Time, what a funny thing.

"Time (as is well known) sometimes flies like a bird, sometimes crawls like a worm.  But a man feels particularly happy when he does not even notice whether it is passing quickly or quietly." from Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev.

Well folks, I've been in KY a couple days short of seven months.  Sometimes I thought time had stopped.  With the empty campus, still woods, and frozen roads, I was pretty sure that the earth had simply quit rotating too.

And there have been times where I was very sure that Red Bird Mission campus had fallen into a black hole which sped up to at least 5x the normal speed.  For example, that one time when Bob was sick and Craig was gone and Dennis was gone and I get back to campus late from the job site.  Walking up to the dining hall I meet Susanne who lets me know we're tag-teaming closing ceremony as the pastor in charge of Communion tells me she has to leave because of a death in the church family...what? Oh yeah and you should probably start dinner too. Craziness, and yet despite the chaos and rookie leaders.  Closing happened: work campers shared, we all worshipped and God was praised.  Or that time when we had 126 eighth graders and their chaperones.  CRAZY (warp speed for sure) but a blast!

 Mostly though, time has passed without much notice.  Time = the distance between the irregularities such as ASP with Fayette First UMC (Check out our super cool safety gear.  Are we ready for demolition or what?)

or Kate's visit (we had a good time at the lake and eating lunch at Abe Lincoln's uncle's house :)  Good times.) or biblically themed golf with the family.  (Kodak moment = Mills family on Noah's ark, hole 6)

or the Red Bird concert.  (I could go on pounce games with the Quest work crew, Berea with Katie and Lexi, Red Bird Mission bowling night, etc.)  Besides the 'changes to the plan' moments, calluses, tan lines, coffee addictions, morning routimes, and increasingly more stained clothes mark time's journey too.  From the state of my clothes, yep, I can tell I've definitely been here a bit.  Also, from the joy of mornings and from fun of swapping crewleader "war stories," time sauntered on by.  Thanks to the staff, to the volunteers, to the residents, and to God.  It's been an adventure and a half and there's even a little more left.  'Sparky' here still has a few outlets to wire and homes to crawl under.  Until I get home, happy summer to you all.  Can't wait to see you friends and just a tip, always wear a hat or bandana when heading to a construction site.  You'd be amazed at the creepy crawlies they prevent from reaching your happy hair ;) 

I better sign out.  Next week I work "where the blacktop ends", literally. Love you! 

Gratitude

So, just wanted to say that last week a big prayer was answered.  My very first week with crews of my own I worked for a very sweet lady named Lucy.  Lucy had children of here own that were grown and now sort of cares for a grandkid as well as caring for her mentally-handicapped brother, Liam.

Mrs. Lucy lives in the house her Dad/Grandad (not sure which) built.  It is small and old and cute.  While plumbing in her kitchen sink, I discovered she had lake o' sewage underneath her house and did not have an operational bathroom.  The lake created the perfect feast for rather disgusting bugs who then invaded her home.  And of course there was a rather intense odor because the bathroom floors were in rough shape too.

While we worked on her home, I just knew that it was sort of pointless.  Until the lake was fixed and the bathroom up and running the lake would grow and the house would get worse.  This broke my heart.  Mrs. Lucy shows such extravagant love caring for her 60+ brother who cannot even speak.

Well, last week a church came to fix on Mrs. Lucy's bathroom.  (I don't think that they realized exactly what they'd gotten into.)  But, two gentlemen braved the stench and muck.  These guys completely re-plumbed Mrs. Lucy's bathroom.  The lake below will now dry up and then the home can be fumigated. And all will be well in the underbelly of Mrs. Lucy's home. These guys were absolutely angels to work in such ICK.  They eliminated the source of the problem and answered deep hope of this girl.  Praise be to God for answered prayers, for crazy volunteers, for bleach, for lysol, for the big love of a quiet mountain woman, and for functioning toilets.

Psalm 68:5 "Father of orphans and protector of widows is God in His holy habitation."

Amen.

Check in Box on Bucket List

I have now earned a 'SECURITY' shirt.  It's totally official.  I had a walkie-talkie and mean-mug and roamed back stage.  A life goal has now been fulfilled.  :)

Let me back up a little.  Red Bird Mission turned 90 on July 1.  To celebrate, the Mission held a big concert slash fireworks show.  I was recruited to do a multitude of tasks for said event.  However, the most exciting was concert security.  It has been a life goal of mine ever since my first Relient K concert to earn a security shirt.  (Simply buying a shirt that said security would be far too lame.)  

