No pictures today, just an update. We are now in Citronelle, Alabama at a campground ministry. It is located in a quiet little town that used to be booming. It is the site of the first oil well in AL in 1955. Prior to that there used to be at least 2 large resort hotels with cottages and hot springs. The train came through only feet from the camp. Now the abandoned track has been made into a bike path. This is where I walk a few times each week. Today the town has 29 churches for 3200 people and most of the buildings on the main street facing the old train track are boarded up. The one bright spot is that we can walk down the hill to the pharmacy where they have an old soda fountain with 16 flavors of ice cream...yum!
Our work here is varied. Ken is working on hanging 1000 sheets of drywall in a 32 room hotel that is new to the campground. I have cleaned the snack shop and stained the portico of the hotel. The other ladies have been cleaning the commercial kitchen on campus. What a job. I think of the guys we had that cleaned our kitchens every day to keep the grill and fryers from getting that yucky grease and carbon build-up. I was very thankful for them when I saw the condition this kitchen was in. I really am not being critical, these camps are run mainly by volunteers who are here for a couple weeks at a time. The main staff are busy with relationship building with the campers. Their priority is as it should be.
We have grown to love these people with RVICS that we volunteer with. I have learned so much from them about a servant's heart. We laugh together so much that I think the seratonin levels in my brain must be overflowing. Even if we never went on an RVIC tour again I know we have made lifelong friends with these couples. It will be bittersweet on March 28 when we leave them to begin our trek back to IL, but I do miss my family and friends and need to see them.
We are going to see my parents and sister/family in GA first, then to IN to see Shelli/Caleb and squeeze our grandbabies. Then off to IL to see Chris/Em and their new house before heading back to Machesney Park on April 3. It will be time for another dr. appt. for Ken. The house has not sold yet. It will when God chooses. Perhaps His choice is for us to stay. I am learning to not project my plans but to live day to day. Lord willing, we will be leaving IL again at the end of April. Whether we make a left turn or a right turn when we get to the interstate is not determined yet. Our presence is requested at a couple of different places and we are not sure yet which one we will choose. Pray for us if you think of us.
I will try to have a picture or two at my next posting. Now that I have remembered (and have made a note of) my username I will be able to get on this site! There is just too much to remember.
I have been asked if I am getting tired of living in our keokeo honu (white turtle) and my answer is an emphatic, NO! I truly enjoy it. It is small enough to easily take care of and large enough to read in one place while Ken watches tv in another and we spend alot of time outside together with our friends. We are blessed.
