Third Phase Progress

MARCH 29, 2019: WOW! Sound training was this morning. Had a great team to come learn. Tonight, we had our first worship practice. I was blown away at how great it sounded. It was amazing. Now I’m really excited!  

MARCH 28, 2019: BACK HALL/COFFEE SHOP Floors are clean, walls are painted, and halls are about done.  

MARCH 27, 2019: ROLLING ALONG… Today Dave A, Jacquie, and Joanne are rolling the coffee shop and children’s wing. Trying to get coffee shop done so we can get the booths and tables out of the hall and installed. It is beyond exciting to see the finishing…yes, FINISHING details happening!  

MARCH 26, 2019: 99.9% Today Randy got a text from Tom that said “Electric is 99.9% finished. The sound will be complete by Saturday night. Which only leaves me with the HVAC and timeout. It’s almost over. Praise God! I am in awe.” Just typing this out makes me well up in tears. There has

March 22, 2019: BLESSED: Today left me in awe. The trouble we had with drywallers…well its an amusing story but these guys “fell in our laps” just when we needed them and had the money! They are amazing and quick! They are whipping it out and we changed hourly! Then there’s Dave. He decided to

March 20, 2019: THIS MADE ME WONDER… The drywall was going up so fast while another crew is mudding just as fast! The conference room is completely done. And there’s this. I walked into the sanctuary to find…well…this. A group of men with their heads in the floor. Then I got closer and I found

MARCH 17, 2019: SPOTLIGHTS ON! Today is the day. Let there be light. Today the lighting guys are coming to teach and train us how to use all that fancy equipment. As complicated as this will be it will be nothing compared to the training for the soundboard. 1:30 pm today the village made there

MARCH 12, 2019: A FIRST I was blown away to walk in the coffee shop and see: 1st the fact the room was actually clean but 2ndwow! The coffee shop had a fire roaring, chairs set up and I can’t even explain the peace that filled that room. Those of us meeting in there just

MARCH 11, 2019: FINISHING UP! Today they are putting up the final ceiling tiles in some of the rooms and they are cranking it out! AND we are so excited to have drywallers…after all we have been through with drywallers…we have drywallers. Can I hear an AMEN!!! They are cranking it out also. Today they

MARCH 7, 2019: WHAT A PRIVILEGE What a privilege it was to tour this sweet saint through the new phase. Dub and Ruby Doyle have been longtime supporters and members of this church and us personally. I’m sure Dub is seated next to Billy Graham and John Wesley right now! I remember one business meeting

MARCH 5, 2019: MORE? More drywall…seems unending!

February 14, 2019: SO MUCH HAPPENING Picture 1 – that big roll is the artificial carpet that goes under the batting cage…batter up! The hallways look like…hallways! And I got to flip the switches for the first time down the hall. Good going, Tom! That outlet is in the coffee shop. They have USB spots

February 10, 2019: ITCHY WORK I went to throw away a donut box sitting randomly in one of the classrooms. When I picked it up, it was really heavy… I opened the box to find they were stashing tools…yes, tools…in the box. I have a lot of questions about what I found that I am

February 9, 2019: WORKING TOGETHER WORK DAY Workday for all those who could come. Our small army got a lot of mountains moved!  

February 8, 2019: GOOD TO BE BACK TO WORK  

February 6, 2019: WED NIGHT WORKERS  

February 5, 2019: IN BETWEEN THE SHENANIGANS We really are rocking and rolling and itching! SOOOOO much insulation!    

February 1, 2019: FEBRUARY… It is the time we long awaited for. It’s been hard to fight for our cause with a company and waiting on inspections all knowing that our God is big enough to handle them both. AND we have learned first hand that God has had a plan for every single delay

January 30, 2019: A CEILING IN THE SANCTUARY  

January 15, 2019: IT’S A GYM!  

January 4, 2019: DAYCARE/CHILDREN’S WING COUNTERS  

January 1, 2019: A NEW YEAR! It has been a frustrating ride waiting on the fire suppression company and the inspections for it, but we keep praying and keep working on the little things! TVs installed in the sanctuary Ceiling finished in the sanctuary Exit lights were all put in the sanctuary Counters in daycare

December 18, 2018: LET THERE BE LIGHT The lights are on in the third phase foyer. So close to being done!  

December 17, 2018: TOP IT OFF The back counter was installed in office, the cabinets are all installed in the coffee shop and the new cooler is ready to go in. The new women’s Bible study room also received a counter for their little kitchenette also.  

