Our days of rest....week two begins tomorrow!

Good Evening!

The weather in Manahawkin was so beautiful this weekend!  The team was thankful for our two days of rest.  Some of our team went to New York City, a couple of us went to the town of Tuckerton and others to the Boardwalk in Atlantic City.  My daughter, Mary Beth came to join us last evening so the two of us went to Long Beach Island for dinner and a walk on the beach.

This morning we began our day with worship with Pastor Phil.  He choice of scripture reading from Romans 14.  He discussed how we are each responsible for ourself and only ourself.

Verse 1-4 says "Accept Christians who are weak in fail, and don't argue with them about what they think is right or wrong.  For instance, one person believe it is all right to eat anything.  But another believer who has a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables.  Those who think it is all right to eat anything must not look down on those who won't.  And those who won't eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them.  Who are you to condemn God's servants?  They are responsible to the Lord, so let him tell them whether they are right or wrong.  The Lord's power will help them do as they should."

Pastor Phil gave us many examples of how this can apply to our lives with other things that one person may or may not do on Sunday.  Like bicycling years ago was forbidden on Sunday, or hanging a shirt on the line.  We may be able to think of things that we do not agree with one another.

However, Pastor's point was that we are responsible for ourself.  We will be judged for our actions only.  Others will be judged for their actions.

Sometimes this may be a hard concept to grasp.  I was thankful for the reminder of what Jesus calls us to do.   To forgive others, not to judge, to believe in Jesus as our Savior, to have faith, mercy, create unity and share His love with one another.  Judgement is not what He asks of us.

After church the team went to many places as well as stay at the church and relax to enjoy their Sabboth.  Mary Beth and I went to Toms River to bike along the intercoastal waterway, eat lunch and then on to Island Beach State Park.

Here are a few pictures from our day of rest:

Sunset on Long Beach Island, looking across the island from the beach.

Thank you Lord for your beautiful sunsets and amazing color choices.

Mary Beth and me on our bike ride in Toms River.  Thank you Lord for the wonderful creation of our bodies and the muscles you have given us to use.  Thank you for the beautiful waters and creatures we could see and hear along the way.

Island Beach State Park has sand and a beach which is similar to Michigan.  Of course there is the salt water but....the waves were amazing and strong.  I didn't go in as deep as Mary Beth.  It was a fun day!

Thank you Lord for a day of rest so we can continue to serve you this week.  Please keep us safe.  Please be with the families who are waiting to return to their homes.  Give them patience so we may prepare their homes in a manner pleasing to you.  Amen.


We begin week two of with our team in the morning.  There have been a few changes since Friday.  Six team members had only planned to be here for one week so they have returned home and two new members have come.  We have a total of 15 people on the team for this week.  We received our assignments for tomorrow.   I will return to the home with the team that is installing insulation.  Hopefully we will be able to finish with the insulation tomorrow so an inspection can be made.  Then we have work to do outside and if all goes well we may be able to begin installing wallboard later this week????

Please pray for our whole team.  We have two homes that teams are working and our team that remains at the church to prepare our food and take care of our physical needs.