We're not in jail but we are...

All Locked Up!

The last couple of months has been a blur - from activities, family, ‘schooling’, business, birthdays, sickness and building things have been crazy. And Sad - birthdays are always a little difficult and we knew Christmas would be too without our beloved brother / brother in law / uncle, Naveen. He would have loved to have been involved and seen the roof on and windows in - and him not being here at Christmas (or ever again) is a sad reality. Thankfully God has and does help us through this and enabled us to keep working…

We had decided to lay the carport, patio and south verandah concrete before the doors and windows arrived to cut down on the sand and damage. As the windows were such a (huge) investment, we wanted to protect them as much as possible.

The areas were large (around 500m2) so there was a lot of ground work, compacting, plastic, mesh and tie wires to finish. Not to mention the planning and digging of footings for the walls and verandah supports - or the fire that burnt our trailer...

Filling in the 'pit' that was used for clean sand
Starting to retain the Carport / Patio area
Starting the footings - of course the truck HAD to get bogged on the way IN!
Good lil helper!
Ramming where the steps will be..
An unexpected fire 🔥 that God REALLY proetcted us from - took out a few things including our trailer and part of the compressor.
After some new wiring and lights, and some serious prep & spraying.
Filled, compacted, plumbing, electrics done, footings laid and levelled.
Black plastic, mesh and formwork - nearly ready!
Now THAT is a big boom!
Nearly done!
Long day - but looking GOOD!
Preparing the 2nd pour -
Acrows & forms to hold up the suspended slab 'roof'
Waht a huge week - ~500m2 of concrete, plus the rest.
Forming up the Bath - the last ramming for this building!
That is one BIG (and beautiful) rammed earth bath!
The algae from 4 weeks of flooding (to strengthen and cure the concrete)...Needed a creative suggestion to get this off?!
Driver training! 🍩
Next hole filling, wire brushing, floor scraping and sealing the walls - ready for the WINDOWS!
wow! Over 12 months of negotiations and planning - was it worth it?
Looking Good - even if we do say so ourselves!!

This gave us just enough time to clear out the lounge of tools and mess, move the large outdoor table inside (plus clean / oil), put up some Happy Birthday Jesus decorations and invite immediate family up for lunch.

To say it was amazing to sit inside a sealed up house is an understatement! There is still no ceilings and parts of the roof are not completely sealed, though the temperature is far cooler than outside and it looks / feels LIKE A HOUSE!!.

It seems as though family were very happy (and maybe even a little relieved!) to see the progress - next was New Years!

We had a few families that we wanted to be able to have up to camp out, though there was much to do. Many safety issues, no electricity, no running water or sink, large pits and a bobcat that wasn’t running...

To say that I am proud of the effort of everyone over this week is an understatement. Everyone was working at full speed from early until late right up until people arrived on New Years Eve.
Comparatively, the place looked amazing. All the tools and pallet racking was out of the house, the pit was filled in with flat areas for games, some electricity sockets were working, some lights, large commercial toaster was ready, ice machine running, tables inside, food prepared (and cooked), area for camping ready, barrels for barrel racing, tug of war rope, water fight ‘weapons’, unsafe areas cordoned off / marked, capture the flag / lantern stalk / sniper areas prepared - the list goes on and on.

We wanted to glorify God and remember / give thanks for what He has protected us from this year, provided for us and pray about the New Year. We asked people to share and asked the children to as well, then sang a few worship songs after the children had sang a few carols (and of course ‘Father Abraham!’). Very rewarding, as was the food, fellowship and all the games...

We are very, very grateful - first off to God who has been incredibly faithful and allowed us to reach this amazing milestone. The stories of His provision and protection will never all be known. Each time we see the progress, we are amazed and can only say it is truly miraculous.

To think, that we had no experience and not even enough money to pay off the land, let alone build a house!

We are also incredibly thankful to the many who have prayed, supported, helped, picked things up, donated, advised and just generally loved us.

Thank you!

Conclusion: With God, all things are possible!

PRAYER: Lord, thankYou for all things You do for us - seen and unseen. ThankYou for Your love that surrounds us and causes You to do what is right for us at all times. ThankYou for Your Son and the grace You extend to us daily. ThankYou for You.