I will say the concert went well.  The bands sounded good.  Fireflight rocked!  (And they were super nice. I was at one point a band chauffeur as well.  High heels + wet hayfield = hazardous terrain for rockstars).

Anyway, thought I would share my exciting news.  Happy summer! 

The Joy of Today

Hi folks.  It's been quite sometime.  I do apologize for my neglect of this little blog.

Let me begin my update with a post about Thursday because it was a fairly normal, fabulous day at Red Bird Mission.  God was good and work was busy...

1. I hit snooze twice.  Both times the extra ten minutes were awesome.
2. There was cereal for breakfast and Bob (a co-worker, friend, and all around cool guy) was back and in the crewleader meeting.
3. My group kept me laughing as we finished up the 70ft (that's stinking long by the way) wheelchair ramp for a sweet elderly lady and her husband. see picture below
4. We got back to campus and finished a few little maintenance jobs at the mission, including installing working fans in the large group meeting room.  Yay for a cooler evening gathering!
5. We celebrated and took pictures and prayed with the family.
6. I got to run and spotted a bunny, turtle, and family of birds.
7. A sweet workcamp volunteer (day job: professional hair dresser) trimmed my hair.
8. The talent show was alternately funny and worshipful.
9. I'm now drinking raspberry tea and talking to my parents on skype.

An old post from April 2:

Hi friends.

So, we had sunshine today!  It was such a joy to see blues skies and sun.  I could hardly wait to finish cabin cleaning so that I could soak in some vitamin D :)  The sun was especially welcome after we had the snow Monday and sleet later week.

However, my sunshine time was cut a little short for two reasons: 1. The wind was pretty chilly.  2.  I was invited to learn to make Indian food with Suzanne.  Suzanne is one half of a missionary couple down here.  Suzanne is the Women and Children's Coordinator.  She's five feet tall of awesome!  (Her husband Bob is the Materials Coordinator of workcamp and pretty cool as well.)  So, I scampered off to fry some naan and stew some lamb.  Several hours later, my finger tips are stained yellow, my belly is full and my clothes smell like Taj India.  In other words, I had a blast.  Suzanne taught me to make naan (a little bit of a cheater kind), cucumber raita (the yogurty dish to cool everything down), tandori chicken, saag aloo (spinach, potatoes and spice!), kashmiri rogan josh (a lamb dish), and basmati (Indian rice).  Mmm Mmm good!

Borrowed pictures from the birthday week of AWESOME

Martha, the head cook made a triple layer chocolate cake. Mmm yummy goodness!  The Wisconsin crew was happy to help me celebrate.

Fair warning, this is the group from the last post. Check out our awesome backrub line :)

Yeah, they were that cool.

In the Words of a Very Brave Man...

It is hard work to chase hope.  Hope is not for sissies.

These people and this past week reminded me that it is totally worth it.  Thanks Wisconsin. (P.S. note the gorgeous nature of those stairs!)

The Best Advice I've Ever Gotten But Haven't Learned to Follow

How's that for a title? So, chatting with an almost Methodist pastor (he's a local pastor and 1 step away from ordination to Elders Orders, which means the whole she-bang), this advice came up.  I originally heard it six years ago now from my kickboxing coach.  Despite many blows to the head and a penchant for S Club 7, he gives good advice. He told me to "Relax and enjoy the journey."  Simple advice but true and important for me.  It has also followed me, because as I mentioned earlier, I haven't quite learned the lesson yet.

On other news, I had a visitor today.  Dana dropped by!  I was so excited to see her.  Apparently, I missed her on campus but she saw me driving the snaky road back to campus and flagged me down.  We had a wonderful chat on the side of the road.  You know you live in the sticks when the side of the road is an acceptable and logical spot to chat. Haha.

Tomorrow, I venture forth to work on a front porch, kitchen floor, kitchen windows, toilet, and living room ceiling.  Here's to hoping my crew brings their A game because we're going to be busy :)  Blessings to all my friends reading this!

Update :)

Recent happenings:
1. Our regular group of the season is here.  :D  They make me very happy.  It is such fun to have new people about and to head off campus to build things.  This week it is a mixed crew of college kids and community members.  They are new to RedBird Mission and quite laid back.

