Divine Design: The Birdhouse

from Wes

2008-07-08T06:34:00.001-07:00

We also got this note from Wes. Remember we did his room in addition to our planned work?

To say thank you all, Divine Design Volunteers for and from the guys living in 64 Seneca, for our house renovations.

Karen, Kris Janet, Dawn, Karen, Kathy, Lottie, Kathy, Lauretta, Kathy, Paige, Marle, Sue, Peggy,

Lee Anne and Kim.
Wes, JC, Rodney. Don, Tim, and Dan, we so appreciateall your hard effort and it really improves our living environment one hundred percent.
Thanks so very mucn again.

Please join us thanking God and the people who listened to Him when He prompted them to help us financially with Wes and Dan's room. After the trip we received financial contributions to cover everything we did for them!

Encouragement

2008-07-08T06:13:00.000-07:00

We got this note yesterday from Marilyn, who is the volunteer coordinator at GCH. She has a tough job. Imagine a busload of people arriving and asking what they should do. Marilyn is the boss of all of that. That is why we arrive with a plan and we work the plan without asking for help. So, how great is it to know that the men are showing off their new home?

Dear Kim, Lee Anne and Worker Girls,

You Rock!!! thank you for the hours of unconditional love, devotion and creative energy. The Bird House has a new and wonderful look and the men are inviting everyone to come and see. Pastor Clark, Don Darin and our staff want to thank each and every one of you Godly women.

We send you our love and we thank God for you. Please know that the Spirit of the Lord has been raised up because of your humble attitudes and hard work.

Much love and thanks,
Marilyn and Staff

Prayer Needs:

Praise God that the men were so encouraged by our work!
Pray for Marilyn to keep her great attitude and energy

Before and After Photos

2008-06-27T12:39:00.000-07:00

The Team

Before

After

Just kidding! We took these pictures at the same time, just for fun.

Upstairs Bedroom

Before

Having no place to put his clothes, the resident in the front bed, threw everything on the floor. All he had were piles of clothes, a broken bed, and two bookshelves full of books. He is an American history buff, he had some really great books. We brought a sturdy bookshelf up from the dining room for him.

After

New dresser, bed, bedding, and armoire.

Before

The other resident in this room walled himself off a space with several wall cabinets stacked on top of each other and a shower curtain. This blocked off the light and air from the side window. Back in the corner were two bookshelves that were in such bad shape, we could not get them down the stairs in one piece. He was hanging his clothes on a large metal four armed rack like you see in a department store. It took up a lot of space in the room.

After

No kidding, this is the same room. Shower curtain, stacks of cabinets, metal department store fixture for clothes removed. The room is opened up. Two armoires and two dressers put in.

Upstairs Bathroom

Before

Cabinet that nobody used.

After

Permanent ironing board and towel rack with fresh towels.

Before

Shower

After

Shower curtain, re-caulked shower.

Before

After

This is the upstairs bathroom. It is a large bathroom with windows, we loved it. It got a new toilet seat, tp holder, some moulding that was missing, some small wall art, new paint and shelves to the left of the sink. Bible on the toilet. Why not?

Dining Room

Before

After

Before

The bookshelves were not being used. The books in them were left from previous residents. I hope your computer monitor does these walls justice. They were primary yellow.

After

One of the bookshelves is now upstairs in a bedroom. Both desks were moved together. We added lamps and a canvas. The canvas is a reflection of the book we read about Ann Judson before the trip. This is a well lit, clean surface for paying bills, doing puzzles, or bible study.

Living Room

Before

After

Before

Not bad, but not comfortable. The cushions were very thin and you could feel springs through them. The carpet was ripped with holes and the thickness of felt. It could not be cleaned anymore.

After

New paint, furniture, silk tree, lamps, ottoman with storage, curtains, and new carpeting in the living room. We got a generous discount on the sofa and chair from Value City and the carpet and installation was free.

Before

Old entertainment center that was huge and very heavy. We gave it to Rescued Treasures and it was sold in two days. Another way to help GCH.

After

New entertainment center, cleaner looking wall with art.

Downstairs Bedroom

Before

This is the additional project that we did, one that we had not planned in advance. Two men sleep here. All of the furniture they had was broken or non functional. One was using a dining room buffet as a dresser. He was also sleeping with his bed on plastic milk crates because his bed frame had only three legs.

After

The team did this room in one day. It was a real team effort to do the shopping the night before and assemble the furniture (what you can't see are two large armoires on the wall behind you), clean out all the old and install all the new. A patriotic theme was requested.

We cannot thank you enough if you supported us financially or prayerfully. You were as important a part of this mission trip as we were. The men of the Birdhouse thank you too. We know they will keep everything in good shape. We did their kitchen last year and they worked hard to keep it looking good after we left.

