International Resume: We are Out of our Element!

Temps in the the 70-80s

Resume:  an overview of a person's experience and other qualifications


"The weather looks good for the next couple of weeks," he said, "let's start painting the International church, which will be your biggest project while you are here."

Setting up scaffolding

And, paint we did.  We still paint. We have been painting for three weeks! The church is a three-story, stucco-surface building.  Preparing to paint includes the following steps: power washing, calking cracks, taping to protect window areas and piping, setting up scaffolding, tearing it down to move, reassembling it, dissembling it and moving it to another area of the building.These are steps that are repeated about every 4 to 5 days.
(Taking hot showers, applying Icy Hot, and taking Ibuprofen every night are separate steps from aforementioned  project but are a result of it!)

Taping to protect

Oh, we have painted before beginning with our first house in North Little Rock, Arkansas continuing to our condo in Scottsdale.  We have interior painting experience!  While I don't mind painting to redecorate, painting of any kind is Jim's least favorite past time. In other words, he would rather go shopping in the largest mall in America than paint.  This is not a redecorating project; it's a task that we are inept at doing!  We have never painted the exterior of a whole church! 

Power washing:  refreshing

However we are learning a lot.  For example, power washing is the easiest of the painting steps. 
We enjoy it because a cool spray of water rinses across us and cools us down even though it is filled with bits of stucco!  We have come to appreciate small benefits. We are sad when the power washing phase ends.

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Power washing: my new hobby

When the surface is dry, it's time to paint, which would be easy if it were a wall in a living room.  But, the little porous surface of the stucco is never satisfied - it begs for more paint.  we stick with it until it sticks with it!


Hmmmm...life sometimes requires of us things that are strangely curious; calling us to an experience that both challenges and taxes
us.

We feel oddly peculiar and out of place on the third level of scaffolding.
    "Strengthen limp hands. Steady weak knees."  (Isaiah 35:3)


Our muscles are inquisitive and question our judgement.
 "Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble."  (Hebrews 12:12)

 Our feet are unsure on slick boards and slippery ladders.
 "He will not allow your foot to slip or to be moved; He Who keeps you will not slumber." (Psalm 121:3)

However, at the end of the day, we step back to see a small-scale conclusion of a giant-scale project, and we feel an innate perception of accomplishment, not perfection, mind you.  We are not good at this! We are out of our element, but, we have been encouraged.

Resume:  an overview of a person's experience and other qualifications

•  Painted a church in Switzerland:  not perfect but completed

Caution: resumes can be expanded without notice; depend on the Word to keep you steady.

Keep Looking Up!
  J:m and L:nda