Vacation Ends on the Upbeat With Return to a Surprise Renovation

When they left on vacation, Steve and Debbi Williams had little choice but to leave behind three broken windows, a leaky shower faucet and a living room carpet they likened to an oil slick.

A day care center Debbi used to run in her home had taken its toll on the house, and with six children of their own, the Williamses gave food and new shoes priority over home repairs.

They were making do before their weeklong camping vacation, and they intended to make do after. But as it turned out, they didn’t have to.

While they were away, family and friends from Valley Christian Center secretly renovated their three-bedroom home in central Fresno, right down to the toilet seats and shelf paper.

They did such a good job that 11-year-old Whitney thought her parents had gotten lost.

“Mom, we came to the wrong house,” Whitney said as they walked through the door. Looking around, she repeated, “Mom, we’re in the wrong house, I’m positive of it.”

Her mother, who had noted the repaired sprinkler heads and painted house trim and garage on the way into the house, was equally stunned.

“I can’t believe this,” Debbi Williams said. “Look at this place. You guys spent my vacation doing this?”

Debbi’s mother, Marge Ainley, recruited family and friends for the project, realizing that the Williams’ budget could not handle too many home repairs.

“We feel it’s our responsibility to serve our family and to serve others,” Marge Ainley said. “The Lord has blessed us, and we want to bless others.”

The crew of friends and family transformed the house one job at a time.

Two bedrooms and a bathroom were painted, curtains hung in the kitchen, wallpaper put up in the master bedroom, a new water heater installed and the dishwasher and garbage disposal rewired.

The four oldest boys got new bunk beds made up with homemade denim bedspreads to match their new curtains.

“Mom, something has radically changed in our garage,” Whitney pointed out on her tour. “We can walk through it.”

“Mom, if we blink our eyes, will all this go away?”