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.
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.
This makes me happy.
ReplyDelete