2007 Annual Report
Because of Christ and His great love for all of us and for Grace Klein Construction, Inc., I feel overwhelmingly compelled to share an Annual Report. Many of you may have heard of George Mueller. I spent the first three months of 2007 reading about his life and service to Christ. He is an inspiration for all of us out there who experience fear and doubt. He saw God do amazing things during his lifetime as he ran an orphanage in Bristol, England, by faith. He always provided an annual report to outline God’s faithfulness. Since I became aware of God’s intention for me to write an annual report in July 2007, I have been anxious to write and share of His mighty deeds.
Grace Klein exists to bring Christ glory. We are honored to be a part of His great work and each day I more fully grasp the reality that He has entrusted Grace Klein Construction, Inc. to us and we must prove faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2). I am not worthy, and I do not deserve such an honor to rub shoulders with some of the best people in the world. God’s goodness has passed in front of us. Because of God’s faithfulness, Grace Klein Construction has provided a livelihood for 62 individuals, 49 spouses, and approximately 109 children in 2007. We have worked with 409 vendors, 4 banks, and 244 customers, many multiple times. We have received an outpouring of love from our customers…water when we were thirsty, furniture, clothes, venison, bikes and toys for the kids, the thank-you’s, referrals, positive feedback surveys, and prayers for us. On the jobs where we had bumps in the road, we thank you for giving us the opportunity to make things right and your unbelievable patience. (Those of you know who you are.)
Because of your belief in Grace Klein Construction and choosing us to help you restore your home after an insurance claim, remodel, provide an addition to your existing home, renovate a commercial property or purchase a home from us, you have all been a part of something so much greater than all of us. The Grace Klein Construction family, which includes all of you, has shared the gospel and the hope of Christ to widows in Birmingham, an Indian reservation in Arizona, the local Hispanic community, kids at the Sheriff’s Ranch, and our friends in South Africa. Two men accepted Christ while we were in South Africa and they have already formed three house churches. You sent us out to share God’s love, on behalf of all of us… 2 of us to South Africa, 8 to another state and 18 within our local community. The home we have been helping renovate at the Sheriff’s Ranch now has house parents and children will be arriving soon. Our donation room has met needs of some of our workers as well as people we do not know that God brings into our path. For example, a lady found out about our donation room, called us and donated a storage unit full of furniture. The Sheriff’s Ranch needed furniture for the home we have been renovating, so God met an immediate need. Another time, a customer donated a table and chairs and a few days later it was delivered to an apartment that needed a table so several could meet and study the Bible together. Thanks to friends and customers of Grace Klein, all of our employees received gift cards to Wal-Mart and Christmas gifts for their wives and children. Thanks to your loyalty to the contract, funds continue to be available to pay all the individuals that work for this company, keep bills current, and propel us in our obedience to sharing the love of Christ to those in need.
Unfortunately, as our family grows, we do experience many tragedies and our heart goes out to those of you who lost a parent or other family member this year, who struggled with sickness and disease, to our customers who were hospitalized and those who struggled emotionally when no one else knew. Some of you let us into your lives amongst the pain and we learned from you. We want to walk the journey with you and hope you will let us know how we can help. One special family lost their baby girl this year and we thank all of the customers who found out about the situation and helped with food, shelter and encouragement. We can be God’s hands and feet to one another.
Amongst the heartache, we welcomed new babies into the world, an adoption of a little guy from Guatemala, an adoption of a step-child, promotions, weddings, safety of families whose homes caught on fire, laughter and practical jokes, artwork from your children, no dog bites (some of your dogs appear vicious), kindness and friendship, and the encouragement to keep on keeping on.
If you have followed our website this year, you know one of the highlights was our Parade of Homes project where we renovated a 1930’s bungalow in historic Forest Park. [Several years later, this home was featured in the September 2011 issue of Birmingham Magazine. To see that article click here.] I promise, this project brought our team together in a way that only God could do. With every hurdle, God made a way and the guys saw His love and provisions for all of us. The permitting process alone, due to the complications of a historic district, took over three months. We had material delays, 112+ index temperatures, a time crunch to complete by the parade weekend, which we misunderstood and it ended up being two weeks earlier than anticipated…but God did it…He kept our guys safe, He got the materials there just in time, He even allowed us the Gold Award which validated the workers on a job well done. We had customers who designed our landscaping, others who helped us install landscaping due to the time crunch, and others who stayed to midnight before the opening day of the parade to help us complete the final clean up. Thank you, thank you, and thank you!
As far as safety goes, we had two minor injuries for 2007. One employee shot a nail through his finger building a cabinet and the other worker had a nail scrap his head during demolition of a deck. Both received minor treatment with no permanent injuries. We totaled one company truck and the engine locked up on another the same week, but our people walked away with no injuries. Praise God!
In the community, our year was full. We participated in Hoover Day, a hardwood flooring school, the 4th of July Celebration for the City of Helena, the Fall Festival Scarecrow exhibit for Aldridge Gardens, a golf tournament, and Christmas parades in Helena, Chelsea and Vestavia Hills. We delivered goodies to many of our referral contacts for Valentine’s, Easter, 4th of July, and Christmas, attended Coffee & Contacts and enjoyed lunch with the Hoover Chamber. We welcomed the Bob the Builder exhibit to the McWane Center, helped with a Christian carnival at Hartwood Apartments, complied with our civic duty to serve on jury duty, and developed friendships with the ITSBITS group who plans to collect and donate supplies for our trip to Africa in March.
Please begin to pray about how you or your family may want to become involved in 2008. I could never have imagined all God would choose to do this year. We have realized one big lesson this year – there is no Plan A or Plan B…only God’s plan and that plan is always good.
From all of us, thank you for your friendship and your prayers. We are blessed to know each of you. The entire Grace Klein Construction family has learned more from you than you will ever know. Visit us at www.gracekleinconstruction.com and send us a message on how we can do our jobs better, suggestions for how we can impact the world for Christ, and any questions about how you can be involved. Your trust in us and your selection of our services makes all of this possible and we thank you.
May God’s faithfulness overwhelm you in 2008.
Working with all my heart,
Jenny Waltman
President, Grace Klein Construction, Inc.
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