HB in the CL

She sounds so sound-bite.

"We were literally starting from scratch in the house," Holly Batchelder
said. She and her husband enjoy renovating homes but this is more daunting.
"Having one room done sets the tone for the rest of the house. It's very, very
helpful. It gives us some direction.

"Everybody was really great, easy to work with. They were completely
taken aback by the situation down here," Batchelder said of the Philadelphia,
Pa.-based crew. "I think it was a good experience for them, a good experience
for us as well. ... One of those once-in-a-lifetime things you'll always be glad
you did."

Good job Holly.

Here's the link to the whole article.

Trading Spaces Air Date...

Although we have known the air date for a while, we didn't want to publish anything here until the schedule was available on TLC's website. "Trading Spaces: Kindness after Katrina; Mississippi: Southern Hospitality" will premiere this Saturday, March 4th at 8pm (central) on TLC. We have not seen the cut version, but have every confidence Kevin was kind to us and did a fantastic job on the edits. Please tune in to watch this very special episode, and join us in praising the Lord for His provision of this great experience.

Again, our sincere thanks to all who helped us get the house ready for the show. We could not have done this without each and everyone of you!

Luckiest People

The words of a dear friend today in regard to Holly and I:

"Ya'll are the luckiest people I know"

Her tongue was planted firmly in cheek.

By all indications, it turns out our Massachusetts plumber has been scamming us from the get go. He's very crafty. He latched on to a local contractor (who has done a good job for us) for credibility. He somehow also got a referral to us through our local church. He initially asked for $1,000 deposit for materials and immediately delivered a whirlpool tub, a regular tub/shower and a shower along with some copper piping. He then, based on all this credibility, convinced us to 'purchase' through him some additional fixtures and upgrades for some more money (up front of course). All told, we ended up into him for $5,600 and thus far he's only delivered the above mentioned materials and done a very small amount of rough plumbing.

We've been frustrated by his lack of progress the last few weeks and were turning up the pressure on him . He always had an excuse and so we began putting pressure on the local contractor as well. Long story short, today we discovered that John Tasselari has a record of fraudulent activity. He doesn't have a Mississippi Plumbing License. His Mass. license was apparently revoked a few years ago. He's has the notable distinction of being on the Foxborough, Mass. police 'most wanted list' for what appear to be 5 outstanding warrants.

So, please pray that we are patient and wise and charitable and submissive and patient and patient and patient in the midst of this setback. We want to be angry and get even, but I don't think that is the proper response. We could also use some help now in the plumbing department too, so if you want to pray for that, we'd be very grateful.

3Not only so, but we[c] also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Romans 5: 3-5

Virgil Willard Hayes

Not sure many from the MSMS period of my life read this, but Will Hayes passed away this week. Will was my roommate first year (1991-1992). I received the news Monday evening that he was in ICU and not expected to survive. The note below indicates that by then he may have already passed.

I am writing you to let you know that Will Hayes (MSMS Class of 1993) passed away on Monday February 13, 2006 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The visitation will be 5-8pm on Friday February 17 in Canton, Mississippi at the Breeland Funeral Home. The funeral service will be held at 11am Saturday February 18, 2006 at the First Methodist Church (across the street from the funeral home.) Cards can be sent to
PO Box 153
Canton, MS 39046

More information will be posted on the website (www.msmsaa.org) as it becomes available.

Sepideh Baghaii
MSMS Class of 1996

Whether you knew him or not, please pray for Will's family, that God's comfort and peace would envelop them in what must be an extremely agonizing time.

Batch

Permit Granted, Claim Filed

Well, we got the electrical permit we needed. Buddy is coming back down tonight to tidy up the remaining rough electrical work. I'll help him tomorrow do what remains to be done in the attic.

We also got word that the insurance adjuster has filed our claim. He submitted the claim for 100% of our policy value which is great. BUT, we aren't out of the woods yet as the insurance company must approve his recommendation.

So, please offer thanks that we've received the permit and pray fervently that the insurance company would see fit to approve our claim and pay the limits of the policy.

Batch

Electrical Permission

We have an urgent need for an electrical permit.

A very generous friend has donated his time and talent wiring our house for free. This has been a tremendous blessing and we are extremely thankful for his service.

However, he isn't licensed locally and we haven't been able to find contractors who are licensed that are willing to pull the permit for us. This is either because they're too busy to bother and there's very little in this for them OR they aren't willing to put their name on someone else's work.

So, we need someone who is willing to pull the permit. Please pray that the right person would materialize. If you know someone who is able and may be willing to do us this favor, please let us know ASAP. Without inspection and approval, we are not able to proceed with putting the rest of the house together (you can't hang drywall before you get approval).


Thanks,

Batch

Our 60 minutes of fame...

First of all, sorry it's taken us so long to post anything regarding last week! We are currently limited in what we can post until after the show airs- tentatively March 4th. We will post the definite air date and time as soon as TLC lets us know. I want to say a TREMENDOUS thank you to all the volunteers who helped us get the house ready for filming in such a short amount of time. We are eternally greatful and hope you like the results!!

