The title of the blog today comes from one of my favorite stories in the Old Testament. It is the story of Abraham and the three offerings God asked him to sacrifice. There was a heifer or cow, a ram and then a dove. Well, Abraham killed the cow and then the ram, but when after doing all that heavy lifting, he was tired, I guess, and he failed to kill that little dove. In the dream that he had, the vultures had descended upon the offering, and understood it to mean that the offering was not acceptable in God's eyes and because of that, God "kicked it up a notch" and the next story after that is where God asks him to offer his precious son (that he waited 900 years for) Isaac instead. So, how does this story of the killing of the dove apply to this blog and Habitat/Fuller Center stories and construction in general, you ask. What I've noticed is that it is easy or easier to do the big stuff. You can frame a house, put up all the sheetrock, put the shingles on the roof, and that all goes well and quick,usually. But those final little details, the last little piece of trim inside the closet, adjusting the one door that doesnt quite close right, the transition strips on the floor- all of these are way harder to finish or complete. And if theyre not done, guess where one's eye goes to, even if you know nothing about construction. That's right. So we must discipline ourselves, learn from old Abe,and kill them doves.
     This past week in Spartanburg, I've been doing just that . The Fuller Center here was founded and is run by Sharon McFalls. They started it in February of 2007 and have completed approx. 62 rehabs.  Sharon used to work for the Habitat affiliate here and she and her husband David became Habitat homeowners in Nov. of 2000, same time that my family also become Habitat homeowners in Virgina. Sharon prepared a beautiful list of five projects in 5 days for me to finish. All dove projects. Remove and replace entry doors(people had been waiting 2 years), repair sagging floors in a double wide trailer, install vinyl flooring in a kitchen, install a window sill under a window that had been installed previously. The home of Nancy Miller was where I installed the vinyl tiles (donated by the local Home Depot) She has been living in the house all her life, took care of her mom and dad there before they passed away, and the flooring in the kitchen was 30 years old. The stove, I dont believe, had ever been moved all that time. She told me at first, just do the tile up to the fridge and stove, and not under it. Well, regardless of one of my favorite construction expressions- "There's never enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it twice"- I opted to do it right. I moved the fridge first, laid the 1/4" luan plywood, and instlled the tile on that half, tthen moved the stove out-   eeewww, gross me out- but anyway, cleaned it up, rinsed and repeated.  She was so happy. So I've killed all the doves on my list, and this afternoon, dropped by to see what the Habitat affiliate is up to. Met the construction director, Joe Something, and helped them finish the drywall in a house they are building and mad arrangements to come back Saturday morning to work with them. Reconcilliation continues. Stay tuned-   Peter