RV There Yet?

We put a couple extra miles on the truck this weekend.
Saturday we headed south to Vidalia, GA for the Annual Vidalia Onion Festival. We were hoping to experience “all things onion”, but unfortunately that was not to be. The downtown was supposed to be full of sidewalk sales and fun things to do, but it was a really full of neither. One street performer and rack of prom dresses pretty much summed it up. (Now we were there right at 10AM when the festival was supposed to start, but still….). OK, so we decided to head out of town to the Pecan Orchard Farm where they were having a family fun day (for $6.00/person). This surprisingly was the better part of the day, since after a hayride which took us through the pecan grove, over the land bridge (stop to feed the invisible fish), out to greet the cows (who were intent on eating the hay in our wagon), and then for a quick stop at the pig pen, we ended up in the onion field. And there, we got to pick our own onions (with no limit!). We had visions of French onion soup and carmalized onions over brats, so we went a little crazy. But we did leave with two very full shopping bags of yummy Vidalia onions. Back to town…Ok, let’s try the Arts & Crafts Festival ($3.00/ea) - maybe that’s where all the onion stuff was. Nope. There was one booth with fried onion rings and one booth with bloomin’ onions - but the rest were very generic beads and baubles, wood and candles, hot dogs and funnel cakes. The last remaining “event” was the air show ($10.00/ea) - and well, we just weren’t ready to risk it. I guess we’ll have to figure out our own “all things onion” with our bounty. And since it was a 200 mile round trip - well, they had better be pretty darn good!

Today we headed north - up to Thomson, GA, a suburb of Augusta. We had tracked down some friends we hadn’t seen in about 15 years, and surprised them by showing up at their church (he’s a pastor). What a treat it was to spend the afternoon with old friends. We’re trying to work out getting together with them next week in Augusta. Should be fun! Even if it doesn’t work out for next weekend, I know we’ll work harder at staying in touch!

Tomorrow we start our work week. There is only one other Sower couple here - Jerry & Betty, and they have been at this project several times before. It’s nice to be working with a couple that already knows the ropes. The guys have a long list of building maintenance chores, and it looks like we ladies will be working in the warehouse. It’s a book warehouse, so it should be fun! (And air conditioned - it’s supposed to be 90 by Wednesday!) Let me know if you have any books you’d like me to keep an eye out for!

Gary turned 57 on Saturday. I still like him pretty well!
:-)

So here was our plan….
Since we couldn’t arrive at our May project before Thursday , we worked it out so we would arrive at a nearby Walmart early this morning. From there we were going to drive the truck into Augusta to check out places to go and things to see, spend the night at the Walmart and then head into our project in the morning. However, as sometimes happens, there were signs posted all over the parking lot stating - NO RV PARKING. Hmmmm. Could be we might be noticed. Ok, so it called for a little re-grouping. We pulled out the map, check for any local campgrounds, and ended up at Magnolia Springs State Park, just 10 miles or so down the road. So instead of looking out the window at a big old parking lot (and then there is always the possibility of that middle of the night parking lot cleaner), we have this view….

Pretty sweet, doncha think?
Here are a couple of other shots….
Looking up to Lizzie (look carefully and you can see Gary enjoying the quiet)

A close-up (and a little blurry) view of the lake…

There were several of these alligator warning signs, but we only spotted a couple of turtles. Phew…

(have you ever seen a tame alligator?)
So tomorrow, instead of hurrying on to the project, we’ll linger over breakfast and take a walk down to the Spring and check out the free Bo Ginn Aquatic Education Center.
Sometimes a bit of a detour is just what the Dr. ordered!!

Ah, a little bit of sad news…our coffee maker carafe imploded tonight. Gary says he’ll figure out something for tomorrow - but there’s always that not-too-RV friendly Walmart that probably has something to sell us. Well, it had a good life.

Tonight we’re “camped” out at the location of our very first Sower Project - Faith Christain School - Vienna, GA (October 2004). We’re only here for two nights - we wanted to say hello to the staff and students here, plus we have an added bonus of getting to see some Sower friends that worked here in April.
Over this past weekend we visited with friends in Albany, GA and had a good weekend of catching up and eating too much! Lizzie fits in their driveway, so that worked out well. Today we worshiped at Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany. If you’ve seen the movie - Facing the Giants - this is the church that produced it. Our friends, the Gahagans, were part of some of the crowd scenes and their boys were part of the teams. See the movie if you get a chance - it’s very well done. And the service this morning was excellent. The pastor was really preaching to me!

