For Where Your Treasure Is – There Your Heart Will Also Be (found in Matthew 6:21 and Luke12:34)

At the end of August, as we concluded our summer MMAP project at Camp Berachah, I gave thought to those words. So, just where is my treasure? (Where is yours?) The scripture verse confirmed in my mind that, although Jim and I have little material wealth, our treasure is truly tied up in what we choose to do with our lives.

I don’t know about you, but we will never be wealthy (at least not in the way the world measures wealth.) In fact, there are times we just “squeak by” financially. However, to my amazement, we always seem to have just enough. The bills get paid, there’s food in the cupboard, a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs and (most importantly at this stage of our adventures), enough money left to put gas in the truck to get us from one MMAP project to the next.

We were not as clever in our younger days as some of our friends, who made wise investments and had incomes that allowed them very comfortable retirements. Over our 35+ years of married life we always had jobs that paid the bills (at least most of the time). Financially we lost a lot more than we gained – yet still we were able to make ends meet.

Do I envy some of our friends who are better off financially than us….nicer houses, newer cars, bigger RVs? I won’t lie to you – of course I do….for a moment. Then I look at the life God has allowed us to live, the experiences we have had and (best of all) our loving family and the friends we have met along the way. It’s then I realize we are blessed beyond comprehension by the things that cannot be measured by the world’s material standards.

When we leave this life, our children will have lots of memories of us, but little else. Yet they will have the love of God, family and friends that is our legacy to them. (I sure hope they aren’t planning on a “life of leisure” from their inheritance of our used RV, a truck with a zillion miles on it and a little bitty house in Arizona with a mortgage! SURPRISE kids!!)

So that scripture verse (which happened to be the theme verse of the Camp Berachah summer camps this year) really sums up our lives. We have “invested” these last few years in the work we do through MMAP. And we will continue to do so as long as God allows it. Then, when it’s time to park the fifth wheel and settle down in one spot, we will continue to invest in whatever way He directs.

It’s our hope that all of you, whether you’re well off or just gettin’ by, will come to understand that whatever you have in this life is a gift from The Almighty. To remind us that God owns it all, an old preacher friend of ours often quoted the well-known verse – “the cattle on a thousand hills are mine, says the Lord.” (Psalm 50:10)

 
Some people think their cleverness gave them that big house or fine car, or that their intellect allowed them the where-with-all to amass all the “stuff” they own. They may credit all their worldly wealth to their hard work – or maybe to plain old “good luck”. But don’t deceive yourself – God decided long ago what we would have, and it’s because of His grace, mercy and love we have it. Now the question is…..what are you doing with it?

Am I telling you to chuck all you have and become a missionary in some far-away foreign land, or take a vow of poverty and live like a Benedictine monk? Maybe…if that’s what God is telling you to do. But that’s hardly the case for most of us. However, each of us needs to do what we can with what we have, and thank God for what He’s given us. He doesn’t measure our gratitude by the size of our offerings, but rather by the sincerity of our heart. 

 

SO……I’M DONE WITH THE PREACHING….NOW ON WITH THE TRAVEL BLOG -

We finished our summer of MMAP projects on August 23^rd, and then spent the rest of the month visiting our daughter and her family in Tacoma. We left Washington State the day after Labor Day. After a few sight-seeing stops along the Oregon coast and then inland to visit our kids in Northern California for a couple of weeks, we will point ourselves south to Arizona for the winter.

As promised, following are some pictures and a recap of our last two months of MMAP work:

Our July and August projects were at Camp Berachah in Auburn, Washington. This is the second year we have volunteered at this camp. Last July and August we were also there. It’s a great camp with the added benefit of being close to family and old friends, making reconnecting with them much easier for us.
Berachah means “blessings” or “praise.”  (It comes from the Bible account found in the 20^th chapter of the Old Testament book of 2nd Chronicles that describes one of the many times in Jewish history that God protected his people. Chapter 20, verse 26 specifically says, “On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berachah, where they praised the Lord. This is why it is called the Valley of Berachah to this day.”) 

Camp Berachah was named as a place of blessing for this generation of God's people to visit for rest, recreation, and growing in their faith.  For over 35 years, they have been providing events and camps for thousands of youth, adults, families, and churches throughout the Pacific Northwest.  Today the camp hosts groups and individuals for conferences, retreats, events, lessons, and camps. If you are interested in more information on Camp Berachah, link to their web site at www.campberachah.org
   

Looking upstream near the cabins

Horse lessons

Day campers being dropped off for camp

Campers playing laser tag

At the lake where campers swim and paddle boat

Campers learning about animals at the petting zoo

In July the MMAP crew consisted of five couples. From left to right: Rod and Helen from Keizer, Oregon were the coordinators. This was Rod’s first time coordinating a project and he did a fantastic job. We worked with him last August at Berachah right before he married Helen last October. They were both widowed, and it was easy to see that God has truly blessed them with each other. Jerry and Mary Ellen from Henderson, Nevada have been in MMAP since 1995. They have completed over 100 projects all over the United States and have coordinated over 50 of those projects. Jerry just turned 81 and he and Mary Ellen celebrated their 53^rd wedding anniversary. They are a shining example to all of us. Jim and Jennifer from California are also a couple we worked with at Berachah last year. (The young man in the picture is their grandson, Evan. They brought him along so he could attend a week of camp.) We count them as close friends and look forward to seeing them on our trip home in September, as they live not far from our son. Seated next to us are Rod and Dorothy. They are full time RVers who call Washington “home.” In the summer they do MMAP projects and spend time between winter projects in Lake Havasu, Arizona. We first worked with them in 2010 in San Bernardino, CA. It was a pleasure to be with them again. 

