Saturday, January 25, 2014

The Day The Awning Came Down


Sometime during the night on Thursday, the awning that covers the entrance to the main room at Gadsden Vineyard Church collapsed. Very grateful and very thankful that no one got injured or hurt. I was on Facebook yesterday morning when I saw a picture of the damage. Immediately, I got up and got dressed and drove to the church to see if I could help in any way. Being carpenter-lly challenged, I am a whiz-bang go-fer, holder, hand-me-that-7-langley-head-sprocket-kind of a guy. So I went to offer my presence.

When I arrived it looked like a job that was beyond our capabilities. I kept thinking, what is holding that thing up? But thanks to 1960's engineering, not to mention 1960's steel and aluminum, it stayed in place. Here's a side view of the damage.

Jim Bentley was already there, along with Jeremiah Smith. To me, Jeremiah is the McGyver of all who lay claim to the title. He might not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, or out race a speeding train, but give him a project and he'll figure out how to do it with what you have on hand.

So with trusty sawsall in hand, and an aluminum ladder, Jeremiah and company set about to dismantle the awning. About this time, a young man who attends the morning service at Gadsden Vineyard, Robert, showed up to lend a hand. He set about sweeping up the debris and helping out where ever he could.

Piece by piece, bit by bit, as we flew through the blades for the sawsall, the awning came down in sections.
It was a masterpiece to rival the building of the pyramids. Of course we didn't have any Hebrew slaves, but the work continued at a slow and steady pace.  My wife just happened to be off yesterday, so low and behold she made an appearance bearing a pot of homemade potato soup, hot corn bread and tea. We broke long enough to consume said vittles. It was eaten with a great relish and fanfare of appreciation for her contribution.  Then back to work.
Eventually we got down to the last section. During the last few sections that needed to come down, Wayne Wimpee came by and gave us a hand. Jeremiah had brought his dump truck to load up all the metal on, so we muscled it up and onto the bed of the truck. Job over...mission accomplished.


I don't know if everyone does this or not. But whenever we encounter an event or situation that is outside the norm of daily life, I have a tendency to ask, "Are you trying to tell me something through what has happened, God?" I believe He was. For that reason, I am going to post it tomorrow here at the Greene Street Letters.

God on you....
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