Too much of Oklahoma?

Our work week ends at noon on Thursday so we decided to take 3 days to go to Branson - we had a time share that needed using. Of course, we spent time at Silver Dollar City. I know some of you are thinking we are obsessed with that place, yes we do like the entertainment and craft emphasis they were highlighting these weeks. But when we were sitting to listen to this pick'in' and grin'in' group (my title for them) I wondered how many of you would think this was a complete waste of time as well as a strange choice of entertainment or just that your parents were really loosing their bearings. Probably it was a little of each! I will admit it is not our/my favorite form of entertainment but it is a part of the Ozark heritage and Southern Country music and humor so we wanted to honor it. There were other entertainers as well as many crafts being demonstrated. We always still enjoy watching the glass blowers even though the two young guys had a problem with the piece they were blowing and thought it would eventually end up in a heap on the floor. No one is perfect or just like someone else even as no blown glass is like any other piece, we all have our own unique shape and function.

The decorations are always tuned to the theme of SDC. Naturally, these weeks are all done in harvest festival style. This picture is at the gate but all of SDC is decorated as well. Nothing, tho, compares to the Christmas Season when they have 4 million lights lit.

Work went well this past week. I am thankful I could continue to input data into the files of Retreats and Camps which were held over the last year. Like we were told, really this job is never finished as several new camps are held each week. Even some public schools bring kids here for a day or for longer. Interesting since this is definitely and openly a Christian Camp/Ranch. Reading the comments found on the cards is interesting, complaints can run anywhere between "awesome, I committed my life to Christ" to "the mats in the shower room were wet"? What did she expect? Even the comments on the food could run from "awesome" to too many carbs, not enough variety, or helpings too small. I think the expectation of the camper has something to do with the comments. One group came who were from an upper middle class area. The complaints were almost laughable as well as disgusting. Seems the kids had never had to put any effort into anything and thought this place was here to serve them. The Ranch leader to student ratio is very favorable and they are dedicated to making the Ranch experience very worthwhile, however, the responses reflected what the camper was expecting and, somewhat, on the context the student had come from. Thank goodness the vast majority have very high praise for the Ranch and that makes all of us happy. It is such a joy to put in a response that is all 5's even though those are kind of brainless for us, it does bode well for the staff. So putting data into the computer has its joys and makes our work at a Ranch extremely worth while.

Wilmer's work hasn't changed much either. He does restoration work on the same building I pictured him in last week. Altho he doesn't have a lot of different saws and other tools along he certainly is getting to use many of them as several of the RVICS people have quite a stash of tools. I guess when they have worked on dozens of projects they find what is useful and helpful to bring to a project.

This is our Oklahoma Group. I will not name them but give their home state: Missouri, Montana, Rochester, Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa and the front couple, a retired minister, last lived in Pennsylvania and has a place in Texas where they are retiring. Other then one couple we hadn't even known about the others until we started working together in Sept. or Oct. Now I can say we are a good functioning group with a lot of common values as well as a common work ethic. Great experience.

Pray you are all well, let us know how you are doing. We have internet now but spastic cell phone. Try anyway, we will get back to you.

Love you all,

Dad and Mom - Marilyn/Wilmer

The Hills Are Alive

Truly, riding around in these Oklahoma hills it does seem like they are alive. The foliage is changing color, the air has a real nip to it and the camp ground is filled with the sound of children and adults having fun on the various forms of entertaining equipment provided. Even though this part of Oklahoma is normally about 20 degrees warmer to most of us this seems like real October weather. (there was frost on the grass this morning here) This Conference Center, New Life, has various size groups come all through the year and this weekend the groups included students from several area church and a women's retreat group. We get to see them because we have been invited to eat in the dining hall with them. We try not to eat more than one meal a day in the dining hall but when we are encouraged to stay we do and find it a great place to make friends. And it is open to all without cost. We will leave a donation when we leave.
The tree pictured is unique to us. It is a Pine tree, evergreen, but about 1/3 of the needles turn brown in the fall and drop off like a deciduous tree. We had never heard of a pine tree that sheds like this one. Actually it makes for a pretty tree if you get past the idea that the tree is dying. One of the couples here had such a tree and frantically tried to restore the tree in the fall because it must be dying because the needles were brown. Nope, just a normal habit of this tree.

