Looking Back On the Past Month

Yes, as the title suggests, we are nearing the end of our assigned time here at Florida Baptist Children's Home and will bid everyone goodbye  on January 29. However, this is unusual for  RVICS,   since most of the couples we worked with here during January will be staying for the month of February with an addition of 2 more couples.  It is unusual because normally the RVICS only come for a month and leave for a different location.  

This has been such a good month in so many ways.   Much was accomplished in the physical needs we came to help with.  Some of the larger assignments of work are not quite completed but will be in good hands with those working next month.    Our time of devotions as a group is rewarding and we gain new insight many times.  

As a group, we play together too.   At the end of last week, our group hosted another RVICS group from a neighboring town.   What fun to see old friends, talk, eat and play games!  The bocce game was particularly interesting with men vs women with 8 per team.   Did I mention all the women threw their balls at the same time and vise versa.   Sometimes, we are creative to make it work!

To finish our work the next couple of days, we will be helping setting up for a banquet that we are invited to attend.   This will include the children located here.   We had the opportunity to do this last year and it was a special evening.   This will be a good way to end.

Come Wednesday morning, we will once again hook up the truck to our 5th wheel and travel north about 3 hours and start this all over again.   The rest of the group will consist of old friends and a couple who will become friends over the next month.   Even though goodbyes are tough, we have much to look forward----------

Continuing At Rapid Pace

The month of January is getting shorter and shorter by the calendar but it doesn't seem possible that two weeks of work are now history!   Time is flying by quicker than a person can believe.

If we look at our accomplishments the twelve team members have done in the last couple of weeks, it is huge!!     The list of "assignments" for this group to do  during the month was quite long.   Since this is a two month project for RVICS much (if not all) of it will be done plus additional jobs the end of that time frame.  

The men have numerous larger jobs that are a work in process.   Since of items on the to-do list require drier, warmer days, they have been jumping back and forth this week between inside and outside work.    A couple of the houses needed windows for the parents to see into their game rooms quickly and quietly.   One house has been finished and second one started.   These are older buildings with the usual surprises which take additional time to correct.   Another house required a small wall to be removed so tile could be laid and this job is done.   Yet another home needed and unsightly/unused closet removed along with electrical and plumbing changed in a porch area and finished off and this job was completed.   Still in process are the trimming of many of the trees on the property of dead limbs and some Spanish moss removed.   There are a couple of houses that needed power washing and total painting. one of these houses should be completed (weather permitting) this coming week and a second one started.   In between some of these jobs, there were trucks to load and unload of food and furniture.   Needles to say, the men were very tired when Thursday noon rolled around.

The ladies weren't to be outdone.   Once again, we spent much time in the donation center.       The rooms are now much better organized and the new donations that are continually being dropped off were put away.   A fence was "spot" painted.   Translation, dogs are now residing behind it and trying to dig their way out.   The fence had to be lowered and, thus, there were unpainted places that needed some black paint.   It is interesting painting with dogs between a person and the fence!    Our final job for the week was totally cleaning the library and all of the Learning Center.    It is fun to do a variety of different things.   Oh yes, all of this has been done with one of the gals using one arm because the other is broken and immobilize.

It isn't all work and no play.   Come Friday, most of us headed to the Tampa Fairgrounds and the largest RV show in the US.   It is fun to dream.   While there, we saw "old" friends from other RVICS projects of the past.     It is good to catch up with one another.   On Saturday, we had dear friends from home but now residents of Florida come for a visit.   What a fun time!!

Tomorrow is coming rapidly.    When the end of the week arrives, all will probably once again say "where did the time go this week?"   However, we are all looking forward to that. 

Tool Time

The team for January had traveled to Florida Baptist Children Home, here in Lakeland, from Michigan, Pennsylvania (2), West Virginia and Indiana (2).   Once we are here, all are anxious to get busy with the ministry at hand.   It is always an exciting time because RVICS are not the "sit at home" type individuals!