December 12, 2018: FEELING BLESSED Counters were installed in the front office and look amazing! Those rounded counters were a challenge and a half and they did great. Scooter also added some little carpentry touches in the office that matches the pillars in the foyer. It looks really cool! Free counters. WOW. Truly blessed!  

December 8, 2018: GETTING READY The foyer has been completely cleaned out and looking amazing. The floor guys re-sanding, sweeping, sealing and leveling the floors getting it ready to finish.  

December 6, 2018: 1 HAND BETTER THAN NONE The new floor has gone in the coffee shop. Scooter and 1-handed Dave made a great team!  

December 3, 2018: MEASURE AWAY! Countertops have been measured and gone in the bathrooms. Can we mention here the huge blessing… thanks to Annette and Rick who spoke with their countertop guy and had the boldness to ask…the counters were all FREE…yes free and they are amazing! They are not cheap counters but look like

December 1, 2018: THE WAITING GAME So the month of November and now December will be remembered as the months of waiting. The fire suppression company, which was the hold up for so long, finished the physical labor mid Oct. We have been waiting on them to now call to get their system approved and

November 2, 2018: FINALLY…CLEANING DAY! The first cleaning of the dust…no dust bunnies here. More like a dust city! Young and old alike came to help. But don’t worry we will have to do it again so you can join us this time. Wouldn’t want you to feel left out! Lots to go around!  

November 1, 2018: PLUGGING AWAY We have had a lot of little stuff done and even still some big accomplishments despite the waiting game… Tom D is still plugging away at the electric. I see Exit Signs going in. The heat got turned on AND WORKS!!!! Can I hear an amen!?!?!?!?! Do me a favor

October 11, 2018: MORE MORE MORE! The counter for the sinks is in, more stalls, more ceiling tiles, and ore carpet in the office!  

October 10, 2018: OH THE NEVERENDING GARBAGE! The counter is in the front church office and the back desk by the children’s wing. The stalls are in the bathrooms as the toilets and urinals are going in! And the dumpster is filling up again.  

October 9, 2018: MORE PROGRESS Moving right along. Ceiling tiles going in, molding going in the chapel. The office got cabinets. The gym got the back wall padding up and one of the baskets was put up.  

October 5, 2018: HUGE MILESTONES So Dave has been locked in the hoarder room for many weeks…not sure what he was doing per se BUT he put in the last piece of pipe today…AND IT DOESN’T LEAK!!!! This is for the air conditioning. Also a huge thanks to Gordon and Paula who took off a

October 8, 2018: ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER All things work together for those who burn the cookies. It was a fun lunch day at school and our oven is…ridiculously horrible. The oven doesn’t heat right and takes forever then it burns everything… the whole kitchen smelled like burnt cookies…for good reason. The guys came to

October 3, 2018: WHAT GOOD IS IT? Hoops are going up finally. The fresh air vents went in the front of the building.  

September 23, 2018: AT THE CROSS Drywall going in the foyer and the cross is getting caulked and ready for paint.  

September 21: OH LADIES… The doors are going in. More wires being pulled in the foyer for lights. The girl’s bible study room now is cleaned out, has carpet, AND a window! Hot dog! I’m excited….OH WAIT THAT’S NOT ALL…and because that room was supposed to be a mechanical room it was plumbed in for

September 19, 2018: WHO WILL BE THE FIRST? Fire suppression guy STILL here, sanctuary looking great, windows getting painted is a tedious job! AND the baptistry has arrived! I can’t help but wonder who will be first and I can’t wait to find out.  

September 17, 2018: MAKE ME WANNA CRY So this was the week to finish the sanctuary. Do you know how exciting that sounded last week?? All the labor was done except the intricate painting of the new half walls and cross and then we were to be done! We hired a professional painter to finish

September 15, 2008: SOOO MUCH DONE Doors are all going on. The floors in the back foyer are gorgeous. The pillars in the sanctuary are amazing. The tiles are going in the bathrooms. And I would also like to state on Thursday of last week our grandparents started coming at 12 noon and the bleacher

September 14, 2018: LOOKIN’ GOOD Putting in the panels in the walls and they look amazing. The boys are cutting wood outside with the fan blowing it where they want it to go and they are prepping the main foyer in the back for the floors!