The whole Ranch is built on hills and valleys That is why when we came a week ago after a big rain the creek had overflowed its bank, all the land around it was soggy mud and the trees were still green. We have seen a big change since that day. Now the creek is flowing gently and the water is clear instead of a muddy brown. It takes a lot of energy-burning activities to keep junior high and high school kids busy and they do it.
You know I can never pass up a stream with a view, therefore this picture. The creek is on the Ranch so is used for water activities like I mentioned before.

Oh, that is right we came here to work. The women had it easy this past week with Vicki and myself putting data into the computer of the students who had been at the Ranch the past few months. We also did a ton of filing. The interesting part of that was getting use to names that we were unfamiliar with. Often the names that sounded alike could be spelled in about 5 different ways. Made filing a bit more of a challenge.
Then the mailing we did had to be sorted into zip codes. We must have come up with at least 75 different zip codes. The area around here isn't that densely populated plus campers come from quite a distance, therefore, more zip codes. We have more computer work to do, hope it continues, if not we will be giving the dorm rooms a thorough housecleaning but with a group that usually is fun too.

The men are remodeling two units that will become a place for visiting pastors or speakers to stay. They are also making a huge deck around the cabin. In the project the windows had to be moved, the air conditioner had to be moved, the light fixtures had to be moved and wainscoting put on the ceiling. They don't have to do dry wall even though they have become very good at that.

Our tour took us to a couple of RVICS people who live 70 miles away in Muskogee, Oklahoma. They served us a delicious supper and it was fun to get acquainted with them as we all have lots in common when we share the experiences of RVICS. We are such new comers while some on this project have worked 60 projects. We are on our 6th project.

Hope this finds you all well. We enjoy good health and hope to hear from you soon

Love, Dad and Mom/Marilyn and Wilmer

First Impressions

How often has your first impression been wrong? or right? It is often better to wait a bit before getting all bent out of shape because of a first impression. Such was the case with us when we drove onto the New Life Ranch grounds last Friday. We drove the 150 miles from Branson, Missouri to get to the Ranch. It had rained several inches Thursday night and the weather was misty and drizzly the whole distance to the Ranch in Colcord, Oklahoma. But we were looking forward to again becoming RVICSers after a leisurely week in Branson. There were 5 RV's already hooked up when we got here and the plan was for us to back into a spot between 2 of those big rigs. The spot was narrow and close quarters isn't necessarily our idea of a good spot even though Dad is a good backer. When both rigs would put their slides out we probably would have been able to pass food back and forth without getting out of the RVs. The Ranch had finished 2 new spots around the back of the lot so we were told if we could ride around the back of the rigs we could drive into a new spot. Only trouble was, with all the rain ALL ground was like a sink hole. But with the pickup in 4 wheel drive and low gear we did manage to make it up on the pad, however, not without making a mess of the grassy and gravel approach - thus the picture. The picture of the tires is just to prove just how deep we had to go to get up on a gravel lot. Needless to say we were not impressed with the place because it seemed they had not prepared well for volunteers. We joking say " is this what they say is suffering for the Lord?" No, I don't think that explains it at all, the sky had just broken loose with buckets of water after a summer of above average rainfall and that made conditions poor. In addition, a creek was just a little distance behind the RV and it was swollen out of its banks and was rushing over some little falls so that it made a tremendous noise. Why are we here?

The next day the sun shone and everything looked better. This is a camp something like Inspiration Hills but on a much bigger scale. Just this summer alone they had various camps with 1800 kids attending. They also have retreats and seminars and other events for adults. The camp covers 1000 acres of mostly rocky ground and has up to 80 employees at various busy times. They have 40 horses, many water activities and various other forms of entertainment. They can sleep 400 campers in bunks. Many of the cottages with bunks are in good condition and well equipped. The water right now has gone down to within its banks but no one is allowed in the water because of its filthy condition which comes with such a big rainfall.

