We were excited to head to Fort Morgan, Colorado for a “Homecoming Christmas”! It has been years since we were in our hometown with our Johnson family – Mom, Gary, Wanda, Kay and us! The roads were clear and the day was bright!
We “went to church” with Mom as we streamed the services online. Mom had printed out the program and we were able to participate. What a different world we live in now with COVID concerns. We’re so thankful that with God’s gift of technology there are still amazing opportunities to worship and grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior – TOGETHER!
Hey it’s really smelling good around here – what’s cooking?
Mom’s special swiss steak recipe with all the fix’ins! Mom is doing so well, still very independent and loves to cook – especially for us “kids”! It was fun to help get the food ready and decorate the table with her fine china and Christmas favors.
Santa’s elves came in with presents at just the right time! Gary and Wanda joined us – and brought each of us our favorite German food – Cabbage pockets! We had a great time of sharing and reminiscing over past Christmases and catching up on what everyone was doing.
So much fun – all of us have kept our sense of fun and laughter – we are truly blessed to have each other and to remain as close as we are through the years!
After a Christmas reading, devotional, and special prayer – we enjoyed a delicious meal together!
We ended the day with a great game of dominoes. We have lots of memories of always playing games when we get together. It was a great Christmas Day – one we will cherish!
Adventure calls…time to head West to see our other kiddos and grand kids!
God painted an early Colorado morning sun rise that was breath taking! We set out and aimed for “that mountain”! It was another sunshine and blue sky day! We’ve always loved the big skies of Colorado, loving our adventure of travel, serving others, and family!
On the map, Newton, KS (our first Christmas stop) is straight North of Giddings, TX….only 9 hours! Look at all this Texas traffic and spiderweb interchanges we had to navigate – so much fun! Thankful we didn’t have the RV hooked up behind us, we could “fly” through these obstacles without a care!?! (Someday you can ask us about the google maps route that we took after leaving a service area on a toll road…ugh!!)
First stop was at Jon & Becki’s house – we so loved getting close to the kiddos again! It was great to be with everyone, even Megan was home from college for Christmas break!
Presents! Nana had worked hard making each of the family something warm and stylish for the winter months. The kids loved them – and had a lot fun showing them off! We enjoyed lots of laughs and giggles!
We enjoyed a wonderful program at church – the kids all had a part, either on stage or playing/ singing musical pieces. It’s always the best when we can focus our celebration on Jesus!
Hey Papa – can we build a bird house for your cabin in Colorado?!
Whoa! I thought I’d be helping Caleb learn “how” to build and use power tools – but he showed me! This kiddo knows how to plan and build and use the right tools – his Dad has really given him a valuable kick start in life! (He’s only 10 years old!)
Great job Caleb! …and Ryan built a new boat that he can float in the stream next Spring!
Just a few more candid shots of the adventures we had with the Busenitz Family! We had a great time visiting with Arnold & Velma, and learning about Valerie and Megan’s job at Braum’s, and even some caroling!
Washed the truck, saw the “Bethlehem Star”. played games, and enjoyed some great meals together! The grands have such a happy and energetic spirit -we’re so blessed and thankful for the amazing family that God has given to us!
We arrived at Camp Tejas just outside of Giddings, TX on Thanksgiving Day. God gave us a beautiful sunset! There were fireworks launched the next night for a small group of guests, so much fun! We’re looking forward to a great weekend before our work project starts!
YUM! We met up with our first SOWER friends from January 2020 that were GL’s at Camp Horizon in Florida – Keith & Linda McNeely with their son and daughter in law. We had a great feast of roast turkey with ALL the fix’ins. (The McNeelys are currently SOA’s at Camp Tejas from October through January).
Hmmmmm… the one thing that Dennis said before we signed up for Camp Tejas was that he wasn’t really excited about the possibility of decorating – stringing Christmas lights around trees and buildings. Guess What! This was our assignment! We were the only SOWER couple signed up for December, so we got to decorate!!
The camp had about 60 volunteers show up a few weeks ago to decorate the campus. Unfortunately they didn’t follow the camp instructions to wrap the lights precisely (three -four fingers width). So not only did we decorate, we had to un-decorate first!
We were tagged as the couple “that get it” and so we were assigned to redo so many of the buildings and trees. We DID enjoy this project – and will willingly add “Christmas Lighting” to our skill sheets!
