It seems we’re always busy but when I try to think of what all’s been going on I just can’t remember everything, but my body says slow down! I always tell myself to write it down, but then I forget and of course the older I get the more I can’t remember, wait a minute, what was I saying!! I’m sure a lot of you can relate! To remind you I was talking about our memories failing!
I finally got a settlement from UPS for our inverter, it covered about half of the cost of a new one. The new one came damaged via shipping from UPS so I had to install yet another one. It takes at least 3 hours of me laying in a tiny spot under our trailer every time I do this. The next one came and I was still having issues. Turns out that on the original unit, tech support forgot to mention trying something else. After the third attempt with the third unit, they said remove a wire of theirs and bam, it started working, no issues. I don’t know what that wire did or why they didn’t tell me to try that on the first tech support several months ago and I’ve asked them but so far, no answer. I don’t believe the first one was bad so this whole debacle seems to have been for nothing. Who knows and they aren’t saying anything! Such goes our life!! It's been connected now for over a week without one issue so praying it continues to work the way it’s supposed to.
After I got the new slide out awnings installed, we started noticing some other issues with 3 of the 4 slides which I mentioned in our last update. Digging into things, literally, we found even more hidden damage. We sent out a prayer request for what to do, either attempt to fix this as best we could or get a new one. We really love the one we’re living in and it seems the perfect setup for us, not to mention that it was originally worth at least $55k and The Lord gave it to us for $15k! To read more about that miracle, click here.
I’ve looked at 100’s of RVs online and inquired on any that looked as if they’d work for us. We’ve looked at several in person. What we’ve found out is that people don’t tell you what’s wrong with them and even lie when you ask specific questions. From what we’ve seen it looks like we’re looking at $50,000 for one that doesn’t need work (I’ve got enough projects) and will last us for a while. I’m a bit surprised as I figured it'd be more based on what our current one was worth when we bought it, and we’ve lived in this one now for 9 years! The price is well over what our budget is so we’re seeking The Lord to see what He has for us. To read more on the specifics of what we need, click here. If you know anyone who has one that fits the bill and isn't using it or otherwise are interested in helping us with this, please let us know.
Currently we’ve got 2 trucks, 1 van, 1 fifth wheel RV, 1 bunkhouse RV, and our tool trailer. The Lord has blessed us with only having to spend $18,000 total on all 6 of those when we first got them! I’ve no doubt that He can bless us again, even a great one for free this time!
The other option is to tear out the slide-out floors and at least one wall and do out best to put it back together. I have a tentative plan with our friend Rob from St. Louis to begin working on that in July before hurricane season is in full swing again if we don’t have a new to us one by then! Please pray for us on this matter! We have not because we ask not!!
I’ll stick with vehicle stuff. Mostly things have been running fine. I changed the oil & filter (12 qts) as well as the fuel filter on the diesel. I replaced the injector that went bad when we were in VA moving the 5th wheel here. The guy who fixed it for us had an old used one he put in, and the guys who rebuilt the original, replaced it for free. They think it was bad fuel, but who knows. Just pray it doesn’t happen to the other ones! I’ve also had some issues with the fuel tank selector valve so I ordered one from Ford the other day and will get that installed soon. It wasn’t cheap and reviews on the knock offs were terrible.
I had to do a lot of caulking on the bunkhouse roof, and I also did the annual 4 step process on the roof and then washed the trailer and awning.
We’re still helping out at Brett and Shannel’s. Dave, Joseph, and Hamilton joined me and we got some doors and trim installed that needed some modifications as well as a lot of the electrical figured out and trimmed. We’re headed back there on Thursday this week. This may be our last trip, but whatever we can do!
We’re still waiting on the good ‘ole government here to let some folks move forward and not sure what will happen on a few homes we’ve been talking to folks about and hurricane season is upon us soon, so we’ll see what we can do.
I finally got time last week to work on the damage from last year’s storm at our house. Hamilton and Eric helped me replace the front soffit. I’ve still got more work to do on it before the hurricanes threaten us again this year!
We’re also praying about a trip out of town for a couple of weeks to help some folks affected by recent disasters and we’ll see where The Lord leads there. Probably sometime in August if we do.
In the meantime, we’re earning our keep here at CCSRQ, as we always do wherever we stay, working on many different projects. Hamilton, Kevin, Dave, Joseph, Eric, and Alan, all from CCSRQ, have helped as they can. We spend as much time as we can doing morning discipleship and breakfast when others are serving alongside of us and can make it early enough, which is most of the time! Always great to be part of the Great Commission! Mary Jo also got to substitute for the 3rd grade class at the CCSRQ School Friday and she really enjoyed that! Whenever we’re here I think she’ll be doing more of that! She also is involved in the women’s ministry here and got to teach a Bible study with them recently.
We’re getting ready to do some traveling in a couple of weeks with our bunk house. We’ll be headed to Philly for the East Coast Pastor’s Conference and Mary Jo will be part of the serving team there as I hang with the guys! From there we’ll go to Ohio to visit my mom and Calvary Chapel Silver Creek where I’ll have the opportunity to teach on May 25th! Love to see you if you’re in any of these areas.
Mary Jo and I will also take a few days to ourselves for our 19th anniversary at an Ohio State Park and then we’ll head back to CCSRQ, drop the bunkhouse, and then head to Savannah with the tool trailer.
When we went there last year after Debby hit the area, we originally were going to only stay for a short time helping our grandkids with some flooding issues their house incurred and then head to Sarasota to help there. That turned into helping at about 50 other homes! We never got the kids house put back together so we’re headed back for 2 weeks. We’ll be working with CC Savannah and Calvary Bluffton to get some drainage issues figured out and then rebuild the walls we tore out last year. I’ll also be blessed to teach at CC Bluffton on June 22nd. If you’re in the area we’d love to see you ! Let us know if you want to join in the efforts there as well!
Then we’ll head back to FL and see what we can do on our 5th wheel, more maintenance that I’m slowly getting done on the rest of our stuff and continue to help here at CCSRQ and possibly more relief stuff in the area as The Lord opens the doors!
Healthwise, nothing much has changed and honestly baring a mircacle from The Lord, we'll both have our physical issues until we get to heaven and we know that God's grace is sufficeint for us and in the meantime we'll conitnue to pray and press on! We did both get some type of infection in our lungs that put us down for a few days, but thankfully that's over!
Plenty to pray about and we need them!
If you’re interested in growing in The LORD as you selflessly serve others alongside of Calvary Relief, please let us know! For more info on joining us, click here. Plenty of things to do!
If you feel led to help with any of the expenses with Calvary Relief, please click here.
If there’s ever anything you need prayer about or just need to talk to someone, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us and let us know!
Here to serve and disciple until He calls us home,
Curt & Mary Jo
