My heart (part three)

Click here to read the beginning of the story.

Click here to read part two.

DAY THREE.

God can do amazing things in three days - but can he get all of us mere mortals to work together to finish Sandy's house? We sure hoped so.

The morning started at 8:00 for me - I actually slept well last night - my dreams were smattered with images of us getting work done around the house, but nothing like the night before. When I arrived at the house, Tish had just gotten there, too. We started by clearing out the living room so that we could get furniture in there. All the food and drink would be consumed in the newly cleaned, painted, and repaired kitchen. Yaro the locksmith came shortly thereafter and hung the microwave above the stove. We swept, mopped, and cleaned up the area in the living room where the couch was going, and by that time a good crowd had arrived, ready for the final day of our own extreme makeover. We joined hands and prayed and got right to work. A few of us brought the sectional sofa pieces in from the garage, and we put them together in the living room.

Jenn helped me hang up the curtain rod in front of Rebecca's closet - we got her a fabulous beaded curtain that looked just great hanging in front of the brand new closet system. Ken arrived to do the cabinets in Rebecca's room (YAY!) and started right away on that task outside under the gazebo.

We needed to assemble Rebecca's bed - and Allen the Handy Guy helped so much with bolting the whole thing together. There was a bit of a fiasco with the nuts and bolts, but it all came together just fine and Rebecca's bed was up. We made a human train and brought up all the boxes of dialysis solution and stored it under the bed - all the rarely used stuff went way to the back, and we were able to fit 24 boxes of her everyday solution under there as well. Once all that was done, we put the box spring and mattress on her bed and it was ready for sheets and comforter... and FINALLY I felt like we were making progress in Rebecca's room.

Wendie kicked us all out so she could surprise us with the bedding and canopy, and 15 minutes later, we walked into a princess room. It was incredible. Wendie's mom Dorothy had sewn all the pillows, comforter, bedskirt, and canopy... and she did such an amazing job. I had never in my life seen a bed this gorgeous for a young girl.

The outside painting got done - and it was beautiful. We needed more rock for the landscaping in the yard (twelve tons, apparently, was not enough), and it was delivered. Then we used that big truck to load up all the rest of the trash that we had accumulated since Saturday (carpeting, etc).

By noon we were kicking into high gear - doors needed to be hung, painting needed to be touched up, and decorative touches needed to be added. Yaro the Locksmith provided brand new, top of the line, doorknobs and locks for the whole house. Every room was coming together.

Mike & Wendie Castillo spent much of the day in Jesse's room, turning it into a real musician's haven... they got some really cool vontage posters, funky hooks for hanging guitars - they even mounted an old guitar TO THE WALL as a window valance! It was done first, and as soon as it got finished we criscrossed teh doorway with "caution tape" so no one would go in it. We did the same with Ben's room, Sandy's room, the bathroom, and the living room.

As we waited for Rebecca's room to be ready for decorating (Ken was working on it with Mike G.), Jen and I made a decision to use the fabric we were planning on putting in Rebecca's room as a valance and instead make a curtain for a cabinet in the hallway. Our original plan was to hang doors, but we ran out of time and materials. And this way we could stack more of Rebecca's boxes in there without worrying about them not fitting exactly, since a fabric curtain is a bit more forgiving with its space than doors. We headed downstairs and began sewing a simple curtain, which turned out great - we hung it on a dowel that went through two pretty, tuscan-style sconces.

Chris Rogers, who had been helping Ray paint outside, came in and touched up the walls and ceiling of the stairwell, which had never been properly touched up from the last paint job. That alone made it look beautiful in that area.

A whole cleaning crew was in the house vacuuming, scrubbing, polishing, and cleaning. Pedro the Window Guy cleaned all the windows, then hung around doing any last minute thing he could do to help. Everyone was pitching in to get this house DONE.

Finally, at 3 p.m., Rebecca's cabinets were finished. Wendie and I went in the room and organized all the medical supplies, gauzes, pads, sharps, sharps disposal, and miscellaneous materials. When the cabinets were closed, everything was hidden - but opened, it was just like a doctor's office cabinet in there. Her dialysis machine was going right next to the bed, with a new mini-fridge underneath for all her medications that needed to be refrigerated. The shelves up above housed her beanie baby collection and cute little knick-knacks. Leslie and Cheryl made cute framed photos of their little group of friends, and Karen came in the room and hung them up (after she was done hanging the cabinets in the boy's bathroom) .