September 11, 2018: REALLY? THIS WEEK? Many, MANY weeks ago we had to get on the calendar of the bleacher guys. The beginning of school is the busy time for them. Little did we know they we open this week and were her to put the bleachers in. Its grandparent’s week…but hey why not??? We

September 10, 2048: AT THE CROSS Each Sunday a remnant come together and have been praying on the stairs in the front of our sanctuary. So awesome to be praying this week down front at the foot of the new massive cross. The back floors and visitor center have gotten varnished. The seats and kneeling

September 7, 2018: WILL WORK FOR FOOD Moving right along.

September 4, 2018: CREATIVE JUICES FLOWING So there is a ramp on the sages going into the back rooms. The village requires a handrail so the boys decided to build in benches to hide the handrails. They look pretty cool! Mrs. Faith took her Wednesday Bible Study women a tour through the building. Many were

September 3, 2018: GOT AN ARK? Thankfully we didn’t need an ark but it was a downpour. LOL!  

September 2, 2018: WHAT GOOD IS IT? So very excited today to see walls going up in the sanctuary. We truly are down to the last steps. And the bathrooms are looking great with the new tiles going in…the only problem is though…what good is a bathroom without a toilet??? We are still short $70

August 30, 2018: DOWNHILL Carpet going in the back offices/classrooms, the sanctuary halls, and children’s wing. We are on the downhill side! Keep praying! The spotlights are in and blinding! They light up the whole room! We have officially taken down the last of the string lights! Beyond excited to see plywood on our walls

August 17, 2018: LET THE LIGHT SHINE What a day. This almost made me cry. I was standing in the back of the sanctuary when they turned out all the lights…well UNPLUGGED all the strung light bulbs that is… then it happened. They flipped the light switch. WOW. I have never appreciated a light switch

August 21, 2018: OH GOSH Seriously? More ducting? It never ends… and the gym floor is almost done YET AGAIN. Hopefully, it will be right this time!  

August 16, 2018: LUNCHTIME Thanks again to all of you who are feeding our workers and keeping them happy! The new tiles are going in the bathrooms. This will be a huge SLOW job!  

August 13, 2018: PICK A SEAT Carpets going in on the stage and it’s gorgeous. The guys are putting in all the heat ducts in the balcony as well as adding bags that will hold all the spotlights. THE CHAIRS ARE DONE! All the chairs are in and they are not all the same size.

August 12, 2018: EVERY DAY Every day things change. It’s mind-blowing!  

August 11, 2018: WORK DAY Great workday. The stage is getting cleaned off for carpet, the stage is now fully plywood, rolls of carpet are everywhere and paint is going on the balcony! The baptistry is hiding under the floor in the stage and there are many cut out things in the floor with all

August 9, 2018: HAVE A SEAT! The chairs are still going in, Mr. Brown is one the job now and we are sorting box after box of school books getting ready for the new school year!  

August 8, 2018: BROTHERS! Brothers – The Bible records some bitter rivalries amongst brothers even to the point of death and selling a brother into slavery. Other siblings were loyal friends. Out of 12 disciples, 2 sets of them were brothers. At one point, some of Jesus own brothers came to take charge of him,

August 7, 2018: THE END IS NEAR! We finally see an end to all this madness! All the heating is done in the chapel and all we have left is some small shoots to the classrooms which they are working on. The carpet is going in the offices. The floors are going in daycare wing…and

August 3, 2018: HUGE DAY! Today was a huge, amazing day. The power in 3rd phase is completely off life support. It is a living, breathing thing all on its own… The power is all complete…and we didn’t have to use the defibrillator on Tom once!!!!

August 2. 2018: GORGEOUS! I can NOT believe we are in August. This has been the longest and quickest summer all at the same time! This week we had some newbies come paint! So glad to have someone that knows how to use a paint sprayer. The chairs are being installed. They are using some

July 25, 2018: DRY BONES Church meeting on Wednesday night, Randy talked about our new building like the story of the valley of dry bones. That old metal structure was a valley of dry bones for a long time and God is now breathing life into this building and it’s alive. Something only God could

July 23, 2018: ALL HANDS ON DECK So the carpet is coming in this week for 3rd phase classrooms but the painting is not done. All-hands-on-deck yet again. We did finish all the painting in the 1st and 2nd phase. Now are just trying to put everything back together. Sunday school is back in order

July 19, 2018: BOOKS & BUILDING So some of the office furniture we purchased came in a million and a half parts. It took teams of people and almost 2 weeks to put together and then of course one was damaged and had to be unscrewed…sorry, Clark’s that you drew the short straw! Although appreciated!

