House improvements!

After unpacking, I immediately went into Mr. Fix It mode and got to work. First priority, do something about the heat for heaven's sake! I found a way to get the windows to prop open further than normal, experimented with different fan positions to get the best airflow, and put screens on all the windows (with packing tape) so we could have the windows open all night and still keep out most of the mozy's and bugs. Every one contributed to the work including Isaac and we all sweat our way through the first week. Sarah was given a new portable speaker system from Revelation Wellness as one of their ambassadors and that speaker has been blaring fast pace music to keep us moving. Jugs of water were on constant rotation through the freezer to make sure we had plenty of ice cold water to recharge ourselves when heat became too much. We turned off the breaker to the water heater, (no need for that since the cold tap was putting out hot water already) and we couldn't stand turning on the stove so we ate only cold foods. Our friends brought meals as well which helped a lot, but we had mostly water, water, and more water. Each night, we went for a dip in the schools pool to drop our body temps before going to bed. The plan was to paint the roof white and install a ceiling (right now we have only a thin sheet of tin between us and the blazing sun and it leaks in the rain), but the the ceiling was put on hold because we learned that the loan on the property had not gone through yet. Put simply, the school is buying the property our house is on and we are renting from the school. If the loan falls through, which it has before, then all the improvements we make will be lost when we are forced to move. So with the ceiling plan on hold, we got the roof painted white and installed a Whirly Bird on the roof to suck the hot air out. Worked like a charm. The temps in the house went from 10 to 15 degrees above the outside air temp, to being just about the same temp as outside. Around the same time, we got a really good rain storm that dropped the temps to the 80s and low 90's. The water pressure in the house was so low that Sarah could not wash her hair in the shower, but had to use the bath tap so we installed a boost pump that we can turn on and off when we want to shower. After some installation problems and trial and error, we now have excellent shower pressure and Sarah will tell you that I love to take long showers so it was a big win for me. This house needs a lot of work and we new we would need a work team to help, so we called in a group of young people from the youth center to help with cleaning the house and clearing the yard. These young people have not only come to the Lord through the ministry at the youth center we are a part of, but they are discipler's themselves and are busy training other young people as well. Most of them have failed out of the government education system after the 5 grade so they have little education, no jobs, and they often just want to party like a normal teen-ager but have no money. So we hired them on for a week and they worked really hard in the hot sun and the house and yard are starting to look like someone lives here. It was empty for 5 years before we moved in and it was an old house even then. At the end of the work week with our young people, the youngest one named Alex, really stood out so we decided to hire him full time to help around the yard. He lives about 10 miles away so getting to the house for work each day is a challenge for him so we have decided to front the cost of a bike, which he will pay off over time as he works for us. I'm really praying he works out because I can help him get his GED and train him in a few trade skills so he can get a good paying job down the line.