Pictures from the move

John almost lost this mattress in the wind

Jess :)

Dan Murphy, the first domino to fall in our Redcloud shuffle

Movies kept the kids busy

Guilt

I feel as though my stuff is doomed. That anything I leave here is being left to its death. A really weird feeling to abandon it all here!

Last Night

I would love to share all that has been going on with us the last few days, but honestly, I don't have the time. However, I did want to give you a quick update. We did not know it, but we spent our last night in our home last night. The board said they don't want anyone to spend another night in their trailers. So we are staying at the Family Ministries Lodge tonight and everynight until we move into our new home. Which for us, should be only a few more days! YAY! We are excited but we just found out this evening and it has been a VERY long day for us. So we are about to grab our jammies, head over to the lodge and crash. I will update you more very soon! Please be praying for sufficient rest and strength for us as we are about to start a very crazy week.

Saying goodbye to a season

As long as we have been serving Camp Redcloud, John and Pat Sloan have served as our CEO/President. But to me, they have been more like our serogate parents/mentors/disciplers/family/serogate grandparents to Ethan/supporters/dear, precious friends. We love them so much, but their season at Redcloud is coming to an end. They will continue to stay involved and help in the summers; however, a couple of weeks ago, we spent 4 long days packing up their house to make room for another family. This has allowed the Burgesses to move out of their trailer (see previous post). It was a huge sacrifice on the Sloans part, but a very needed one. Camp now has a new CEO/President whom we are growing to know and love. The Jacksons are an answer to our prayers and, well, a new season, that God has placed before us. I am just having a hard time saying goodbye to the "Sloan Season." Why can't I have two seasons at once? The problem with calling it a season is seasons always come back around, usually every year. John and Pat will never fill their previous position as CEO at Camp, but I do hope they never stop filling the position they were to me and that I get to see that season every year! It has been such a sweet season with its storms and its sunny days. Thank you John and Pat!

Pat and I on Moving day (we labeled her shirt with a Hershey's Hugs paper that says, "hug me, hug me, hug me.... ")

The Main Issue, ...this year

You may recall the water main leak from last year. It took us weeks, if not a month or two, to find it. This winter, we started having the same issues again, much to John's dismay. He had just passed his "Small water system operators" class and was now the go-to guy for the water system. They looked close to the spot that broke last year, where they found and fixed the new leak in a couple of days! Praise God! He has been so good to us. Thank you for always praying for us and for the Camp.

The Rug!

We finally got the bear rug back! Until we move, he will remain in John's office. You will notice that it is folded in half to fit on the wall. This is because he measured 7' 6" square!

Exciting stuff!!!

The first family has moved out of their trailer! PRAISE GOD!! On Monday of this week, the demolition of their home started, which was a big spectacle around camp. Seeing this trailer come down was amazing. Amazing to see God providing for the families here, amazing to see the dream of so many, finally coming to fruition! As an added praise to this week, $300,000.00 has been raised to finish the housing and get the rest of the families out of their trailers. Our family is scheduled to be moving in the next few weeks. We are a little behind schedule but we continue to pray for our safety. I am glad I don't know everything that was in the inspection report of our trailer because I like to sleep at night, and I am learning to trust God to protect us another night... And every night after, while we remain in this trailer. He has protected us for 5 years now and many other families for 20 years before us!

John and the Boys celebrating the destruction of the trailer!

The "footprint" of the trailer