2.  We had Shrove Tuesday pancake dinner.  It was wonderful.  We had a crowd.  Linda organized everything as the pancake master.  I also became a church lady: you know, I made a beeline for the kitchen, said hello as I begin baking hashbrowns and flipping pancakes.   Of course this also meant a few pancakes never made to the serving line, but there is a kitchen tax after all.

3.  I had a semi-spring break despite the fact I don't attend school right now.  I went to Candler by way of Birmingham for a scholarship event Fri-Sun am in Birmingham and then Sunday-Wednesday morning at Candler.  Then there was Wednesday evening in Birmingham finished off by a trip to New Orleans for the Endymion ball with my family.  Fun all the way around.

4.  I get my own workcrew this coming week.  I am both scared and excited!

Not Quite the Next Betty Crocker

Well, I have some fun things to report. I attend the singles small group/Bible study on Monday nights.  We are right now reading Max Lucado's book Cast of Characters.  We also eat and watch Syracuse basketball, so we aren't paricularly serious.

Aren't we cute? Left to Right: Back row Duane, Angela Shoney, Tim.   Front row Terri, Linda, me :)

Our last escapade and first adventure I was party to was a progressive dinner.  It landed squarely on Valentines Day, which made me laugh.  The Volunteer Quarters were saddled with appetizers.  So  Duane and I prepared a yummy/easy course.  We made a veggie tray with ranch dip, stuffed cherry tomatoes, and spiced tea.  Yes, I felt rather accomplished.  I'm not great at it but love to play hostess.  Take a look at our lovely table.

The rest of the dinner was even more fabulous.  We sauntered the short walk down the sidewalk to Tim's apartment for crab bisque (Tim is our usual host).  Then we walked off our soup as we crossed the housing complex to Terri's for spinach-citrus salad.  Danielle, her daughter, kindly served as event photographer.   After, salad we headed to the other side of the volunteer quarters for the main course and a little Syracuse basketball.  Sryacuse won (Duane and Linda are from New York) so we celebrated as we feasted on turkey and ham, cinnamon-baked sweet potatoes, baked potatoes, and yeast rolls.  Mmmm.  Finally, a bit stuffed and reduced to more or less waddling back across campus.  We ended at Angela's for dessert and coffee.  I paired dark chocolate hot chocolate with chocolate pie, delicious!

So, I had quite a Valentines evening tons of food and much laughter.  It is an incredible crew: two school teachers, a former missionary to Africa turned Development Director, a Certified Public Accountant, Craft Market Associate, and me.  Sometimes, Tim will even speak Portuguese with me!  Score! 

One is the loneliest, nope, coldest number

Read on assured that this is not a whining post about my love-life.  No, this is a serious discussion of my survival yesterday.  It was a single digit day, temperature wise, this morning.  Single digit!!!!  That, my friends, is COLD.  However, I live to testify that even thin-blooded/cold-natured/cold-weather-wimps can survive in single digit weather.  I can't say that I enjoyed it, though.

Let's recap.  So, I get up and dress for work, the usual many, many layers.  (I must have had a premonition about the frigid nature of the great outdoors because I had a nightmare in which I went camping without my sleeping bag and shivered all night while my friends slept toasty-warm in their teal and brown mummy bags...)  Anyway, stepping outside was like getting slapped in the face by cold air.  The sunshine and sparkly snow were rather deceptive.  (Did you know powdery snow that melts just a little and then re-freezes becomes really sparkly snow?  It's pretty.)  Shoulders up to my ears, I practically run to the truck to ride for work.  I tell Blair the blatantly obvious, "It's COLD!"   He says yep only 9 degrees.  Nine!  Well, we drive the half-mile to work and the temperature drops: 9, 8, 7, 6.  I practically bolt out of the truck making a beeline for the chair nearest the heater for morning meeting.  "Blair, I had to get out of the truck before the temperature drops anymore," I said, "I came to Kentucky not the north pole!"  Of course Blair just laughs.  He's from Michigan, which is kind of like the north pole; it's a place where people think temperatures are even allowed to sport negative sings instead of a digit in the tens place, which is clearly madness.

See the snow :) Note: This is not the sparkly snow, but freshly fallen snow.