We enjoyed several special times of fellowship at churches, meals, and campfires. This project was our first “solo” project, but we felt close to the group of volunteers that were also there. It was great to work with Steve and Angie Townsend (Independent volunteers) and Keith & Linda McNeely SOA’s.
During the final week, there was a church group attending the camp that even had a “snow” tubing hill! We were invited to the staff Christmas party at Paul & Kelly Biles house (The CEO of Camp Tejas). We had so much fun with games, amazing people, and great food.
We ended the project with some cleaning and organization. The camp’s storage rooms of building supplies and Christmas decorations needed much attention. We were able to reorganize and bring some clarity to their purpose. What a difference – the camp staff were very grateful!
Sunrise on December 17, 2020 – our 48th Anniversary!! Wow – what an adventure we’ve had for so many years, actually “adventures” would be more accurate. We are thankful to our Lord for the life we have shared for this many years! We are looking forward to the many new adventures ahead of us!
We decided that a trip to San Antonio between our November and December projects would be a great way to relax and see some sights so we made arrangements at a beautiful resort hotel, the Eilan Hotel And Spa just outside of San Antonio.
BUT…on Thursday the last day/evening we spent at Heart of Texas Camp with our SOWER friends, Tim was not feeling well. He tested for COVID on Friday morning. We got the call as we were traveling that he was positive for COVID.
So we went into quarantine at the hotel! At least we had a great place to do nothing but rest. We never had any symptoms – praise the Lord for our healthy immune systems (many years of Juice Plus) and for His protection from the virus!
The first thing we did was contemplate our situation. The hotel had very few guests (at least we rarely ran into anyone in the halls or lobby). The pool was beautiful, quiet, and had plenty of space to spread out. Our room was very comfortable AND we had packed plenty of food for lite lunches and snacks. We didn’t need to “see the sights” as we could always do that another time. So we decided to stay put and enjoy the days ahead – it was nice!
So our experience in quarantine was not like so many others. We just enjoyed each other and the rest that God provided.
As you can see we had some great sunshiny days – and the pool all to ourselves! We took advantage of the ultraviolet light that kills viruses – even got a bit tan! We felt great the whole time we were there!
When we were not at the pool or walking around the campus, we worked in the room. We both read books and watched a few movies. I caught up on some blogging and organizing pictures. Lorree worked (in bed!) – what a week, life was really tough!
Everyday I could look across the highway and see the Bass Pro Store – just sitting there. Finally I suggested we go on a shopping trip, and guess what? Lorree bought me a Christmas present – she’s so sweet, what a surprise! Now I can get them varmints at our Selah Acres / Colorado cabin!
Time to head “home” back to Brownwood, TX. We need to get to our next project. Our quarantine lasted 7 days (just right according to CDC having no symptoms).
We stopped at “The Coming King” Scripture Prayer Garden in Kerrville, TX. What a beautiful and serene place to find – and no fees. There are a variety of sculptures depicting various scriptures of Jesus ministry and His soon return. The cross was amazing!
….and one more stop at Fredericksburg, TX.
It was a nice day to stop for a bite to eat and enjoyed walking the streets of Fredericksburg. This is a touristy German town that is all geared up for Christmas.
We had a great week in spite of the idea of being quarantined. We’re thankful for our health and continue to pray for God’s protection. Psalm 91 is a great passage of scripture that shares God’s protection and love for us – it would be a great read for your next quiet time!
Looking forward to relocating to Camp Tejas in Giddings TX – what adventures will we have?
We arrived on Thursday, October 29th. The camp is located just a few miles outside of Brownwood and has access to Lake Brownwood, a popular fishing and boating area. As we walked around the camp to get oriented, we noticed several sculpture carvings around the property. We learned that the Director, Rhonda Roberts, was an artist – and so were other staff serving there. It was going to be fun adventure here!
We served with Tim & Leslie Wacker, their third project. We also met up with Rob and Shana Carman – SOWER alumni who were now working as staff at the camp. They shared our three weeks with us in work, devotions, meals, and church – they were great!
You want us to do WHAT?
