Friday night update from Julie Nordby
Sent out on the Bellevue church email list:
JULIE WRITES:
8:00 am Julie puts on a clean pair of black pants
10:00 am Julie sits in WHITE gum!
6:30 pm Julie is finally able to change her pants
We've had a very busy couple of days! The kids are having a great time (grown-ups too)! The weather has been hot and humid. We heard a thunder storm was going to be blowing through today but still haven't seen a single raindrop.
A couple of nights ago Tasha realized she had lost her perscription glasses. Now to put this in perspective, we (along with approx 35,000 other Pathfinders) have to walk about 1-1.5 miles each night to the meeting while carrying our chairs, blankets etc. She realized they were lost during the mass exodus from the meeting area. Having a vague idea of what area to search, we looked by flashlight in vain. There really wasn't much we could do in the dark so we gave it up to the Lord in prayer and walked back to camp. Praise the Lord! Someone actually found them and turned them in to the "Lost and Found".
This morning our club was invited on a special tour backstage by Dan & Alice Crooker's son-in-law. What a fabulous experience. This was definitely a highlight for us all!
Several kids earned the ADRA honor today learing what life is like as a refugee by touring a refugee camp and learning about the food, med supplies, water and other needs that are met by ADRA.
We spent some time touring the big exhibit hangar. Lexie & a friend had a lot of fun learing about our church's boarding school opportunities. Yikes! Highschool is only a couple of years away.
Pin trading has still been very popular. Some have found some creative ways to do this such as Moy offering to carry Lexie's chair to and from the evening meeting for some pin she had that he was interested in. Moy got his pin...Lexie didn't have to carry her chair and all was well with universe.
Yesterday, I was so proud that our kids did a mission project. They helped clean and refurbish a playground in the local area that was slated for improvement. This was an optional part of the camporee and I'm so delighted our kids participated !
While they were on their mission, Nona and I went on a mission of our own. The American Girl Outlet is in Oshkosh...just across from the campground. What fun! Picked up a few gifts to save for Christmas. Stopped by Target along with 100's of other camp attendees to pick up a few forgotten items. The guy at the food counter told me that they did more business in 2 hours than they usually do in 1 whole day. I can understand. Flushable toilets at Target would be a BIG draw! And then we checked-in to the Hotel. Just couldn't take it any more. Just kidding...we planned all along to spend a couple of nights in a hotel. It has actually been a nice place to give some of the other volunteers a break from the heat and an opportunity for them to catch a clean warm shower. After some observation of how hard these volunteers work I think we'll have to build-in some hotel breaks in the future. It's such a relief for Nona and I to have a clean toilet and warm shower without a shower monitor outside yelling at us that our time was up.
Tonight the kids donated the bibles. Each one carried several in to the evening program. Thank you all for helping us with your bible donations.
Please especially keep our club in your prayers for tomorrow. It's a big day for Tasha! She's being baptized! It's a big decision and I'm so proud of this young lady who has decided to show she has the "Courage to Stand"! Also, Jason, Anita and Natalie are being invested (is that what you say?) as Master Guides.
Love and Happy Sabbath to you all! I'm still trying to get a few patches sewn onto Lexie's uniform.
P.S. Yay! Charlie is still pregnant! I keep teasing the kids that if she has the baby on the camporee (and they help) they'll be elligible for the child-birth honor!
We would appreciate continued prayers for our travel day Sunday. May it go smooth and safe. Thank you!