God bless you!

Last Day

2008-06-27T05:59:00.001-07:00

It got quite warm today. We would have been in trouble without our encouragement team keeping us in ice and cold water. It was really good that we had the upstairs of the house finished so we did not have to spend a lot of time up there in the heat.

We found some giant canvases in the basement. The art team went to work. One artist painted the background, another printed some scripture. Hung on the wall, they made a great addition to the room.

This is the extra room we took on today. Two men live in this room.

Explaining the art of organization to Wes. Wes lives in the downstairs room with Dan at the BirdHouse. They have a very small room and when we were finally allowed inside, it was like a cave. We gave them storage, cleaned up, opened the windows, and tried to teach them how much better if makes you feel to have a tidy refuge from the world.

Building two more armoires. These armoires turned out to be the perfect storage system for the men....a place to hang clothes, a couple drawers, and some shelves. Best of all, the doors close and everything inside is hidden.

We left the BirdHouse and came back to church, where some great people had dinner ready for us. All team family members were invited. We sat in the air conditioning, visited, looked at some pictures from the week and ate a great dinner we did not have to make.

This week, we not only accomplished what we had planned, but much more. It is awesome how God pulled together 14 women from four churches to work as a well oiled machine. While the work was building and decorating, the real work God sent us to do was encouragement. We all left feeling the blessings and encouragement came back to us twofold.

Prayer Needs:

Praise God that our trip was more than successful and that we had many meaningful conversations with the men of the birdhouse.
Please pray that our work continues in the sharing of the story of our mission trip.

Day 3

2008-06-25T20:00:00.001-07:00

Our carpet was stored two houses away in a shed. Our carpet installer was coming first thing this morning, so we carried it over.

We carry the furniture, the delivery guy carries two pillows???

Relocating some very tall lilies.

Tracey, a great guy who installed our carpet for us in the living room and dining room. All by himself.

Installing an ironing board in a cabinet.

Building the dining room table.

Three busy days, one more to go.

Prayer needs:

Please pray for additional money and time to start and complete an additional room tomorrow
that they men in the house will be encouraged by the activities of the week

Day 2

2008-06-24T19:54:00.001-07:00

The early risers met at 7 to load the truck. We had two beds and two armoires in it. It was packed. We are just packing it full each day and taking as much as we can. It is so nice that they gave us a little man power to help carry things.

Lunch today was made and served by the staff of the Food Network. No, it was really our encouragement team, but they made everything not only tasted great, but look beautiful.

Furniture building started today. We had two large armoires to be built. The first one took almost 2 1/2 hours. The second one only an hour and a half. Too bad we didn't have more, they could get their building time down to minutes.

At the end of the day, we have the living and dining rooms painted. They look great, pics tomorrow. Also the downstairs bathroom is painted as well as the stairway and bedroom. Still working on the upstairs bathroom as we have been using it for storage.

Tomorrow, more furniture building, carpeting the downstairs, and big furniture delivery.

Prayer needs:

Praise God the weather has been great.
Please pray for the timing of the carpet and furniture deliveries to work out.
For the men living in the house to hang in there two more days.
For Rich and Jim, two men who helped us carry furniture upstairs. They are new to the program and learning much about God and His will for their lives.

Day 1

2008-06-23T19:43:00.000-07:00

We started early with prayer and breakfast at church, all fresh faced and full of energy. Here we are looking good on our van ride to GCH. We spent an hour hauling furniture out of the house. That was especially tricky for the upstairs team who had to negotiate a tiny enclosed stairway that makes a 180 degree turn. But, the weather is beautiful and cool, and the house residents are excited. We had guys hanging around all day.....waiting.....

The carpet got torn out downstairs. The team ripped that out like they do it every day. They were amazing. We get the new carpet installed on Wednesday morning. So, we can paint with abandon in there!

The biggest challenge for the upstairs team was this bedroom. Two men share it. One man had himself walled off inside the room in a small room he created out of cabinets and shower curtains. One thing we consistently find at GCH is that people who have lived on the street hoard everything they can when they get a home. That room was packed to the ceiling. It took hours to empty it out.

Time for lunch. Our four member encouragement team went all out for lunch. It is so fabulous to walk into a room and have drinks and lunch ready. All we had to do was sit down and eat.

The downstairs team painting in the dining room. Go back and look at the before pics. This room was all sunshine yellow, including those incredible mouldings. Even with just one coat of paint, it is looking alot different in there.

It takes us an hour and a half to get home in the 5 o'clock traffic. Time to debrief, make plans for the next day and crash.