It was Monday morning, our first day at our new project, when we all meet to learn what our assignments will be. Rhonda explained that they are going to host their 2nd Annual Fall Festival outreach for the local community “this weekend”. They wanted us to help set things up for that. “So, we’d like you to help put together a corn maze using corrugated plastic panels and make some candy corn out of some giant foam blocks for one of our photo ops”. Our SOWER group of four were incredibly quiet as we looked at each other and then back to the Director.
Rhonda carved out some triangles from some giant used boat dock foam blocks – the girls painted them to look like candy corn. So creative – they turned out great! This is what you get when the camp staff are creative visionaries and artists!
Heart of Texas Camp takes “repurposing” to the extreme. We used the donated campaign signs of someone running for an election several years ago, along with T-posts and zip ties to create a “corn-maze-without-the-corn” in the center of an open common area. The college baseball team came in to give some umph to the planting of the t-posts (so thankful!) and then the guys used black paint and zip ties to create an awesome maze for the Family Fall Festival!
It was a great week getting thing ready and then helping at the Fall Festival event! We had a good turnout, lots of smiles, laughter, and fun! We realized that this was the first camp project we had served since joining SOWERs that had clients on campus to serve and interact with! This was definitely a different SOWER assignment for us but we really enjoyed it!
One of the highlights at the Festival was the camp’s Zip line!
Doing a new thing in Texas! Lorree says I “screamed like a girl” (that was her I promise! )
Sitting on the edge of the 35 foot high deck contemplating about what the guides said, “just lean out and scoot off the deck” was very stressful! As we looked down it was pretty much terrifying! We can still feel that sensation every time we think about it. The green rocks below us spelled out “Fear Is A Liar”. I can’t say this truth helped, but after dropping off the edge – it was SO FUN! (I have to admit this was Lorree’s idea and she was determined to overcome the fear – I’m so glad I went with her!)
Oh, we had a list of other jobs lined up as well!
There were lots of other projects that we accomplished working together with the camp staff. We seemed to have gotten a lot of projects done in spite of few hands. We’ve learned that God multiplies the efforts as we make ourselves available!
We really enjoyed getting to know the staff as we worked, played and met together every day – so many stories! In addition to Rhonda (Director) we had Tom & Mary Dunn (Maintenance), Rob (Chef) & Shana (Housekeeping/Gift Shop), Carl (Grounds) and Brandon (Assistant Director).
The camp was blessed with five buildings that were moved to this great spot on the camp property. They are making them into mini condo type units – very upscale design and furnished inside! They call this area The Village. We worked to get a couple of the empty ones level so the next crew can start to finish them next. What a job – I learned a lot about leveling buildings using hydraulic jacks with cement blocks and wooden beams.
Oh….and we also tried out jumping real hard in one corner to lower it just a tad! Well it didn’t make much of a difference – but we had a great time and laughed a lot, great memories!
We enjoyed our 3 weeks at Heart of Texas! Just like every other project the time goes by so fast. We were a small group but very active and kept each other challenged and encouraged with spiritual truths as we worked.
Yes that’s us playing music together! We were talking one day and learned that all of us played instruments! So we met at the tabernacle one Sunday afternoon and had a great jam session playing hymns. Tom played his harmonica (not pictured).
We also took time to play games and eat together. It was a great three weeks serving with the SOWERS ministry. We’ve commented several times that it would be a great place to come back and serve at again. We’ll have to see how the Lord directs our path, we know it will be an adventure!
It was a bright and clear day to start our next traveling adventure. We left Glorieta and headed to Roswell, NM The highway was a silver ribbon clear to the horizon! We soon learned that “northern and eastern New Mexico exhibit a colder, alpine climate” as stated in Wikipedia.
We were warmly greeted by the resident aliens at our RV Trailer Park in Roswell. They had a sign that said, “Come Crash With Us!” We were pleased to observe that they were immune to to COVID so no need for masks and social distancing!
Driving in downtown Roswell we found a lot of businesses capitalizing on the theme of aliens. To visit he UFO Museum we had to be temperature-scanned (we hope that’s all they did!) Those short & skinny aliens aren’t very friendly – never could get them to smile, they actually looked a bit upset that we were getting too close!
Through the weekend, we kept watch on the weather and when we saw this Winter Storm Warning…we decided to change our plans. We did not want to get stuck in Roswell so we left camp early Monday and headed a little more south to Midland, TX. Brrrr – Let’s GO!
