This is Jessie, Tom's new part time buddy. Tom's dog, Midnight, died in early December. During the last few months a neighborhood dog, Jessie, has been coming around and became good friends with Tom and Midnight. We enjoy watching Jessie because Midnight taught him all her ways in taking care of Tom. So now Jessie shares two homes - Tom's and his original owners - and it works great for everyone. He has been a good grief counselor for Tom.
Rodent critters moved into Tom's neighborhood and liked his attic. He shared with us that he prayed for a solution to the problem and God supplied him with a cat. Tiki has taken care of Tom's rodent problem and Dennis helped Tom repair and seal the soffit. Now they have no access to the attic. Other projects include trimming out the front door, raking the yard (Ginny's project), getting a motorcycle started (Is that in a carpenter's resume?), and repairing Mr. Al's and Ms. Ruby's water heater. Mr. Al and Ms. Ruby live across the street from Tom. Tom has been like a son to them in helping them get their home restored after Hurricane Katrina, often times giving up his opportunities so they were able to get back into their home as soon as possible. The water heater repair was a project Tom couldn't do by himself.
Some items on our to-do list: Seafood Buffet, A trip to New Orleans, Eating some of Ms. Ruby's red beans and rice and oh, of course we'll find some more work to do. The yard is not done yet!
As usual, we complain about the Wisconsin weather in the winter and we did this morning as we packed the car in a bitter 3 degrees. Our Father is gracious with his sheep and in spite of our complaining he displayed his creation beauty with a beautiful sunrise with the mists rising from the creeks. The snow covered fields glistened in the sunlight while the trees glittered along the roadways. But traveling between Freeport and Rockford we were blessed beyond the usual creation beauty when a rainbow pillar of light appeared on the horizon to the left of the rising sun. The camera could not capture the rainbow colors but I hope you get an idea of what we experienced. As God led his people in the desert we feel we are being led. We bow our heads and give thanks for his direction and travel on with an expectancy of what He is going to do in Mississippi. Enjoy the pictures.
When God puts together a team of laborers every detail is taken care of and the job is completed with heavenly precision. He brought six guys together to complete the work for the Williamsons. Here we are all together with Randy and Kathy Williamson. Randy pastors Calvary Chapel St Bernard. They rent a building for $1 a year that before Hurricane Katrina was a nursing home. They have partitioned off a portion of the building and restored it to use as their church. 
We finished at 11:00 Friday morning so that we could spend the rest of the day in Biloxi. We were able to spend time with my friend Tom Wasmer. It's been an exciting journey to help Tom get back into his house. Tom joined us for supper with Chuck & Kathy Billeaud. Several of us had been part of the team that helped build their house after Hurricane Katrina. The "Butterknife House" was built in 17 days - another God story. There's my name along with everyone else who worked on the house. The 8 ft board is on the wall of Chuck & Kathy's garage. It was a great way to end the week!
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