Workfest: Day Three

I’ll Fly Away

I got up early and spent time with a team leader from Wisconsin. It was great. He is a retired Fire Department Chaplain. He currently is a race car chaplain. I did not know they needed chaplains! He explained the stress of long hours, loss of money, and little time for families. Yep, they could use chaplains.

Pancakes, we had pancakes and then devotions.

Today we got to the site early. We all took turns spending time with our family we were working with. That is one of the highlights of this experience.

Work consisted of continuing what we had started. We dug post holes, made steps, put up railing, sawed the deck, and leveled everything which is not easy on a hill! Inside they continued working on the floors. They had rotted through and cutting and replacing the floor was a big job.

It was sunny but cold. The house next to us was heated with coal. It had black smoke coming from the chimney and the smell was powerful.

The evening was special. First, the University of Connecticut had devotions. They did a choreographed devotion to Lean on Me. It rocked!

Then we had a hootenanny! The Blue Grass group, Five Miles from Nowhere sang bluegrass, gospel and country. We all danced, sang and participated. Almost everyone from USF ended up performing with the band during some part of the evening. A student from Poland sang a folk song that moved everyone. I loved when the band played I’ll Fly Away and Amazing Grace.

Finally, when the dance was over we gathered for our reflection time. We met in the recreation center and planned our devotion for tomorrow. It was another good day in the mountains and hollers of Eastern Kentucky.