I thought it might be interesting to give you a little play-by-play of life at the HFH House. Hopefully you will sense our joy in the midst of some tough circumstances.

Friday, May 8th, 2009

Around 2pm my friend Leigh arrives at the house with her daughter Melody to spend the night. Leigh’s son (and Melody’s brother) has been treated for cancer since 2006. Since then, we have become dear friends, and I have watched Leigh press in to Jesus in the midst of some pretty serious pain. It is precious. She and Melody are here this weekend for the life celebration service of a little boy we all knew and loved that fought cancer for nearly 6 years. Leigh has asked me to stay close at hand, as Melody is really taking the passing of this little boy very hard.
3pm: our friend Brandi arrives to attend the wake with us. Brandi’s daughter Madelyn passed away just over a year ago after battling cancer for 4 years. She was dear to our family. We leave the house and go pick up another mom whose child is currently in the hospital. Earlier in the day, we picked up Emma, the daughter of this mom, and she is playing at our house. We drive around for a while trying to find the funeral home, as we didn’t print directions before we left. We are somber but laughing in the midst of many u-turns and misread addresses.
While at the visitation, we run in to several friends. It is hard to see the little man, but we are thankful to hug the necks of his parents and see the outpouring of love for their family. Melody is having a hard time, but she knows her friend loved her deeply.
After leaving the funeral home, we meet up with our friend Debbie, who has come to stay with us for the celebration service the next day. She also has a son fighting cancer, but has brought one of her older children with her. He has come with the intention of attending the service, but his resolve is wavering at this point. We all caravan back to the HFH House, where Mark Horrocks and Mark Ottinger are getting ready for volunteer fellowship.

6:30pm: Leigh and Melody get ready to go have dinner with a local friend, and Debbie, her son Brett, Brandi, and her husband Neal hang out with us for volunteer fellowship. We all share one of Mark’s famous meals, complete with guacamole that is not to be missed. We listen to Mark and Mo give us updates and news over dinner, and then Debbie asks to share her story and how HFH helped her family while they were away from home. Debbie does a great job at this, and encourages all of our newest volunteers to keep loving families even when its hard and busy. After this, we surprise volunteer Becky with a cake for her birthday. Then we break into small groups and pray for about 20 minutes for all of the families we assist and for Habitat for Hope.
11pm: We say goodbye to the last group of friends that were here for volunteer fellowship (yes, people like to hang around here) and I sit down and spend some time talking with Debbie and Leigh while Brett and Mark watch Basketball on TV. Melody and Bella and are playing a game upstairs. Emma has been driven back to her parents, after spending a fun evening hanging out with friends. We all head to bed about midnight.

Saturday, May 9th

We get up to enjoy a breakfast of Mark’s scones and coffee. Leigh is a hair stylist, and has offered to cut my hair this morning, which she starts around 9am. The kids all play together, and Brett decides he will stay here at the house instead of attending the service. I also stay home to help at the house, since at 11am we have a group coming out to help with a project. Around 11:30 Debbie and Leigh leave for the funeral.

At the same time, we welcome a group of teenage girls to the property to help “spring clean” the big red barn. They are part of a club from Trinity Baptist Church that does service projects in the community. Mo Ottinger comes over to lead them in their project. The Horrocks and Ottinger kids, assisted by our friend Brett, work for most of the day on the barn. When the group leaves, the barn looks better than it has looked all year.

Around 3pm, Debbie, Leigh and Melody return from the service. After eating a late lunch, Debbie and Brett hit the road for their drive home, and I spend some more time with Leigh and Melody. They are grateful to have attended the services of their little friend; they both know it will help greatly in their grieving process. This is the first service for a child that Leigh has attended since her own child was diagnosed with cancer. They leave around 6pm for home.

Just a typical couple of days in the life of Habitat for Hope – I hope you can appreciate the beauty of living in community and deep relationship with the families we love