Day of Service Journal Final Entry | Serving Continues

I have been trying all week to figure out how to write the final entry of this Day of Service Journal without turning it into another recap of last Friday.
You have already seen the pictures and videos.  You know people showed up.  You know we cut, cleared, hauled, cleaned, sweated a little, or a lot, and left a veteran and her mother’s home looking better than when we arrived.  We had 19 people there, everybody got involved, and we accomplished what we came there to do. I think that is enough of the play-by-play.

What I have been thinking about more this week is why a day like that means so much to Phyllis and me in the first place.  Long before there was a Real Property Management Regions, and honestly, long before there was a Stephen and Phyllis, there was Stephen doing community service and Phyllis doing community service.  We were already doing our own thing, serving where we could, before our lives ever came together. That shared desire to help other people is actually one of the things that drew us together.

So when we get to spend a day like last Friday together now, it hits a little differently.  Watching people give up part of their Friday, bring what they had, and work together for a family most of them had never met meant more to us than I can probably put into words.  Phyllis and I were proud of what everybody accomplished, and we are genuinely grateful for every person who helped make the day what it became.  For us, there was also another layer to it.  Service was part of who we were before there was an “us,” and it has remained part of who we are together.

I’ve said this before, and I still mean it: Real Property Management Regions is more than a business to Phyllis and me.  In a lot of ways, this is our ministry.  I don’t mean that in some grand, overly spiritual way.  We manage homes.  We deal with leases, maintenance, owners, residents, budgets, late payments and all the normal craziness that comes with property management.  Some days are great.  Some days make you wonder what in the world you got yourself into.  But underneath all of it are people, owners trying to protect something they worked hard for, families trying to make a home, veterans, people going through good seasons and people going through some really hard ones.  I believe God called us to this for a reason, and part of that calling is how we treat people and what we do with the opportunities He puts in front of us.

Apparently ministry can also involve coolers, weed eaters, piles of branches, tracking down a dumpster and me worrying about volunteer counts while Phyllis tells me everything is going to be fine.  Nobody said ministry had to be quiet.

What impressed me most on Friday wasn’t one individual or one company.  It was watching everybody find a way to be useful.  We had people there who do that kind of work professionally standing beside people whose normal jobs have absolutely nothing to do with clearing brush or hauling debris.  Some brought their own equipment.  Some grabbed whatever was available. Some could stay all day, while others gave us the time they had.  Once the work started, nobody seemed particularly concerned about titles.  Everybody was just part of the crew.

Delegate Nicole Cole was one of the people who surprised me.  I figured she might stop by, visit for a little while, take a few pictures and head to whatever was next on her schedule.  Instead, she stayed and worked right alongside everybody else.  That really became the tone of the whole day: if you were there, you found something to do.

And there were plenty of people who contributed without ever appearing in the pictures.  People provided food, drinks, equipment, supplies and financial support. Others helped make connections or worked behind the scenes before September 25 ever arrived.  Phyllis and I noticed all of it, and we are grateful for all of it.  People did not come just to attend a Day of Service.  They came to serve.

I also cannot close this journal without talking about
The 516 Project.
They did not have to take this journey with us.  They chose to.  They stayed involved through the planning, the search for the right family, the site assessment, materials, volunteers and finally the day itself.  We supported their work before this project, but after going through this experience together, that relationship means even more to us.  When they need us, we will be there.

Then earlier this week, our veteran called us herself. She wanted to say thank you, and she also wanted to apologize because she worried that she may have seemed guarded or not as appreciative as she really was. She never owed us an apology.  If you followed this journal, you already know she was never completely comfortable being the person receiving the help.  She was always thinking about whether somebody else needed it more.

Hearing from her afterward probably closed this chapter better for me than any before-and-after picture could.  We went there hoping to make a difference for her and her mother, and she let us know that we did. That is what mattered.

The Serving Isn’t Over

So this journal is ending, but the serving definitely is not.  Phyllis and I have other organizations we care deeply about and will continue supporting.
ASSIST is coming up next for us in October.
The Fairy Godmother Project remains close to our hearts.  And then on December 1, one of our favorite things starts all over again: fundraising for
Micah Ecumenical Ministries through the
Coldest Night of the Year, which takes place February 27.  So if you start getting messages from me or Phyllis asking you to donate, join the team or help us beat whatever goal we decide to set this year, don’t act surprised.  You have officially been warned.

And yes, there will be another Day of Service.  Next summer, we are going to do this again.  Hopefully we will be a little smarter, a little more organized and maybe I will spend a little less time the night before worrying about how many people are going to show up. Phyllis would probably appreciate that last part.

Fourteen journal entries ago, this was just an idea.  We did not have a veteran family, an address or even a clear picture of what the project would eventually become. We changed the date, changed the plan more than once and learned a few things the hard way.  Then September 25 came, cars started pulling into the driveway, people grabbed tools and the thing we had been talking about for months became real.

A veteran and her mother were better off when we left than when we arrived.  Phyllis and I got to spend the day doing something that mattered to both of us long before we had a company together, surrounded by people who decided it mattered to them too.  For our first Day of Service, I’ll take that.

Day of Service 2026 is in the books.  We’ll see you next summer. And for the record, Phyllis was right from the start, but that is about as much as I’m putting in writing.