July 19, 2018: LOCKERS & LIGHTS We had a good crew of the young adults at night again. They installed all the lockers for us. It was a lot bigger job and way more time consuming than I ever dreamed it would be. So grateful for them! Com ed contacted us. They have a program

July 18, 2018: OUT OF THE WOODWORK? WOW, people just keep showing up. Jerry Brown showed up just in time to put his electrical skills to work on the floor scrubber and Matichaks went to work on painting and floorboards. Mr. Jim showed and because he was a man, he got put on floorboards! LOL!

July 17, 2018: ON OUR HANDS AND KNEES It is taken a long week, a lot of blue, A couple men and Steve Schmeltzer to see it through to the end. All week these boys got on their hands and knees and put up that floor base molding thing. Steve started the job because he

July 16, 2018: ARE WE DONE YET? Every day I ask Scooter, “ARE WE DONE YET??” and every day I get something like “not yet” or “we’re close”. Today he didn’t even answer me. He just smiled and kept walking like he didn’t hear me. I honestly get choked up thinking of the day when

July 14, 2018: ROLLING RIGHT ALONG We are going through the rollers! I got a very nice surprise and our painters came in and primed all the rooms in the back hall and dear Jeff will be pulling evenings for his second week working through those rooms 1 at a time. Last week he did

July 13, 2018: Bahaha NICE TRY BOYS So our painters who tried to ditch us for a real job…they got to Chicago and that job wasn’t ready for them. Bahahaha so they are back with us! Nice try boys. God is so good! AND they got Judy Anderson’s lunch as a bonus!

July 12, 2018: SHOUT OUT TO OUR YOUNG ADULTS! WOW, ya’ll. The young adults SHOWED UP tonight! Those huge, massive, very heavy air handlers were lifted up onto the balcony tonight. It took an army and they did it. This was no easy task! Also, Jeff was back painting and Ken our engineer was back

July 11, 2018: COLOR MY WORLD! One hall painted today in the 1st phase and started down the back hall. Jeff did a great job in the office and finishing tonight. Gonzolo finished mudding some holes for us in the office! Grateful for that! Jacquie got the new children’s church room and Kindergarten rooms painted

July 10, 2018: PM WORK CREWS! We now have a crew of guys volunteering their time at night. After they leave work they come to help! WOW! We had a meeting tonight and went back late to see how they did. The first thing I saw took blew me away. I was and am still

July 9, 2018: IN AWE! The drywall is completely done in the sanctuary except up on top of the balcony, a second coat of paint is on the front walls and the sides have been started and the boys completely, COMPLETELY cleaned out the sanctuary. The fire suppression slow pokes are done in there as

July 8, 2018: THERE ARE GIANTS IN THE LAND! SO the floors are done and we still have a mess. I would be a liar if I said we weren’t stressed. Now this whole 1st and 2nd phases need paint as well as keep working in the 3rd phase. We just want to get this

July 6, 2018: CREATIVE SIDE We are excited to catch the vision that our Lead Artist has for the cross in the sanctuary! He started laying it out with tape to see where it will be. The back wall has the first coat of paint on it and I LOVE it!!! Good going decorating team!

July 3, 2018: FINAL COATS The floors are getting the final coat. We are all ready to get them done, get painting and get our lives back in order. I can NOT even think straight in the mess anymore.  

July 2, 2018: GORGEOUS! This floor is so gorgeous. The owner of the company has been working on it while working on Il State University’s floor at the same time. He got it sanded and it was gorgeous! This is the progression from the beginning until July 9th. He toned down some of the colors

June 30, 2018: SATURDAY-ALL HANDS ON DECK! Crunch time is still on, but we are not gonna make it before Sunday. The decision was made to cover the floors then Monday and Tuesday we will finish the floors. It works. Our church has been so flexible and understanding as we worship in a mess! Had

June 29, 2018: FAMILIES OF FAITH HIT THEIR KNEES! The rush is on to try and finish the floors before Sunday for church. We have to get everything cleared out for the first coat of varnish today and 2nd coat Sat to be able to have church Sunday. We called for the army and they

June 27, 2018: STAIRS! The stairs are started going up to the balcony. The floors are still moving along. The gym floor guy…well he doesn’t work for us anymore. Long story but the owner of the company made it very clear he will take care of our floor himself. Tom is still working on electrically

June 26, 2018: MORE CRAZINESS Sooo the daycare has moved into the makeshift preschool the camp room in the chapel. They had to move all the right toys and make sure it was all in the right order. The camp kids have officially moved to the other building on Fryer for 2 weeks. There is

June 25, 2018: GETTING DONE The gym floors in the main gym are getting a facelift this week. The floor guy is here to strip and redo the floors… yes, all while the classrooms and halls are getting redone. It really is crazy and frustrating and amazing and glorious-all at the same time. We are

June 22, 2018: WELCOME BACK Looking for a drywall guy Randy calls Gonzolo. He did the drywall before for us and was great, but he hurt his back. Hoping he knew someone he told Randy he is better and can handle the finishing!!! Welcome back Gonzolo and get to work!

