St. John's Lutheran Stone Church - Harmony, PAI was raised Lutheran. My mom and dad took us to church every Sunday, where my sister and I would join the 4 other kids that were part of the congregation for Sunday School. Our Sunday School teacher was also our Pre-K teacher, and nearly half of the 40-or-so members were farmers. Small, cute, and personal.
I got a lot of ‘Catholic’ exposure through my aunt & uncle’s church, where my sister and I attended when my parents had to work. Quite frankly, mass was a LOT of work! Up, down, kneel, sing, wear fancy clothes, scoot around 1000 people, couldn’t have communion, up, down, kneel, cross your arms shoulders elbows knees eyeballs… it was just --- phew.
So, on Saturday the 12th, I read the schedule to find I would be leading a group of nuns. Flashbacks of the days in that big ol’ Catholic church flooded my mind. I started thinking about the nuns that I’d met at Kaki & Ray’s church. As I remembered them, the nuns at St. Margaret Mary’s were quiet, gentle, and soft-spoken...– I needed the nuns to hang heavy, 12 ft-long, ½ inch thick, sheets of drywall in 5 rooms for Miss Yolanda…
My "kindergartners" Then I scrolled down to the number of volunteers I should expect for the week.
TWENTY-THREE.
I didn’t sleep much on Sunday night. That’s 10 more people than I’d ever lead, even though I would have ½ the crew working with Luanne at preparing the house for vinyl siding…
I made sure to eat my Wheaties, and headed to the site Monday morning. Around 8:30 my first volunteer arrived, Tim, a Canadian who has lived quite an adventurous life, and is traveling North & Central America with his girlfriend, Sandra. Tim had volunteered the previous week at another site. “Hey, Tim, did they tell you who else is volunteering with you?” …”nope” … “twenty-two nuns.” … Tim chuckled, and I joined him. There’s something about the image of 22 women dressed in black robes and hats hanging drywall…and having Tim be the only man of the group.
Cars pulled up from every angle around 10:00, and soon the house was filled with chitter chatter. We had 5 men join the crowd, which then opened my eyes to the fact that “nuns build” doesn’t mean that only nuns would be joining us – but also men & women who attend the Catholic church as well.
Twenty-Four people on one site. All mass-goers, providing mass progress, amidst mass chaos. End result? Mass success.
We had 11 people outside of the house working on scraping paint, painting the porch, boxing in the eaves of the roof, and prepping other areas for vinyl siding. Jack, Tim, Mike, Kathy, Kathy, Jill, Sara, Donna, Ludy, Maureen, and Lori. Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for the Project, Sara & Jill were used elsewhere during the week to effectively use their mechanics & electrical backgrounds. Luanne helped lead this crew Monday through Wednesday. The group was so amiable & motivated, that after Luanne left on Wednesday, they continued to basically lead themselves on the house Thursday and Friday. The house porch was spic n’ span by Friday, white as can be, and about 7/8 of the one side of the house had vinyl siding. All the eaves were boxed in too, thanks to Josh, a 19-year-old guy who was just walking by the house on Wednesday, decided to volunteer for the day, and continued to come back for Thursday and Friday as well.
The interior of the house is more my specialty, and so we had 12 people or so that took ownership of drywalling the rooms of the house.
I usually try to match up skill levels, physical ability, and the comfort of a volunteer with a task that would appeal to them, and would also best suit them.
“Cash Bill” and “100-dollah-Bill” and John were consistently my ceiling sheetrockers. I’m sure they’re probably still sore to this day.
SRM, Carole, Janet, Marie-ce, Theresa, Betty Jane, Margaret, and Marty tackled closets, and walls that needed drywall. Rooms were being completed before my eyes, and I became deaf to the sound of the drill bit sinking screws. I found that Terry, one of the nuns, was very skilled and soon I had her hanging ceiling sheetrock for closets and tackling tasks alone, which she was more than happy to do. It took until Friday before she pulled me aside (after having just come down off a ladder, mudding the ceiling) …. “Leisl. I just want you to know… I’m Eighty.” Well I’ll be darned. “Never slow down, stay active, love life.”
Amen, Sister (I’ve never said that literally). Amen.
The house has walls! I was very blessed to work with such a large, driven, happy group – who also got a ton done for Miss Yolanda. This will certainly be a week I will always remember.
Thank you, Jack, Tim, $100 Bill, Cash Bill, Mike, Josh, John, Tyrone, Janet, SRM, Carole, Marie-ce, Theresa, Betty Jane, Terry, Kathy (vinyl), Kathy (mudder), Jill, Sara, Donna, Ludy, Margaret, Marty, Lori, and Maureen.
What they accomplished!:
Siding
Kitchen is coming along!
Big Bathroom
Miss Yolanda's Bedroom!