This was our first adventure traveling in the cold since we started full time RVing over a year ago! We were thankful that we avoided the snow and colder temps that Roswell had. We found a noisy RV Park in Midland right next to three busy interstates. It was SO cold and icy; we stayed in and read books all-day-long! The on-site supplied water froze overnight, but our on-board water was still working – Yea! We kept warm with our furnace and electric fireplace – we’re thankful for a very comfortable home to travel and hang out in!
By Wednesday morning the weather cleared up and we left for Brownwood, TX – home of our next SOWER Project. It was a beautiful sunshine and blue sky day! We rested well that night – much warmer and quieter – Ahhhh!
This week in between SOWER projects went fast. Our adventure of new experiences surprised us with aliens and a cold spell (didn’t see that coming!) We’re looking forward to landing at the Heart of Texas Camp and Conference Center tomorrow! What will that adventure be like? (Hint – more surprises!!!)
We were blessed to be the Group Leaders (GL) at Glorieta Adventure Camps in October serving with these wonderful new friends! Dennis & Diane Simmons and David & Brenda Roquemore – this was the first SOWER project for both couples! Welcome to the SOWER TEAM, you are amazing!
So the story is that several renegade squirrels found their way into the coffee and snack shops and found the sweets! (Then went back and told their friends!) The ladies worked hard to clean up after them, such a mess! They also sorted out any expired inventory and organized the shops so they will be ready to go next spring.
The guys were given a dorm house to prepare for the coming college staff in 2021. We removed all the wooden bunk beds and replaced them with metal ones. There is now a very nice dorm house (among many others) on campus that will sleep 48 staff members comfortably. It was a very physical task loading and moving all of those old bunk bed structures to the disposal yard and the new metal ones from storage to be re- assembled in the two level “house”. We were told there is well over 100 staff members every year along with many volunteers. They would normally be hosting over 1,000 guests every week! This is a BIG adventure camp that intentionally exposes everyone to God’s truth through Adventure, Relationships, and the Word. Impressive!
A little change of pace for the ladies for the second week we were there. They finished the folding and inventory of the t-shirts and hoodies that were started during the first SOWER project in Sept. They also were able to get them to the storage/warehouse area and label them for the coming year. In addition, they were given some office work of laminating and preparing handouts for next year. Again, we were amazed at the quantity and size of this camp’s operation. It will be fun to come back when the guests are here!
OK – lets do something relaxing and creative while we’re here! Dennis got out his paints and did his first “plein air” oil painting. It was fun and he learned a lot – he’s looking forward to doing this more often! Lorree has picked up crocheting and is working on some “made-with-love” gifts and continues to finish her new quilt! We both enjoy having the weekends free to either explore, be creative, or to just relax. (Then there are those weekends you have to work on the RV as well – there is always something to work on!)
More physical work – but it was fun! We were assigned multiple “little” jobs including building some shelving, installing 60+ shower heads in one of the “hotels” on campus and rebuilding a 3-sink cabinet in one of the public bathrooms. We were also challenged with painting the trim including all the touch ups outside of the huge dining hall. I don’t think we ever really got used to the tall ladders and overhead rafters -but we can say we finished that job!
Washing windows…..over 20 foot tall? When Corinn and Josh walked by (Camp staff) they saw the difference – they didn’t know this was on the “list” and commented how beautiful the windows were now. Good job ladies – you got this! Let the sunshine in!
Our finale – three weeks of hard but rewarding work – for the Lord! We were able to check off the list of things given to us to do, plus more! We moved and stacked heavy timbers, cleaned and straightened two of the maintenance shops, and ended up painting benches in the Prayer Garden in preparation for the camp’s “Garden of Eden” adventure next year. We are tired – a good and rewarding tired. The camp staff shared they were blessed by the SOWER’s Ministry and were looking forward to many more experiences with SOWER’s in the future!
Our fellowship was sweet with heartfelt devotions every day – most of them were personal life stories of God working – so inspiring! We enjoyed a few meals together (with social distancing of course) what a wonderful group to work with! Looking forward to many more adventures ahead!
If you want to know more about the SOWER Ministry check out our website: www.sowerministry.org “A Christian Couples RV Work Ministry” ~ RV With a Purpose!
