Moving Right Along!

These are the most recent shots I have of the building - though they are by no means the most recent I could be posting. Since I took these, they've finished setting the trusses, sheeted the roof and it has snowed. Bill Wood and Allen Blooflat sheeted the roof and Rosa Blooflat shoveled the snow out of the building. This weekend the shingles should be going on. We are so excited to see the actual rooms that we will soon be worshipping in.

It's a Building!!!

It's Here!!!

We received a fax this morning - it was our approval from the fire marshal. Praise the LORD!!! We are still trying to build as we can pay for it, so that will take some time, but we could have the shell up and inside things started within a couple months. It is going to take a lot of sacrifice from us, but we are up for the task, and we're pretty sure God is, too. :)

8/06/09

We are first on the list for the fire marshall to review our plans on Monday. Praise the Lord!! We are planning to pour concrete as soon as we can get a crew together and hopefully next week, the building will start going up.

Work Day

The workday on Wednesday went very well. The concrete was poured and the blocks laid in less than two hours. But no one remembered a camera. So here is a photo on Wedensday evening of some of us checking out the work that was done.

And here is a photo of most of the work crew. From left to right, Scott Harley, Jared Wood, Pastor Nick Bickish, Bill Wood, Allen Blooflat, Abigail Harley, Chad Harley, Brian Harley and Robert Jones. Two others, Sam Wood from Kenai, and Allen's friend, Harold from Minnesota, are not in the picture. Still, we appreciate their help.

The concrete is started!!! Praise God!!

The men were able to pour the concrete footer today - sunshine and everything. There were a few sprinkles, but not enough to stop the work. The blocks are set and the next step is to lay the groundwork for the plumbing and then the rest of the foundation will be poured. We are so excited!

Meanwhile, our pavillion has been beautified. Rosa Blooflat, our aesthetics coordinater, has planted flowers and done some landscaping around the pavillion. Bill Wood and Brian Harley were kind enough to put tarp up on three sides of the structure. We are able to meet there with minimum discomfort. The ladies are wise enough, however, to bring blankets each week, and even a couple extras for visitors. The joy and excitement in our little group concerning the move to the property is truly a tangible thing. It is wonderful to take a step in God's will and have Him just keep confirming that we are doing the right thing.

This past Sunday was very cool and windy. The piano needed to be moved to a different part of the pavillion because the wind kept blowing the hymnbook pages, and the women wondered why we bothered with our hair. :) We even had a little bit of white stuff blow in. Okay, it was tiny pieces of the foam insulation blocks that the men had cut. But it was still white stuff.

Look for another post soon.

Summer

Wow - I did a fine job of keeping you posted over the winter, didn't I? Sorry about that.

We now have our foundation permit. We are hoping soon to pour the foundation for our main building. The rest of the building has not yet been approved by the Fire Marshal's office. We are working on getting that and praying with faith that it will arrive in time to get the building up before the weather turns real cold again.

How much faith do we have for that, you may ask. Well, enough that we have left the Sterling Senior Center, where we have been meeting for about two years. Starting next Sunday, we will be holding "Old-Fashioned Camp Meetings" at 2:00 p.m. for the summer. Our prayer is that we will be in the building by the end of summer.

So, we would ask you to pray with us for warm weather on Sundays as we embark on this new journey, quick approval for the rest of the building and the ability and time to work on the building to get it done.