being made new, pt. 2

God is able to completely redeem and revive what is damaged and use it for his purpose and his glory.

This truth has been so comforting and so evident to me over the last month.   Here at Grapevine, we have been working hard to clean and restore this place back to working order.  It took many long days of hard work, but with diligent attention, we made it through.  We cleaned the floors, scrubbed the grout, washed and painted the walls, carried out armloads and armloads of trash, ordered new furniture, dusted, swept, mopped, and cleaned in any other capacity you can think of.

But it was joyful work.  It was very exciting to watch the transformation take place before our eyes.  It felt like I was on a CCF spring break trip, only for an extended period of time, and with way fewer people.  And, as it was during the month of December, we listened to Christmas music every day. :)

Here are some before and after shots for you...

we had to replace the molded game cabinet.

the kitchen floor.

the kitchen.  even though we raised it up, the refrigerator was still submerged at the bottom.

the main room.  check out that floor!

the office/movie room.  our new favorite place to be.

And as I said in part 1 of this blog about the restoration of Grapevine (being made new), it was not just the building of Grapevine that would be changing.  Our team lost another member, bringing us to only three.  And the Thammasat University semester was shaken up by the flood.  With a crazy schedule and fewer hands to distribute the work load, we had to re-think and re-design the way that we will do ministry this semester.  Since the flood forced us to miss some of our favorite holidays with the students, we decided we would celebrate them anyway!  This is going to be a semester of holidays-- Christmas and Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day, Mardis Gras and Easter... and of course, Halloween, which is not until March, but our students are already excited about.

I, too, am very excited for this semester.  God is teaching me many things, and I know he will do great things in me and through me for His Kingdom.  God is completely able to continue transforming this place, and the lives that the Grapevine student club has become a part of.