FUMC PSJ Youth Ministry

What a day! It started off cold and rainy. Then, it got cold and misty. Then… cold and rainy again! Really, everyone here is talking about how surprising it is to everyone that it is so cold and wet! But again… God has it all worked out. There are plenty of coats and boots to be borrowed!
Tuesday is class day for the residents, so we were off to work by ourselves. Jobie and her crew did weeding in the orchard in the morning. While a lot of weeds were pulled, so were a lot of earthworms. Certainly weeding could have been done quicker, but these little worms are quite fascinating… well, except to Karrson, which of course gave Lindsey and Morgan plenty to tease about! Once we finished weeding, we were off to do some… well, shoveling …. You know… cow manure! It was a bit smelly, but probably our most humorous time of the day! We came to realize we are NOT experts with pitchforks and four people tossing their load into the truck probably wasn’t smart! And… poor Karrson learned the hard way (multiple times!) that it is slippery in that area. She needed the shower the worst!
Linda and her crew of Hailey, Madison and Kaitlyn worked on raking a huge area of soil which involved removing many stumps. It was a large project that took all day. They did declare it fun! Lindsay and Mikayla both worked in the kitchen today. Mikayla loved that she got to decorate the cupcakes for the two birthdays celebrated today.
The boys were split up once again… Alex and Nic made soil, but don’t tell them that! They like the official word of they made “loom”. I imagine they will still be working on that tomorrow as they still have to add the manure to make it just the right kind of… loom! Mark and the other boys worked on that road that needed clearing… more boulder and seriously heavy lifting. Please see the pictures to see their efforts. Dave continued in the auto shop, but today had to run out for a part. He is a great mechanic, but apparently not so good on directions as his trip took him much longer than needed! Mike… well, as the kids will all tell you… he had the cushy job today! He spent his entire day working with Bill in the office of His Mansion working on computer issues. He was the only dry and clean one of the bunch. Proud to say… no injuries today!
The unique experience of the day was today was the first Prayer and Share of the week. This is a special time where everyone on the hill comes together for about 45 minutes right before lunch to sing, share scripture and something that may be on their heart! One man that really touched all of us was a young man who has been here for 9 months. His mother was to come on last Saturday for the whole day, but chose to only stay 15 minutes. While very hurt by that, he did some reflecting that it has always been her that he relied on in his life as his father was abusive. After some soul searching and prayer though, he realized that God is His father. He needs to rely on no one but Him to get through! While he may not have an earthly father to share Father’s Day with this coming Sunday, He has his heavenly father and that will make his life complete.
Tonight’s devotion was led by Ben and was based on the story of the Good Samaritan. Immediately afterwards, we headed to the home of Stan and Joan Farmer for root beer floats that they waited one year to give us! (we were supposed to have them the night that Billy was in the hospital!) There home is beautiful and their hospitality fantastic. They really made the kids feel at home, ensuring that they talked to each child about being the youngest, the oldest and the middle child! Was fun to hear their stories!
After a quick check on the baby pigs (and we are happy to report all 12 seem to be doing well), we headed to our rooms. Tomorrow will come early and while we are certainly sleeping well because we are exhausted, we wouldn’t change a thing! God is so good!

