BLESSINGS

Several times in the four years that we’ve been volunteering around the country on MMAP projects, we’ve had people thank us for being a blessing to their camp or church or wherever we may be doing a project. Others not connected with these organizations have even made that same remark. However, I think I can speak for all MMAPers in saying that what we do is much more of a blessing to us than any blessings we may bring to a project.

To witness for ourselves the impact these camps, churches, schools and orphanages have on lives of others, to meet the dedicated staff and other volunteers that give their time and talents to such worthwhile endeavors, to experience the joy and happiness we see in the eyes of some of the campers at various locations and to hear the stories of lives changed because of the experiences participants have had is beyond “blessing” to us. In the words of the old hymn, Great Is They Faithfulness - “Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!”

I ended our blog update last month by saying, “We are looking forward to getting together with many old friends, meeting new friends and having lots of new adventures this summer.”

As our first MMAP project at Warm Beach Christian Camp and Conference Center near Stanwood, Washington comes to a close, we’ve been blessed to meet three great MMAP couples we had not worked with before, we’ve had some great adventures at the camp and around the area, and we also had the opportunity to visit some old friends nearby.  So it looks like we’re three-for-three.

OLD FRIENDS – There’s a verse in a Ricky Nelson song that says, “To reminisce with my old friends, a chance to share some memories, and play our songs again.”  

  

     OK…so we didn’t play any old songs, but we did have the chance to reminisce and share memories with our friends, Steve and Marilyn at their beautiful home in Bellingham (about one hour north of Stanwood). Steve and Jim worked together in the security department of the Emerald Queen Casino in Puyallup, WA several years ago, and besides occasional casual dinners at their home or ours, we had also taken a long weekend trip with Steve and Marilyn to the small town of Stehikin, Washington on Lake Chelan. However, after Steve left the EQC and joined the Border Patrol, he was stationed near the Canadian Border.  We had (as many times happens with dear friends) not seen them for several years, although we had maintained sporadic contact through e-mails and Facebook. Even though we hadn’t been together in at least five years (maybe longer) we took up the conversations as though the last visit was just yesterday.

  
Marilyn recently retired from Boeing and is now living full time at their home in Bellingham. They had maintained two homes for the past ten years - one close to Boeing in Renton where she worked and the one in Bellingham near Steve’s job. All I can say is WOW! Not only did they “maintain” the homes – Marilyn, the Master Gardner (or “officially” will be after she finishes a few more Washington Master Gardner classes) has landscaped this home (as she did in Renton) with many breath-taking plants. Her work rivals many of the large public gardens we have seen in our travels throughout the country. (Of course Steve has been her manual labor helper….good job Steve!) I think the beauty in their yard comes real close to Buchart Gardens!  

This is just one example. It is called Etoile Violette (viticella group) that she planted at 

both of their homes. Many of the plants from Renton she transplanted to Bellingham. 

It’s been quite an undertaking! I’m sure she’s forgotten the names of more plants 

than I will ever remember in my lifetime.

          We’re looking forward to the blessing of seeing them again……the plants  

          AND Steve and Marilyn!

         “Many people will walk in and out of your life but only true friends will leave 

         footprints in your heart.” Eleanor Roosevelt

               NEW FRIENDS – In the four years of traveling with MMAP, we have been blessed 
       with many new and dear friends. This project was no exception.

       The procedure to get assigned to a MMAP project location is to request three choices 
       from a list of available projects published in the monthly MMAP newsletter. These 
       locations are ones that will be available four months after the newsletter’s publication 
       date. (i.e. In May we put in our three requests for the August projects. In June we will 
       know where we will be assigned.)

      The newsletter describes the work requested by each organization that they hope to 
      have MMAPers complete. However, each organization’s requests are submitted to 
      MMAP Headquarters 18-24 months prior to the date of the project, and by the time 
      MMAPers arrive at the project, the list of needs may have dramatically changed due 
      to many factors (a change in the financial capabilities of the organization to acquire 
      the proper materials, the inability to obtain needed building permits, a change in priority 
     of needed repairs or maintenance, etc.). So when we request a particular project 
     because we see they list a certain job we think we may be able to do, there is little 
     guarantee the things listed will be  the jobs we will actually be doing…..sort of like 
     the rest of life…..always changing, never absolute.  But in spite of these last minute 
     revisions, it never ceases to amaze us that no matter what the project actually 
     entails (carpentry, electrical needs, plumbing repairs, tile work….you name it) 
     the men that come together have just the exact required skills and experience to 
     get the jobs done. 

    (Jim says he is always assured he will be qualified – since his limited construction 
    experience always allows him to be the crew’s “gofer” and apprentice.)

