Today was our busiest day yet! On site, it was time for concrete: time to refill the trenches that we had just helped to excavate the two days before.  It was so rewarding to see our constant progress as each pile of gravel grew, was mixed into concrete, and then dwindled as it set the layers of carefully and skillfully placed stone. And then the most exciting moment of the day: construction moved above ground! The first two rebar skeletons, that many of the team members had spent time carefully assembling, were placed, waiting to be transformed into solid columns.

I really like this group. I wish I were a better writer so I could help you see what I see. I wish I could tell you in an eloquent way how when the right people’s paths cross in the right place - or just A place that invites interaction – it creates an intersection that can give you laughter on day one and camaraderie by day three. And, I wish I could show you how that intersection can enrich the soul. I mean, when it takes the whole table to figure out how to spell camaraderie, I feel like we’ve bonded.

Today, we moved the earth.

A lot of it.

Today, we began with our orientation to Gracias, Honduras, followed by a walking tour of the city.  As we strolled through unkempt streets, the crowded farmer's market, and past homes ranging from corrugated steel shacks to painted stucco with ornate iron windows, I was struck most by how happy everyone here seems to be.  Our guide, Luis, explained to us that Hondurans are generally positive, laid back people, who just don't stress about things as much as we do.  They mostly lead simple lives with comparatively simple homes and basic necessities, valuing family over

Today was the first day of our Honduras adventure.  The group has come together from many places, and even though we spent one day building together on a local Habitat home, many of us are strangers, coming together for a common goal to help build houses in Honduras.  Our personal reasons for coming are varied and what will will take away from the trip will be just as varied.

… hemos llegado a tierra plana.

This Spanish phrase translates as, “Thank God we have arrived at flat land,” and was purported to be said by the Spanish explorers when they reached the area that is now the city of Gracias in the western Honduran department (state) of Lempira.

I just came across a great research study produced by the Center for Housing Policy, the research division of the National Housing Conference, now led by Chris Estes, former executive director of the North Carolina Housing Coalition.

Last Saturday (the day after Valentine’s), we celebrated the culmination of a very special partnership between Coastal Federal Credit Union and the Koledji family building a home near Triangle Town Center that the Koledji’s will purchase and realize their long-held dream of becoming homeowners in the U.S.

The Sunday before last, I had the pleasure of worshipping with our partners at First Presbyterian Church (FPC) in Raleigh.  They, along with White Memorial Presbyterian Church,  are gearing up to build their 16^thHabitat for Humanity house here in Wake County, and I had the opportunity to speak about Habitat’s work in both morning services and in the Sunday School session that they called, “FPC @ Work”.  Partnering with Habitat Wake is one of the ways that FPC has chosen to demonstrate God’s love locally.

Habitat for Humanity of Wake County is excited to announce the selection of Mark Systems' Integrated Homebuilder Management System (IHMS) as our enterprise software suite. Mark Systems’ IHMS will be an ideal match for Habitat due to their capability to combine and leverage resources and knowledge, share information across a broader extent and create efficiencies that were not previously available. This new service will allow our organization to save more money that can be better spent towards building more homes for the families we serve.