Friends,
We hit the ground running Thursday morning with renewed energy following our afternoon off and a great meal. Still tired but ready to finish projects, and many were completed on Thursday with crews moving to sites that need more hands-on-deck.
My friend Karen joined me for the early day travel to see our youth at work. We are also serving the surrounding community, and we went south to Mosinee and hit the jackpot for multiple youth on one site! Some of the projects are pretty intensive and require problem solving and working as a unit; some sites have youth (not ours) who would rather be doing something other than the project! "Who's the hardest worker at Workcamp?" the answer is always, "St Thomas!"
The smoke from the fires in Canada and Minnesota hang heavy in the air and I hear that Red Lake Nation, the reservation we served last year, is evacuating. We pray for our friends in the fires' path and all peoples being displaced, the loss of life, and the loss of all they have. We have masks to protect our lungs; that's not a hardship.
Life at the school is good, respectful kids make for a better experience, and they react positively when asked to correct a behavior. I appreciate that so much!
Our youth are making friends from other churches, and I have seen personalities blossom this week and wondered why they hadn't shown up sooner! This is a peer leadership training like no other. They look out for each other, check in on each other, and love to sing about Jesus together. I wept again last night over their joy.
It was louder last night. We reached the delirium stage of tired, and most were in their rooms by 10:30 and lights out at 11:00 was easy! There are Care Cards being written to old friends and new friends, card games and hacky-sack, the sharing of snacks, and an overall feeling of goodwill. God is so good!