As nice as it was to take a breather this past weekend, there are still "miles to go before we sleep"- or sleep in the house anyway! Anyone looking to have some "fun" one weekend is MORE than welcome to come join the project. We are hoping to work on some electrical this weekend and possibly finish it up the following weekend. The heating and air system should be complete this week and just waiting on electrical and plumbing. Speaking of plumbing...if anyone knows how to keep our plumber out of the casino and on the job, we're taking suggestions!! :) Rumor has it he will be working on the house again this Thursday. Hopefully, we'll make significant progress on that front so we can convince Entex to give us a new gas meter. Once all the mechanical systems are in place, it will be a drywall party as we finish up the remainder of the interior. Batch and I are hopeful that we will be living there in short order, so please continue to pray to that end.

If the great outdoors are more your speed then working on inside projects, we will be starting on the exterior of the home soon. Plans are currently being developed, so stay tuned...

The rejoicing tithe...

... more great wisdom and insight from Drinking with Calvin and Luther.

An irrefutable argument for alcoholic beverages in the Old Testament is revealed by the Hebrew word shekar, which is used some 22 times and literally means "inebriating drink."...

...The shekar was so pleasing to the Lord that he commanded it as a drink offering to himself saying, "And the drink offering thereof shall be the fourth part of an hin for the one lamb: in the holy place shalt thou cause the strong wine to poured unto the Lord for a drink offering" (Numbers 28:7)....

...Deuteronomy 14:26 ...is the classical drinking text for both Calvinists and Lutherans. We may reverently call it the "Moses Stout Text." It reads:

And you shall now bestow that money for whatsoever your soul lusts after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever your soul desires: and you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.

What Romans 8 and 9 is to Arminianism (pulverizing the idol of free will), so is Deuteronomy 14 to prohibitionism. As we see in the Moses Stout Text, the "rejoicing tithe" may be spent for "wine, or strong drink [shekar], or for whatsoever your soul desires...." The people of God are not only permitted to drink shekar, but are to drink it "before the presence of the Lord," and "in the fear of the Lord" (14:23). Also, the Hebrew verb here for "lust" ('avah in Hebrew and epithumeo in Greek) is the same verb found in the Decalogue, where God commands us not to covet (Deuteronomy 5:21). Only here an amazing thing is said: God states that it is lawful to "lust" after wine, or strong drink, so long as these things are not the cellared property of your neighbor. Thus, the Moses Stout Text commends strong alcoholic beverages in five ways: (1) we may drink wine and Moses Stout; (2) we may even lust after Moses Stout; (3) we must always drink wine and Moses Stout in the fear and presence of the Lord; (4) we must rejoice when we drink wine and Moses Stout; (5) our households may drink wine and Moses Stout with us.

The one translation of the Moses Stout Text that bestows a probable nonalcoholic sense is the New King James Version, with its "similar drink" rendering. The translation is so bold that it is bald; that is, the whiner bias of the translator is plainly exposed. Elsewhere, the NKJV renders shekar "intoxicating drink" (Isaiah 5:11), but here in Deuteronomy 14, where the meaning is not negative but overwhelmingly positive, the word is given special treatmenet so that intoxicating drink is not readily associated with good things. The Moses Stout Text, then, is diluted and becomes a symbol not only of translation dishonesty, but of the watered-down message of much of evangelical Christendom.

Drinking with Calvin and Luther, Chapter 7- Scripture & Spirits; pp. 143-145

My favorite line: "The Moses Stout Text, then, is diluted and becomes a symbol not only of translation dishonesty, but of the watered-down message of much of evangelical Christendom."

Intriguing that the command is for wine or strong drink and that in many churches in the observance of the Lord's supper, we have replaced God's wise command for a strong beverage with our culture's wisdom/preference for weak Welch's (wine is not even an option). It is also interesting the He commanded this observance daily and in many protestant churches, you're looked at suspiciously if you want to partake in the Lord's supper more often than once a quarter. Then there's the whole commendation to lust for the strong drink and rejoice when we drink it.

Hardcore. Very interesting. Comment away.

Demolition Continues

Well, we (we being us watching some contractors) demolished the walls. Here are the before and after pics. You can see the jacks supporting the load previously borne by the walls. We'll come back in with some combination of beams and columns to provide the necessary support.

<--Before / After-->

We (same as above) also demo'd the yellow bathroom on the North side of the house. You can see the skeleton of what was a shower and I'm standing roughly where the wall was previously. We're gonna make the bathroom a little bigger and update it.

The ceilings have been mostly ripped out, the mold treatment occurs tomorrow and the framing/furring should start on Tuesday.

Sights of the holidays...

Christmas is always my favorite holiday of the year, and this year was no exception. The Leavengoods were most gracious to us and we enjoyed taking part in their family traditions.

As some of the Leavengood family enjoys Christmas morning, you can see a small puppy on Lois' lap...that's her Christmas present from Doug-- a new Westie appropriately named "Mistletoe"- aka Missy to most of the family, but Batch and I prefer "Toey" (well, she does have a habit of biting your toes...) Oh, and did I mention...the day after Doug bought Missy, another Westie breeder called and in order to keep Missy a surprise, Doug agreed to let Lois buy a puppy from the 2nd breeder...by the end of January, there will be 2 puppies ruling the roost at the Leavengoods...and one grumpy old dog (Luke) running for the hills!