Monday means work and that’s exactly what we did! We started the morning early in the girls’ cabin because several of these girls really like starting out with an early morning walk up the hill for some reflection time. That allowed us to sing (albeit a little off key) happy birthday to Kaitlyn for her 18th birthday! The morning started off cool and damp… no rain, just wet cold! However, by the end of breakfast, it was warming up quite nicely. Our work assignments came after breakfast.
Linda led a crew of four girls up a very steep hill to begin work on pruning some trees, apparently for a trail they are going to clear. While the girls said it wasn’t a bad job, it was exhausting, especially since they had to walk that hill twice! A slight injury happened on this job… Linda’s finger, while doing okay now, suffered a hit to a log, which caused quite a bit of pain. Thanks to fast running girls and Josh, ice arrived soon.
Jobie led a crew of three girls to the garden, where planting of corn and sweet potatoes happened and lots of scufflehoeing. Seriously lots of scufflehoeing! Three of us didn’t have mud boots so we borrowed some from the clothing closet. Of course, they didn’t have our sizes so we looked pretty silly clomping around in clown sized shoes! Then two of them were steel toed boots so I am pretty sure that added about 15 pounds to each boot. Our legs were tired!
Nic and Alex worked in landscaping today, doing a variety of projects. The rest of the boys (well, except Dave who is in the repair shop) worked in the woodpile area. They worked so quickly and so efficiently stacking wood, that they went to a second job in the afternoon. This job was work on building a new road, which consisted of moving lots of dirt and lots of boulders! There was only one injury on the boys side and of course, it happened to be with Billy! He’s fine, but he did get a small cut on his forehead with a piece of wood. I promise, Leta, he really is fine (you know how hard his head is!!)
At lunch, Kaitlyn was treated to another birthday celebration with all those on the hill. They blessed her with another singing of happy birthday, their traditional chant thanking God for her, and a delicious cupcake! It may not have been how she envisioned her 18th birthday, but I think she enjoyed it nonetheless!
After dinner, we were blessed by a great devotion led by Lindsay. The topic “Where is God?” was powerful. Bob and Ada shared their testimony about how God has always been there for them, even in the toughest of times. The question of whether our kids had tough times where they realized that God was there, brought some heavy reflection, which brough some heavy tears. While we all hate seeing our kids cry, it was so heartwarming to watch the other kids comfort and help each other. These kids know that God is always there for them, as well as know that their youth group is always there for them. It was great.
Today has been a good day. We are all tired, but it’s the kind of tired that only comes with knowing you have done what God has asked of you. We’ll sleep well and look forward to what He has in store for us tomorrow.

While the rain did not go away today (although it isn’t raining at this instant!), we have just chosen to take it as it comes and enjoy our time here at His Mansion. After a great night’s sleep (and three girls got up early for their walk up the hill), we were treated to a great breakfast in Griggs Hall. Sunday worship on the Hill is such a special time and today was no different. It’s so fantastic to be with such a strong group of believers and listen to His word! While the service is quite different here on the hill (imagine taking ten minutes of total silence to reflect and listen to God speak to you… with teenagers, no less!), the kids really seemed to enjoy it. I loved Hailey and Madison’s reaction to Kyri playing a violin solo through the microphone. Kyri is looking forward to getting together with them later this week and maybe playing a bit. Nic and Matt were quite enthralled with the new electric drum set and hope to play it later this week. The music was fantastic, and of course we have a couple new songs we want to do when we return. The message, delivered by Stan Farmer (the one who began His Mansion), was all about living a happy and prosperous life… straight out of Psalm 1. While much longer than our kids are used to, they were quite intent on listening. They liked it so much that a couple of them asked if we could box Stan up and bring him home with us!
Once worship was done, we shared a delicous Sunday lunch with the residents and staff of His Mansion. The rest of the day was free time and as it is much colder than last year, everyone decided that returning to swim in the resevoir wasn’t such a great idea!
So… we did what every woman loves to do… we shopped. We did take the boys’ suggestion of returning to Kittery, Maine. It was quite worth the hour plus drive to shop at the Kittery Trading Post. Sure did miss Mr. Ron, though!
After stopping for a pizza dinner at Pappy’s Pizza, picking up a few things at Wal Mart, filling up the vans with gas, and getting Dunkin’ Donuts coffee (in Ron’s honor!), we headed home to the hill.
It’s been a great day, but we are all tired. Tomorrow starts our work week. Parents, you would be so proud… these kids are all looking forward to getting started working! The girls will be split up between the kitchen, the garden and a pruning project. We don’t know exactly what the boys will be doing, but we are thinking it will have something to do with Bob in the wood area!
It’s been so great to experience His Mansion with our friends from back home… Bob and Ada Lanoue, Jean and Roy Fredbloom and Bud and Marty Peck. Quite cool to be sharing this time!
Thank you all so much for your prayers. Keep it up! Still for ending rain and warming temperatures… prayers for me and this silly computer program that has lost this blog more than once wouldn’t hurt either!

Here we go again! We are all through security, the kids have scattered to gather breakfast and many are off to Starbucks! The only security issue (which is not really an issue!!) is Bob and Ada being the only ones targeted to be scanned and patted down! We all thought that quite funny that the sweetest couple ever were the ones the airport thought needed to be doubly checked.
Please continue to pray. This week will be exactly what each of us need for our own personal reasons. God will do mighty things, of that we have no doubt! We are so extremely blessed to be able to go and do God’s work in such a special place.
Thanks again for those who came to pray for us. It was so wonderful of each of you. See you in a week…