Just a fun picture -note there is no driver! (Actually car was on a trailer) We’re headed back to Colorado to our cabin for some rest and relaxing. No agenda to do work on the cabin or property (although knowing us work will happen!). We decided to just spend some time at Selah Acres and enjoy a quiet adventure before our next SOWER project.
Before leaving Glorieta, we shopped at their “yard sale” and picked up a few items for the cabin. Dennis spent a couple of says sanding and refinishing a great old wood floor lamp – looks great in our rustic cabin setting!
Lorree picked out some thermal lined curtains…..and just hung them up! No alterations, they fit perfectly. thank you God for always supplying our needs. perfectly!
While “home” we had the Pellet Stove serviced – replaced the auger motor, and we also had the well serviced. We installed a well head freeze drain for winterization. I think we are done will all the necessities for now!
Thankful for the beauty (and quiet) of this new place. The colors in the Aspen tree leaves are starting to turn gold – fall is on the way. Thankful we were able to capture some of these moments this year!
We made a day trip to Fortr Morgan to see Mom – she’s doing so well! COVID masks are still something we have to work with – but thankfully we can take off our masks when we eat!
Lorree is busy working on her newest quilt for the cabin. It was fun to be able to work on it while there. Just enough room to lay it out and get it all pinned and ready for the sewing machine! It will look great on our bed!
Dennis spent some time cleaning our guns and we even did some target practice. Its fun having our own land away from everyone where we can do these things!
Oh yes…we had to have our ribs! They were great!
Duane and Ruth, Louis and Christine came for an afternoon to see us (and the cabin!) It was a fun time of visiting and sharing some great bacon burgers with all the fix’ins – YUM!
We had so many days of just relaxing – doing some things we haven’t done for quite a while. Dennis dug out his paints and worked on a new painting – trying to capture the cabin in the trees. Still a WIP (work-in-progress).
We hiked the Guffey Gorge, only about 6 miles from the cabin. It was a beautiful hike through a gorge and up and down lots of rocks. There was a swimming hole that many people come to during the busy summer months. We only met a couple of people during the entire hike. It was very picturesque and quiet. So fun to know we have these adventures in our backyard!
The creek was soooo clear (and cold!) we were able to watch the small rainbow trout darting in and out under the rocks. Look who is at the end of my rainbow, love you Lorree!
Our cabin adventure came to an end. We cleaned the cabin, the truck, and winterized the cabin. We’ll be back in December (Lord willing!) to celebrate our 48th anniversary and enjoy a white Christmas adventure this year!
Leaving our cabin and Selah Acres, we set out for our next adventure with the SOWERs group. We headed to Glorieta, NM for our seventh assignment. Wonder what God has in store for us at this new place with new-to-be-friends?
On our way, we stayed at Trinidad Lake State Park. It was a nice place with lots of sites. The next morning we headed out and crossed into New Mexico. As we entered the state, the air turned thick with smoke from the Raton Pass fire (several miles away). It was close to being contained but left lots of smoke in the air. As we turned West and neared Glorieta the air was once again clear with blue skies!
We knew that because of COVID regulations, the camp has to be closed to guests. It’s always sad to see the effect of all the regulations. New Mexico was still very strict – had to wear masks at all times outside of your house and no groups larger than 10 (we were 6).. While at the camp, we rarely wore masks because of not being open to public, distancing and working/meeting outside. In addition, all of us had either been quarantined or isolated because of the previous places we had just come from. The camp provided us with a beautiful RV site with all the hookups!
This was our group of SOWERS! Don and Anita Brown, Jim and Donna Dorroh (GL’s), and us. By the way, this was a first SOWER Project for the camp. They’ve had other volunteer groups such a RVICs and we were excited to be the first exposure to the SOWERs ministry. Special thanks to Jim & Donna for being the sponsors and working for months to make this happen. It’s a fantastic opportunity to grow the Lord’s Kingdom!
This is a huge campus – over 2,400 acres and over 200 buildings (not all of the buildings and property are in use -yet!) The conference center property was founded and built by Glorieta Baptist Conference (Lifeway – SBC) in 1949. After sitting idle for many years, new owners launched Glorieta Adventure Camps in 2013 and God is rapidly expanding their outreach (until COVID). Their mission is to inspire Christ-like change through outdoor adventure, authentic relationships, and Biblical truth!
…and they even have “Adventures” in the large Holcomb Auditorium with the Holcomb Super Swing- WOW!
