RVing With a Purpose

Thursday, October 8, 2020

It’s been another busy, beautiful week at Camp. The leaves are beginning to turn but have a ways to go before we have full color. The temperatures are definitely fall-like. We have had the fireplace on a few mornings to take the chill off Fred. We are expecting some rain and possible storms this weekend as Delta passes by but it now looks like we will miss the worst. We will be prepared for what ever comes.

So what have we accomplished this week. The camp looks like a different place. There was an amazing amount of grass cut, low limbs removed from trees, string trimmer work, and debris removal. We lost count on the number of truck loads of debris taken to the dump. All five retreat centers now look great. We also cleaned and cut around the log cabin and made it part way down the lake trail. All the grass along the road sides, soccer field, and around the tennis courts was cut and trimmed. Both fire pit swing circles where also cleaned out and now look so nice. Wish we had gotten before pics on all this work but really would hate for people to see just how bad things looked. We also took the team on a tour of the entire camp. We opened the lodge, Hutto auditorium, McKinney, the log cabin and the retreat centers for everyone to see. They had already worked at Pool Camp and up to the top of the mountain to the Chapel and Cross. Today Max and Phil worked in the play ground beside our campground. There was a damaged slide that really could have hurt a child and it is now safe again. We know it is safe because Phil tried it out for us – and not just once. He wanted to be sure it was safe. It was a busy week. A good week at camp! Even though we haven’t had the usual construction projects to complete this time, we have certainly completed tasks that the camp really needed someone to tackle. Not glamorous work but much needed work. Great work team! Hope everyone has a great and safe weekend.

October 5, 2020

We have been having picture perfect fall weather here in North Alabama. Saturday was a relaxing day with some work, some play. We cooked our meals for the week. Anne enjoyed watching the Alabama ball game and we got some good exercise. Sunday was of course worship at Lester Memorial and a quick trip home to pick up the mail and enjoy a beautiful fall afternoon. Today it was back to work. First Mary Ann led us in a devotion titled “The Green Lifesaver” and of course gave us all a Lifesaver. We didn’t all get red ones but we will think of her devotion every time we see Lifesavers.

It was a very physical day. We worked with Mary and Phil on the Retreat Center today. We moved furniture outside to get some sunshine. They are having a little mildew problem so we will be cleaning some furniture and it began with some sun. We also cleaned the gutters and trimmed the bushes. We are very tired tonight. Others worked on landscaping and used the weed trimmer by the lake. Some moved the tables and chairs and garbage from the Chapel back to the lodge and cut grass. It was a great day to be working outside. Hope you had a good start to your week!

Friday, October 2, 2020

After a morning of chores and NOMADS business, we drove over to the Greasy Cove General Store, which is just a few miles from the camp, to get a couple of bacon cheeseburgers from The Greasy Spoon Cafe inside the store. We saw the store featured on Absolutely Alabama a few weeks ago. One of our team members described it as a “mini-Cracker Barrel.” The store part is very quaint and they have a good selection of produce outside.

After lunch we hiked the mountain trail up to the chapel with Phil and Mary. It was a fun hike and just as strenuous as we remembered. We were glad to see that the wedding party had cleaned up after themselves.

It was a really good day!

October 1, 2020

It was another beautiful fall day in north Alabama and the end of our first week at Camp Sumatanga. We have such a great, fun team to work with this year. We are getting to know our new friends Phil and Mary from Pennsylvania and Karla from Birmingham. We are really enjoying working with them. Welcome to NOMADS!

Sharon brought our devotion today using Isaiah 55:9 as the scripture. She reminded us that God’s ways are not our ways. God has a plan and has it all figured out. We need to trust him and remember He is in control. Thanks, Sharon. We all need that reminder from time to time.

Today the team completed the painting of the cabin, took the tables and chairs to the Chapel for tomorrow’s wedding and completed the cleanup of the landscaping in the day use area. The place now looks like we remember it. Now if we can all just not breakout with poison ivy from pulling all the weeds.