The RVICS are a "come along-side" ministry to help our host ministry to do their job better.   For our first week of work, we helped a couple of different faucets.  

One of the missions when it was organized many, many years ago was to help children.  Continuing that today, they have ranch type homes with house parents and 8-10 children that need a stable home.   The homes operate like families were designed.   They attend public school and have all the activities of a child in a normal environment.   Having seen it in operation, we are very impressed.   A definite hole is being filled in their young lives.

This past week the men have been working on windows in the game rooms in a couple of the homes.   In another home, a closet was torn out on a porch and the space is now being redone to be better utilized by the family.   The power washer has been brought out and work has been started on re-painting of a couple of the homes.   Also, four of the men drove to a location off site to repair a house being sold that had been donated.   Yes, the tool boxes were brought out and about everything was used!!

A second (sometimes related ministry) is the huge, two story building used filled with donations.   The donations are used for the families here and throughout Florida.   Every room is filled with a specialty, for example maternity, housewares, supplies, diapers, clothing and this just skims the surface.   They are used by parents here, foster families, those they are helping set up an independent life in an apartment and even ministries overseas.   The ladies worked on organizing, sorting and stocking a couple of the rooms.   This is an unending process and keeps many hands busy.

This week, we didn't always have a tool in our hand.   After hard work all day, it is good to socialize and get to know one another.   This month will be no exception.   Don and Denny celebrated birthdays to begin the new year.   Yes, cake and ice cream were enjoyed by everyone.  Plus, this is the season and location for strawberries.   A trip to Plant City was in order to enjoy the strawberry desserts!

Every team member here has a home and family in the north where all the severe weather came through.     Even though we missed the experience of the Polar Vortex, we were able to pray and be thankful it has come to an end.

Tomorrow begins week no. 2 of our time here.   Once again, we will be more than willing and able to get moving again.   The tools await----------

And Now It Is 2014

  

Happy New Year!!!   Those words are still being spoken but it is still hard to comprehend that this is the beginning of another calendar year.   After less than 3 weeks away for the Christmas holiday and a quick visit with family, we found ourselves once again on the road.   However, in some ways, it was easy to leave because of the snow/ice we had when we were home and (big time) winter was on its way. 

Florida Baptist Children's Home is our new "home" for the next month.    Four of the five couples joining us have already arrived.   Come Monday morning, work will begin.   As another sign of the ending of one year and start of a new year, some of our jobs then will be taking down and storing for another year the Christmas decorations on the campus.

One of the bonuses of the volunteer work, is the lasting friendships we make among the RVICS family.   Since many of them have arrived in the various locations of ministry in Florida, we have a chance to meet and catch up on each others lives.   Today was one of those days, when two couples came for a visit---one of them we hadn't seen in a few years.     As with many of our projects, we will begin a new friendship with a couple for the first time.    Our lives have been impacted by all of them!

Come Monday morning, we will begin making new memories with this "family".    All  are anxious to begin the work that we are here to do.   It will be a good week and a good project!

Closing Days

As I sit down to write, we are  down to our last week on this RVICS project.   2013 is rapidly coming to a close as Thanksgiving is past, tomorrow is the last day of November and Christmas is getting closer.   As we look back on this past year, we have once again been blessed beyond measure.   God has been extremely good to us and blessed us beyond measure.

On Thanksgiving day, our RVICS "family" gathered together and had a traditional meal with all the fixins'.   It is good to be able to gather and celebrate with friends when family isn't close by to visit in person.   We call it a traditional meal but with couples representing different parts of the USA, we find slight variations in the way we prepare them.   What fun it is to taste them.

COLD---this was the theme for this past week!   When the temperatures drop in the low 20's that is much too cold for an RV.    With the coldness, it certainly makes one think winter is here.   Since the weather was terrible, all of our work was done on the inside.

