SOWER Projects, SOWER Projects 2019, The Adventure

First Week and Saturday One

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Well, we just finished our first week here at Mercy Ships! It’s been a good week, and even the work has been pretty mundane –
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it’s still been pretty exciting to be part of this international ministry. It’s a bustling campus as they are gearing up to launch a brand new ship in the next 24 months (or so!). Thursday we were privileged to attend their community meeting, where folks were updated on what’s happening on the African Mercy (currently docked in Senegal where severe storms hit recently), and other items for praise and prayer.
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Those folks standing in the front are part of the newest “On Board” class. About half of those folks are recent hires that will continue working here in Lindale (this campus is called the ISC – International Support Center). But the rest are training for work on the African Mercy – nurses, technicians, pipe fitters, etc.

African Mercy

It was exciting to be part of this initial introduction and see how varied the needs (and jobs) are in this ministry. At next week’s community meeting we’ll actually be (though the miracle of the internet) speaking directly with folks on the ship. Pretty cool, right?

Today we are enjoying one of the first ‘no agenda’ Fridays we’ve had in quite awhile. Gary’s changed out the water filters, gotten the suitcases put away (requires getting up on the roof!), installed our new propane leak protector, and got a haircut! On my end, I’ve ordered business cards with our new address, finished putting together our “Year 15” photo book (the coupon was about to expire! Always a good incentive!)

did a little research on why our weather station wasn’t working (I really wanted to believe it was only 84 outside, but it sure felt like it was 94!) and even did just a bit of cleaning. (I know, crazy, right?) All in all, this Saturday One (as we like to call it) has been quite successful. Gary may or may not’ve just retreated to the back to do some reading (um, snoozing), and I’m pretty sure my sewing machine is calling my name!!

Have a great weekend, everyone!
Steph

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Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, SOWER Projects, SOWER Projects 2019, The Adventure

Montrose Memories

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SOWER Board meeting –
SOWER Newsletter done (for the moment)
Settling in at our October project –  

Must be time to do a bit of catch up! I just checked back and my last “This is what we’ve been doing at Montrose” was back on July 13th. Yikes! So let’s just do a couple of final thoughts about our time at Montrose Bible Conference.
First of all – it was way shorter than usual. We were scheduled to be there from May through August, but were delayed by our Waco house project until early July. But even though it was shorter, we still had a great time serving there. We worked with two couples in July – The Westgates and the Griffins.
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We were all kinda kindred spirits, so it was a joy filled month. We ladies did a fair bit of housekeeping (read making beds and folding linens) but also helped out when we could in one of the dorm renovations.
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Gary got the Walk-in Freezer as far along as he could, but some missing panels prevented actually getting the job all the way done.
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Thankfully he was able to complete the actual refrigeration part of the installation
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so hopefully when the walls are completed they will just need to pull the switch and it will start cooling. Well, that’s the plan anyway.
I was also able to attend parts of the Montrose Christian Writers Conference, which once again inspired me to do a better job at carving out time to actually write. While I can’t say I’ve made any great strides in that department, it still was a great week filled with great speakers and writers. So glad I can be part of this! I highly recommend it to other aspiring (or published) Christian writers. Fiction, non-fiction, anthologies, children’s books, poetry – even song writing was covered this year! It’s a spirit filled week indeed. Now to just get moving on that writing thing!

We wrapped up time at MBC by working with our buddies the Schoenenbergers.  Love them!
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More beds were made, more walls were spackled, more memories were made. We worked with a super crew this summer –
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and it was great to be part of the Montrose Team!

Although our Montrose Summer was shorter than usual, it was still filled with all good things. Once again we felt we were where God wanted us – and that’s always a very good thing!
Thanks for stopping by!
Steph

PS – the sweet pregnant couple on the left of that Montrose crew picture are now the proud parents of a sweet baby girl.
PPSS – (not sure if that is a thing but) There are more pictures of our time in Montrose (and other adventures during that time) HERE!

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RV Life

Just a bit of business

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Several weeks ago one of my subscribers contacted me that they were no longer getting email notifications when I (actually, finally, it’s about time)published a blog post. I checked with some ‘known subscribers’ (like my handsome hubby and sweet sister) and sure enough, they weren’t getting notified either. Hmmmm….. I can’t say that I will ever know what went wrong, but during some update at some time of something, all of my subscribers were lost in an internet black hole. Poof.

So, this is just a shout out that if you previously subscribed but aren’t currently receiving any notifications (and I realize the irony that if you aren’t getting the notification then you probably aren’t getting this information that you need to do it again…..) please use the Subscribe to RV There Yet box on the right side of this page. If you’ve never subscribed before, but would like to get an email notification whenever I do a post, I’d love for you to subscribe.

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Family and Friends, On the Road, Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, The Adventure

Still in Real Time

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Well, we made it!
From here
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to here
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to here
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to here.

1000 miles later, and we’re nicely settled (with the slides out – whoohoo!) for the next couple weeks. Though in reality we’ll be gone for one of those weeks (flying to South Dakota Friday for the Midwest SOWER Rally), we’re still thankful for this sweet spot and are enjoying reconnecting with SOWER friends that live here in Lindale. Oh, and doing laundry and balancing check books and packing for our trip. Yes, life.

So although I still have plenty to share about our time in Montrose, our time in Vermont, our time with the Columbus Kids and other miscellaneous points of interest, I have to be real here. It might be a while before I carve those blogging moments out of the next couple of weeks. SO – I will leave you with a pretty darn cute video of my youngest Ohio grandboy (the cutie in the red shirt)on a ride at Kings Island in Cincinnati.

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On the Road, Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, The Adventure

Real Time

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Life is certainly getting away from me these days and I’ll have lots to share in the days ahead. But for now I just wanted to check in and let you know that we have (sadly) left the Cabin, traveled to Columbus and are currently enjoying time with our two Ohio families. Since everyone is either in school or working we’ve been hanging out at the RV, catching up with life (and bills and emails and cleaning!). But our afternoons are full with family and fun.

We’re parked at the Union County Fairgrounds, and even though we’re here all by our lonesome, we have a lovely view –

(My Dad was big into Harness Racing, so every time one passes by it stirs all kinds of Dad-memories!)

Once I get the SOWER Newsletter wrapped up, I’m going to work on getting this blog caught up. You can check out the “So where are we now?” page to get a feel for just how chaotic our next couple of weeks will be!

Thanks for stopping by (even when it gets a little quiet over here!)
Steph

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Seeing the country……Serving our Lord!