Big Progess!

Team 2 made big progress today at our work site.  We are working on the interior structure of a house in the lower ninth ward.  Today we really worked well together to complete some framing, insolating, and dry walling.  The home already shows some substantial improvements after just the first day!  We are excited to see the finished product at the end of the week.

 We had dinner with the Nehemiah Guys after our work day and then took the trolley through the French Quarter and then explored on foot for ice cream cones. It was a lovely night for a walk, finally no rain!  Tomorrow the team will split as some of us will continue to work on the house in the ninth ward, and a few others will start working on sheet rocking the old kitchen area at Living Witness, which will be used for classrooms in the future. 

Favor has become a Cornerstone of this trip thus far.  Brad asked for Favor for the team in our prayer requests on Sunday night.  This lead to a discussion on Favor and what Favor is, as some did not understand the spiritual principle of it.  God has showed us Favor in so many ways in these past couple of days that now everyone wants to pray for it each day. Now that the team has seen the evidence of Favor, many of them will never go a day in their life without praying for it again.   

Below are ways that God has shown us His favor so far:

1. Today at Home Depot Brad asked about getting discounts on tools.  He agreed to sign up for a Home Depot Credit Card and the guy gave him $100 in free tools and supplies that we needed for our site.  

2. We were also hoping for something to listen to at the job site and Toby was able to buy an Ipod dock for 70% off, it was the last one!

3. One of the Nehemiah Brothers approached the team on Sunday after church and suggested we have dinner at Montrel's Biestro in the French Quarter.  He hooked us up with the owner, Derrick, who gave us 20% off our meal!

4. We parked in a Loading Zone where NO parking was allowed; however, it was not well marked and there were cars parked all down the block.  The owner of the store walked out and told us we would get ticketed.  We looked on the window of the van behind it and there was a ticket.  About 3 minutes after moving to the next street over, the "Meter Maids" came through and ticketed all vehicles in that Loading Zone which stretched the entire length of the block.

5. There have been many others as well!

6. More favor to come...

Brad's wife, Cheryl, went to the ER this morning (Monday) with major chest pain.  She was admitted to the hospital and several tests were run on her throughout the day including EKG's, Ultrasound and Blood Work.  All the tests came back negative, so that is an answer to prayer.  She still has twinges that cause her minor discomfort. They did release her from the hospital on Monday night; she is scheduled to go in for a Stress Test on her heart Tuesday or Wednesday. Currently family friends are taking care of their three kids, so she can get the rest needed. Please pray for continued healing for her and for peace of mind.  Please keep Brad in prayer as well, as it's hard for him to be away from his wife with all this happening.  Pray that Cheryl will be feeling stronger and better and can handle everything until Brad returns.