Readying the Floors for Our Lady’s Book Binder to Arrive

With the book-binder scheduled to arrive in a week’s time, the floor preparation had top priority. But before the painting could begin, the new cement floors had to be “sound” due to any possible weak spots in the concrete. Areas that were found to have shallow weaknesses on the surface had to be broken up, patched and then grinded to make smooth. The work is very labor intensive, but is a sacrificial offering to Our Lady, along with our prayers, for greater conversion of hearts for Our Lady of Medjugorje’s March 19-23 apparitions at Caritas. These rooms will not be empty for long. As soon as the floors are painted and dried, the equipment and materials will start coming back in.

At the same time, long hours are being put in with other areas of the mission as we have never been busier with requests for all of Our Lady’s Medjugorje materials. While the men work on the construction side, the rest of the community work non-stop in answering the phones, processing the mail and filling the requests for messages, materials and promotion of March 19-23, 2011. Though over the past two weeks it has been very difficult to keep up with the demands of the mission and the work, our prayer is that for every day we work, it results, through the assistance of the angels, in two days of accomplishments. Many days we see this happening. We ask for your prayers to continue two for one!

Three different coats of paint go on the floor. The first- a primer, second-a color coat, the third— a clear coat for a protective covering. Each coat must dry for a certain number of hours before applying the next coat. As you see by the windows, to make the deadline for the arrival of the book-binder, the community men had to work through the night through the last several weeks, first with the grinding of the floors, and then with the painting.

Attention to detail is important in everything we do. It was Our Lady of Medjugorje who said while appearing in the Bedroom of Apparitions at Caritas the following message:

November 30, 1988

“I wish that all your life be love, only love. Everything that you do, do it with love. In every little thing, see Jesus and His example. You also do as Jesus did. He died out of love for you. You also offer all you do with love to God, even the smallest little things of everyday life.”

Even wiping up small drip marks of paint, when done with love, not only blesses the person who is making the offering, but brings peace into his surroundings. Peace in one’s surroundings blesses everyone who encounters that peace.

Typically, the men get up at midnight, paint to 4-4:30 a.m. in the morning, go straight to the Field for 5 a.m. prayer, and then sleep until 10:00 a.m. Rosary time in the Field. Mid-afternoon they would apply the next coat, which would make the floor ready for the 3rd coat around midnight the next night. It was a grueling schedule, but the camaraderie between the men and the youth who helped, the excitement of seeing Our Lady’s Tabernacle beginning to take shape, and their prayer seeking God’s blessing upon their work kept them going. Before painting a section of the print shop, the community men take a break to begin their work in prayer. Though we work hard and long hours, that in itself means nothing without God’s blessing. Our Lady has taught us to always seek God’s blessing if we want to grow in His will. Our Lady of Medjugorje said:

April 10, 1986

“…you, dear children, are not able to grow without God’s blessing. From day to day you need to seek His blessing so you will grow normally and perform all your actions in union with God…”