Sunshine Acres

What an appropriate name for this camp and it is true in more than one way. Naturally the sun shines most every day all day. However, yesterday we had a quick rain shower just when I needed to retrieve my wash from the laundry room. No sweat, it was just sprinkles and brief. It did bring a beautiful rainbow tho. On Tuesday we have a social and the committee decided it was nice enough for a picnic. We had it early because the sun goes down early and than the air can be pretty crisp. (I know I am encouraging criticism when I write that to people who are hoping for temps above 0) Don't know who was in charge of the grilling but our steaks, done by our own griller, turned out very good. Baked potatoes in the crock pot, not so good. Good we have backup microwaves to use in just such an emergency. Turned out to be a fun night.

Most of the women ended up the last weeks with working in the "attic" where donations of new items are kept. Don't know how or when they will make use of them or distribute them but the room will look much better after we get done with it. Probably the staff will even have a hard time finding a few things. Reading labels will be a necessary part of finding boxes of items. The items range from clothes, dozens of shoes, files and record keeping ledgers, scrapbooks of students, humongous amount of scrapbook "necessities", toys, games, school supplies, soap, lotion, shampoo, crayons, markers, pencils, pens, glue, and a ton of other stuff for school, traveling size toiletries, office stuff like paper, envelopes, booklets the staff writes. snapshots of students, and on and on, you get the idea. It is not hard work but tedious, just when you get one section done with all one kind of items somebody invariably finds another box of that stuff. Rearrange again.

This picture is the front of one of the student and house parents' house. The philosophy is that these kids deserve something special and special it is. And even when we work around the house or on the camp grounds we never hear a lot of racket or hollering going on. In fact it is very quiet. The kids are very respectful and appreciative of the work we do for them. When I see all the money that is donated for buildings such as this one our work doesn't seem so big but we all give what we can of what we have. All of the buildings are built with donated money and, of course, the income from the warehouse and boutique is used on the kids as well.

The student rooms were all redecorated this past week. One of the staff must have a decorating degree because each room is a theme room and wall decorations and all are new and fantastically carry out the theme. This room has 2 beds with the same design theme. But if the kids want a tank with a snake in it in their room that is okay too because kids are kids. All rooms are immaculately clean.

Today was the last day of this Jan. project. We were scheduled to work one more month here and then go to Glendale, AZ for March. That project fell thru so we will stay in Mesa an extra month now. In other words, we stay and work here until the first of April. Good deal for RVICSers. We like it here.

As always we had trouble with the Wi-Fi here. Our Cell phone was suppose to help us with the Internet but was undependable to say the least. I won't give all the details but we finally went to a different cell phone server and now our phone is our link to the Internet. We could keep our own phone so that helps because it took us awhile to learn how to use it and we didn't want to start up the learning curve again. And since we are not residents of Iowa any more we could get out of our contract with Iowa Wireless without fees and without giving up the phone.

We think of you often and often wonder why you all aren't here with the myriad of Iowa people who are here for the winter. The winter residents had a Sunday brunch at a golf course Sunday and there were 71 people there and that is only the ones that usually go to Hope Ref. Church. There are many other worship places that others go to. One church actually closes its doors after the winter residents leave.

Love you all. Love the connection we can make with many of you on Facebook. Love the pictures. Until later, Mom and Dad, Marilyn and Wilmer

Desert Living

This country of ours is so unique in that there is so much diversity. Not a provocative sentence I know but a continuing education and appreciation for us. While we hear of ice, snow, subzero temperatures in the Midwest we are experiencing dry air and warm temperatures. The seasons exist here in Arizona but the differences are not as great as other areas of this vast country.