(I’ll fly away oh Glory, I’ll fly away!)
OK Ladies – Let’s get to work!
The goal of the camp during the down time was to get things as ready as possible for the summer of 2021. State regulations said no conferences or camps for now due to COVID and the staff had been scaled down to only a skeleton crew, maybe 10-12 total? The ladies were given the camp stores (yes multiple stores!) to straighten, clean, organize and inventory. In addition, they had 1,000’s of new t-shirts and sweatshirts to count, fold, and store away. They had a big job and stayed at it for the majority of three weeks!
The guys were given two huge rooms and a bathroom to refurbish with repairs and paint. These rooms were being used for leadership meetings and prayer rooms – what an honor to help in this way!
The camp has an extensive trail system for hiking and biking. One afternoon we took advantage of the “Green Trail” that went around the main campus (3 miles!). The elevation here is 7,400 so for those used to lower areas, it takes some getting used to. Drink lots of water! (…and watch for snakes and bears! – we didn’t see any).
There is a lot of history around Sante Fe and a lot of places to go and see! Lorree and I went to the Pecos National Park and hiked around. Learned about the early Pecos population, Puebloan People, and the era of the Spanish during the 1600 – 1800’s.
We found a cool spot on the Pecos River to relax and have a picnic. It was a great relaxing day – full of sunshine and fresh air. We’re thankful to be here on another adventure – although the water was a bit chilly!
Our group went to Sante Fe for a historic walk around town and to enjoy some authentic New Mexican food. We saw the oldest church, the oldest house, and the miraculous stairs – nobody can explain how the spiral structure works – it holds 1,000’s of pounds but there is no apparent load bearing column…only God could have given the lone craftsman that skill!
The Shed served a great variety of New Mexican food with either red or green chili or both – a bit spicey!
The weather was enjoyable with a mixed assortment of temperatures. We had indoor days, outdoor days, and even a day of snowy conditions. We all weathered through it in fine shape!
For the next two weeks, the camp kept us all very busy! Jim was assigned to the refrigeration units (his expertise!) in the kitchen and food service buildings – so many! He was able to service them and troubleshoot a few problems and even repaired walk-in cooler/freezer doors. Don and I were assigned to do some landscaping – mowing, weed whacking, and blowing sidewalks throughout the activity areas and Prayer Garden. The Prayer Garden alone has 11 acres with multiple levels and terrain, whew! There is a lot of trees, grass, benches, and walkways! The guys also put together a well house shed – this new well was drilled several months ago at over 1,100 feet – hard to imagine!
We were so privileged to hear the God story of Glorieta Adventure Camps from one of the executive team leaders during one of our devotional times. If you are a SOWER, you will be as amazed as we are and so humbled to a part of the adventure God is putting in place for so many people. The camp served over 33,000 guests last year – all being intentionally exposed to God’s love and grace – chills!
The last week, the ladies were able to help set up, sort out, and organize for a huge “yard sale” the camp will be having. All funds will go to provide scholarships to community folks that want to come to the camp but are short of funds.
Our devotions as a team were so inspirational and challenging – we even had “Moses” show up one morning and give us all an eye witness account of several events he had with God!
The High Five – Zip Lines! One of the first “adventures” the camp put in place was creating an amazing zip line course called the High Five. It was not operating…thankfully!? It was a bit terrifying just to look out and see the suspense over the mountains and the views – this is high adventure!
We had so much fun, fellowship, and joy of working together these past three weeks. We’ll be back, Lord willing! ….in fact, we’ll be back next month! We will be Group Leaders in October with a new set of SOWER couples – both couples are first timers! Looking forward to our next adventure at Adventure Camps!
Before the sunset on our first day, Lorree and I were tearing out carpets and moving into the kitchen. We were motivated to make this a home and to get “that smell” out of the cabin. (Previous owner had pets – I don’t need to explain 🙁
Next day…”Can we bring our dirt bike?” YES! Ben and Jayden came up for the weekend to help work and relax. Carl joined in as well on Saturday. So thankful for the company and the fun times that have already started!
…and the work begins!
After a hearty breakfast, we replaced the locks, fixed the roll out window, cleaned the kitchen and the loft, took out the fence in the yard, painted Kilz on the floor, deep cleaned the propane heater (SO YUK! -thanks Ben and Carl!) and more!
