When Was The Last Time...

Babygirl and I were on some journey or other a while ago and heard a country/western song: For the First Time (Darius Rucker). "When was the last time you did something for the first time?" For Babygirl it had been less than a day. For me, well, I had to think about it.  Hard,

As we get older, I think, we've done more, so "first times" become somewhat more rare on that basis.  If I recall correctly, Babygirl's "first" at that moment was writing a check. THAT ship sailed so long ago for me that I'm sure the hull's been replaced a time or two.  But sometimes I pass some "first times" by for other reasons:  Babygirl's recent foray into parasailing didn't appeal at all for reasons of seasickness and a appalling vision of happens to 60-year-old bones if you drop them a few feet.

Be that as it may...

Our mission trip this year included several wonderful "firsts" for me. 

Our project type was not a first - it was flooring.  But it was the first time I've ever had to remove an ENTIRE room floor.  From the kitchen.  With the family actually living in the house, using the kitchen while we were working.  The subfloor had been saturated by a leaky central AC unit (repaired prior to our arrival).  The floor was so weak that when we removed the laminate overlay it immediatly collapsed in places, becoming a moldy, wet, danger to all of us.

Oh, and this was the first time my family has included toddlers.  In the house. While we were taking out their kitchen floor. Which was, incidentally, between their living room and the bathroom.

How Conveeenient.....

Especially the two days we disabled the stove.  The fridge moved into the living room.

This was, however, also the very first time in 15 years of mission trips that I have ever had the priveledge of FINISHING a project.  Out homeowner actually cried when we laid the last piece of tile.

This was also the first year that Babygirl was not on my team. She had decided ahead of time to split off on her own.  At 18, she's old enough to watch out for her health hazards.  Honestly, it turned out to be a good thing. We had an extremely moldy project.  Hers was much cleaner.

The other churches populating our center were wonderful, and every night there were games and laughter.  We learned how to play Egyptian Rat Screw.  We taught them Tenzi.  Dairy Queen was enjoyed by all.  And as always, we go in knowing that we aren't going to be enough, have enough, do enough, but that somehow, God IS enough.

DeeDee