First Showing

Putting a house on the market with 3 children is quite a task! We placed the For Sale By Owner sign in our yard several weeks ago due to the peer pressure of our home group. It was good to see it up. Chris & I continued to clean out closets, go through boxes in the garage and basement, and have made a huge pile to donate to King's Ranch. Knowing that we must sell our house regardless of when we move to Mentone has motivated us to continue the work. We even packed up Christmas decorations, winter clothes, and other things not needed now and moved them to our future home on Ponderosa's camp property.

We have gotten a few inquiring calls about the house and that is a feat within itself. Finally a call came that someone wanted to see the house. Oh wow, all the packing, sorting, and piling had to cease so the cleaning and straightening could be done. Chris and I worked tirelessly through the afternoon, evening, and on through the next morning. By nonn on Saturday, it smelled wonderful and everything was put away nicely. The realtor showed up with the man and they walked through the house in 12 minutes!!! Wow, all that work for 12 minutes. With 8 houses on their agenda and this was the first time they had been out together, I guess that is typical. Not sure if I can work this much for 12 minutes of walking through, but I guess that is just part of it.

At least the house is clean, King's Ranch will be getting a HUGE donation of various clothes, household items, and such, and our basement is getting cleaned out slowly but surely. There is good in everything and I'm thankful for a nap in a clean home. God's timing is always perfect and it will be in this case too. May the perfect family walk through here and know it is home.

Retreats

Over the last several weeks, we have been able to help out with the teen and elementary retreats.  Each one was a weekend to remember! 

Teens enjoyed gross games, gym games, chapel time, as well as the skyswing and zip line rides over tiki torches in the late evening.  Although the threat of bad weather was all around us, Ponderosa's position in the valley helps everyone stay nice and safe.  The rain came, but the storms spared us from moving into a safe place.  It turned out to be an incredible weekend of worship and reconnection with the One True God! 

Elementary weekend brought many new campers and some wonderful, warm weather to enjoy horseback riding, canoeing, and an interesting kickball game with an obstacle course built in!  Of course, some thought it would be fun to swim in the river.  While it may have been fun, it was definitly COLD!!!  This did not stop the brave souls who wanted to swing from the rope swing and enjoy the warm sunshine.  Chapel time was especially meaningful with a time of commitment and a challenge to share the Gospel with at least one person. 

Each moment we spend there just confirms the calling even more.  This is our mission field.  Those young, precious lives are so impressionable and we are excited about what the future holds!  Thank you Father God for Your calling and Your provisions as we seek to serve You...

Stepping Out of the Boat

It's hard to believe that we are into the middle of March! Spring break is one week away for the school and we are about 11 weeks from school ending...that means summer camp is just around the corner! We spent the month of February as the mission spotlight at Westwood Baptist in Alabaster. Several Sunday evenings were spent talking with home groups and this morning Chris & I talked with all the Adult Bible Study classes. We presented about our journey, discussed the various ministries of Ponderosa, and asked for everyone to prayerfully consider how they can partner with us. It is exciting, encouraging, and exhausting! Excitment about the road ahead, God's timing, and how He will work out all the details. Encouraging to have people pray with us, for us, and to see them get excited about our passion for this ministry. Exhausting as we work full-time jobs, help during weekend retreats, prepare our home to sell, pack in preparation for moving, and long to be at Ponderosa to help prepare for camp! It's a good exhausting, but exhausting none the less. We will continue to send letters, meet with potential partners, and be diligent in asking others to partner with us. We must reach 100% of our support before moving onto the camp property. In all this, we know that God's timing is perfect!

Please pray about your partnership with this ministry and supporting us as we GO...
http://www.ponderosabiblecamp.com/staff/staff.html