    However, even more amazing is the way each couple can be total strangers when arriving 
    at the project and within a day or less we are all working and playing together like we’ve
    known each other for years. Each couple has their own unique personalities, story and  
    background of experiences and qualifications, but somehow God puts us together as a
    team with a common goal. And in the process, over the ensuing three weeks of the
    project, life-long friendships are formed. It may be months or years before we work 
    together with any of these couples, but we have become true friends.On this project, we
    were blessed to meet three couples we had never worked with before:

Our project coordinators, Don and Joann are from Oregon. Don retired from the Oregon 
State Highway Department. He and Joann have been MMAPers for ten years. 
They have done 59 projects. They are both extremely talented musicians. (She 
plays the keyboard, he plays the guitar and banjo and they provided some 
wonderful musical accompaniment for our morning devotions.) 
Joann also knits, crochets and sews. She can wield a mean 
paint brush as well as a wild scrub rag – all invaluable for the variety of jobs 
the ladies  were assigned to do. 

Bill and Shirley hail from Washington. They recently rejoined MMAP after 
being out of the organization for about five years. Shirley had been a 
MMAPer from 1999 to 2007 and Bill from 2003 to 2008 when he lost his 
spouse. Last year at the annual MMAP R&R in Turner, Oregon they 
reconnected as friends and former MMAPers and within a few weeks 
were “dating.”  In less than a month they were married. They celebrated 
7 wonderful months of wedded bliss as we started the Warm Beach project. 
They are like two young lovebirds! “Old love” can be more glorious than 
"young love".

Bill is a retired master carpenter. Shirley is also handy with the 
knitting needles and tireless at cleaning and painting projects. 
(We will be working with them at our next project in June in Silverton, Oregon.)

 

     

The third couple, David and Gerry recently joined MMAP. Warm Beach 
was their fourth project. They had just sold their home in Gig Harbor, WA 
and are now full-time RVers. They plan on checking out homes in Florida 
soon and hope to do as we do in Arizona...spend the winters in Florida 
and come back to the West coast to do MMAP projects in the summer.  

David worked in construction management for consulting  engineers 
and Gerry is a seamstress.

Having lived in the area for many years, Dave and Gerry were our 
unofficial tour guides. We had a lot of fun going on drives with them 
and checking out the surrounding sights.
On one of our outings David introduced us to a fantastic produce 
stand that also served HUGE ice cream cones.
 

We were so busy eating the ice cream, no one thought to take a picture of our cones. So, after we finished the ice cream, David took a picture of a little girl with her cone.

This is a SINGLE scoop!

NEW ADVENTURES - We were blessed with fantastic weather for most 
of the past month, which is not typical for this time of the year in Washington. 
Even though the last week has been  a bit soggy, the first two weeks afforded 
us the opportunity to do some local sightseeing.


The town nearest camp is Stanwood. It has a charming little downtown area 
of small shops and restaurants. (We highly recommend Wayne’s Corner 
Café where the food is incredible and the owner sings to you. LOVED IT!)  

 

 

Not too far away is Camano Island – 
accessible by bridge with gorgeous views 
of Puget Sound. 

Farmland and snow- capped mountains 
abound. 


This is the Pacific Northwest at its finest.

Two views of Puget Sound and surrounding snow-capped mountains from a 

drive around Camano Island, 

and lots of views of green farmlands in the area.

 

 And everywhere the Rhododendron were in bloom. 

And, of course we were blessed to enjoy fun and games with our new friends:

Zoe was even blessed with a new friend – the camp cat, Sammy

We shared devotion time with two couples from SOWERS - another 
volunteer group similar to MMAP. All six of us ladies worked on a 
variety of jobs together while the SOWER men were assigned different 
work than our men. 

 

 And Jessica, the camp volunteer coordinator (center) 
assigned us ladies daily projects and kept us busy. 

Our SOWER friends, Gary & Pat from Washington and 
Lola & Ray from Oregon

Us ladies cleaned several staff and camp houses and buildings, cleaned 
up the plants at one staff house, gathered sticks for an on-going camp craft 
project, painted chairs and recovered chair cushions, cleaned the book store, 
helped with mailings and cleaned the pool restrooms. 

On some other MMAP projects there is very little for the ladies to do. 
Warm Beach is not like that! In fact, there were actually more things 
available for us to  do than we had time to accomplish.)

 Warm Beach Camp and Conference Center has been in existence since 1959. 
It currently serves 80 to 90 thousand people (30,000 campers and 
another 60,000 that come each year to the annual Lights of Christmas.)  
Warm Beach continues to be a  blessing to the area.

                         Cedar Lodge

  

Cedar Lodge houses the Administrative offices, Camp Book store and Dining Hall 

                            Program Center

              Cascade Lodge is motel-type lodging with a central meeting room. Good for retreats.

          

                                                     Horse barn and riding arena

The prayer chapel – 
a good place to spend 
some time alone with God

  A beautiful view of the water and the surrounding farm lands from the deck of the dining hall.

In 1956 the first 128 acres was purchased. The first camp was in 1959, 
and later more property was acquired. Currently the camp encompasses 
almost 300 acres. Besides  the normal summer camps for young people, 
Warm Beach offers a variety of other camping experiences including Day 
Camps for K-4^th, Family HIV Camp, Horse camps  for At-Risk Youth, 
week-end retreats (Father/Son; Mother/Daughter; Marriage Encounter; 
and Engagement Weekend - a pre-marital retreat.) Its facilities are also 
available to churches and other groups throughout the year as a retreat and 
conference center. It partners with the adjacent Warm Beach Senior 
Community that offers low income  housing for seniors (many retired 
missionaries and clergy.) And during the Christmas Season it transforms 
the grounds into a magical location that attracts thousands of 
people to hear the story of Christmas and experience the sights, sounds and 
tastes of the holiday season with the Warm Beach Lights of Christmas.

