The Waiting Week | Day of Service Journal Part 10

September 25 is now less than a month away, and this week we got an update we were hoping we wouldn’t get. Ryan Elliott from The 516 Project. 

still hasn’t been able to connect with the veteran family we’ve been considering. At this point, we may have to move on.

Last week, I wrote about widening the circle, while we waited. Ryan still believed this family could be a good fit based on what he saw at the property. But we also said something then that matters even more now: we need the right family, the right project and, ultimately, a family that wants us there.

Ryan does have another veteran family in mind, so we’re not starting from zero, but we may be headed toward a different home than the one we thought a couple of weeks ago. I’m obviously hoping we can get something confirmed soon because September 25 is getting close. But I don’t want to turn somebody’s need into our deadline. If this family isn’t responding, for whatever reason, we have to respect that and look at the next possibility.

A couple of weeks ago, Ryan completed the initial site survey and September 25 started feeling less like a date and more like an address. This week is a reminder that even when a project looks promising, we still have to give the family room to decide whether they want us involved.

And if I’m being completely truthful, I didn’t do much with the Day of Service myself this week.

It’s been a stressful few months, and this week was particularly rough. The business was busy, properties needed attention, people needed answers, plans changed, and it felt like there was always one more thing waiting. That’s not unusual when you run a business, but some weeks you handle it better than others. This wasn’t one of my better weeks.

Thursday morning probably summed it up. I woke up late and had a morning appointment in Louisa County. Laila’h was with me, so she rode with me to the appointment, and afterward I took her to school. Once I dropped her off, I knew I needed to go somewhere for a little while.

So I went to my mom’s house.

I didn’t take the day off. I brought my work with me and kept working the entire time I was there. I answered calls, handled what needed to be handled, sat there with my parents and talked to them in between. That’s really all I did.

But it helped.  I don’t know exactly what was different. My phone was still going off. The same work was sitting in front of me, and none of the things stressing me out had disappeared. But sitting at my parents’ house, talking to them and working from there, I could decompress a little bit. I think I just needed to be there.

There isn’t some big lesson I’m trying to pull out of that. It was simply part of this week.

The same is true of the Day of Service. When I started this journal, I said I would document the process as we worked toward September 25. If I’m going to do that honestly, then weeks like this belong here too. Every Friday isn’t going to bring a new sponsor, a confirmed family or some major breakthrough. Sometimes we’re waiting on a phone call. Sometimes a plan doesn’t work. Sometimes the person writing the journal has a week where he doesn’t get nearly as much done on the project as he wanted to.

The family we were hoping to help hasn’t responded. Ryan has another veteran family in mind, and hopefully we’ll know more about that possibility soon. September 25 is still coming, and the commitment hasn’t changed. We may just be walking through a different front door than we originally thought.

For this week, that’s the update. And I think that’s enough.

Be Ready When We Get the Green Light

September 25 is less than a month away. We may not know the exact front door yet, but we know the date, and once the right family and project are confirmed, things will move quickly.

If you’ve been thinking about helping, this is a good time to raise your hand. We need volunteers who are willing to be flexible, tradespeople who may be able to help once we know the scope, and businesses that could provide materials, services, or financial support when the final needs are identified.

You can also help by sharing this journal and keeping the Day of Service in front of people who may want to be involved. The wider the circle now, the easier it will be to mobilize the right people when Ryan gives us the green light.

Learn more, volunteer, sponsor, or support the Day of Service.

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