Rebecca's room looked amazing. My only regret was that we couldn't put the wonderful lamps that Linda had decorated in the room. When Mike & Ken installed the cabinets, they forgot to cut the holes for the plug, and by that time we were simply out of time. Mike and Ken do have to come back sometime during the week and install the wall mount for the huge TV/DVD player they got for Rebecca, so hopefully they will be able to also cut the plug holes at that time.

It was now 4 p.m. Rebecca and Sandy were due home in half an hour. The house was done. The rooms were done. The yard was done. The gazebo looked gorgeous. The trees, plants, and rocks were wonderful. Everything had come together. Dina's sister bought fresh flowers for each of the rooms, filled vases, and placed them all over for a little bit of brightness. All that was left to be done was to do one last minute trash run and light candles.

Leslie and Morgan and Taylor made signs to welcome back the family, and a rather large crowd was gathered out front. We took some group photos and last minute shots of the finished house, and then we prayed one last time in a huge circle out front. God spoke His word to us out there:

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Phillipians 1:6

We couldn't have done this entire project without the support, prayers, and collaborative effort of people who cared for this family the way God commanded us to do. And after everything we did, we were waiting outside for Sandy and Rebecca to arrive. Unbelievable!

They arrived at 4:30 - Pastor Chad filmed the whole reveal. It was amazing. The whole crowd was in the street, blocking the road just past their driveway as they came in. Our little WELL group was by the front door with Ben. When the car pulled into the street, everyone cheered for them, and when they pulled into the driveway, it was amazing. To see their faces after all our hard work made everything just perfect. Rebecca's eyes were as wide as saucers - Sandy got out of the car and started crying right away. It was so overwhelming and emotional.

After getting over the initial shok of actually having front yard landscaping and a painted house, Sandy was ready to go inside her home. But the door was locked... and Ben handed her the brand new keys to her brand new house. Sandy and Rebecca got to go in first, with the few of us from the WELL group behind her to see the reactions. They toured the downstairs... everyone was crying... they went upstairs and saw the boys' rooms - and there was more crying... and then Sandy went in her bedroom. It was no longer a bedroom. It was now her sanctuary. Sandy's room was a Tuscan garden retreat. Her bed was beautifully decorated - she had new window treatments, flowers everywhere, a TV to watch, and her treadmill- which she always wanted in her room - now had plenty of space to be used. It was the essence of pretty. It was perfect for Sandy. She kept crying saying, "But I thought this was supposed to be for Rebecca!!" and little did she know, it was. This whole house project was for Rebecca. She will have a cleaner, safer environment full of all the positive energy that this new home can provide, a relaxing retreat for Mom so she can unwind from the stresses of the day, and really a place that can be called a "HOME" now.

But we weren't done yet. The best was yet to come... Rebecca's Room. The room that started it all. The room that will bring joy, sweetness, and happiness to this wonderful little girl who deserves to have a healthy life. Her own little "Moroccan Bright" retreat. When she opened the door, you should have seen her face... it was priceless. Her queen size, four poster bed, HUGE, piled high with pillows, and all her most favorite, important possessions now on display instead of in boxes... as she walked through her little room (it's only 10x10), she peeked into the cabinets to see all her supplies right there at the ready, but hidden out of sight so it looks like the bedroom of any ordinary teenager. She peeked under her bed and saw all her dialysis solutions hidden away, too... not piled into the hallway like they were before. This was the room of a regular girl. With a GIANT television. And a really awesome closet. And space for everything she loves and wants. She didn't want to leave.

We finally came back downstairs to show Sandy her new kitchen - complete with a new set of dishes, silverware, and glassware. A fireplace with a mantle. A microwave. The door to the garage that has a doorknob - and locks! And a landscaped backyard, where nearly everyone who had a hand in the project waited to greet the two of them with open arms.

What an absolutely perfect ending to a weekend filled with everything that goes into a project like this and then some. A project started by a few moms who wanted to make a little girl feel special. We had our moments of chaos and drama, but just like a wedding where everything goes wrong, but in the end they still get married... in the end they still have a beautiful home, a lovely home... and a smile on their faces.

And so do we.