getting time. My rides have been just before dark or early on Sunday mornings. Besides the numerous amount of small bugs that make breathing a challenge-it hasn’t been too bad. Unfortunately I am not being challenged by hills which I believe is going to have its affect. But, we’ll see. Sunday I am riding 50 miles just so I know that I will be ok on the following Friday.

I am excited about the riders! We have such a great group of people going with us-all very mission minded and servant hearted.  I will be doing my best to try and keep up. There are only two girls really riding so it will be fun J

Being in Baldwin County and listening to employees of businesses discuss their fear and frustration has helped me stay connected with what is happening here. Although we do not repair homes in this area, the situations that are occurring sometimes become the initial scenarios that strap people financially and keep them from being able to repair their homes.

We are all diligently raising our support and working to raise our $1200.  These proceeds will go to help us serve more families. Some of our goals for the fall include opening a thrift store for building supply materials and possibly becoming a partner with a program called Circles. We have some huge hurdles ahead of us but looking forward to the incredible challenge!

Finally, my ride last Sunday went very well. The distance from Robertsdale to Point Clear and back was 40 miles. Most of it was flat with some small hills. Getting to Point Clear and riding along the Gulf was inspiring and really beautiful. The coastline has rows of quaint and cute cottages most of which are summer or rental homes. Parks were frequent for boat launches and picnics. Much of the land was crop land with a few deep, green, plush horse pastures dotting the landscape. I expected an intense sun but high clouds diffused some of the heat. Without hills I was able to ride fast and was finished in about 3 hours. I know that will not be the case with the actual ride.

Just one week away and I’m ready to ride!

Blessings, lisa

Arts and Hearts will be held on Thursday June 10th at 6:00 PM at the Event Center in Opelika, AL. (near 8th and Rail). There will be several art exhibits that you can bid on and Martha’s Trouble will be the anchor group perfoming musically. It’s going to be a ton of fun.

But why? We are constantly hearing of friends who begin a battle with cancer and many women are being affected by breast cancer. This is what has happened with our friend, Pam. Pam is the sister of Dawn Spurlock who lives in Auburn. Dawn’s husband Heath is on ARM’s board of directors. A few months ago, Pam was diagnosed with breast cancer and found to have some of that cancer in her lymph nodes. Pam is a single parent mom trying to make ends meet. Due to the strained resources, Pam did not have health insurance when she was diagnosed. She faces piling medical expenses that are compounding the problem.

This benefit is one of many to help offset some of her medical bills. Because of the connection with ARM, some of the proceeds will come back into our community to help families needing home repair assistance.

So, if you have some time Thursday night we encourage you to come. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the door.

Go enjoy some great music, beautiful art, and engage in an opportunity to help a family!

Blessings!

ARM is doing some amazing things this summer and fall. Our Livingston staff is getting ready to host their first set of teams in a few weeks. They’re site will be packed with 60+ kids coming each week on average. In Tuskegee, we will stay steady with out of town work teams and weekend teams. This fall, we will be opening our store. We haven’t come up with a name yet but it is a thift store for building supply materials and tools. This will give ARM its own office space (much thanks to the Auburn Wesley Foundation for supporting us for so many years) as well as an extra source of income. ARM is also prayerfully considering another venture that is geared toward helping families get out of poverty. We’ll keep you posted on this development.

But, events like the Cycle of Service help us so much to continue our outreach to underserved families and children. If you would like more information, let us know. Thanks so much and we look forward to seeing you on the ride!

1) Summer staff arrive tomorrow and begin their two weeks of training! We are excited about not only the diverstity of this staff but their experience and talent. They are going to be incredible role models for the youth

2) Annual Conference is right around the corner and we will have snack bar once again to sell items and continue to spread the word about our ministry

3) Cycle of Service is next month and is going to be a great event! We are being inteviewed next week on Alabama Live with Kim Hendrix. This interview will be on Monday, May 17th at 11:00 AM. So, listen out for us. We will also be interviewd by Bob Crittendom on the Meeting House at 4:00 PM Thursday the 20th. These are great opportunities to hear more about the work of ARM!

That’s just the highlights! We are blessed and ready for our summer ministry to kick off!

