There are two thoughts which often run through my mind: (1) There is a lifelong list of things to do around here, and (2) I hope I'm around long enough to put a dent in that list!
In May our family moved into half of the duplex located on the property. What a blessing to have a place which so naturally suits our family; with a home school room, wood fireplace, open living plan and of course my shop just a hundred yards away.
And what does every maintenance man need? Why a minitruck of course! Thanks to the generosity of a donor I was able to cruise around camp all summer both effectively and in style.
And what would a maintenance man be without, you guessed it, a dog! Tucker was given to us by a generous retired couple with strong connections to camp, and their desire for him to have both attention and room to run has been met in spades. He's my pup, and I think he's happy to be so.
Now in its second year, Auxano is in full swing as a discipleship program running Sep-Apr; kind of like a first year bible college program (http://www.imadene.com/auxano). The eight students (and two RA's) help tremendously with keeping the facilities clean and organized! Because of their help, I'm better able to pick away at the steadily growing maintenance list or even work on a few small projects. I love me those Auxano students! I also have the humbling opportunity to mentor one of the guys in the crowd! Here's a pic of this years students and a few from last year mixed in as well (picture by/from http://jonmarkphoto.com/ ).
Although this year has passed, the memories created have re-introduced me to both intentional ministry and Island life. The shoulders tend to hang a little lower this side of the Straight of Georgia (ie. less stress) even though our actual day-to-day life/week seems to be much busier than before. We've met a great deal of new people and have made some new friends along the way.
Here's to this next year and maybe you will want to come visit us on this new adventure!