We start again at 7am tomorrow.

Praise God:

the weather was in the 70s
the carpet came up easily and the padding is good underneath
nobody needed so much as an aspirin all day
safe travels in the traffic back and forth

Please pray for:

the men in the house, having their space invaded....we have torn apart nearly every room. Two of them are sleeping on mattresses on the floor tonight and their clothes are on the front porch.
everything continues to go smoothly
one resident Wes, who now want us to do his room even though he did not want us in there before. We would like to be able to do something for him if budget and time permit

Thanks for your prayers!

Final Preparation and Gathering

2008-06-19T09:57:00.001-07:00

T minus 4 days and counting. The garage is filling up with furniture and housewares. We still have a little shopping to do, but the lists are made and tasks assigned, and the excitement mounting.

Prayer requests:

health and safety for all team members
that all the pieces of the puzzle come smoothly together
that we are listening to God and doing His will, and putting our own on hold
that we are an encouragement to the men who live in the Birdhouse
dry and cool weather

Many thanks to all of you!

Shopping

2008-05-31T17:45:00.000-07:00

This morning we went to Garden Ridge on the hunt for bargains for the BirdHouse. We found some! We spent just over $400 for all of this stuff. All of this goes to the upstairs team, with a little for a bathroom downstairs. We got complete bedding for 4 beds, 2 small tables, towels for 5 guys, rugs for two bathrooms, shower curtain, 4 lamps, 4 pillows, curtains, a beautiful wrought iron cross and a couple cute ceramic birds. Those are the only kind of birds allowed in the BirdHouse now. The most fun day of the mission trip will be when all of the painting is finished, the carpet down, the furniture in place and we can put in the small touches. It is the curtai,s rugs, art and lamps that make a place homey.

Counting Blessings

2008-05-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

I went down to Grace Centers of Hope last night with a small advance team to gather a bit more info for the mission trip. We wanted to do some more measuring, and talk to the men that live in the house. Our objective is to encourage the guys that live there, and that won't happen if we change their living spaces so much that they don't like them. It is a big challenge. Jerry lives in this room. It is 8'x8'.

I try to imagine that I sleep in a room that is 8'x8'. Everything that I own is in that space. Everything. I share this room with another adult who is not my friend or relative. All I want is a little privacy. I have to thank God tonight for all that I have. No way could all of the things I own fit in an 8'x8' space along with my bed. And I have a list of other things that I want. And I will eventually get them. And I will have space for them. One of the things that strikes me when I am at GCH is how hugely God has blessed me. No matter what kind of stuff is going on in my life that I think is hard, He has blessed me with way more than I need.

Prayer needs:

God's provision for all that we need for the men
health for all team members
for all of the men living in the birdhouse: for their continued growth, health and safety

My New Best Friend

2008-05-07T19:16:00.000-07:00

My new best friend is Ron. He is the manager at Value City. With a smiling face, he gave us a terrific deal tonight on furniture for the living room and dining room. We got a sofa, 2 chairs, a dining table and four chairs for under $500. Thanks Ron!

Upstairs at the BirdHouse

2008-04-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

We had a distracted meeting of the Upstairs Team. We came to the conclusion that the bedroom is a major challenge, in two ways. It will be challenging to figure out how to make a small bedroom hold 2 men and all of their belongings while making them feel comfortable. It will be a challenge to find the budget that will cover the storage items we will need to do it.

They have alot of stuff in that room!

I was not kidding.

The closet is no help, it is piled to the ceiling already.

We have alot of decisions to make and alot of work to do upstairs......

Prayer Needs:

For God to provide the financial support we need for all tasks.
For the wisdom to figure out how to make the best out of the bedroom.

What touched us

2008-04-15T19:32:00.000-07:00

I am gathering here the words for my art project......

Kim
"But if the way were plain and easy, where would be the room for confidence in God?"

Janet
"I lost all disposition to murmur at any providence, assured that such a Being could not err in any dispensation."

Kathy
"Is not this one instance of the power of divine grace more than a compensation for all our days of darkness and distress, formerly spent in preparation for our work?"

"On earth we serve God-in heaven we praise Him".

Peggy
What shall we render unto the Lord, for all his benefits towards us?

A view of His purity and holiness filled my soul with wonder and admiration

Karen F.
"The sacred Scriptures were sweet to my taste."

Ann Judson speaks

2008-04-14T16:01:00.000-07:00

This year, we are not doing a bible study in conjunction with trip preparations. Instead, we are reading a book: My Heart in His Hands, Ann Judson of Burma, written by Sharon James. It is the story of the first American woman in foreign missions service. We are reading about the struggles of sickness , politics, lost children, emprisonment, and uncountable more horrible things she endured. But as we are reading about her trials, we are seeing her heart. No matter what was thrown in her path, her focus was always on God. She always trusted that He was in control. It is an amazing and inspirational story.

