Restoring History

        We awakened this morning to rain, rain on the first anniversary of a lot of rain, but by the time we had finished breakfast and were ready to work, the rain had mostly stopped. There were some rearrangements to the teams, but we dispersed to the same four places. By noon, we had done all we could do at the home on the river, so our team moved a few miles down the road to the Historic River Forks Bed and Breakfast to aid the team already there in their efforts to have the "bed" part of the inn open by Saturday.

        The River Forks has a great website which describes the history of the place, and it is special. It is an old log building, first constructed in 1905 which sits at the forks of the Big Thompson and Little Thompson Rivers. It has gone through many changes and survived the 1976 flood (I will also talk about this flood later) relatively intact, but it was not so lucky in 2013. The bar and restaurant were totally destroyed, as was everything else on the ground floor. Three feet of water filled the building as both forks of the river spilled over their banks. History oozed out of the log structure, even as we worked to modernize and clean up the interior. The jury is still out as to whether or not they will be able to partially open on Friday night, but we are doing our best.

       The team is beginning to mesh together, to get to know one another and to share our stories, for like the people we are helping, the team members also have stories, and the often these stories come surprisingly close together as relationships form. Some of the most interesting stories are coming from the team of men who are building the fences. Urban people from California don't often have a working relationship with building barbed wire fences as the cows look on, but this group is learning the skill! Their stories are funny and inspiring as they learn and work together.

        During evening devotions tonight, George created new words to the song "Somebody Touched Me" when he sang, "While we were working, somebody touched me." I think I can honestly say that each and every one of us has been touched, both by the people with whom we are working and the God who called us to this work....And it is only Tuesday!