To learn more about Warm Beach Camp in general, 
check out their web site 
www.warmbeach.com 

To see a video of the Lights of Christmas, you can 
link to this site: 
http://www.warmbeach.com/lights-of-christmas

The RV accommodations the camp offers to volunteers are some 
of the best we have experienced.

 

And there is a special Volunteer Meeting center right across from the RV sites. It has a 
meeting space/kitchen/TV area plus bathrooms with showers and a very nice laundry 
facility attached.

 We were also blessed to join the staff at their morning devotionals.

   

Without a doubt the biggest blessing for our men was the completion 
of their main assigned project. The men worked on one major project 
from the beginning of the month that took a little over two weeks to complete. 
(I will tell you about it in detail  in just a moment.) They also finished up the 
last three days of the last week with a  painting assignment in an area of 
cabins near the stables – just in time to welcome a large youth group 
coming in for a weekend camp.

Before I add the pictures and details of the work the men did on 
their main project,  let me share with you the reason for the project:

One of the camps Warm Beach offers four times during the summer is 
for a special segment of the population. It is called Special Friends 
Day Camp, and it is specifically geared for young adults (15 and older) 
with special needs such as physical and mental challenges. This is a 
segment of the population that usually receives little financial help 
for recreational outlets after they reach age 18, and the cost to offer 
something for them can be more than their families can afford on their 
own. Many need one-on-one care givers just to function in any daily task. 
To be able to participate in a camping experience  for these young people 
can be rare and costly. Four years ago Warm Beach began  offering a 
camp for these special people. One-on-one assistants (Camp Counselors) 
are provided for each camper. Each camper is paired up with a "Buddy" 
who assists the camper as needed and helps them enjoy all that camp has 
to offer. With volunteer counselors for each camper, these young people can 
have camping experiences such as horseback riding, rock wall climbing, 
swimming, crafts, mini golf and hiking.  

 (To see the Warm Beach Special Friends video, link to   
http://www.warmbeach.com/programs/special-needs-programs/special-friends-day-camps)
 
One thing, however was lacking – the typical camping experience of being able to 
gather around a camp fire. This was due to the lack of a fire circle that could 
accommodate wheel chairs and other devices used by handicapped individuals. 
This is where the MAAP men came into the picture.

Chinook Village is where the Special Friends Day Camp takes place. 
On the far side of the cabins is an area where the camp 
asked our men to install a fire circle that would 
accommodate wheelchairs and other handicap equipment. 

When the men started the work, the only thing at the site was a fire ring. 
The plan was to install 30 benches in a circle around the fire ring.

 Dwight the camp project coordinator discusses the plans with the men.

Bill began cutting the bench parts 
while Jim and David  prepared to 
dig the 80 holes needed to set the 
benches.

The first day of work the men only had 
shovels to dig the  holes. Not only was it 
slow going - after each hole was dug, 
roots and rocks the size of large baked  
potatoes had to be removed from each hole. 
By the end of the first day, they came home 
weary and worn with only three holes completed. 

This was NOT going to do!

 

So, beginning day two 
the camp rented a power 
auger for the job. This would 
definitely speed up the process
(even though Jim came home at 
lunch time and tried to lift his 
spoon to eat a bowl of soup, 
only to have his hand shake so 
much he had to drink the soup!)

                                              Here's a video of the "hole digging crew"

By the end of the third day, 
all the holes  were dug – even 
though they still needed to be 
cleared of roots and rocks. On 
Thursday of the first week the 
auger had to be returned to the 
rental yard.

David and Jim bid a fond 
but exhausted farewell to their 
powerful “assistant.”

The second week of work began with construction of more benches and a flurry of activity 
to get them installed.    

By the end of the week, the men 
capped the benches with Trex 
deck tops and Bill  expertly finished 
off the benches by rounding the 
corners and edges of each bench 
to  make it safe for campers 
coming into the circle.

By Tuesday of the third week, the men displayed their finished work. 
This was a proud (and blessed) moment!

A GREAT CREW OF GODLY MEN!

So we end our first MMAP project of 2013. We will be staying at Warm Beach 
over the three day Memorial weekend. Meleea, Scott and the girls will come up 
to experience the camp with us. Then we will go back to their house in Tacoma 
for about 10 days before heading south to Silverton, Oregon for our next project. 
We will be updating the blog after the conclusion of that project at the end of June.

We thank God for all the blessings He has so graciously given us. And we hope 
you realize that those of you reading this blog are part of our many blessings.

 
In the meantime, we hope you ponder this thought with us:  “Reflect upon your 
present blessings -- of which every man has many -- not on your past misfortunes, 
of which all men have some.” Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings

Or as Tiny Tim would say – “God bless us, everyone!”