The Weekend And Rental Camp Week

Time has flown quickly since being here in Alaska and working around camp. God has faithfully been working in my heart and continues to humble me daily as He shows me where I need to grow and how much I have to work on. This past week we all jumped into Rental Week in all it's crazy busyness! It was a very tiring week and we had several adventures! The Lord saw us through them and we have all emerged tired, but safe and sound!

 Another sleepover came during the weekend prior to the Rental week! Knowing we would soon be very busy, we took advantage of the free time! We had a very good time.;)

 This evening we were all invited to a cook-out at the Craven home!

 After roasting hot-dogs and marshmallows everyone piled on the truck....

....and we drove over to the field to play volleyball!:) This game was accompanied with much laughter and lots of fun!

  A trip to the Moose Is Loose Bakery......they have all sorts of donuts!

 A funny shirt....the suspenders on display we actually bought for Daddy last year, for Father's Day!

 A trip to Sportsman's Wearhouse....those fish on the wall are mounted taxidermy. Look at their size compared to the fake deer!:P

 Stopping at the local Fred-Meyer....

 A special picture for my friend in Pennsylvania, this is for you, Susie! We certainly miss you this summer!;)

 Working back at camp on signs for summer camp in July....

 Angela learning to use the sander....

 Rental camp was a blur of activity and work! There really wasn't much time to take a whole lot of pictures but much was accomplished! Here our hardworking waitresses were setting out a staff lunch for us to eat...

 Taking a moment during the busy schedule to laugh and release some of the tension that comes with making and serving enough food to feed 104 people..;)

 Each day the waitresses worked really hard to reset these tables more than 4 times a day!

The kitchen staff from the past rental camp just before I came, had made matching shirts to wear that week. The logo says "Clean ALL The Things!"

 One of the biggest adventures was a power outage a few hours before dinner one night. We found out the power was out not only here, but all the way down to Homer which is an hour or so south of here. All we could do was sit and wait on the Lord to bring the power back on. What a good reminder of our dependency on the Lord in all areas of life! Praise the Lord,  it came back on a quarter of the way into dinner and everyone was eager to get back to work!

 Bee, one of our very hard workers in the kitchen for the week, busy making cupcakes....

Working on breakfast, sausages and egg casserole with hashbrowns.....

 The rental campers enjoying a meal....

 Meanwhile in the kitchen, one of the guys Jonathan was keeping our kitchen staff entertained here...

 Another wonderful adventure was a thick grease clog in the pipes connected to the dishwasher, girls bathhouse, and lodge bathrooms. We had to close down those facilities, split the boys bathouse in half for the campers and all the dishes had to be taken to the Craven's home a quarter mile down the road from camp and washed in their bathtub!

We had to change things around several times to accommodate the water situation and it was a real character building time. Here the clean dishes have returned and are waiting to be put away. Laundry baskets were extremely helpful here.;) We were all so very glad when the pipe was unclogged the next day! Dishwashing was never so exciting as it was after that!!

 Having fun cleaning the bathhouse...

 Hanging out with some of the babies we had that week here was a real blessing. There is something about being with little ones-the Lord uses them to teach us so much about our relationship with Him!

 Thursday, amidst everything going on, we had the opportunity to stop and celebrate Yukon Craven's birthday! He had been counting down the days!

 Enjoying a rest...

Yukon was more than willing to share his birthday cupcakes and kept telling everyone that they could "have one without his permission!":)

The week ended well and all of us were very ready for it! It was a good opportunity to serve and God was really working in our hearts. As the week began the Lord gave me a verse in Nehemiah that I really held on to during the days.

It is easy to be overwhelmed and feel done, but the Lord is always with us and the key thing to remember is that our strength to keep on going does not come from ourselves. It does not come from the desire in me to keep going on if I will only try hard enough. It comes from the Lord who will always give it to us as we are in need. We can trust Him to get us through the tough times, no matter what the situation may be. He will be our strength and give us the joy to face the trials of life whether big or small!

Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
               Nehemiah 8:10