But of course, the main event in our lives this past week was leaving our winter home at Teen Challenge. It was very hard to say good-bye to our friends there - and of course to say good-bye to the boys - many of whom will have graduated by the time we return in November (yes, it looks like we’ll be back there next winter so Gary can actually do the job he was supposed to do this winter - the A/C and heat in the new Family Life Center). I expected to be weeping as we left, but God gave me a real peace about our departure. I was able to share with the boys before I left - and we were also able to collect lots and lots of hugs. These are the verses that I left with the boys…..Ephesians 1:15-19

And I hope they pray the same for me.
I miss them already.

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By Thursday we’ll be at our next project in Waynesboro, GA. More details to follow!

Ok, so it’s not actually our last week ever, but it is our last week here. We arrived at West Florida Teen Challenge in Bonifay, FL on November 20, 2006. And we leave on April 20, 2007. Exactly 5 months later. I must confess that when we signed up as Sower On Assignment (SOA) here I was a little apprehensive about staying “still” for an extended period of time. This is an “in the middle of nowhere” place, and I knew that we would be pretty isolated. But God has been very good to us here. There have been little things – like piglets, and chicks and kittens (8 were born this week!). And there were big things – like all the new friends that have come into our lives. We’ve come to love the staff here - and have been privileged to experience first hand their love for these young men who come from such troubled situations. We have come to love the boys here - especially the ones we have been able to get to know on a more personal level. There’s nothing like getting to know someone while you’re processing mountains of snow peas or building a cattle corral! Plus we’ve worked alongside an amazing (and ever changing) group of volunteers. And there have been practical things as well - since they fed us most meals and we weren’t moving Lizzie all around the country, our budget was also pretty happy. So while we are eagerly anticipating our move to our next project (Send the Light in Waynesboro, GA), we are sad to be leaving this spot that has become like home. Friday the 20th promises to be a teary day.

But just so you know that we are really out in the sticks, this is a picture of the closest Post Office to the campus here.

Can’t say I ever mailed anything from there. Would you?

First of all…. there is some news I’ve been meaning to share…..
You all know Ellie and Hayley…..

Well, they are getting ready to add another sibling to the family! Baby #3 is due in early November - and we’re all very excited!

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I’m sure you’ve all been waiting to hear about the Big Game last Monday (no, not OSU and FSU but TC against the guys in red). It was a Great Game - but we lost by 2 points. One basket. It was a heartbreak - but a wonderful game. The league they play in is an intramural league from Baptist College of Florida, so while the game was a disappointment, it still was a great season. I mean after all, they are playing against college kids! Probably the best part of the evening, though, was after the game. Since many members of the basketball team were leaving for the TC Guatemalan mission trip the next day, everyone gathered around and offered up prayer on their behalf. Very cool.

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This weekend, along with being Easter, was also Parents Weekend. For some of these boys, it was the first time they’d seen their parents in 4 months. It was a busy, busy time. The kitchen manager was on that mission trip, so Gary & I worked in the kitchen over the weekend. It was a smaller crowd than usual, between the mission gang that was gone and the 15 cadets and parents who were allowed off campus, and we were working with a great group of 2nd platooners, so it was a very fun weekend. But I must admit, it was very tiring too! The cook is gone for another week, but the assistant cook will be in this week, so we’ll return to a more normal schedule. Gary will continue to cover breakfast for the rest of the week though, so he’ll be especially glad to see Annette return! We all will be!
Here is our basic crew - we sure do love these guys! And we couldn’t have done the weekend without them!

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And finally….a couple of roadside shots. Texas may have their blue bonnet wildflowers, but North Florida has these beautiful red clover fields. These fields were actually prettier last week, but I didn’t have the camera.

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So that about ties up the loose ends that I can think of. I hope your Resurrection Day was blessed.
He is RISEN! He is RISEN INDEED!