Thursday, April 24, 2008
4:19 pm
Daniel J. Summers
This Sunday, April 27th, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition will be featuring the Martinez family from Albuquerque, New Mexico. This is the build that we saw happening, and the genesis for the idea of the Not So Extreme Makeover: Community Edition (NSX) that we took part in last month. Gerald Martinez is the pastor at Joshua's Vineyard, an outreach church in one of the least-desired areas of Albuquerque. Through NSX, we became acquainted with him, and, while I can't vouch for the other families that have received these, I can say that he is very deserving of the home he received. He has been working in that area for years, and when he wasn't ministering to the people, he was trying to figure out how to get others in the community involved and engaged. This did it - it was truly an answer to prayer unfolding before our eyes.
On a personal note, our family was lining the street as Ty and Gerald walked around the corner to see another building they had built. They were talking, but who knows what will stay in or be left on the cutting room floor. We were standing just before the people in blue shirts - I can't remember what I'm wearing, but I do know I was wearing Jameson on my head. Michelle was wearing a green shirt, and was right behind me. Our other two boys were standing in front of me. Who knows - you may see us if you watch closely!
Another exciting turn is that, according to popular local rumors, ABC has requested footage from NSX, so they may be showing some people who participated in that as well.
It will come on early this week - 6pm EDT/PDT, 7pm CDT/MDT - and it'll run for two hours. Be sure to catch it!
Well, the big push for the Not So Extreme Makeover: Community Edition is complete. While one of our homes still needs some work, the every-day “work, work, work” has been finished. It was a wild two months - the only thing “not so” extreme was the amount of work that went into some of the homes. However, with our extreme efforts following God's leading, we saw extreme results - physical needs cared for, relationships formed, and a ministry that will live on for years and years.
Now, I'm looking at this blog. “Fred Thompson for President” - heh… Seems it's gotten a little bit out of date. I notice part 1 of a 3-part “2007 Year in Review” series - this won't be finished. There is the conspicuous absence of a Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday post and a Sanctity of Human Life post - these will probably go undone as well. Feel free to browse the archives and remember what I've said in previous years - I still feel that way. :) (Of course, with Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright out there, we may still have a race-based post before the year is out.)
The blog is now running WordPress 2.5, so it's up to the latest and greatest version. Coming very shortly is a huge “Plagiarism Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery” post, which will catch up with all the interesting stuff we missed over the past several weeks. I'll also get around to replacing Fred's button with one more timely at some point.
Sorry I haven't been around here much - it's certainly not been for lack of things to talk about. Every day, I'll see or hear something that's just begging for a-blogging, but I've been rather busy. Here in Albuquerque, NM, there's a community-based project called Not So Extreme Makeover: Community Edition, where we are going to share our abundance with those who need it. Our biggest focus is going to be an area of town affectionately known as the “War Zone.” I am working with them, managing the public web site, as well as developing an interactive database application for the leaders to use to manage the resources needed to make this effort a success. I'll be back here once April rolls around.