The Naked Green

Last Friday, Chris and I were working in a commercial building of a company that does a lot of the kitchen and bathroom remodels here in town. They needed some work done and decided to try us out which could lead to lots of business for us.

Not wanting to shut anything down, we were working on everything hot. It’s not difficult, you just have to be careful to only touch one thing at a time. Unfortunately, I had to re-wire two switches, which means pulling wire out of the stab holes that are made to hold the wire in. So I had my trusty Leatherman in the release hole which is also hot (apparently). I was pushing the wire out with my other hand and as my arm pivoted, my elbow hit the coffee maker. Needless to say, I got more of a jolt than caffeine from that coffee maker as it completed the circuit through my body!

Everything went black and faded back in with a hum as I stared at Chris in front of me. I laughed it off, but it was kind of scary and left my head and arms feeling weird for a while. It was my first real hit besides getting tickled, which I figure officially makes me a “Sparky”.

Yesterday, Jamie’s parents took us at their own expense to Mackinac island. It’s a place with lots of history and peculiar in its ban of vehicles. That’s right, the majority of travel on the island is done by bikes and horse drawn carriages. It has many beautiful homes including the governors summer mansion and a historical fort the British built during the revolution.

Thanks to our parents’ generosity, we were able to experience a catamaran ferry ride, a horse drawn carriage tour topped with ice cream! Jamie and I even rode a tandem bike and, along with Jessica, we rode the eight miles around the island. I couldn’t help slipping into the cool, clear water half way around the island which made for some strange looks as I rode into the downtown section in my dripping underwear! Back in Mackinaw City, we had to have a family supper of delicious Pasties before heading home to sleep.

My plan to make a daily documentation of this vacation has not worked out so well and was quickly discarded after arriving at family camp. One thing was that I was so busy, I didn’t have much time and two, what we were doing didn’t seem so exciting in the explaining. We played lots of great volleyball games, some cards, several family meals and events, lots of good discussion, a variety show, lots of carb ingestion and I built a raft with my brothers. I guess I don’t have quite the energy or skills that my brother Stevish has, so I left the storytelling up to him.

One clear message throughout the week of “Family Camp” for me went beyond fun and games. In all the fun was fellowship. Good, old fashioned Christian love and unity. In the unity was a clear picture of God’s gracious blessing and faithfulness. All of my grandparents’ family (including a brother), which brought us to 52 people not only were able to make it to Family Camp, but they all profess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour! God is good and we were overwhelmed by the reality of His goodness as we spent time together and worshiped Him.

I am now in Michigan with Jamie’s parents and sister who was able to attend Family Camp with us. I have just finished the book my Dad gave me, an autobiography by Chinese Christian Brother Yun with Paul Hattaway, The Heavenly Man. In this book, I also saw the goodness of Jesus and His mercy even though Brother Yun and many other Christians experienced intense suffering and persecution. He teaches hard and important lessons of suffering, discipline and Biblical study as a part of the Christian life which has convicted and encouraged me. Yun describes his struggles, temptations and even disobedience showing even more that Jesus is gracious and loving in using us as His vessels.

Praise God!