And here's one holiday event we hope does NOT become part of the family traditions... Even Mugridge, Laura and Bobby's dog (on the bed), is surprised by this scene!
Scott, sorry buddy, but I couldn't resist posting this one...

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a super New Year!

How we spent our Christmas vacation...

As Batch mentioned in his previous post, we began work our on the flooded home last week. First Presbyterian in Biloxi had over 147 volunteers spend the week between Christmas and New Year's helping families such as us continue the clean up and rebuilding effort. We were extremely blessed by the helping hands of volunteers from Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and Georgia as well as our local adopted family. There are no words to adequately describe the gratitude Batch and I feel for these individuals and teams. What follows are pictures of the house taken after the teams left...

Although most people might say it looks worse now than before we started, in the renovation process we've learned that it always looks worse before it looks better. That impressive pile is the hardwork of approximately 25-30 volunteers over a 4 day period. Pretty impressive!!


The walls labeled "demo" will be removed to open up the kitchen, dining and living rooms. It will be a great entertaining space once it's complete!


Batch stands in front of what will soon be french doors leading from the living room to the backyard. Our plans are to one day have a deck out there for more entertaining space.


Hopefully, these pictures show y'all at least some of our vision for the place. Are you ready to come help us make it happen? If so, please check back soon. We hope to have a project plan posted by the end of the week!!

Two mortgages, no homes

We closed yesterday on another home on the coast. It is a fixer upper (it had about 5 feet of water in Katrina) and will require a complete renovation. So now we have one lot, one gutted house, two mortgages and no home (I'm not complaining... I only share this to be funny; it's been the running joke around the Leavengood family, the kind folks whom we've been staying with). It is all good though. We're excited about the renovations and are confident that, Lord willing, it will turn out to be a very good investment.

I got to work on it today; a father and his two sons from Virginia joined me, along with Dr. Doug Leavengood. We pretty much gutted the workshop out back. Why, you might ask, are we bothering with the workshop, when the whole house needs work? Well, we plan to use it as a construction office/storeroom during the renovation. It needed to be gutted and it still needs new doors and windows. Anyhow, we should be able to finish cleaning it up tomorrow and start installing the doors/windows tomorrow or Monday.

I plan to take the camera tomorrow and will post some pics soon. I also plan to post a hi-level project overview (i.e. tasks that my faithful readers can sign up for).

By the way, we think/hope we are very, very well insured on this property. We have a fire policy, a wind policy, a flood policy and a liability policy. Basically anything State Farm was selling, I was buying.

Oh, and if you're looking for an outstanding banker, look up John Shappley at The First Bank in Hattiesburg. He took great care of us.

B

Road weary

My current vocation requires rather extensive travel; as our clients are all over the country, I typically leave home every Monday morning and return on Thursday night. I'm home now for the rest of the year and had a moment to reflect on how much I traveled this year.



Some quick stats, since 12/22/04:
Hotel nights
Marriott- 147+ nights, at the following hotels.
-Columbus Renaissance (best Hotel customer service ever, anywhere)
-Columbus Airport Courtyard
-Houston Marriott Westchase
-Casa Magna Marriott Cancun Resort
-Residence Inn Marriott Westchase
-JW Marriott New Orleans
-New York Marriott Marquis Times Square

Magnolia Hotel Houston- 1 night
Le Meridien Cancun Hotel- 2 nights
Total: 150+ nights

Flight Segments
Continental/Northwest
- 158 flights (plus a few extra that didn't get counted when I got rerouted on other airlines)
-89,081 actual miles (plus the extra flights mentioned above)

Points Earned
-American Express: ~48,758+
-Continental OnePass: ~95,000+
-Marriott Rewards: ~213,000+

Time away from wife, home, church and community
150/365= ~41% of total nights away
209/365= ~57% of total days away
~60 % of weeknights slept away
~80% of weekdays spent away

I could come up with more statistics of my lament, but I'll spare you. One huge upside of all this travel is that my job and subsequent income has been pretty much unaffected by Katrina, so we're still pulling in money to defray the costs. We're thankful for that.

B

Lagniappe Church

I mentioned on here a while back that Jean Larroux will be planting a church in Bay St. Louis. I seem to get alot of hits from people looking for him and/or the church plant.

So, if you're looking for him or just interested in his plans, check out his website:
http://www.lagniappechurch.com/

And now the not so good news...

According to this article, the money looks like it might be tied to rebuilding.

Grant recipients also must have had other homeowners' insurance. And they would have to agree to rebuild to meet new codes and to buy flood insurance on the rebuilt structures.

Holly and I are right in the middle of trying to purchase another home that flooded to fix up and live in. Rebuilding on our property had fallen down our list of alternatives for lots of reasons, not the least of which is the time necessary to build from the ground up... 150,000 is nothing to sneeze at... if this turns out to be true it may alter our plans.

B