Check out Cycle of Service http://cycleofservice.arm-al.org

Interested? You can go the entire distance with us or choose a leg of the journey. Registration will begin March 1. If you can’t bike but would like to donate you can do this as well. We have a goal of $60,000. Just go to cycleofservice.arm-al.org to register or give. Thanks and we’ll see you on the ride!

There was the gift of firewood this morning! I was running low on Duraflame logs which are great for starting fires…but you can’t beat the real thing. The “wood” fire was very warm, comforting, and somewhat relaxing. Breakfast came about 6:30 AM and hit the spot plus it was a great visit. I was then greeted by Paul Grisham who sat with me for an hour and talked about all types of ministry opportunities from food ministry to what’s happening in Afghanistan. As time drew closer to 12:00 PM, I began to prepare to have lunch with the United Methodist Women’s group from Auburn UMC. This was their monthly missions luncheon and I was their speaker.  What a great time with them! I was able to talk about life in the box and put that into context of what families face. Their generosity and care was so obvious when this group of about 35 women took up a collection of $866. Wow! I was a bit overwhelmed and touched to say the least. As I arrived back at the box, who did I see but my friend Page, ready to share lunch and some quality time.  More visitors arrived throughout the afternoon…kids bringing me snacks, board members stopping by to check in, coworkers coming to see if I needed anything. It is very rare that we can experience such a pouring out of love and generosity. Then, I was greeted by the missions chair from AUMC who is very active in helping us do repairs in the community. In fact, their group is one of about four working this Saturday. Anyway, after some brief conversation he handed me a slip of paper and said he felt they were good for that-meaning their Mission’s Work Area. The amount was $3555.82. I blinked a few times, tried to pick up my jaw, stuttered a few moments and then realized I might get out of this box early…. That took our amount up to about $8000. Amazing!

As darkness settled in, I was served dinner and visited by many more friends, the Massey’s, the Fulgrum’s, and several Wesley Foundation students.  As I close this night…I’m just in awe of God’s provision and more in touch with the responsibility we now have to serve others. There is so much to do-to release those captive in their own boxes, to work tirelessly at serving with others…what else is life for?

But I must leave you with the ditzy deal of the day. I am a latent pyro…be careful with me and fire. My fire pit was pretty inactive for most of the day so I didn’t think much when I went to dump the ashes into the Auburn UMC dumpster-the same church that just gave us $4000. But as a great pile of ashes poured into a dumpster filled with overstuffed plastic bags of trash, to include old ceiling tiles, boxes, and loose paper-I realized all the ashes from the bottom were still basically coals….and paper began smoldering very quickly…I tried to stamp it out…. Water was very much needed and that sent me on a trek to find a bucket. By the time I got back to the dumpster with water -what started as smolder and smoke was now wild, flames licking out from the edge! Oh, no! Twenty minutes later and several bucket fulls of water…I had it under control. It took nearly an hour to finally put that fire out mainly because I just had small buckets. I can say I did get my work out for the day. So, it was a little bit of action-more than I bargained for but I love great stories especially ones at my expense…

All is good, two more nights and can’t wait to see what the next days entail! Blessings!

 For the most part yesterday I sat in the shack. Equipped with a light and a small heater it was pretty cozy and not quite claustrophobic. I had enough room to sit in my folding chair and one extra for visiting guests.  I would like to think we redefined “shacking up” in a more Christian community based context. I was reminded of some of the Peanuts cartoons and considered putting a sign on the door with “Doctor $.05” The conversations were great-some were catch up with visiting college students, a few old stories, and discussions about Christian Community which then became a discussion starter for our Bible Study/Community Group later that evening. Despite the rain and damp-there was a feeling of warmth and friendship throughout the day. It reminded me of days when people would sit on their front porch and chat or when everyone had an open door policy just to drop by and say hello. Thanks to air conditioners and garages, we’ve lost this art. We’ve sacrificed being personal with now being private.  People in poverty-they haven’t lost this. It is something maybe we should relearn and reclaim. In poverty, neighborhoods are called ghettos. In middle class or wealth they are called subdivisions or gated communities…why is that? Why have we lost the art of families from different economic backgrounds living around each other, learning, and supporting one another? By doing that and becoming more privatized-we have a difficult time forming community and establishing solid relationships and friendships. As much as I hate to say it, take a look at our churches…they most likely are organized the same way…what does that say about our ability to connect and create Christian community with everyone?  We have  a great challenge before us.

