Moving Forward...

If you're having trouble viewing the pics in this email, please click here (and be patient, this post has a ton of photos!)

This photo from the aquarium just about sums up our kids personalities.  The mostly compliant, slightly over-dramatic daughter, and the little boy who sees every day as an adventure!

 Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,

July was an exciting month in the Shrader house.  We made a mad dash to the beach to see Daniel's family right after the 4th, and then prepped for and hosted and awesome group of guys from Denton Bible Church who spent a week serving with us.

By my count, I took over 500 pictures last month, so I'm going to share the month with you in photos.

This fantastic group of men drove almost a thousand miles to serve with us for the week! They're awesome!

One of the main projects these guys took on was making the entrance to Charlie and Earlene's house more accessible. That involved building a ramp, raising the floor in the porch, and installing new, wider doors.

This was Charlie and Earlene's house before the new ramp.

We poured concrete between the house and barn, built a new ramp and stairs, and they even blessed her with a fire-pit on the new patio.

They replaced the porch door with a wider one raised the outside porch so there isn't a step up.

This was the inside door before, offset from the porch door.

This is the inside door today.  By changing to a french door, they were able to line up the doors allowing a straight entrance. They also raised this floor about four inches to eliminate a step up into the house, put down new carpet and trim.

This was the inside view before they started.

Inside view when finished.  The new doors also let in a ton of natural light.  Despite the short time allotted, the guys even managed to move all the electrical work and stain the new trim to match the existing woodwork!

Greg and Wayne figuring out how to widen the door.

Deck in progress.

Finished!

This was the sidewalk situation coming out of the garage before.

And after!  A huge shout out to Karl Grey, who fit us in between jobs and came in to finish the concrete for us on super short notice.

The unsung hero of this project is Josh Idell, and not just because he let Hosea ride with him on his mini-excavator!

Without Josh's help, we would never have gotten the pad prepped for concrete before the team of guys from Texas got here! Thanks buddy!

Did I mention that we had to remove some of the broken floor in the garage? It's all smooth now!

Starting on the Pergola, which will be the main entrance for the Garden of Hope.

Ladders, heavy boards, and hot sun!

Looking good. Shade starting to materialize!

Building the front fence for the Garden.

Cutting the fence pickets.

The guys assembling the fence.

Finished!  This is the view pf the garden area from the roof of the church.  We should be getting block to start building raised beds next week!

Finished!  This will be the main entrance to the Garden of Hope!  What a blessing to have it all together!

Yesterday, Meredith's D-Group came out to the church and did a thorough deep-cleaning of the children's area and fellowship hall! They were a huge blessing to us and did a fantastic job!

On Thursday of this week, a group of skilled folks from First Baptist Greeneville are coming to paint the children's area and renovate the bathrooms.  We're changing fixtures, adding grab bars, and making them more accessible for our folks. We'll finish up the renovation of the children's area with new floors in the coming weeks.

The Widow's Garden is starting to produce it's first fruits!

The first tomatoes are starting to ripen.

This tomato is called "Garden Peach" because it looks like and has fuzz like a peach!

Purple Beauty bell peppers are almost ready!

Pattypan squash are starting to produce!

Hosea loves the garden!

Blooms on a Chinese Red Noodle Bean are stunning!

Enjoying a little salt air down on the dock at Granny and Papa's beach house.

Introducing Lily to the joys of the sound, knee-deep water that goes for miles.

An awesome way to end a long day of adventures!

After a short break for summer, these two are back at it, diving into year two of homeschool with vigor!

Since most of the pictures of Meredith on the blog are mid-day madness, I thought it'd be nice to remind everyone that she's absolutely stunning!

Things you can be praying for...

1. Ministry at West Hills is in a good place.  The Lord has blessed us with some young families, which we had been praying for.  Now, we really need some help on Wednesday night's with our children's ministry, particularly someone to help with our pre-schoolers.  Please be praying the Lord would provide someone to serve in that ministry!

2. On Thursday, a group is coming to help with our children's area renovation. Please pray we have a productive day and get a chunk of it done!

3. The local brick manufacturer has graciously agreed to donate about 2,800 concrete blocks for us to begin building raised beds out of in the garden, and they should be arriving in the next week or so. Praise the Lord with us for his provision!

4. The Fall semester of Seminary Extension starts in just a couple of weeks.  I'll be back at the Baptist Association in Johnson City teaching Genesis 1-11 to a group of motivated church leaders.  You can be praying for my prep time, as well as for the students who are getting ready to start!

5. Please pray for Meredith and Lily as they dive into year two of homeschool!  It's hard to believe we have a first-grader! Lily is super excited to be starting back. She loves to learn!

Great job! You made it to the end.  Now you probably need a nap like Princess Eloise.

 We couldn't be here without you!  Thank you for your continual prayers and support!