Tag Archives: Montrose Bible Conference

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!

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!

Pictures of the Adventure, SOWER Projects 2021, The Adventure

Mini-Montrose Mission

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To say I am well acquainted with the laundry situation at Montrose Bible Conference might be an understatement. I’ve washed and folded my share (and maybe your share too) of sheets and towels over the summers that we’ve been coming,
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and I have an up close and personal relationship with the quirky laundry equipment in the conference center’s laundry room.
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(See – even Gary pitches in when there’s a quick turn-over and guests are on their way! He mostly handles the pillowcases!)
When we learned that new laundry equipment was being donated to the conference center, we jumped on the bandwagon to help get the job done! And the timing was perfect! The new units arrived the day after we returned from our quick Cabin trip over Memorial Day/week –
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and everyone pitched in on getting the old (mostly not working) equipment out so the area could be prepped for the shiny new washers and dryers.
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That old green monster had been part of the room for over 40 years, and let me tell you it was no mean feat getting it unbolted from the floor!
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Or getting it out the door!
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Or onto the truck!
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Finally only the Big White Dryer was left – and it was deemed OK to stay! But then the question was – what about the floor?
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Completely replacing it wasn’t an option at the moment, so the guys began the arduous task of taking up what they could.
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And it was inch by inch for sure!
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So. Many. Nails.
Eventually prep for the new installation could begin!
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(The Big White Dryer has a large vent which is why the new dryers had to go up on a platform. Good for loading and unloading, not so convenient for the controls. But certainly doable!)
New water and drain lines, new electric and venting – the room even got a nice fresh coat of paint!
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And less than a week later – voila! With fresh curtains to boot – an updated laundry room!
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That there is one happy group of laundry do-ers!(AKA the director, Jim, and his wife, Becky, and son Daniel!)
Now all they have to do was figure out all those crazy control options!
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There will be a learning curve I’m sure, but it’s one I think they’ll (mostly) enjoy!
One last chore for Gary – installing some improved lighting in the new walk-ins:

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Now no one will ever again be able to say – “I can’t find the carrots!”!
(It’s usually chock full of food – we just happened to catch it at a pre-delivery low!. Another good-timing blessing.)

With our mission accomplished we packed up the truck (and I mean Packed Up The Truck!)
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and headed back to the Cabin!
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Where I sit this morning, sipping my coffee by the fire! It’s all good, my dears, all good!

Make it a great Tuesday, friends!
Steph

 

Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, SOWER Projects, SOWER Projects 2020, The Adventure

Visiting our old friend

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The Dreyer Lodge Attic at Montrose Bible Conference
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(HERE‘s one of the blog posts about our time in the attic back in the summers of ’12 and ’13)

It’s been a couple of summers since we had the need to climb up there, but with a possible broken wire Gary knew he had to start at the top. Since he’d run a couple miles of wire during the installation, it was a bit daunting to try and find the problem.
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We couldn’t find any obvious breaks, so we moved to the control panel downstairs.
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Thankfully, he found the problem in the panel and it was a fairly easy fix. Phew. It would’ve been trouble indeed if a wire had broken in the wall!
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With the A/C problem fixed and the piping begun for the walk-in refrigeration unit, it looks like we’ll be able to head to Vermont tomorrow as planned! Yippee! Guess it’s time for me to go and over-pack!
Steph

 

 

On the Road, RV Life, SOWER Projects, SOWER Projects 2020, The Adventure

Wheeeeee! Week Three!

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This is not a Wheeeee – Week Three, thank goodness its over.
This is a Wheeeee – Week three – man, that was fast and fun!!
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Although it’s always hard to see a project come to an end, there is always something satisfying about packing up your tools, and reviewing what was accomplished during those 12 short days of work. Sandy and I used our paint brushes every day (basement craft room, 6 doors and 3 sets of closet doors, and three lodge rooms), and it was great to know that those were things that the maintenance staff did not have to worry about this summer.
UntitledThe guys moved through a long list of plumbing, electric and carpentry items without hesitation. Some jobs, like that well/pump re-do, had been on the back burner for a very long time! Although summer will look very different this year (thanks to the pandemic) for this camp and many others like it, maintenance still has to be done. We were honored to be able to serve here – and give them a hand with some long overdue chores!

But as it happens every SOWER month, all good things come to an end.  We left this morning after a lovely time of prayer (but sadly without the hugs that we really love) for a short 30 mile drive over to Montrose Bible Conference.
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We aren’t here at MBC as official SOWERS this month, but more as ‘friends of the conference center’ since we’ll be in and out as the month goes by. Gary will be working on their refrigeration situation, and for the first part I think I’ll just be catching up on life here at home. (The third load of wash is already underway!). Next week we’ll be heading to The Cabin for a spell (insert happy dance here!) and then it will be back to Montrose until it’s time to head to our August SOWER project. We’re thankful for this lovely spot that has become as close to home base to us as anything these days.

As we wrapped up our time at Rock Mountain, we posed for an official “Group Shot” by their sign.
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And then for an official “Sign of the Times” group picture!
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Thank you, LORD, for a good month! For good new friends and for being able to do the work you have for us to do!
And thank YOU for stopping by!
Steph