At the end of July Rod & Helen and Jim & Jennifer left, the other two couples (Jerry & Mary Ellen and Rod & Dorothy) stayed on with us, and we added three more couples to make up the August crew.

Sam and Mary coordinated the August project. They have been our friends since our children and theirs were young. We all lived in the same small town in Southern California and attended the same church. After they retired, they relocated to Kingman, Arizona. Two years ago on a visit to their home we told them about our MMAP adventures. They immediately wanted to join up, but because of some personal family commitments they had to delay that desire until last year. Then they jumped into it with gusto and after 4 projects under their belt, they agreed to try their hand at coordinating a project. We were pleased that their first coordinating position was at a project we were assigned to. Sam did a great job, and all six MMAP men were able to complete more work for the camp then the camp expected would be done.

Tom and Debbi are from Maryland and brand new to MMAP. Camp Berachah was their second project. They are full time RVers and will be a definite asset to MMAP. We hope to work on more projects with them.

The third couple added to the August group were our dear friends, Gary and Vonda from The Dalles, Oregon. We first met Gary and Vonda in 2011 in upstate Pennsylvania at the Miracle Mountain Ranch project. We also worked with them for two months last year at Camp Berachah. We have no doubt we will work together again. 

The men worked on a variety of assignments. The primary undertaking was to build a large deck connecting three new yurts. These yurts were put up in July to accommodate kids that participate in the horse camps. Prior to the other MMAPers arriving in July, Jim assisted in putting the floor into one of the yurts. The deck was started in July and completed in August. It was quite an accomplishment. 

First, footings had to be formed

How many 81 year olds can work like this?

The July crew got the deck floor done

Then Sam, Jerry and Rod finished it in August with railings and benches.

Jerry and Rod tested out their work

The finished "masterpiece"!

 

Added to the deck job, in July the men also managed to remodel a bathroom in the single staff housing-

Repair a shed at the lake-

And re-roof a storage building-

In August the additional tasks included repair of the water damaged platform in the camper’s “water castle” (a game area where campers dump water on their opponents-

Installing two bath exhaust fans in a staff home – prior to installing, holes had to be cut in the roof-

 

Removal of old vinyl flooring in the kitchen and re-flooring of a bedroom of another staff house-

 

Building a new front porch on to another staff home- 












Repairing  the camp bike trailer- 

Again - try to out work this 81-year-old!

Installing three air conditioners in guest housing (including making outside protective wood coverings from scratch) 








  
And finally, a major repair and remodel of an old staff house that was being vacated. (These pictures don’t do justice to what an awful state this house was in.) Among other things, the men had to tear out and replace floors, repair plumbing and do a complete tear out and remodel of the bathroom. In fact, the list was so long that Sam and Tom stayed an extra week after the project ended in August to complete the work.

                  Of course, (as always), Jim did his best to keep the work on the light side.

 In July the ladies either worked in the kitchen or did office work.
                      

Jennifer and Dorothy with Cindy, one of the kitchen staff

"Cutting up”…..get it….CUTing up!

  
In August, Debbi and I continued the kitchen work.  Here we are with Jose, the Dishwasher.

The other ladies worked on curtains for the yurts-

On some weekends, I also helped out at the petting zoo by feeding the sheep, cows and rabbits so the young lady who was in charge of them during the week could have a couple of days off. (I was hoping I could take care of the baby goats as well – but because they were so young, she took them back to her home on the weekend and brought them back on Monday.) 

But it wasn’t “ALL WORK AND NO PLAY”! During every project we’ve been on, the ladies manage at least one “Ladies’ Day Out.” And many times we also get together to work on craft projects or have a Bible study. These two months were no exception. We had Bible studies. (Helen led a weekly one in July and I lead a one-day study in August.) We worked on some craft projects and showed each other projects some of the ladies had made at other times.  In July we went to the nearby town of Sumner for shopping and lunch at Windmill Gardens. In August we went to Enumclaw (another small town) to shop, have lunch and enjoy a delicious piece of pie at the “Pie Goddess” shop.

 

 Helen taught us how to make bead jewelry. 



Mary Ellen showed us the “prayer quilts” she makes with her church group when she is home. Each quilt has scripture verse blocks interspersed in the design. They give the quilts out to those who need a spiritual uplift.

Group outings were also part of the “play time” for us MMAPers. We ate out together many times at local restaurants. In July we all joined another group of MMAPers from the Stanwood project for a get-together. We picked a buffet half way between our project location and theirs. We were joined there by some local retired MMAP couples.

