Floyd, Iowa does not have a grocery store.  There are two truck stops and two antique stores.  This weekend there was a Gospel Music Festival with 20 or more groups performing at the concert in the park.  The Gospel Lighthouse Church has sponsored this festival since 1995.  The gospel sing brings in funds for the Christian school that the church also sponsors since 1988. 

This little town was booming.  People came from many states to attend this amazing concert.  Visiting with many attendees gives us much hope for our nation.  

On Sunday we attended Lighthouse Gospel church and heard Keepers of the Faith. Their harmony is heavenly and their testimonies rich. We think that we tasted a bit of heaven! The Farmer and I were truly blessed to be in attendance. The group are Hawaiians that have moved to Washington State.

Some football was on our schedule Saturday. I and the Farmer drove to St. Paul, MN and the University of Northwestern to see our grandson. He is a Freshman there and is on the football team. It was so great to see him and to take him out to eat. The Christian atmosphere there on campus was tangible. Josh picked a restaurant called Kahn. The Farmer was unsure about this kind of Mongolian cuisine. He did find meat and potatoes so all was well!

“Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a long-handled brush. He surveyed the fence, and all gladness left him and a deep melancholy settled down upon his spirit. Thirty yards of board fence nine feet high. Life to him seemed hollow, and existence but a burden. Sighing, he dipped his brush and passed it along the topmost plank; repeated the operation; did it again; compared the insignificant whitewashed streak with the far-reaching continent of unwhitewashed fence, and sat down on a tree-box discouraged. Jim came skipping out at the gate with a tin pail, and singing Buffalo Gals.”

• Mark Twain

It sounds like this week was all fun and games and it was. But we worked very hard. Four of us are painting the exterior of a two story dining hall. It was red but is now tan, trimmed in brown. We used 20 gallons of primer, 15 gallons of tan and five gallons of brown so far. Yes, there are some sore muscles. And yes there are some sorer muscles. Some of the area has been sprayed, brushed, and rolled.

Jim and Cathy are our leaders and have really carried the load on this assignment.  

“All you need to paint is a few tools, a little instruction, and a vision in your mind.”

•  Bob Ross. 

This is our last week to work here and we would sure like to see it completed.

What did the painter say to the wall? One more crack like that and I’ll plaster you.