I would like to make a piece of art for the BirdHouse that uses the thoughts of Ann Judson's missionary heart. I am going to ask the team members to give me a phrase or sentence that was particularly striking. Then, I will go from there.

Several of Ann's thoughts touched me as so truthful:

While thus recounting the mercies of God to my soul, I am particularly affected by two considerations: the richness of that grace, which called and stopped me in my dangerous course, and the ungrateful returns I made for so distinguished a blessing.
...constantly to bear in mind that I am in the presence of God.
...the obligation I feel to try to be useful, has induced me to comply.
I ought not to consult my own ease; the question should be, how can I be most useful in the world?
I am a creature of God and He has an undoubted right to do with me, as seemeth good in His sight.
Blessed Jesus, I am thine forever. Do with me what Thou wilt; lead me in the path in which Thou wouldest have me to go, and it is enough.
But if the way were plain and easy, where would be the room for confidence in God?

Prayer Needs:

That each team member will connect with God in a deeper way through this service.

Downstairs

2008-04-11T07:42:00.000-07:00

The downstairs team met last week to start the process of redecorating their rooms. They are assigned the living room and the dining room of the Bird House. Last year, we did the kitchen in this house, so we will carry the same color palette throughout the downstairs.

dining room.......they really use both of these rooms...our idea is to make the dining room lokk less crowded but still be functional for all the things the men need: eating and studying.
There are two desks and the bookshelves are nearly empty. We would like a more comtemporary dining room table.

Both of the rooms are painted a bright yellow. That will change. Our plan is to get a brand new sofa, one that is comfortable since the men spend time in here watching TV. We would also like a new entertainment center and some art on the walls. New curtains. We will see how much our budget ends up being.
Entertainment center....not bad, but we have dark wood and light wood right now.
Color palette for the downstairs. I am thinking the lighter green color for the walls. The attached kitchen has been painted the gold color. Love the terra cotta for accents.

Our current prayer needs:

Please pray for God to provide the financial support we need to do the job.

the interior canvas

2008-03-11T18:19:00.000-07:00

These are pics of the inside of the house, the spaces we will be changing:

The living room. The plan is to make this room comfy and sturdy for the four men that live here and use this living room alot. It is sunshine yellow, but that will change.

The dining room is also sunshiney. You can see through the dining room into the kitchen. One of the Divine Design teams redid the kitchen last year in a golden color. I think the living room and dining room will take on the same color palette. THe walls might be green with gold and terra cotta accents.

Upstairs bedroom....two men live in here. Everything both of them own is in this room. The biggest challenge will be storage, finding a way to store all of the stuff in the room and have space left over for beds.

This bathroom will be the easiest room on our schedule. It is in good shape, great floor, nice ceiling. We will just paint it and add some storage or lockers, an irong board, cabinets.

Current prayer needs:

please pray for God's provision in the money, things and people we will need to complete the project. Team members are working on their support letters for the financial and prayer support we need.

The Birdhouse

2008-02-14T13:48:00.000-08:00

February 14, 2008

It is perfect that my appointment at Grace Centers of Hope to tour the Birdhouse was on Valentine's Day. This is a mission of the heart, of twelve hearts actually. I will be leading eleven women from area churches who have huge hearts for encouraging others and no fear of hard work.

This summer will be our second mission trip to Seneca Street. Our team is smaller. We will be working only in the Birdhouse. We will be redoing the living room, dining room, stairway, bathroom and at least one bedroom. We will paint and bring in furniture. We are going to work on getting carpet laid downstairs, and we will add storage and lighting and as many homey touches as we can. How about some birds? I will be praying for things to come together to do some landscaping outside as well. It is a pretty house with a really great wrap around porch, isn't it?

Of course, the Birdhouse has a story. When Grace Centers of Hope bought the house, an eccentric old man was living there. He had strung chicken wire all over the walls and 50 birds were living and flying free inside the house. Imagine the bird doo doo!! Now, it is clean inside and four men live there. Last year, on our mission trip to Seneca Street, we did the kitchen in the birdhouse. This summer, we will do the rest of the house.

Grace Centers of Hope is a rescue mission in Pontiac Michigan. They have a year long program for people recovering from addiction or living on the streets. After a year of classes, bible study, and lots of hard work, the residents may move to the aftercare housing on Seneca Street. That is where the Birdhouse is.

Our current prayer needs:

while we are just getting started, we ask your prayers for the residents of the Birdhouse: Rodney, Jerry, Don and Tim