The team members are finishing a few of the things they started.   The activity center/gym is now just about ready to open for use.  The ladies are about done painting a good portion of the lodge---main room, hallway and trim.   The men cleaned out all the old flooring in the office area and director's apartment.   Even battling the damp conditions (drying was an issue), the new flooring is mainly done in the apartment.   "Fall" cleaning was done by a few of the ladies in the kitchen along with helping clean motel rooms etc.

The goal whenever we arrive at a new place/project is to make it a better place for the ministry of Christ.   We feel the goal has once again been met.

Come Thursday, we will move our RV to Florida, enjoy a day with some friends and then head home for a break and family.   January 2014, we will be back helping out again.

A Full Week

All weeks have the same number of days, hours, etc. but this week was overflowing with activities both work and fun.    With the RVICS schedule we follow, we work for the ministry for 4 days with set hours and we have an official time for a group social (even though we often do other things as well), usually take a tour as a group to a local place of interest and have a Bible study one evening.    Time always passes by very quickly and this month is no exception.  

When I was preparing to write this blog, I jotted down the different accomplishments this week and was amazed.   The men painted walls etc. in the activity center/gym, moved and installed a new water heater, installed a new vanity, faucets in sink and tub in a house, power washed sidewalks and took off and put back up door to push/pull in the correct directions.    The women started and ended in the same room!    No, we aren't slow but it is a big room and the wood soaked in the paint.   When we begin again in there next week, it will be only to finish some of the second coat.  A couple of the ladies helped the staff with cleaning of rooms etc. plus Sharon helped the guys out in the gym doing some trim work there too.

This is a month of celebrations for the team.   On Wednesday evening, we all came together for a pot luck meal.   It was complete with a birthday cake and homemade ice cream.  The caked was to celebrate Sharon and Henry's birthday.   Earlier in the month, we honored the Bolles and Dunmyers in marking anniversaries.   Celebrations are always fun and it is good to mark these special times in our lives.

Christmas is getting close--can we miss the ads everywhere?!   On Thursday evening, we drove to Mobile for a Christmas Spectacular put on by the University of Mobile in a large church.    Even though it was a warm evening and nothing like it is in Indiana around Christmas, it was a good time by all.   These students are real pros with both the music and production.

Friday was a free day for the two of us.   Since the weather was perfect, the timing was right to pay a visit to the Gulf coast.   What a great day with picture perfect weather and scenery.    The Gulf was beautiful as usual.   The villages we drove through had fishing boats in their harbors.   Also, this is a large area for building ships.    It is always good to see new cultures and way people live that is different from home.   This is our third location to work in Alabama and each is distinctly different from the other.

Thanksgiving will be this coming week.   We will begin the week working but will have time off to stop and remember all we have to be thankful for too.

Using All of Our Talents

Even though we are a group of retirees, most of us are still learning many new skills.   Also, many of us had jobs totally unrelated to the work we do with RVICS.    For example this team has a former architect, engineer, store manager, retired military, office workers etc.   With each new skill we learn, we say we are adding to our resume.   Needless to say, we are are still learning from good teachers (other team members).   

Over the years the ladies have become very proficient at painting.   When joining RVICS, many women have never painted a day in their lives but find they are really good.   Painting is going to be central to our work at Whispering Pines Camp.   This week, we painted a dorm room and walls in a new gym/activity center.   Office work was done as well.

The men were found scattered about in different locations working in small groups doing many odd jobs.   Plumbing in a sink, installing walls in the gym/activity center, building a double door for a shed, power wash walks, resolved and repaired electrical problems at a paint ball pavilion,  removed old carpet from a house were some of their accomplishments.   Not too shabby for the first week on the job!!

One evening after work, we gathered for our "official" team picture.  For Don and Sharon, we have worked with every other team member somewhere along the line.   While others, this is the first time they met.   We are a very diverse group from New Hampshire (2), Pennsylvania (2), Florida and Indiana.   When our month here is finished, we will all head out in all directions for our winter work.