The longest week ever!

This week was so long and busy!



Monday-
The first part of our day Monday was spent driving an hour and a half to Hartland Christian Camp. Hartland is a small camp near Hume Lake that we have partnered with to help them grow. Our task for the week consisted of removing all small trees and shrubbery that could fuel a fire for the first mile of the road entering Hartland. When we arrived, we were greeted with abounding gratitude and warm hospitality. After lunch we wasted no time in getting to work; right away I was assigned a chainsaw, Rich must have told them how much I loved chainsaw work. Total there were 4 chainsaws, 2 buzz saw brush cutters, 2 pole saws, 6 loppers, 5 wood chippers, and 56 able bodied students with great attitudes ready to get the job done. After dinner we had an intro video from Bob, the director of Hartland, and an insight to the plan he has for us when we come back to work with the camp in May. The evening discussion was followed up by volleyball, basketball, and Rich’s Human Slingshot. GET SLUNG!




Tuesday-
Tuesday was another fun filled day of working our tails off. We had few complaints and few injuries. However lumberjacking does not go without perils; our friend Tucker Was hit in the face with a log and received some pretty good cuts, but was fixed up and right back to work in no time. Tuesday evening we were reminded that we were serving so that we can learn discipline, work ethic and teamwork while bringing God glory.

Wednesday-
Wednesday morning I woke up and was feeling a little under the weather, but I didn't let that stop me from grapping my saw and getting to work! I worked all day with Calen, heading the group through the forest and cutting trees while Calen would pull them out of the way. I am so glad that Grandpa taught me how to use a chainsaw, I am very grateful for everything I have learned from him. Yet, I am never done learning, I learned new ways to fall trees and to sharpen and detail the chainsaw from an old lumberjack named Jeff whole was helping Hartland with tree projects while we were there. After lunch we finished clearing the rest of the forest. Looking back I saw the work we did; on both sides of the road were stacked tree limbs and logs six feet high for one mile. It took us the rest of the day to finish chipping all the remnants, but we ended up clearing quarter million square feet of brush and debris. At the end of the day I had no energy left to play games in the gym, so I headed to bed at eight o’clock.

Thursday-
I am definitely sick. I woke up half of the night coughing up phlegm, and could hardly sleep. Luckily we only had cleaning to do to turn the camp back over to the Hartland crew. Over the week I realized how supportive the staff are of each other, and how they don't hesitate to help one another out; this is one trait that I would like to help implement wherever I work. I was also proud of myself for keeping in any complains of tiredness or of being sick, because if I start complaining, it gives others liberty to do the same. So I took it with a grain of salt and kept up the good morale in the group. Finally after a long hard week of work we headed home. After finishing washing the vans I took the long awaited sleep I needed in my nice comfy bed, only waking up for dinner, then going back to sleep to get rid of my sickness.

Friday-
I think this is the longest day I have ever had…at least at Joshua. We had 5 a.m’s this morning because we did not keep the building clean the previous weekend. During 5 a.m’s everyone has to do their chore for the day for 2 HOURS! Luckily I was assigned the kitchen with about 8 other people and there was plenty to do, so the time went by relatively quickly. I just feel sorry for the people cleaning the corners of chairs with cutips because they couldn't find anything else to do. I applied everything I had learned at Hartland, about not complaining and keeping a positive attitude, and it made group morale better and the time move faster. I ended up taking a nap between our classes and heading off to work, probably the most well spent 30 minutes ever. I was assigned High Adventure again this week for the men’s conference! I definitely think that would be a good place to work over the summer. With such a bus weekend ahead of us, Jordan decided to run 2 High Adventure sessions, a paintball session and a zip line session. I was able to run one of the paintball sessions and one of the High Adventure sessions. At dinner I got to talk with Jordan again; he is a really great guy with a great attitude toward life. He sees the opportunity in everything and loves living life to its fullest extent; he would be a really great guy to work for and learn from. After dinner we went to listen to the speaker speak about being salt and light to our communities, showing them the light of Christ and causing them to be thirsty to know more. Following the speaker was an illusionist that blew my mind; he did so many tricks that seemed impossible, yet he always related it back to God.

Saturday-
Saturday was another fun filled day; full of paintball, High Adventure, zip lines and cleaning up the paintball field with stumpers and chainsaws. In my High Adventure session I was leading a guy across the balance beam, 30 feet in the air, when I decided to demonstrate how strong my tethers were. I sat back in my harness and heard a loud snap then fell onto the balance beam; I looked up to see my prussic cord hanging loose, luckily my security tethers were still attached. It turns out that my prussic, the cord that shortens the rope, was outside the carabineer and only attached by the small plastic rope stabilizer piece. Needless to say, I was freaked out, but I played it off well and Tim, the guy I was leading across, hardly knew something went wrong. The rest of the session went without a hitch, and we were able to finish the rest of the day smoothly.

Sunday-
Sunday morning I walked down to breakfast early and was fortunate enough to have some devotional time. This good start to the day made everything run smoothly, even though I was still a little sick. We had no sessions today, so Calen and I were assigned to clean out the stumps from the paintball field using the giant stump grinder and a chainsaw. This kept us entertained throughout the day and we hardly realized when it was time to go to dinner.

Well I am back at the building now ready to catch upon some sleep. We have a huge essay due this week, and our Phillipians test...so please pray for that!

Blessings to everyone!
-Eric