…SELAH!
It was a full but fun work day, we were tired! Ben & Jayden spent the night in the Cabin on the floor – they were the first official family to spend the night on the floor in the cabin – bless their hearts! (You’ll have to ask Ben about the little field mouse that interrupted his sleep ). God blessed our tiredness with another beautiful sunset. He reminds us so often to “Selah” – ‘pause and consider’ – His involvement in our lives. Thank you Lord for the strength and wisdom You give us each day!
The Sun’s Up! Lets go to work!
OH BOY! Did we get to work! Lorree and I ordered floor boards and tongue & groove ceiling boards from a local lumber mill (we love that this wood is local white knotty pine!) We installed a new storm/screen door, Lorree made new curtains, Dennis textured the stairwell, we refurbished the street sign, and spent hours removing, sanding and refurbishing the exiting floor – whew!
Then….more help arrived the next weekend, Nick, Rachel, Isaac, and Kaylee. These kiddos, so full of life, energy, and joy! It was a special time to share Selah Acres with them – We’re sure more laughter, giggles, and adventures will be had by all of our family – Love It!
It was another full day of work for all of us! Nick took care of the techie stuff (Internet, wifi, old satellite dishes) as well as helping us get the beautiful (but not practical) wood kitchen stove out of the cabin. This gave us much more room in the kitchen area for our table and chairs.
Our neighbors have horses! We still haven’t met our neighbors, but the horses came to the fence as the kids were playing over there. It was a fun break from the work and they enjoyed feeding them carrots and getting to pet them. Unfortunately, Dusty (the kid’s dog), got head kicked by one of the horses when he tried to “play” with them – he had to have stiches, but is OK). We enjoyed a nice evening around a “campfire” and cooked and ate s’mores! YUM!
The next day we attacked the floors! We opened our pile of new lumber and started sanding, coating with finish, cutting, and laying the floor. Everyone helped! It was a fun day to see the cabin become “ours” with the new touches we were adding to it.
We really liked the look of our new white pine floors…but then we came to the corner of the room – and under the stove, those dirty bricks, ugh!
The bricks were so dirty-black-and-smelly that we made the decision to pull all of them and scrub them clean by hand – thank you Lorree! What a job!
Before….. and after!
It wasn’t ALL work and no play! Family, Guests, and Yes, more work!
Jesse and Barb came to visit, toured the cabin, and enjoyed some burgers on the grill!. Carl, Beth and Anya spent a day working and visiting with us. Duane and Ruth came up for a visit and shared some fresh fruit pie with us! Our new SOWER friends (Jerry and Carol Chesser, and Dale and Barbara Livinggood) came up from the Eagle Lake project at Glen Eyrie to help us move in and enjoy a Bar-B-Que lunch. t was so fun to share with others, our new cabin and to share the God story(s) of this adventure in our lives!
Rachel and Lorree making a path to the shed with rocks. Isaac and Kaylee helped (when they weren’t ridding the wagon down the hill)!
Lorree refinished the stairs to the basement while Dennis made and installed new bathroom doors. (Those little bar doors on the bathroom offered no privacy!)
In the evenings, we would pause, rest, and reflect on all the wonders of God’s blessings and beauty He has shared with us. – SELAH – (There were three buck that would come by every evening to check us out, they were only 100 yards from our porch)!
Moving Day – Finally!
Our goal was to use the three weeks we had since we bought the cabin to get it ready to move in and actually sleep in it before traveling on to Glorieta, NM for our next SOWER project. With so much help and God’s guidance and provision, we did it! Let’s move in!
We had stored a few pieces of furniture and tubs of belongings at Carl & Beth’s house since we downsized last year. We rented a U-haul trailer and moved, very tiring but so rewarding!
Everything fit – not too much stuff and not too little – just right!
We have a “home” to come home to! We love RV travel and our nomad lifestyle serving others wherever we go, but there’s still a desire to have a home, a safe place to be able to come out from the world…a place to Selah in our lives! Thank you Lord!
Its been quite a busy and eventful three weeks. So much has been accomplished! We are grateful to our friends and family that came along side of us to pitch in and help. We’re getting ready to leave for a three week project at Glorieta, NM, but we are already making plans to return to Selah Acres! Our next adventure…here we come!