Now, I willingly admit that the day before was a snow day and super exciting.  It was a nearly legitimate snow storm.  All the snow came at once more or less so that you couldn't see 100yds away.  It was so neat.  I got to marvel at the snow a little bit longer than usual because I was accidentally left at work by my carpool (not a big deal, as it is less than a mile walk and it gave me plenty of ammunition to tease the two older fellows.) So, during the height of the snow 'storm', I walked back.  Everything was so quiet and white.  It was like Narnia during the reign of the white witch, for any C.S. Lewis nerds.  Nor was I the only one lost in wonder.  There is a man from AL that works up here too.  He was out walking his dog.  I think snow still fascinates most of us southerners :)  

The campfire on campus.

Never fear though.  It's not always snow covered here.  And the area is gorgeous, blue skies, tall trees, mountain ridges surrounding it all.  To quote Mary Bennett, "What are men compared to rocks and trees?"

Please ignore my mullet.  I'm going to get a haircut today.

Hope

Emily Dickinson wrote, "Hope is the thing with feathers, That perches in the soul, And sings in tune, Without  the words.  And never stops at all."

An Italian priest on the frontlines of the anti-human trafficking movement said two things about hope, "Hope is a precursor to a miracle for people of faith." and "I am a man of hope; I do not accept the suffering of others."

Paraphrasing Hebrews 11:1 Jim Wallis says, "Hope is believing in spite of the evidence and watching the evidence change."

Well, I don't have much insightful to say.  I will say that I think hope is what keeps people going.  I think it might be when people lose hope that situations get really crappy, that might be part of the oppression of the slums or of poverty in general...I don't really know.  I do know I like working with organizations that bring hope.  Because of the hope in a better world through JC (you know, Jesus Christ) people can work together in places and situations where pain and tough stuff are easy to spot but where you have to take a few steps back, cock your head to one side and squint hard to see hope, future, possibility.  It's in these places where miracles happen.  I've been blessed to pass through many places that bring holy hope.  I'm in one now and it's pretty cool.  :)

Oh, and, that the King's Speech is an AWESOME movie!  And that cleaning ladies are probably very strong women.  I have scrubbed a few showers today and my arms are bushed.  So, I advise the general populace to avoid angering cleaning ladies.  You will probably lose that fight.

Now, I really think that I'm done...

Living in a Classroom

After gentle chastising from my mama, I am finally updating the blog.  I apologize for being a little neglectful of it.

Well, friends.  In the past couple of days I've tiled, mudded, sanded, painted, visited potential worksites, crawled under a few houses, hung cabinets, uninstalled cabinets, caulked, prioritized jobsites, and eaten lots of chili. :)  There is no need to worry about me being bored.  I don't think that it'll happen around here.

I am very grateful and very blessed.  The staff here at Red Bird have been wonderfully welcoming.  I explained that I'm very interested in missions and the type of ministry they do here.  They told me great and said however they can help they will.  The director of economic opportunity shares his knowledge quite freely (he's a bit of a talker) but it is fabulous.  This guy tells fabulous stories and is a fabulous manager.   Listening to him is a first rate course in management if you pay attention.  And the work camp director has also embraced the idea of teaching me about missions and all aspects of a workcamp ministry.  

So, I've been made a crew leader/ part of work camp team.  This means I get to join the mix of workcamp preparation projects.  The big project has been to repair the camp kitchen.  This is where much of the handywoman work has come into play.  Joining the crew of two guys, one elderly gentleman, one female cook/self-proclaimed overseer, we've done quite a bit: new cabinets hung - check, wall built - check, kitchen appliances moved - check (By the way, commercial size ovens are HEAVY.  I mean like, 6 people needed to move kind of heavy), tile set - check, wall mudded - check.  I think you get the idea.  

Then, I got to participate in the prioritization meeting.  This is where a committee examines all of the potential projects that have been visited and assigns them a priority rating.  Projects with a 1 rating will be worked on this season, 2s if they finish all of the 1s (which means probably not), and 3s will not be completed.  Folks, let me tell you, this meeting lasted all day and it was a doozy.  I am so glad the meeting was begun with prayer for discernment and God's direction.  There is quite a bit of need and many factors to consider.  Some stories had me fighting mad (slumlords = not cool. period.)  And some stories just broke my heart, which I expected going in.  I mean with service work I kind of expect the a continual cycle of heart break and repair with extra added in again, then repeat.  But, I learned so much from the meeting.  For sure, if you get a chance pray for the people who work for God's kingdom and be proud of the workcampers/ASPers/youth missioners that you know.  They do some incredible work that I am blessed to witness.