It is always interesting to find out what we will be doing at a new project. As is often the case the men will be working on remodeling a cabin which will be used for a B & B for visiting pastors. If all 6 of the men work in a room or two they could get in the way of each other - than there is a building which is under construction which they can help with. Our project leader said the women had luxurious jobs which include office work, kitchen work and some sewing. Sure beats steaming wall paper off a ceiling. I had just purchased a few tools for more physical tasks and now I can trade them in for office equipment. Good trade.

There are 5 couples here now but another couple will come the end of the week. With 12 people we can get a lot done. We were with them all last night and, yes, Dad is still the oldest man in the lot. But not by much. I would still pit his quality and quantity of labor against anyone of them. Just hope he doesn't have to pull any more wainscoting off a ceiling in a 4 foot crawl space. We are so versatile, right?

We attended worship service and Sunday School at the Fellowship Bible Church in Siloam Springs and then we all ate at a Mexican restaurant. Good fellowship! This picture shows the creek just a little way up from the area of the dock, etc. The water was still flowing fast but in its bank. The natural rock of this area makes for some pretty pictures. We will have to do more exploring because there are many hiking trails. The weather here is way below normal in temp and will continue throughout this week but then it should be warmer. Normal is 70 for a high but it must be close to 20 degrees below that. Our little electric heaters have been going full blast for days as it was cool in Branson as well.

So first impressions aren't necessarily how things are. We are anticipating a good, purposeful experience here and pray we can contribute to the ministry of New Life Ranch.

Pray for you all as you are scattered geographically but hopefully not in spirit. Love you and hope to hear from you soon.

Mom and Dad/Marilyn and Wilmer

Relationships

After reading blogs from all over the world I wonder what interest anyone can have in Kansas. But I know each one of us has been placed in exactly the right place and for the last 4 weeks our place has been in Rexford, Kansas. We have been working feverish to get as much done on the Houston House at Shepherds Staff as we could. But an old house brings its own peculiar issues so it takes a long time to totally refurbish it. This past week the men restored doors, painted or varnished them, puttied windows, laid flooring, did more plumbing, and took down and reinstalled some wainscoting. The women continued painting, priming, hanging wall paper and always cleaning. Didn't get the house done but 4 weeks of work did improve it much.

However important these jobs may be the best life skill we have learned is that of building relationships. Working for 4 weeks side by side and almost always with a partner, as I shared last week, is a great way to gain an appreciation of the people we work with. It also helps people like me to have patience with those who have a different but not necessarily better way of doing things. Okay, sometimes they are better! The lady on the left in the picture is Joan. She is the director of Shepherds Staff and oversees and directs what has to be done and how it is done. She has the skill of helping each person feel their job is important and of encouraging them to do it to meet the expectations of her Shepherd's Staff board. Great gift to have. She has become a great friend. Her son-in-law also worked here in Rexford while we were here. His insight of the philosophy of people on the Kansas prairie was of great interest to all of us as he shared it with us on Tuesday night. He, and Joan, feel the tug of the Lord to use energy and time to bring spiritual renewal to the people here who often feel isolated. We pray that by helping to make the Houston House more accessible and inviting to people that Shepherd's Staff will truly become a refreshing and revitalizing place for area pastors and their families as well as other groups or even individuals.

Relationships were also deepened with our daily devotions.

Sharing prayer concerns and spiritual truths drew us together and, again, helped us understand one another as we had very diverse backgrounds and had taken various paths to get to a conversion experience. But our belief is based on the inerrency of the Bible and a trust in one God as well as a personal relationship with Jesus. When a group starts out with that premise it immediately gives a unity of spirit and a common bond.

We left Rexford on Thursday and are now in Branson, Missouri. We worshipped in a Baptist Church this morning and were truly blessed. Branson's theme at all of their shows is God, family and country and I think that is why we always like to come here. Wholesome entertainment, although the price of shows on the strip has kind of skyrocketed, is so good and hard to find now days. Silver Dollar City continues to be our favorite and the one-price-for-all is what we prefer. They have different shows throughout the day and many displays which are interesting. The emphasis in the fall is country crafts and gospel music. Can't really go wrong on that. We start in Oklahoma next Monday.

Hope you are all doing well. I know there are some rough spots and we certainly are praying for guidance through them. Email is working now as is the cell phone so would be happy to hear from you. Love you all,

Mom and Dad/Marilyn and Wilmer