Lunch after church at the Black Diamond Bakery….yummy food!

Lunch with the Stanwood MMAP crew and other retired MMAPers

In August, Jim and I went with Gary and Vonda to the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field.

“President Spring” disembarking from Air Force One

Even “old people” know how to be silly! 

One of the frequently asked questions to astronauts is “How do you go to the bathroom?”

The answer, “Very carefully.”

The museum has an extensive display of WWI and WWII
aircraft and memorabilia.

         This picture speaks for itself!

 

“NO……don’t send me up in that balloon!”

 

The variety and number of aircraft on display is mind boggling. We were unable to get pictures of everything and these pictures we are sharing are but a few that we took.

When they shot the movie “Top Gun”, the producer wanted Jim to play the lead role, but he had other commitments……so they settled for Tom Cruise.

Also in August, eight of us enjoyed an all-day Saturday outing. We caught the ferry from Seattle to Bremerton. It takes one hour to get there, and is a real bargain. The senior fare to walk on is only $2.75 round trip. (Another great advantage of old age!) We walked around the Bremerton harbor, checked out some sights a block up from the ferry terminal, ate lunch at Anthony’s Restaurant, got ice cream at Coldstone Creamery, then caught the ferry back to Seattle.  

The U.S.S .Turner Joy (a WWII Destroyer) – now a museum at the Bremerton docks. You can see one of the Seattle ferries coming into port behind it.

The group at the Bremerton Waterfront

Checking out the puppet museum in Bremerton

 

 These pirate ships were putting on a mock battle in the harbor as we left Bremerton on the return trip.

Two shots of the Seattle waterfront as we arrived back-

 

Of course since we were back in our old stomping grounds, we had many opportunities to get together with family and friends as well. Prior to the July project start date, we celebrated 4^th of July at Meleea and Scott’s. 
  

This is a picture of the fireworks display as seen from Meleea’s. It was taken by our friend (and “family photographer”) Chelle. 

While we were at camp, Meleea and the girls came for a visit and played with the baby goats at the petting zoo.

And there was more “granddaughter time” – although not nearly enough to satisfy.

Cutting up with Skyler and Chelle and her daughter, Natalie

 

Attending Scotti’s soccer tournament. Her team took first place. 

Scotti is the first one top row left

Taking Sky and her girlfriends up to Seattle for the three day Bumbershoot music festival.

Going with Scotti, Scott & Meleea to the Boise State Women’s Soccer game against Seattle University. (Scotti’s goal is to play college soccer at Boise State -her dad’s alma mater. And for this high school freshman, that’s only 5 years away!)

 

Taking Scotti to get her hair colored. She’s a natural strawberry blond/red head…so she just had the color “intensified”

Isn’t our little “ginger” beautiful! Load the shot gun, dad…keep those boys away!

 Poppy with two of his favorite women

We also did so much more with friends and family that we failed to get pictures of!

• My sister, Linda made a trip from her home in Port Orchard to Camp Berachah and we had a full day’s visit. It had been much too long since we had spent time together, and I enjoyed every minute of it.  
• We were privileged to worship with several of our old friends at their churches and go out to Sunday lunch with them. 
• Our good friends, Paul and Nancy included us in a church outing – Jim went with Paul and the men from his church to a Rainiers baseball game while Nancy and I spent the evening with ladies from her church at her pastor’s house.  
• Paul and Nancy also hosted a barbeque at their house and invited several more old friends from our former church to visit with us. (I didn’t do a head count – but I think there were at least a dozen people who came.) We were so blessed to see all these good friends.
• In addition, our son-in-law’s mother, Barbara had a great get-together at her house with 10 other couples - old friends of hers and ours. (We are so fortunate to have such a close relationship with Barbara and “share” some great friends!) 
• After the project ended in August, we parked our rig in the driveway of Meleea’s friends, Ronnie and Melissa. (They are as dear to us as our own family and we were really thankful for letting us use their driveway as our very own RV park!) And, of course, we had a great dinner with them and our kids.  
• The month ended with another barbeque at Scott and Meleea’s. (Since Scott is a former Boise State football player this was an “after the Boise State/University of Washington football game” with some of the guys who played at Boise with him.) We connected with old friends and met some new ones.  
• The following day we enjoyed another great dinner at Scott and Meleea’s with their good friends, Jon and Traci (who are also their pastor and wife -and our good friends as well.) 

Wish I could share these “pictures in my mind” with all of you. Each was so special! Looking back, it seems like we partied and ate our way through the past two months - but better than the food and parties was the chance to reconnect with all these wonderful people. They are, for certain, a big part of our “treasure”!

All in all it was a busy but rewarding time. We were amazed how fast these past two months flew by. Our arrival back in Arizona should be sometime the first week in October. At that time I hope to bring you up to date with pictures from our September adventures through Oregon and our visit with our son and family.

In the meantime, we’re praying each of you can go on your own “treasure hunt” to find out what God has in store for you for the rest of your days on Planet Earth. Until then, as our MMAP friends say, “Keep the greasy side down.”