On our second day in Detroit we were all set to pick up trash again, this time in a neighborhood on Chandler St.  We started walking down the street with trash bags in hand (we had also managed to score a weed whacker at the registration tent). Our goal was simply to pick up the trash on the sidewalk, whack down all the grass and weeds around the sidewalk, and then brush it all clean. It was a good plan, except for the fact that compared to yesterday’s sidewalk on W. Euclid St., there really wasn’t much to clean up. It appeared we were in for a less-than-fruitful day.

But then an elderly woman named Jules called out from her porch and asked if we could cut down some weeds around her house.

“Sure,” I said, being eager to do anything significant at this point.

So we started cutting down her weeds.

After the weeds, Jules asked if we would be willing to move some junk from her backyard.

“Yep, no problem we would love to do that” I replied.

So I gathered our group and we started cleaning the backyard.

Jules was thrilled at this point.  She had a lot of junk in her backyard that needed to be removed. And to show us that she was eternally grateful, she bought us lunch from KFC.

Though, as it turns out the KFC might have just been her way of buttering us up for what was next.  Jules’ husband had died in May, and in her house (on the top floor of course) were two rooms full of her late husband’s stuff. She asked if we could remove almost all of it.

“Yeah, we can do that,” I said.

We spent over four hours with Jules, and often heard her saying, “Thank you Lord, I am so blessed!” By the time we were done, her neighbors had come over to see who we were and what we were doing. They too were surprised and grateful to hear about why we were there and the work of Life Remodeled.

It was just one morning, at one house, helping one woman in Detroit, but on that day on Chandler St., it really felt like we had made a real difference in the city.