RVICS has guidelines for us to follow. One of them is that we tour some interesting happenings in the area close to our work and Friday is suggested for tour since we all get done working for the week at 11:30 on Thursday. Some union we work for, right? We are on the tour committee so Friday we planned a tour to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum and Botanical Garden. The pictures of cactus are not unique to any of us but they still were interesting as the tour guide helped us understand their place in the whole range of living plants. Obviously the desert does not look very colorful right now but this plant still has some violet flowers on it. Welcome change from the pale green plants, sand and sage brush covering the rest of the Arboretum. We hope to go back when more of the plants are blossoming.

The tour was good but the dinner afterwards was just as much fun. Thursday we had scouted out the town of Superior to find a good place for the group to have lunch on Friday. We found the Los Hermanos Mexican restaurant and ate there. The staff was so kind and helpful to us. Then we noticed that they had a Tortilla Factory in the back room. We could walk right back and see the tortillas being made. A young man wanted me to take pictures on Thursday so on Friday I had the camera and took pictures of him and others. It was such a great treat for us to make this fun connection. Friday they were photographed by several more cameras and they laughed for each one. Almost more fun than the whole arboretum tour. By the way, the food was delicious and pleasing. The restaurant is advertised as authentic but how would any of us know if that is true or not.?

Saturday we usually have to ourselves. We ended up at a huge Sam's store. We didn't need a huge amount of items and that is good because when we live in an RV we really have to throw out as much as we come home with in order to keep some sense of organization in such a small area. You would be amazed at how I can pack and repack to get groceries in our cupboards.

We continue to do patching, painting, restoring, organizing, and whatever else needs doing. they are very appreciative of our help.

This morning we went back to the Hope Community Church in Gilbert. We enjoy it and find it interesting to see so many people from back home. And we understand not near all the snow birds go to this church. We plan to get more involved by going to a get-together of snow birds and church people next week Also to help with packing boxes for needy children. We are feeling well and handle the work quite well also. Internet is a pain at times and that is frustrating. However, we do get on everyday one way or another and who could fault us for wanting to keep up with such things as yesterday getting the news of another great granddaughter in Loveland, CO. Elissa, Linda and Chris's daughter, gave birth to a baby girl, Sophia, and she joins sister Kenley and Dad Mike. What a blessing!

Blessings and love to you all, Dad and Mom Marilyn and Wilmer

Memories

Yesterday we celebrated our 57th wedding anniversary. We reminisced about the many blessings we have had through those 57 years. We started with the extremely cold temperature that day back in 1954. Thought about our families doing so much to make the day so memorable. Mom and other relatives worked long and hard on the decorations in the church. They probably do not add up to the fancy stuff (expensive) they have now days but we thought it was pretty nice. The lunch at the reception was done up right by 2 dear ladies who knew how to fix good tasting food. The wedding picture was taken in the afternoon at a studio - so much for the groom not seeing the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding. Can't say that it dampened our spirits or our life. So many more things we recall but especially how simple things were. One RVICS gal said when she saw our wedding picture, "looks like this was taken in another era". So? We have been truly blessed by a supportive family and siblings and that is our most precious gift. One son named our blog site "golden foxes" and yesterday one daughter called us "crazy kids". Yes, we answer to both of those and probably live up to them most of the time. So glad to have that kind of relationship so they feel free to use those titles. What a blessing the family has been and is to us.

Our "callings" in life have been varied and for that we are also grateful. We have tried to support one another in various endeavors and that has made for many interesting ventures, the one we are in now is certainly no exception. Thanks to each one of you for the contribution you made to make our years so blessed.

We are now in Mesa, AZ working at Sunshine Acres. We have worked one week and will continue here until the end of Feb. As I always say, each project is so different. This one takes boys and girls who must leave their home for reasons like poverty, abuse, educational disadvantage or something similar. They come to school here and live here. Ten or twelve boys or girls live in a residential home with house parents. The residential houses are extremely nice. Evidentally the camp has a good support system and that donor base donates an unbelievable amount of money and merchandise. The homes are all furnished with those donated goods. Much that is donated is new but has been used in a model home and cannot be sold. What they cannot use in the homes, machine shop, chapel, etc. is sold through the warehouse or boutique. I must spend some time (money) there before we leave this place. Beautiful stuff.

