It’s time once again to leave what we’ve come to call our
second home: French Camp MS. Who would have thought that this small community
located along the Natchez Trace Parkway (part of the national forest) would
steal our hearts in such a big way. Since we began this journey, we have spent
a total of eleven months in French Camp.
Not to be out done, however, by my hometown of Oshkosh WI where we have
spent eleven and a half months during the same period. This includes the weeks
surrounding Christmas when we return to Wisconsin by car and leave our motor
home in Mississippi which means our motor home has actually been in French Camp
more months than it has been in Oshkosh. J
Nobody else may find that fascinating, but if you know me, I like numbers and figuring
is fun for me.
Here I am with mom and her two daughters, Sharon and Joy. |
This
last month in French Camp was a bit different in so many ways. First off, we
returned after the new year with very
heavy hearts to a community mourning the loss of three students; siblings who
perished in a tragic house fire
in Collierville, TN on December 23, 2018. These three precious children (ages 17,
15, & 14) were brought to FC from their home in India by their evangelistic
ministry parents to keep them protected from persecution within their own
country. Each of these kids had a Godly
life purpose that would return them to India as a doctor, a pastor, and a
politician. They have been a huge blessing to French Camp and have had a
profound impact for Christ on students, staff and the entire FC community
including us. We met the family when they were here during our first project at
French Camp. . Right before the church
service that mom and dad were at before returning to India, I ran home and
changed into a traditional Indian outfit that I had bought on one of my mission
trips. They were pretty excited to see an American in an outfit from their
homeland. We became fast friends. (Once again, for those of you who know me well, JOY is my favorite word and I’m also quite fond of the name Sharon for obvious reasons.)
We
cannot comprehend the loss that these dear parents are experiencing and ask
that you would keep them in your prayers. Bill and I were privileged, along with the house parents of each of the
children, the Pastor and his wife, and another member of the church, to travel
to Collierville to meet with these precious parents bringing them the love and
sympathies of everyone at French Camp. (Long story short, the parents were not able
to attend the memorial service for their children being held at French Camp but
would be returning to India to make preparations there.)
Another thing different about this month was that this was
our first VMM project where we are the crew leaders. That means we are the
liaison between the Academy and the other VMM volunteers. It was up to us to find out what the project
was going to be and coordinate with the Academy’s staff person as to how to
proceed, what and where to get supplies and equipment, and what the
expectations might be. We start our time together in a team meeting where
everyone shares a little bit about themselves and then handle a bit of
business. As crew leaders, we prepare, with the help of Academy personnel, an
information sheet with emergency numbers and locations, medical facilities,
area grocery stores, service stations, laundry facilities, incoming and
outgoing mail, and tornado safety location. That last one was a good thing to
investigate ahead of time as we did have a very early morning need. I got to
run around in the storm knocking on RV doors and alerting our fellow volunteers
of a Tornado Warning in our area. Thankfully everyone made it to safety and there
was no tornado touchdown.
One of the jobs of the lady crew leader is to talk to the other ladies about and schedule fellowship events as well as any work projects available. The ladies aren’t required to work but everyone did join in. Some of the ladies worked on sewing projects making items for the French Camp Gift Shop while others updated outdoor Christmas scenes with a fresh coat of paint (after some serious scraping away of the old layers). Even though artistic painting is not one of my strengths, with the help of the other ladies, I do believe we did a fine job. And, it was a lot of fun.
Our fellowship activities included a few restaurant visits
and a pizza and game night (which, of course, included the men folk.) The
ladies also had a tea party one afternoon and a ladies day out (shopping &
lunch) another day. One of my favorites
was an afternoon of Show & Tell. Each of the ladies brought one or more of
their hobbies to share. There were a couple of demonstrations but mostly just
showing finished products.
Our final activity was the always the wonderful and much anticipated volunteer thank you
dinner hosted by an amazing couple and several others from French Camp.We have lots of good food and
fellowship and finish the evening off with a group sing. Lots of hymns and
silly songs. Right up my alley!
So for those of you who have been keeping up with me and my love and fear relationship with horses, I have firmly decided that I really prefer interacting with them from the ground. I’m just too nervous and can’t enjoy their beauty when I’m on their backside, I’m much happier walking them around the arena or just visiting, petting, and admiring them in their stalls. I also really enjoy watching others ride.
One of the special blessings on this project was the newbies to VMM who happened to be quite proficient and knowledgeable in the use of their good sized telescope. Where they store that thing in their 29 foot motor home is a mystery to me. We had one night when we focused on the moon (not the lunar eclipse night, I’ve more to tell on that later) and another night when we looked at star nebulae. Amazingly wonderful! No wonder their hobby card quotes Ps 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God.” Amen and Amen!
I was very grateful to our new stargazing friends for sharing
a detailed timing of the lunar eclipse on January 21st. I knew
exactly what time to be watching. It was cold that night (by Mississippi
standards), in the mid to low 30’s so for the early stages of the eclipse, I
just set a timer and went and checked on it every 10-15 minutes. About twenty
minutes prior to the full eclipse, I took a blanket for under me and one for
over me and laid out on the gravel so I could take it all in (with no crik in
my neck. BTW, Bill was in bed sound asleep.) The color was especially pleasing
to me; a coppery bronze. The fact that it actually looked like a ball and not a
disk was also pretty incredible to see. Absolutely beautiful! God’s wonders to
perform!!!
We left French Camp Monday morning and had a beautiful sun
shiny day all the way to Gulfport MS to visit Bill’s old high school buddy one
more time before leaving the state. We parked our motor home at a nearby
Camping World which I was a little hesitant to do at first. Generally we park
overnight in a 24 hour Wal-Mart lot where there is a bit more activity or a 24
hour secure rest area. I was happy that Bill pointed out the fire station next
to the Camping World. Not sure why, but that calmed my nerves. I really hate
the fact that I still get nervous. The Lord has been so very faithful. It’s been almost three years, yep three that
we’ve been on the road. I’m not near as fretful as I was when we started, but
as I just pointed out, I still get a bit nervous on occasion. Pray for me,
please and thank you!
Our next stop was near Jennings FL. This trip was weather dreary
and very windy but Bill did a great job keeping the rig moving safely along
I-10. There was a very long stretch of the Interstate that we observed massive
amounts of downed trees first all lying in one direction and then in the
opposite one; obviously, the result of Hurricane Michael. Can’t imagine what it
looks like closer to the coast. We safely pulled in to our friend’s (very
large) yard just in time for some of their delicious homemade vegetable soup.
We stayed two nights and then set out for our last leg to the Ocala National
Forest where we will be Forest Service Volunteers for February and March and
have opportunity to spend time with our granddaughter and son. Life continues
to be good, very good. We are so grateful to God for this time of our life and
the health to do what we do.
Be blessed and be a blessing!
LOVED, LOVED, LOVED reading about your experiences at French Camp and your travels to your new work site! So very grateful for your time among us - your love as well as your service in the various projects!! I’m esp thankful for the work the ladies did on our Christmas scenes - they were in GREAT need of some repair and touching up!! As they were the vision of a VERY dear lady in our community, Nita Curtis - who has since passed on - and the hard work of a VERY dear man Roy Purvis - helped by lots of other special folks, we probably couldn’t have put them up again without the work you ladies did! THANK YOU!!! Looking forward to your return to FC! ����
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