Category Archives: SOWER Projects 2023

Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, SOWER Projects 2023, The Adventure

The Great Organizational Challenge

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We painted those tables –
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(Full disclosure – one of the summer staff finished the job because we were moved to  housekeeping-)
We made the beds
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And then we accepted The Great Organizational Challenge!
Remember those two rooms our guys drywalled and then installed shelving?
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Our mission – should we choose to accept it – was to take all the boxes and crates (filled with decorations) in this room
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and organize it by season and/or holiday and put it in those two newly ‘shelved’ rooms.
Oh, my! We accepted the challenge (of course), took a big gulp, and got started!
I started pulling out all of the Christmas ‘stuff’ (since we had been told that there would be more of that than any other) and shuttling it down to Anita who kept busy labeling boxes, consolidating what she could, and trying to group things in some kind of order. Nativities nestled together. Christmas trees and greens in the same area. Tree decorations near each other. Table decorations…pine cones….snow flakes….you get my drift, right?
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This might look like a lot of shelves
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but let me tell you, there was A LOT of Christmas/Winter decorations.
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As I was sorting through boxes in the room we needed to empty, I was also trying to group other ‘like’ items together. Fall decorations. Spring. Valentines. Silk flowers by color. Eventually we felt we were making a dent in the pile.
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Look! Floor!!
Meanwhile, the “Christmas Room” was filling up fast!
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By the time we left work last Thursday, we were feeling quite hopeful we could wrap things up early the next week.
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Ah, silly us!
We came in on Monday, and as I was working my way to the back of the room, I noticed some boxes in the hall that had been hidden by the mattresses (also in the hallway). And wait – are there more boxes even past them?
Yep.
The back hall was full,
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the bedroom had a collection of boxes
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and even the bathroom was chock full of more (mostly Christmas) goodies!
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There might’ve been just a moment or two of disbelief before we just once again started opening, labeling, and sorting boxes.
By the end of our work week the apartment was ready to be cleaned for the summer staff
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and all the boxes were labeled and (to the best of our ability) organized on shelves.
The Christmas/Winter room was stuffed to the gills,
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but the “other” room had an empty shelf and a clear flat surface that will come in pretty handy as a work area as these decorations get used.
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We came. We saw. We got’er done!

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Mission Accomplished!

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Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, SOWER Projects, SOWER Projects 2023, The Adventure

A New Month – An Old Friend

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One of the aspects of our SOWER journey has been serving at lots of different ministries. With the exception of projects where we’ve returned for a specific need, we rarely serve at the same ministry twice. Even if we’ve had a great month, we always feel the pull to see just what God is doing around the corner. In fact, after this month, our next eight projects will be ‘new to us’ locations. And we’re excited about that.
But this month we’re at our “Home Project”, Montrose Bible Conference, where we’ve served more months than any other ministry (a total of 30 months!). It’s also where we first learned about SOWERs, so it has a very special place in our hearts!  I must admit, it feels pretty good to come back to this Old Friend. It’s nice to be somewhere where “everybody knows your name” and you know all the ins and outs of the ministry buildings. We know where the best pizza can be found, and I even have a hairdresser here in town! While there have been babies born and new staff added since we last worked here, it still feels a bit like coming home. This month we’re working alongside another SOWER couple whom we’ve worked with before (here in fact!) and they also are very familiar with this ministry. (He served on the Board here many years ago and their daughters have served here as summer staff (also many years ago!)!)
Our first two days on the job have been great! The guys have been working on turning some awkward spaces
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into usable storage –
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They’ve gotten pretty far in just two days
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and they think they’ll be wrapping up that room up tomorrow. Good job, guys!
We ladies tackled some new picnic tables that needed to be painted.
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I’d like to say that picnic table painting is trickier than you might think!
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Now that the primer is all on, we’ll be moving to the dark green tomorrow!
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Yep, it’s good to be back here at our old friend, MBC!

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Sewing/Quilting Projects, SOWER Projects 2023, The Adventure, The Cabin

April Back-Track, Part I

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Early last month, SOWERs had a 5-day party celebrating their 40th anniversary. Gary and I were the co-chairs of an amazing committee, which had been meeting for well over a year in preparation for this Rally. Just as our theme was Many Pieces, One Mission, so it seemed in planning this rally – the largest in SOWER history! But in the end, all of the pieces came together and from the opening concert to the final fireworks – it was a fabulous time of renewing connections, making new connections, and marveling at the goodness of God to this ministry since its inception in 1983.

I shared some details and pictures of the Rally, along with some SOWER history, in the April SOWER Newsletter which you are welcome to check out HERE!  It might give you a taste of what a grand party it was – thanks to the many, many hands that made it happen!

Real-Time-Update (RTU)

The rain continued here in eastern Vermont, and the temperatures hovered in the 40s. To say it was a bit frustrating to The Man with the (Treehouse) Plan is putting it mildly. But I think maybe it was just what we needed.
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A rare photo of the guy napping!
On the other hand, I found that a rainy day was a perfect excuse to start a little sewing project –
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The forecast is looking brighter for tomorrow, so I’m pretty sure there is a Lowes run in the near future!