Our work here is similar to all over. Paint here and there, wash scuffs from the walls, lay a little carpet (yes I and another gal did that) - she thought I put so much glue on that it would seep through the carpet, it did not and it does stick. Men do maintenance work at well. Replace fixtures, wire new light fixtures, paint the dining room in between meals times for the kids, etc. We have 6 couples and interesting how the talents mesh so we make a complete whole - at least we think we do.

The sky is beautiful from the RV court as you can see but I have learned to take it while it is nice because 5 minutes from now it will be different.

This morning we went to a Reformed Church in Gilbert just a few miles from here. I was astonished at how many people were from NW Iowa and mainly Sioux County. We and Floyd and Joyce Davelaar from Rock Valley and who are on our project went together. Great service. Talked to people we hadn't talked to for years. Many of the "snow birds"do volunteer at Sunshine Acres a day a week or so and they volunteer other places too.

We are very comfortable here and looking forward to the next 7 weeks. Hope you are all well, over the colds that are going around, done with snow vacations, and all that good stuff. Our love goes out to you and if you could fit in a weekend in Arizona this winter be sure to stop at Sunshine Acres. Love you all,

Mom and Dad Marilyn and Wilmer or just plain Pa and Ma as we are often called.

We've Come A Long Way, Baby!

Christmas 2010 has come and gone but the impact on our spiritual lives will remain. From watching little tikes innocently singing about the birth of Jesus, to enjoying choirs singing praises of/to the Christ Child, to partaking of communion in a candlelight sanctuary we were truly blessed. And, of course, on the lighter side, (no pun intended)visiting with family, sharing presents, feasting on a bountiful supply of food, reveling in each bite of sugar laden piece of candy, and then dumbly wondering how we are going to take off the extra pound/s gained. The Christmas Season is a blessed time and for those we didn't get to interact with personally we pray you had a great time of worshipping, sharing and fun. We extend our wishes for a year of peace and happiness - 2011.

Since our home was sold in Dec. we have been living in the Holiday Inn in Sioux Center and I must say our siblings and kids really fed us well while homeless. The motel supplies a good breakfast but the siblings and family really spoiled us with terrific home made meals. Thanks each one of you for being so generous and kind!

The pictures shown here were taken very near to the first Christmas we were married. Hopefully you can see now why I entitled this blog what I did. Several things stand out to me. No, the picture of us is not 400 mega pixels like we take now days. I am just glad it turned out as good as it did with the little box camera and attached flash. I am not exactly liking the looks of us or me in particular in the picture. Do people improve in time? The baby looks as good as always, no improving on perfection, right Linda? The women wore dresses or in my case a jumper that I wore the tar out of because there were not too many other dresses hanging in the closet to wear. I must mention the blouse I am wearing, how could we be so steeped in conservatism and wear a blouse that was no less see Thu than a sheer curtain. Go figure. Hand crocheted doilies for sofa arm and back - and every available table top. Drapes were of the huge flower type. Usually the wall paper vied for the same attention with its big floral design. And usually the rooms were rather small so we could have had a closed in feeling. Funny, we didn't feel that at the time. But individual creativity was not practiced, we mostly did what the rest were doing. Came across a saying the other day which I shared before which says," they laugh at me because I'm different, I laugh at them because they are all the same." Don't know if it fits but we all get that feeling at one time or another. Didn't worry about that in the '50's because we all conformed pretty much.

The other picture is, again, Linda, with her great grandma Sandbulte. She was a very interesting person with many quick comments or come backs and she always loved a good time. Did that trait carry forward to anyone you know? Dad remembers one comment she always said was, "moost ales ope aten" (our poor dutch is easily seen in how we spelled those words). Anyway, it meant "must eat it all" or a more literal translation "must all up eat.". That probably shows because she did what she said and it probably carried through to us and you kids when you were told to eat all that was on your plate. I came by that practice honestly - honest! She and my grandma Kuyper lived across the road from each other and did a lot of visiting together and would have tea together. Tea time came at 2:30, between dinner at 12 and coffee time at 4:oo. And those "breaks" would not be observed without a cookie or rusk with cheese. Olden days - weird, fun, interesting, simple, complicated, hard work, etc. Good times!

