Latest personal mishap

Thanks to an overworked guardian angel and parents that pray for my safety daily, I have been very fortunate to not have many serious mishaps.  But, they do occasionally still happen.   On this occasion, it happened very quickly while installing a new roof vent above the camp kitchen.  I was positioning the vent and all of a sudden the sheet metal cover for the vent sliced my hand like a knife.  I watched my blood actually gush out in a stream that was probably over 2 feet long (like in the movies)...and I knew it was time to get off the roof.   Rene' drove me into Jackson's Med Plus After Hours Clinic.  The slice was only about 1 and a half inches long, but it was deep, and after the Doctor cleaned it and numbed it (and also proceeded to spill an entire bottle of Betadine all over the floor too), I was able to watch my own tendon healthily sliding back and forth with no damage...for which I was extremely grateful...and also very entertained by. (it is not every day you get to watch your own tendon working as it makes your finger move back and forth...really rather amazing)  Nevertheless, the doctor got my hand put back together with 5 staples...and it has not given me any pain at all.   I can indeed praise the Lord, and have much to be thankful for!

Father's Day

Father's Day was a great time of being with family and relaxing.  With our first day of summer camps coming up on Monday, I made the most of this Sunday...especially after being up til 3:00 AM Saturday morning (Friday night), dealing with the storm power outage and hooking up generators.  I was also blessed by being able to hear 3 of the guys from our Men's Fraternity group share in the JFM Sunday services...and attributing Men's Fraternity as being a major contributor to their personal growth of becoming a better  father, husband or son!  That made my day...well, that and the Father's Day cards I got....

Storm Damage at SBC

This storm took us by surprise...80 mph winds, hail, and heavy rain.    Fortunately, thank the Lord, all the damage was only to "stuff" that was insured, and nobody was hurt...although, two of our SBC staff were sitting in a vehicle outside of their staff trailer and actually watched the large limb fall onto their trailer...only a few feet in front of them.  The storm happened Friday evening, June 18, and by mid day Saturday, almost all of the storm damage was cleaned up by staff and volunteers.   Lots of people pitched in and helped us clean up...it was awesome!   The mobile home in the picture, that we have called "The Palace"...although only being used for storage for the past couple of years, was the most extensive damage.  A large tree top fell on it and basically split the trailer in half.  We now have to figure out a way to scrap it out.
Another real "God Thing" was the fact that Dave had only 2 days before this storm, gone out and purchased a new generator that was big enough to provide enough power for the A-Frame and Trading Post electrical, which had refrigerators and freezers that were very full.  We would have had a very hard time keeping all of this food in good shape, without this new generator. 

My kids thought this storm was reason enough to have many of the staff over for a slumber party...so it was basically fun for them!  Just like snow days in the winter... fun for the kids... work for the dads.

Family Time

Emily came home from her first year down at Greenville College.  My parents graciously chose to bring her back to Michigan from Illinois, along with all of her stuff.  It also worked out great for celebrating birthday's for our May Birthday Boys, Dad (Robert Earl) and Caleb.  And, as an added bonus, Mom and Dad were able to see Caleb and Zack perform in their Band & Choir Concert.  All in all, another great weekend with FAMILY...and a big thanks to Mom and Dad for making the trip up here.  (Here we are on the back porch after  Sunday dinner meal)

Too Busy to Blog

It's THAT time of year...when life get's "more than a little busy"....

Over the past years, it has been busy this time of year, but now add the recent visits to a Chiropractor 3 times a week and having boys in both Middle School and High School Track with usually 3 or 4 meets a week.  There has also been a weekend Jr. High "BELIEVE Conference in Holland, MI one weekend...which was awesome, and the next weekend, a trip down to Greenville for the Agape Music Festival and a GC campus visit for 4 of our Michigan group and 4 of my sister's group from Tennessee.  Add to the above, the usual spring activity of trying to get the camp ready for the camping season and the grass that seems to actually grow before your very eyes.  By the time we get done mowing everything...it is just about time to start again.   For me, spring is "more than a little busy".  Here are a few pictures to represent the past month or so...

