Author: rvingwithapurpose

Monday, September 24, 2018

It rained all night and most of the day. There was water everywhere. There was no walking this morning. There was time today that there was water running through the RV sites to the point some sewer connections were under water. A neighbor with a tow dolly had water half way up the tires. It was some pretty impressive rain. Then late after noon it stopped and the sun was shining brightly. Soon everyone was outside walking and visiting.

Our days at annual meeting begin early. We have Bible study at 7:00. NOMAD Louie Lyon, a retired pastor, is leading the study this year. It is a very good study on what Jesus taught about himself. Louie reminded us that what we understand about Jesus is ever changing. Jesus doesn’t change but as we study his Word and grow in our faith our understanding of His teachings changes and deepens. We must remember we are not all at the same place in our understanding. And that’s okay. After Bible study we have about 30 minutes of singing and gathering together. Then we have a devotion/message, with today’s by another NOMAD, Bill Koch, another retired pastor. Bill, who is also on our Board, did his usual great job, teaching us to “Go where the feet need washing.” We as NOMADS always need to constantly remember that we the hands and feet of Jesus. The term servant sometimes is considered a derogatory label and not something to be desired but we are called to be servants, even if it’s to clean dirty feet – or bathrooms.

After devotion, we assisted in preparing for the auction. We worked on receiving the items people were donating. We have a lot of really nice items to sell. All our items are donated by our members or sometimes agencies were we work or just friends of NOMADS. We aren’t sure of the final count yet because a few items will come in tomorrow but it is around 500 items. Most will be sold through the silent auction but we will also have a live auction tomorrow afternoon. It is always a fun time. Other than getting ready for auction, today was a day of tours and fun. There were Graceland tours, civil rights museum tours, Pink Palace tours, and trips to see the Peabody Hotel ducks. We both worked most of the day. We did get our walking in late this afternoon.

Tonight was movie night and we watched “Secondhand Lions”, of course with popcorn and cookies. If you haven’t watched this one you should. Everyone seemed to have a good time.

Tomorrow should be another very busy but fun day.

Sunday, September 23, 2018

It rained off and on during the night and all day today. There was no morning walk due to the rain. But the temperatures are really nice. Low last night of 67, high today of 77. It’s continuing to rain intermittently tonight. Anne didn’t have her 10,000 steps today so she was out walking tonight after our NOMAD memorial service to get her steps.

We started the day with morning announcements and then we had a worship service. Rev Tommy Ward a Methodist pastor from Oxford Mississippi led us in worship and then communion. His message was titled “Walk the Walk”. Very good service when ended with us singing “Let There Be Peace On Earth” and a spontaneous ring of NOMADS holding hands encircling the convention center. It was really cool.

Our meetings began this afternoon with new leader training, experienced leader training and then a reception for all the NOMADS attending their first annual meeting that we attended as board member. Tonight we had a memorial service for the NOMADS we have lost this year. It was a hard year as we lost 24 of our members. After that we worked on setting the building for the Love Auction and then came home ready for some rest. Busy but good day.

Poem used in tonight’s memorial service:

HOLD HIGH THE TORCH!

Hold high the torch!
You did not light its’ glow–
“Twas given you by other hands, you know.
‘Tis yours to keep it burning bright,
Yours to pass on when you no more need light;
For there are other feet we must guide,
And other forms go marching by our side;
Their eyes are watching every smile and tear
And efforts which we think are not worthwhile,
Are sometimes just the very helps they need,
Actions to which their souls would give most heed;
So that in turn they’ll hold it high
And say, “I watched someone else carry it this way.”
If brighter paths should beckon you to choose,
Would your small gain compare with all you’d lose?
Hold high the torch!
You did not light its’ glow–
‘Twas given you by other hands, you know.
I think it started down its’ pathway bright,
The day the Maker said: “Let there be light.”
And He once said, who hung on Calvary’s tree–
“Ye are the light of the world…Go!…Shine-for me.”
-Anonymous

Saturday, September 22, 2018

We had rain overnight and today was a cloudy and much cooler day, with intermittent sprinkles. Yesterday was almost unbearably hot and today it was 69 degrees at 2:00pm. It was 71 when we left for our morning walk and the forecast called for a high of 75 but we never made it above 73. With the dampness everyone was walking around in jackets. Anne went back to FRED to put on a long sleeve shirt. Crazy weather. We were 10 degrees above normal and now we are 10 degrees below.

Max led members in their RV’s to their assigned sites most of the day. Anne was again in meetings most of the day. Not much to say about our day except we were so glad to see some of our good friends arrive. We went to dinner with Mark and Jo and Rita and Dave. They were all on our Baton Rouge team. Mark and Lisa were going to go with us as well but they hadn’t arrived yet. We will catch them another day. We had such a good time catching up and laughing. Such a fun group.

Tomorrow we will have our church service and communion here at the campground. Then after lunch we will have some classes. It will probably be another busy day but not as busy as today. Hope you are having a great weekend and that the cooler weather arrives at your location soon. It is nice.

Friday, September 20, 2018

Today started out hot. It was 77 with 95% humidity at 6:30 when we did our morning walk. Today we walked out from the campground in a different direction and walked through a research area of Shelby Farms. It would be interesting to have a tour of that area but probably they don’t share all those secrets. As we walked on we came to a large stand of bamboo. The signs said it’s panda food, so we googled it and the Memphis Zoo does have pandas. Guess they are feeding them the bamboo we saw. It was a pretty walk out through fields. We saw a large herd of deer at one area. We also went by MidSouth Raptor Center. They serve this area of TN, northern MS, eastern Arkansas to assist in raptor rehabilitation and with education. It was a small place but thay have about 20 cages on their grounds for the large birds. We were too early for the center to be open but it would be nice to see the birds.

Max and Anne were both working this morning. Max was again out in the heat parking RVs. Anne was in the cool inside. It was announced today that Anne was elected to the Board of Directors of NOMADS so she will be busy with the administration of our organization. Today was her first Board meeting. Anne knows it is a huge honor to have been elected by our members but also recognizes the responsibility and is committed to working hard for the members.

Tonight Max found some aerial photography of the area of Lumberton, NC where we worked last year. Sadly we recognized one of the homes we repaired. It was flooded again. So sad. Better news, it appears the RV park where we park did not flood so maybe we can continue our work this fall as planned.

Tomorrow will be another busy day of meetings and parking. There will be many more arriving tomorrow. Tomorrow will be the busiest day for the parking crew. Looking forward to the rest of our members arriving safely.