Every Picture Tells A Story...

If someone listens, or stretches out a hand...

If someone listens, or stretches out a hand, or whispers a kind word of encouragement, or attempts to understand a lonely person, extraordinary things begin to happens.   Loretta Girzaitis

Today was our big moving day and thanks to all the volunteers here everything went very smoothly. A little bit after noon all the runs to St. Vincent De Paul were made and all the cleaning was done. Besides the moving and cleaning, some volunteers spent time at the Itmann Food Bank this morning to help with distribution day, and others went to Glen Rogers Manor to play Banana Bingo and paint nails with the residents.

Because all our dishes were packed and the kitchen was cleaned we ate pizza for dinner tonight. No dishes, no clean up!

After dinner we gathered together for the closing prayer service of the summer. Tonight we focused on where we felt that we lit our candle, or someone lit our candle during our time of service. It was a wonderful time to reflect on the summer.

What you do makes a difference...

What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.     Jane Goodall

Today was a day of finishing. We finished up the two ramps we have been working on, we also had a crew that did a four site day doing little things at each house, and a crew that spent the day running around and picking up trash and hauling it up to the dump and picking up leftover lumber to bring back in the morning. A crew was also able to stay back and install a drop ceiling in one of the classrooms here at The Way, a job that the way folks asked if we would be able to do while we were staring here. We are happy to say that we were able to finish up everything we committed to and then some. Tomorrow will be spent packing up the tools and housewares and moving them to St. Vincent DePaul for the season, as well as helping out with distribution day at the Itmann Food Bank and spending time with the people up at Glen Rogers Manor. Another busy day on the horizon!

As this is our last day cooking at The Way, we really had a hodgepodge of a dinner trying to use as much up as we can. Even though it was all leftovers to some degree, it was delicious. We were even treated to blackberry cobbler with fresh blackberries from one of the sites today.

For reflection tonight we reflected on coal and how it can change and be a diamond. Using that metaphor, we were asked to share an experience we have had while being here that is a diamond to us.

Change your opinions, keep to your principles...

Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots.     Victor Hugo

We were blessed with a dry day today so we could get the projects done that we had committed to complete. The ramp that we were building in Maben was pretty much completed today, we just have to go back to put in a lower railing so that when the home owner is in her wheelchair she doesn't have to reach as far. She was thrilled to not have to scoot down the steps anymore.

The ramp in Matheny made tremendous progress today after getting slowed up bit by the rains yesterday. During the day and couple of PVs ran to Lilydale to finish the job that was started but rained out on Monday.

The final site of the day was a new site on top of Herndon Mountain. The family asked us for a new front door and a new toilet as the old one was no longer connected. We were also able to patch a few holes in the their livingroom to make the floor stronger.

As we are winding down the dinners are more and more eclectic as we are trying to use up items that have accumulated in the kitchen. Also we have been blessed with many vegetables from volunteers gardens that we get to incorporate into dinners. So tonight we had a pasta dish reinvented with hamburgers, hotdogs and zucchini, brown rice, a vegetable lasagne with no pasta, a bean salad and a cucumber salad. All VERY scrumptious.

Reflection tonight focused on the scraps of ourselves to others. Another beautiful song was performed by two PVs to go along with the reflection. All and all another wonderful night.

My life is part of the global life...

My life is part of the global life/I'd found myself becoming more immobile/When I'd think a little girl in the world can't do anything/A distant nation my community/A street person my responsibility/If I have a care in the world I have a gift to bring.
Indigo Girls (Hammer and a Nail)


An oldie but a goodie of a song, as so true. We all have our gifts to share to help make the world a better place. Today the PVs gifts were as varied as could be. We had a crew who went back up to the site in Allyn Junction and finished up with the tiling. The family was very happy not only with the newly tiled floor, but with hot water! The PV crew got done so early that they were able to go to Pineville to help build a large shelf in our storage room at St. Vincent DePaul. With our move getting closer it is important to have a place for everything!

We also started the last two big sites of the summer today, both ramps. One in Matheny and one just down the road in Maben. The Matheny ramp was rained out in the morning so they came back to The Way and began installing the drop ceiling in one of the rooms. As the weather cleared a bit around lunch the headed back out to get a start on the ramp. At the ramp in Maben the crew immediately hung a tarp to they could continue to work through the torrential rain storms. The progress made despite the rain was impressive.

Another wonderful dinner was prepared by PVs for the community to enjoy. Today's menu consisted of sweet and sour chicken over rice, Brazilian black beans over rice, poor man's pasta and salad. And also continuing the theme of delicious desserts we had strawberry shortcake, brownies and confetti cake all topped with whip cream : )

Tonight's reflection focused on the idea of the unexpected. After being serenaded by one of our talented young PV's, we each shared a time this week that we were surprised by the unexpected.

Compassion is ...

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals.  Pema Chodron

The beginning of a new week brought several new sites. We did return to finish tiling at the site in Mullens for an elderly lady and her son that we started last week. She treated the volunteers to vegetable soup, watermelon and a lot of wonderful conversation.

We started a new site in Wyco where we began tiling a kitchen as well as installed a water heater. The family hasn't had hot water for a couple of months, so they were thrilled that by the end of the day there was hot water in the house.

The third site of the day was out in Lilydale to fix a leaking roof for a family that we have know for awhile. Unfortunately this site was rained out with about 20 minutes worth of work left to do. We will run over there tomorrow as one of our new sites is fairly close.

For dinner tonight we had a baked potato bar with all the fixings, salad and vegetable soup from the site. It was a wonderful and comforting meal as the rains began to roll in.

Reflection focused on time, and the idea of time being the greatest gift we can give. We were asked to share what is high on our time sheet. Recurring themes included family, friends and PV time.

Community Day Hike

The PV Community went exploring at Grandview State Park just outside of Beckley today for community day. The park offered beautiful views of the New River and a Amtrak train rolled through while we were there. We also took a hike along the edge of the canyon and had some beautiful peak views of the river, but even the trail was beautiful. It was lined with budding rhododendrons and many rocky ledges.

After the hike we headed back home to share a meal together and have our weekly commissioning prayer service. A great start to another week.

Some Pictures