 Trust me-I’m working on this too…praying about my role…wondering how I might be more effective and consistent building relationships with people from many backgrounds. I solicit your prayers for that as well. We are excited about the many visitors and people stopping by. Some are using technology to make donations. So, a few more days to go and a little less than $7000. We can do it!

Blessings!

Here’s how it went down. I got to bed early after securing the box with a heavy tarp thanks to Carla’s help. We would be dry and snug as a bug. I wasn’t sure how the wind would affect me but had positive thoughts. As I turned in, I was so excited about sleeping-nice rain, little traffic-perfect! I even had a late night visit with a gift of some cookies! Everything seemed ideal.

Somewhere around midnight I woke up to a weird realization-don’t ask me how. But it seemed that as the flatbed trailer got wetter and wetter, which is actually the “floor” of the box…my mattress might be soaking up water. I did have a small piece of plastic and a sheet down but nothing to really keep water out. I was correct. The bottom of my mattress was working as a sponge and water was seeping in. Now what? I immediately took out my sleeping bag, blanket, and pillow and put them in the small chapel next to the box. I was considering sleeping in there for the night but then thought otherwise. I  propped up the mattress to see where water was coming in…then began to figure out the next step. What would someone in poverty do? Would they be able to leave? Maybe…but most likely they would improvise.

That is what seemed best to me. I found a bunch of large trash bags and lined the floor where the most seepage was occurring. This is when I discovered I had a few more “friends” with me as a large roach scampered up the wall to stay dry…that was the least of my concern. The trash bags seemed as though they would suffice for now. I flipped the mattress back down, reorganized the wall space, killed my friend, and went back to grab my bedding materials. This process took about ½ an hour. Seemingly satisfied and thinking about how many other families in Alabama were doing the exact same thing, I began to pray. I prayed for the families who would not be dry tonight. I thought about the ridge cap we still need to finish. I thought about my warm, dry bed. Then I tried to sleep.

As the night progressed, the winds became stronger and stronger. The loose flap of my tarp flailed against my door at each band of wind gusts. The roof of the building next to me had metal on top and would clang and sounded as if it was coming apart. Occasionally a strong gust would come through and rock the trailer-not like a gentle “hammock rock” -but like a boat about to be flipped. I wondered how Jesus really slept through that storm-I wasn’t doing so hot. I think I would have been like those disciples-freaked out thinking they were going to capsize and drown. I never fully fell asleep for any length of time. Five thirty finally came around and although I couldn’t really move-I couldn’t sleep either.

The rain is still coming and will be here throughout the day. I have now evacuated into the chapel and reinforced my box floor with more plastic. Against one side of the box, the mattress is propped up with the hopes it will dry a bit before tonight.

I will still be thinking about all I have learned the past few days. People in poverty are industrious. They work hard, complain little, and see every gift as God’s providence. They find it difficult to grasp things like the tax system-they just know they pay a lot. They may not understand why minimum wage is low and maybe the concept of what a “living wage” is-they just know that despite two jobs or living on social security-its just not enough. That’s what this box is all about-that is what my life and vocation are dedicated to. To God be the glory.

ARM is a ministry sharing the love of Christ through home repair and weatherization ministry. We are always seeking loving volunteers who want to serve with a family.

Blessings!

The “shack/box” will be located in front of the AU Wesley Foundation along Gay Street (across from Tiger Rags).  Lisa will have information about poverty in Alabama and specifically Lee and Macon Counties. This is a children’s event as well. Kids who give a $5 donation or more will receive a paint brush and be able to “paint” part of the box as a way to connect them with home repair and brighten the box. They then get to keep the brush. Other information will be available about tangible ways to volunteer and help families in our community. Rain or shine-we will be there but come help Lisa get out of the box as soon as possible and be a part of the solution to ending poverty.