Life is so different now. Now in a few days we will take off in the Montana for family in Colorado for a few days and for work in Arizona for 3 months. Then we will spend time with California kids and a couple of months in places we haven't decided on yet and then back to Sioux Center for activities we want to take part in in June and spend time with the families around Sioux Center. Since we sold our home we plan to RV full time for awhile before we settle down. No one could have convinced us at that Christmas in 1954 that we would be living like this or that we would even have wanted to live like this. Now we find it exciting and the work fulfilling and even strengthening to our physical well-being.

Hope this finds each of you well and enjoying a good life. If anyone is in the Mesa, AZ area in Jan. or Feb. give us a call. Our phone number is 712-441-4370 and our mail address is a forwarding address _ 3700 S. Westport Ave. #97, Sioux Falls, SD 57106. All mail sent to that address will get to us no matter where we are.

Love you all, Dad and Mom/Wilmer and Marilyn

I could never write a book because I would ramble on for 1000 pages.

Humor and hard work!

A lot has happened since the last blog. We did take a leisurely time getting home and that was a good processing time for us. But when we got home we hit the road running because we had just 2 1/2 weeks to get the house empty. It helped a lot that I had worked on it last summer but still it is daunting to think that every last little dinky thing has to find a new home. Our last trip to Good Will we had to take the little trailer because the Trail Blazer couldn't hold it all. I must say I am a little embarrassed by how much stuff we still have stored. We were able to do most of the work ourselves except for a couple of hours on two occasions when Dordt guys came to help us with the heavy stuff. And the house would not have been left in such an immaculate condition if Kim hadn't come to give the final "mopping" to everything. Thanks so much Kim!

I have said before that "revisiting stuff" is cathartic and when I say that most people look at me as if I came from a different planet but I hold to my philosophy because it is true for us. The hat Dad is wearing was bought years ago when we went to Producers meetings. We were to the third annual meeting of the year and one of the extra curricular activities was to go to Sheplers western wear store. Dad bought this hat but never wore it. This hat made the move from the Orange City place and every move since. Yes, it is in storage!!!!! So I guess to justify the move to the storage garage he wore it briefly while packing things up. Interesting to me is the fact that it is fairly easy to dispose of big items without much emotion involved but it is harder for us to get rid of smaller seemingly insignificant items like college papers, seminary books, small family treasures, etc. I have a SMALL doll that is half the size of a match box. I remember making clothes for that doll and treasured/treasure it and have kept it. (my fingers would not cooperate with me to make such small stuff now) The brown wooden doll bed that was home made is rustic to say the least. I don't remember if it was made in my life time or before that but it carries a lot of memories with it. So when we finally do make the final clearing of stuff I hope we can be with that to tell the story of why we kept the items. Dad has similar items like the combine shaft that displays revolutions per minute. Probably not something many would even know existed, like me, but it played a new and important function way back when. I find such processing and sharing intriguing. So the hat does bring back an era in our life that was good and we recall some details about it. So on the 4th of December, 2010, we moved out of the house and into the Holiday Express here in Sioux Center. Henry, the manager, did give us a great reduction or we would not be in this place but it is so nice I think we could get use to it even tho it has its limitations with cooking being one of them. I should have more siblings because we have been to each of their houses for a meal. I know you will find this just exactly like us but last night we were wondering where to go to eat and I looked thru the Shopper and saw Rob Schelling was having an open house for his retirement. We weighed the idea of whether we would be classified as one of his customers and decided we fit the bill so we helped him celebrate his retirement with good food at the Golf club right here. Have to be creative with such stuff and the picture shows the creativity of trying to fix meals here even tho I have to resort to using the bathroom counter to get the food ready. It works. Remember that little fondue pot we took on many vacations and also used for fondue years and years ago? Well that is the pot I use here and it still fits the bill. Dad keeps saying he feels the work with RVICS has strengthened him so he was more able to do all the lifting, etc. he did with the moving. I agree.