Top Picture - Caleb pole vaulting - His personal best for the year so far is 10' 6". He is getting points for the team by consistantly taking second place, next to his friend and mentor, Casey Gauss, who has also been fun to watch, as we await Casey's breaking of the school pole vault record of 13 foot.

(this link will bring you up to date on Casey and the school record)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA05enEPFZM

Second Picture - Zachary's Long Jump - He got his personal best of 16' 5-1/2" on the last meet of the season.  He has become quite a student of the long jump and hurdles by video taping and watching himself and others in these events, so we antincipate he will be having more success and fun in the future with these endeavors. 

Third Picture - Agape Music Festival in Greenville, IL - This has also become an annual event, where we fill our van and head south.  This year was extra special, with Emily already down there at Greenville College, so my niece, Grace, and her friend Caitlyn were able to stay in the dorm with Emily.  Combine that experience with a campus tour, and I think Grace and Caitlyn were able to get a good college experience.  Both Caleb and Zack took friends with them, Specer Hofer and Aaron Cryderman.  My sister Cyndi, and my niece, Kayce, and her three friends, Shelby, Savanah and Tori, all came up from Whitehouse, TN, which really added to the fun of the weekend. 

Bottom Picture - Our Jr. High group from JFM that went to Holland, MI to the BELIEVE Conference.  This is an awesome event put on just for Jr. Highers.  They do a great job of combining music, art and the spoken word to create an unforgetable worship and ministry opportunity for all of us, youth and adult leaders too.  If you are not familiar with the BELIEVE conferences, and you work with Jr. Highers, you should check out this link and see if there is an upcoming event in your area.  http://www.ciy.com/believe/

Spring Break 2010 - Sarasota, FL

Time flies when you're having fun...or just hanging out...or when you're not doing the usual day-to-day stuff. Seems like spring break just started, and I'm already back home and reflecting on the week down south. Of course, it was greatly improved by having Emily able to join us again, since we thought her college schedule was not going to allow her to be with us this year. As it worked out, she had an Easter break that turned into a 4 day weekend, and then took an additional day besides, so she was able to be with us almost half of our time in Florida. It was GREAT!
Sun-n-Fun Resort was where we stayed, but I really think we could stay any number of places and still have a great time. Although, we do enjoy a place that we have been able to get aquainted with and also know the general area of Florida too, so we have some regular places we frequent, like the beach (Siesta Key this year, with amazingly white sand), and Kilwins Ice Cream, and eating out at several of our favorite restaurants...but mostly just hanging out with family and friends. Bill and Joan Hofer and their gang (Jordan, Emma & Spencer) are a given. We have been spring breaking together for...???...quite a few years (maybe 8 or 10). This year we were able to also meet up with Scott and Sheri Harvey, Casey and Cody when they made a trip over to Sarasota from Davenport, FL where they were staying. We all went to Siesta Key beach together one day, then came back and watched the final game of March Madness. Lenn and Karen , Grace, Nathan and Laura were vacationing in Apollo Beach this year in a very nice rental home. We (Smiths & Hofers) went up to see them one night and had dinner with them and played games. Highlights of this Spring Break: Emily being there, Awesome weather the entire week, March Madness games, Puppies at PetLand and watching Zack enjoy them, Siesta Key beach, The Hippo Slide at Sun-n-fun pool, Roller Coasters at Busch Gardens and an impromptu african-american band at Busch Gardens that topped off the week!

Daddy-Daughter Time (catching up)

This was a real God-Thing. We had been working on how to get Emily home for Vandercook Lake Winterfest, where she was supposed to hand over her crown and crown the new 2010 Winterfest Queen. We had talked about several different options, but on the day before we were supposed to get her home, Emily texted me and just outright ask me to come down and get her. This ended up being an all around great decision. I drove down, had Mario's pizza with Emily, Mom and Dad; ended up helping Mom and Dad with water in their basement and fresh snow on their drive; had breakfast w/ my good friend Greg Groves; and then had several hours of quality time with my daughter on the way back home. It was GREAT!
The weekend was even better when Emily was able to crown one of her best friends, Kelsey Myers, as the new queen.