June 21, 2018: UGH The drywall guy who is about half done, can’t work for us anymore. Going back “to work” whatever that means. Looking for a new drywaller. The stripes on the floors in phase 1 and 2 are getting the last, final and smelliest coat. Next Monday they start with the main floors.

June 20, 2018: THE DAY WE HAVE WAITED FOR The day we long awaited. The concrete came! We were all curious how they were going to pump 100s of gallons of concrete up to our balcony. Big trucks. Big pipes. Big hoses. Lots of men raking quickly! It was cool. Al Kuypers Concrete did great.

June 19, 2018: PERSEVERING Drywall still going up and getting mud, floors are still being worked on, ducting will never end…  

June 18, 2018: TIME CRUNCH Meco steel was back to finish the balcony base and add in the wire for the floor to prep it for concrete. They were amazing and diligent getting this done for us while in their busiest time of the season, but we couldn’t pour concrete without their help! 1 pm

June 12, 2018: JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE The ducting is a maze like never seen on this planet, but they are kicking it out one big piece of metal ducting at a time. The office is trashed getting ready for the new floors, We have sooooo much primer waiting for a wall…but in

June 11, 2018: OVER BUDGET It’s been a very long day. Our poor floor man has to work around so many obstacles. I don’t envy him at all. They are done sanding and now patching all the cracks in the floor getting ready to lay the borders on the floor and then next week WED-SAT

June 9, 2018: MUD & TAPE Drywall finishers are coming today to start mudding and taping. Woot Woot! So last week sometime I was walking through the building taking some pics and came across Scooter on a latter with his head up in the ceiling talking… I asked him if he was talking to himself

June 8, 2018: MOVING RIGHT ALONG! Continuing the floors in 1st and 2nd phases. Lots of grinding and sanding. They started the offices which is obnoxious to us but necessary! Meco steal is done with the steel beams and finishing putting in the decking/floor of it so we can prepare to pour the concrete. The

June 7, 2018: FALSE ALARM…AGAIN! The day started off with a very early morning call from the fire department AGAIN. The alarm is sounding. We assured them that we are working on the building and it was an accident. Brother Jerry from New York called today to check in. He has been seeing things online

June 4, 2018: ONE STEP CLOSER! The inspection is complete, and we passed…thanks to our amazing, impeccable, perfectionist of an electrician! Good going Tom and thanks for all you do! What does this mean??? Ohhhh, let me tell you or just show you…DRYWALL in our sanctuary. There is goes. And another special thank you to

June 1, 2018: AS PROMISED – THE BALCONY IS HERE It amazes me what teamwork can do! That’s some heavy stuff! No blood either!  

May 30, 2018: PRE-INSPECTION INSPECTION Joe cook was gracious to do a pre-inspection for us. He used his expertise to give us his suggestions before the inspection on Friday. In his opinion, it all looked good! Pray for that inspection on Monday. If it all passes, we will begin to put drywall up in the

May 25, 2018: THE BALCONY We received out stamped plans/blueprints back from Meco. They have been such a huge blessing in so many ways. They were able to have an architect review and stamp our plans for the balcony. This part of the job has been the most stressful to get done! We got our

May 24, 2018: OPEN HOUSE Open house for RCA. Such sweet, new friends. It was great to have a night set aside just for them, although a little crazy in the midst of the floors being torn up and working around the mess. Vision is needed…as is caffeine. We are exhausted! But it feels so

May 23, 2018: WORK NIGHT Can’t even begin to describe this day. It was long and tedious and a mad dash! This beast of a machine showed up. We had no clue what to expect. Randy hopped on it and started tearing up floors. He only got off 2ce to be able to charge the

May 22, 2018: HERE COMES THE MESS! We are getting ready to tear up the floors. Moving everything out of the rooms. We have rented a machine that costs $2500 for 2 days. So we have got to get this done quick and returned!!! We also have come across 2 friends of Tom D’s who