He now has the little trailer packed to go to California (some day). Jason is going to help us with the transportation of the trailer that has all the items that need to go to California kids but all the details are not exactly worked out yet.

We plan to leave right after his doctors appointment on the 29th. Would appreciate your prayers for good road conditions at that time.

Hope this finds you busy with the holiday rush but also mindful of the tremendous gift of salvation given in the person of a baby laying in a manger.

Love, Mom and Dad

The new address we have now is just a mail forwarding address. This forwarding service will send our mail to wherever we are (we will supply them with that information) because we do not have a permanent home or home address at this time. We will get your mail if it is sent to Wilmer or Marilyn Rensink, 3700 S Westport Ave. #97, Sioux Falls, SD 57106. This makes us officially SD residents at this time.

Change of Plans

Yes, we have been in a state of transition the last few days but more on that later. The Conference Center we worked at was a beautiful place. It serves as a retreat center or conference center where people come in for a few days or a weekend and then leave. This weekend they had 4 groups coming so many things had to be ready for such a large group of people. The picture shows the "parking lot" for the RVICS. We were the last ones that came so it took some expert backing up to fit our RV between the trees and other RV's. Good thing such backing was with the slides in or we couldn't have made it. Dad really showed his backing skills, he had a lot of experience as a farmer, and didn't have to adjust his course once much to the surprise of all the other couples who were watching. Nothing like full-time RVers watching to make one feel a little hesitant but he did it.

This is what we saw every time we sat by our table. First thing in the morning the warmth of the water would steam because of the coolness of the air and that really made a beautiful sight. The lake was just the right size to walk around and I did that every day. There were benches at strategic places so I could sit a spell and just meditate. What a great place. The setting alone would have made for a good retreat place but in addition to that there were no rustic cabins here but motel like rooms with all having a view of this lake from their patio.

Having that many people results in a humongous amount of bedding and towels. This week was the time to do blankets and pillows as well and they only used a little larger than regular size washers and dryers so it took a lot of time. This picture shows a vary small fraction of the wash two of us RVICS did. Most of our daughters would say I have a certain way of doing most everything but I did have to fold these in a certain way, they fit on the shelves better that way. Now flat sheets and blankets are okay but those fitted ones were the pits. So after a little talk Linda decided she would rather stick with fitted and me with flat. No major deal but why should we learn two different directions in one week? After all, we are oldsters, right? So, yes, girls I did have to relearn how to fold towels. I know to most of you this talk about folding towels is rather mundane but for 3 hours every day all week it helps to have a system. The other 2 RVICS women did windows and mirrors in the rooms, I think Linda and I got the better deal. Only occasionally did we have time for some sudoku in between loads.

The work that Dad worked on the whole time was building a new stage in the Conference Center. The whole structure underneath was made of steel. You can see how (Rensink) strong it is going to be. After they had the below the platforn almost done it looked like they could use it for a shelter from most every kind of calamity of man or weather.