Anyway, today, I had a ride-along :)  The two guys who visit the applicants took me with them.  First off, today was COLD!  The temperature dropped all day and it snowed off and on all day, just flurries no sticking.  Thus it was a two-fold bummer: not enough snow to be pretty and magical and I froze!  Never fear, the rest of the day was totally worth it.  Especially, because we visited one home and as the womangirl (she's my age and I just don't feel particularly grown enough for the "woman" label.  I imagine this is partially due to the fact I'm the youngest person by ten years around except for kids on the mission...) showed us around the inside her baby girl saw me, walked straight over with her arms open.  She was adorable!  I carried her all around the house, the sweet little thing was happy as can be.   Also, I feel quite certain we'll work on the home, and you better believe that I'll be pushing for it to be one I crewlead!

So, I'm sitting in my blue armchair with a nice cup of tea.  I still smell like ash from the partially burned crawlspace but my hands are unfrozen and my feet have almost thawed.  And mostly, I'm thanking God for living in a missions classroom, for good heat (my room can get to sauna level in no time) and for hope.  

All kinds of excitement :)

Just in case you wondered, jumping up and down while squealing into the communal phone frightens some septuagenarians and simply bemuses others.  This afternoon 2 were amused, 1 didn't notice, and 1 was slightly frightened.  You see, I found out that I was accepted to Candler School of Theology.  This thrilled my little soul more than I would care to admit.

A snapshot of my afternoon: There was the initial spring from desk, arms extended with a barely stifled "YES!"  Then, a grab for the cell phone...realization that it only functions as a fancy paperweight here...dash for volunteer quarters phone only to discover that I didn't remember how to call out of campus.  Millisecond of defeat, sprint back to computer to discover 0 people on Skype, yes ZERO.  Big sigh.  Good news must be shared/celebration is a communal activity...FACEBOOK!  The cyber-world is informed of my happiness. Hear footsteps and spring out of chair to get phone assistance, Mom MUST be called.  Happy dance.  Squeaky phone message to mom and attempt to call dad.  Happy dance again.  Excited Skype chat despite internet issues. Happy dance, happy dance, happy dance.  Walk across campus to dinner.  Luckily the cold air, rain, and walk calm me a bit.  Also a bit of a humbling prayer conversation "Right God, so I celebrated big time but forgot to thank you.  So let's talk and let me say a million times THANKS!!!!!"

Don't worry, given ANY opportunity, I return to enthusiastic-childlike-bouncy-squealy celebration.  However, I can now contain myself in public (most likely, if you are reading this you probably no longer count as 'public')

To top it off, I was invited to dinner across campus *please refer back to walk mentioned in celebration description*.  All kinds of stories were told, traveling stories, Red Bird stories, spicy food stories. (I have a couple of whoops I tried to eat that stories.)  It was great fun and included extreme chocolate moosetracks ice cream.  Good times.  Excitement + sugar high = good times.

New place, new blog, new coat!

Hi friends.  So it's been a while.  I've moved to a different service site.  I'm now at Red Bird Mission still learning about this whole rebuilding/missions thing.  


Let me say, that Red Bird is quite the mission complex.  They have immediate relief, school, medical, economic development, church (well pretty close), and elderly attention.  Pretty much you need it, they have it.


I will freely admit that I am exhausted after having been worked into the ground by a 78 year old Michigan farmer.  He is adorable, adorned in navy blue coveralls with several plaid patches, thick glasses and a black trucker hat.  Don't be fooled by his slow amble though; the man just keeps working.  He's like a Michigan Enegizer bunny. 


From ASP to the Bahamas to Redbird, I have effectively learned never underestimate the elderly crews.  They can still kick your booty/ outwork you.  And usually do it with a sweet smile on their face.


Blessing to you all from my toasty room, peeking out into sightly snow-covered the night! 


P.S.  My new coat rocks. I am now an avid Carhart fan (the brand of workclothes).  I have a work jacket that is the bomb.com.  It's Carhart canvas, sherpa-lined with a fabulous cut that covers my backside!  Super warm and wonderful :)