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Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, SOWER Projects, SOWER Projects 2023, The Adventure

Time to catch up

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There’s a lot to share about the SOWER Rally which took place the first weekend in April ( and was the main reason it was so quiet here) but before I delve into that I thought I’d do a little real-time update while I have a couple of quiet moments.  We’re finishing our first week at Life Change  Camp outside Clinton, MO.  (Check out the Where are we now page for a map if you’d like more info on just where that is!)
We have a total of 5 couples working here this month, and we’re the first SOWER group to be here.  It’s always fun to be part of the group that introduces a new project to SOWERs, and as an added bonus, one of our couples are brand new SOWERs, on their very first project. We’re also working with some “old” SOWERs like us, some “middle-aged” SOWERs, and then these new guys! We’re already becoming good friends!
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Life Change Camp itself is a relatively new camp – built from scratch in the last 20 years.

(As I was reading over what I had written about this being a “Real Time Update” I had to chuckle because That “Real-time” was over a week ago. Apparently, that quiet moment evaporated. Again!)

So, although much has happened since I started this 8 days ago, I’ll try once again to do a real Real-time update!

We just finished our second week here at Life Change, and with five couples working, a lot has been accomplished. We ladies divided into 2.5 teams.
Two of the ladies, Reenie and Lana,  settled in at the kitchen, whipping up all sorts of cookies to put into the freezer for summer camp.
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(This also meant that most every day we had warm cookies for break. We’re all happy to take one for the team!)
Rosie and Vicki got busy painting.
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The paneling and trim they are painting are part of the finishing steps of a giant pavilion that is being enclosed for more year-round use.
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Those girls have lots of job security!
Since I was the odd man out, I was working mostly with our host Carol, doing some yard work
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a little kitchen work
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(Not sure why they put me on the ground beef instead of the chocolate chip cookies. Did they know something?)
and finally, I pulled out the paintbrush and paint clothes and tackled some cabinets!
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The guys have been quite the worker bees finishing up the interior of that building. They’ve been building doors, and putting up paneling and drywall, and doing all the ‘things’ that are needed!
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I don’t know if they will get everything done on their to-do list, but I’m pretty sure they’ll be pretty darn close!
The weeks have flown by – with lots of lovely fellowship, beautiful spring weather, and much work accomplished. Oh, and maybe just a couple of warm Snickerdoodles consumed!
One other thing has happened in the last two weeks.
This
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became this –
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Ah, Spring!

Thanks for stopping by – and thank you for your patience with me and this little blog. Busy days plus sketchy internet make for long gaps between posts. But we are well – and appreciate each one of you who stop by to see what we’ve been up to!
Have a great weekend!
Steph
 

 

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RV Life, SOWER Projects 2023, The Adventure

Ten Things…

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…I’ve done since the last time we met.
1. Did my taxes. It wasn’t nearly as painful as I thought it would be (it never actually is!), but I usually put it off as long as I can. I had a few quiet moments last week and took the plunge. Thank you Turbo Tax. I’ll be watching for that refund!
2. Finally finished my Year 18 Picture Book.
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Yes, the year that ended July 30, 2022. I must confess this was a hard year to process (both mentally and pictorially) so there was a lot of stopping and starting.
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Only five months until I get to start working on Year 19! Yikes!
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3. Worked steadily on the Storyworth project our kids gave us for Christmas 2021. So what’s this Storyworth thing? Well, every Monday morning Gary and I would each get a question for us to answer, and then at the end of the year, they make it into a book. (“Oh,” said Gary when we got our subscriptions. “A Christmas gift with homework!” )The questions have ranged from “what’s your favorite joke?” to “how has the world changed since you were young?” Wait. What? So not only were some of the questions challenging, but they also came Every.Single.Monday. Needless to say, it was very easy to get behind. So our year is up, the questions have stopped and we have until April 15th to finish up any questions, edit it as we might choose, and then they will publish our books. April 15th is the deadline. And I still have four questions to go! Maybe more on that another day.
4. We moved!
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Okay, it was less than a mile (from campground A to campground B), but still, it’s a new neighborhood. And even though it was a short move, the slides had to come in, the coffee pot had to be bunged, and any movables needed to be secured. You can always tell it’s going to be a short ride when the big fat electric cord is just wrapped around the tow hitch instead of stowed neatly in its bin!
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5. We welcomed our new team members (11 new couples!)– and we’re all geared up for a great month of service here at ALERT, culminating with our big 40th Anniversary Rally beginning on March 30th.
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We’re close to 250 people in attendance for the Rally, so right now I’m feeling like my life is pretty much just one big checklist! We have a great committee, so I’m working on my delegating skills. Everyone is so willing!
6. In another move, I’m on the painting team instead of the sewing team this month.
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I miss my little Bernina that I grew quite fond of, but I’m really enjoying the ladies I’m painting with. So it’s all good.
7. I’ve been collecting quilt squares for our SOWER Anniversary Quilt.
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Fellow Sewing SOWERs from around the country have been putting together these squares and mailing them to me. During the Rally, everyone will have a chance to sign and personalize a square and then we’ll put it all together to hang in our SOWER office. I’ve been getting squares almost every day – and it’s been lovely to see everyone’s contributions!
8. Although we scoped out our storm shelter, we were spared from any major storm activity during last week’s wild weather.
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No hail, some wind, steady rain – but no need to evacuate. Thank you, Lord!
9. I spent Sunday in bed with a tummy bug. It happens. Just keeping it real, friends.
10. And I remembered anew how blessed I am to be loved by God! See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. I John 3:1

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