So on the day we were to head down to LA we had a phone call that someone was interested in our house. But since such things can take some time we left for LA the following day. Then after a few calls for details of the house we got the call on Wednesday, the 3rd day of our project, that the sale was final. WOW! It was so neat, the whole team knew about the possibility and we were enjoying a social time when the call came. They all cheered and thanked God for the direction we were given with the sale. We worked Thurs. and began making our way to Sioux Center Friday at 8:00 a.m. after the team of RVICS circled up for prayer. We are not driving until we drop but making about 300 miles at the most each day. We decided to be in Branson, MO over the weekend so we can attend a church that we are familiar with just outside Branson. Then 200 miles Sunday afternoon and home on Monday, if all goes well. I guess when we get home we will hit the road running but we needed these days to process all that had/would happen and how we can make this transition an enjoyable time when we plan well. We are so happy with who bought the house. We could not think of anyone we would rather have it and that is a good feeling as well. Many people have asked us what we are going to live in when we get out of the house on Dec. 4. We have been exploring our options for several months and do not have a definite answer but we believe the answer will be made clear to us when it is necessary and we are at peace with that. We wait with anticipation what the Lord has in store for us in the months and years ahead. Our path in life is unique but we find much fulfillment in doing RVICS work. So for now we anticipate living in an RV and doing a lot of traveling - until we are called to do something else God is good.

( I must share the good news of Cindy's latest blood tests, they are the best they have been in 5 years. Tears of joy. Praise the Lord)

Love you all, Mom and Dad Marilyn/Wilmer

Arkansas Wrap-up

Our means of communication may have been rather poor at the Glenhaven Ranch but our transportation was second to none, don't you agree? The women had access to this cart and because the Ranch was built on several ground levels we appreciated not having to walk up and down. Actually, I thought walking up the hill to make a phone call was about as much exercise as I wanted to give for such activities. But I'll have to admit that the view from the "phone booth" was pretty good.

Laurie and I were assigned to paint the pump house as I related in a previous blog. The house had been sheet rocked with untreated screws or something like that. Well, the screws were rusting the sheet rock. In trying to "fix" the problem we were to paint the walls being sure the screws were well covered. As you can see the detail work finally ended with us painting with water color brushes or something equally small. It was a little tedious so we hope it takes care of the problem.

This is Scott, he was our Ranch supervisor. He is maintenance or operations manager of the Ranch. Many of the staff have many jobs, each one is asked to fill in for various jobs and some have been doing those jobs for years now. The staff are more like a family with each pitching in when necessary. Scott also led the worship at Tues. night chapel. His wife is the principal and teacher of the school and they were house parents a few years back. Yes he is Hawaiian and grew up there but answered his call to ministry to come to Glenhaven. He and his wife, as well as all the staff, are dedicated to helping those who have had disappointments in life in the past reclaim their goals and ambitions and with a Christian worldview.

It is hard to pick out a particular staff person but I picked Scouter for a special reason. He has several jobs but the main one as far as I could see was to care for the horses on the Ranch. The horse barn was taken care of by students who have to do a meticulous job with the stalls. They even have a monthly award for the resident who does the best job. I assume there is more to the barn cleaning then giving the kids a job. The level of cleanliness and perfection of there work certainly was teaching a lesson in following orders and doing a job well. And Scouter was such an influence to the kids. Anyway, 90 days before we came to the Ranch they had received a horse from the wilds. They worked with him and especially one girl who worked endlessly with the horse. Now 3 months after getting the horse she not only made the horse tame but also trained him to be shown in competition. She showed him in competition and received an award a couple of weeks ago. The whole Ranch celebrated her accomplishments and hopefully that will be an inspiration to others. Another resident played the violin for us and did a great job.

This is the man that Dad worked with most of the time. They really did jack-of-all-trade jobs but working together they got a lot of odd jobs done. Dave and Wanda, his wife, were our project directors and, as always, did a very good job. We worked with Dave and Wanda, who come from

South Dakota,and the other couple, Bob and Laurie from Ohio, 2 years ago in Florida. That is one of the interesting aspects of RVICS. As we all criss cross this country we do meet up with those we have worked with before. Since we spend much time with the other couples in a group our relationship deepens. (most of the time anyway.)

Tuesday night at Chapel was an emotional time. We had become friends of so many and our feelings were very evident that night. To hear the young people state how much the Ranch had done for them and how they witnessed to their love for God and wanted to follow Him no matter the cost was awesome. The Chapel service was spirit-filled. Praise GOD.

Love to all, Dad and Mom Wilmer and Marilyn