Wowzers!  It’s been a few days since I sent an update – or a few weeks maybe…
We’ve done a lot here at camp since I last wrote – ok WOW – Sept 21st?!?!?  I apologize severely to all of you who have been on the edge of your seats dying for an email.  To the other 99% of you, I just move along and type this thing – as well as I can remember back anyways…

Let’s see, after that one really bad school camp ended, we had a different school camp.  It wasn’t so bad.  They were from Minnesota.  That’s all I remember.  Hm.  Well, anyway, movin’ right along…!  Oh wait, that weekend was the “Victory Baptist Ladies Association.”  A hundred and something ladies show up for their annual meeting and giant slumber party (yes, that’s right – us guys did not go near the lodge after their service was over ‘cuz they were having a PJ party till 1am!) and they had fun.  Their “business meeting” was funny – they kept having motions and seconding motions — but they never voted on anything!  Women – ha!
Next (Oct 1-2), we had a short school retreat – a school from M’waukee (that’s Milwaukee for all you out-of-staters who insist on pronouncing all the letters…).  They had some FUN during the night game! :) Their principal brought a varmint call – they put this box in the woods (that trail I would hide on by the office along the driveway) and had a remote control for it.  So he and the evangelist sat over by the new craft shack and pushed the button when cabins got close and it would make this wicked awesome “ginormous mountain lion in severe heat” noise and the kids (and teachers) would get real scared.  So then, I went running up into the woods to “get that cat” and when he hit the button, I’d come running out screaming and jump off the driveway and roll down the hill toward the craft shack and they’d get even worse scared.  :) Fun!
Then we had a day off, then a men’s retreat from Marquette Manor Baptist.  They had fun.  That’s all I remember about that one too.
The next week I went to BJU (yes, I survived 14hrs in a van with Stephen Rains) (yes, he survived 14hrs in a van with me) – and I saw many of my faithful readers on the trip.  It was wonderful to see you all again – thanks for having me over!  :) And the week ended a little different from expectations – my grandmother passed away that Tuesday, so we brought Andrew home with us and Stephen & Mr. Appel dropped us off at home for the wake (Friday) and funeral (Saturday).  Praise the Lord – I got to “say a few things about Grandma, read some Bible verses and pray” as my aunt Teri asked me to do at the wake – and give the gospel in that time.  Most of the extended family over there is Catholic and it was awful to see them grieving with no hope.  Please pray for two of my cousins (Aaron and Giovanni) – they were both sincerely broken-hearted and looking for more than the priest had to offer.  I gave them both tracts and my cell number and I’ll probably be getting in touch with Aaron soon – he’s a student in M’waukee – just an hour away from me.  Normally unsaved funerals aren’t the happiest times ever, but the Lord is good to give opportunities to spread the gospel through those times.
After I got back to camp, we had the Young-at-Heart (but old most other places…) Retreat – Mon-Wed.  What a sweet bunch of “campers” – it seems so odd to call someone’s grandparents “campers!”  They loved their time here – jigsaw puzzles, sky glide, Valerie’s amazing toilet paper pumpkin crafts, a train ride field trip, and plenty of time to fellowship around the fire in the fireside room!  What a joy to serve them!
The following weekend was the CJ men’s retreat with Dr. Talbert (father of that dynamic duo – Ethanini and Micah Talbert).  It was a busy retreat, but the services under Dr. Talbert’s insightful preaching from Job were very refreshing!  And I got to give him a ride back to the airport – an enjoyable time of fellowship.
The next weekend (we are now all the way up to Oct 25-27!) was the Homeschool & Parenting Conference.  I shall forgo any homeschooler jokes and just describe the retreat.  :) We had a couple services a day and a couple workshops.  I did a couple workshops on model rockets – one building and one flying – that was a blast ;) … once we hooked up the igniters to the jeep battery, it worked great!  Abe & Nathanael took the families on a hike around a marsh near Rice Lake and Mr. Todd taught a colored pencil workshop.  Oh, Nathanael is David Troester’s younger brother – he now works full-time here at CJ as our maintenance guy.  And he’s doing a fine job too!  He’s turned 1/2 of that Basics Room into a decently live-able apartment!
Next, we had some days of normal work projects and stuff, then the Grace Baptist Church of Lockport Men’s Retreat – they like guns!  And preaching!  They had plenty of both, that’s for sure!
And now this week, we have the Pastors & Wives Retreat – a small private camp organized by my old church – about 15 pastors from churches ranging from Ohio to Iowa and their wives.  What an incredible group of people!  Almost 1/2 of the pastors had been in the ministry for over 30 years, some of them just one or two churches in that time – what a testimony of faithful service!  They are such a great bunch to have here – they don’t need much activity, they get really good food, they go to bed early and wake up at a reasonable time, they’re friendly and godly and wonderful – this is, by far, my favorite retreat of all!  They could stay all year, in my opinion!
Well, they leave tomorrow morning – then we have the Mother/Daughter Get-away this weekend.

Yes, of course, there are some amusing stories from the past month & a half.  Like… I shot a raccoon… in the head.  He was going through my trash at 1.30am.  He was big – real nice pelt, too!  I did get the tail off.  The full story is in a facebook photo album for you to see over the holidays :) I don’t feel like typing it all over here, but if you reply and ask, I’ll give you a full detailed account of the incident.  (But for the record – I killed a coon that’s twice the size of any rooster I’ve seen – with just ONE shot!)
The blower motor on the furnace in the apartment Abe & I share burned out on Monday morning.  I noticed the smell in the morning, but couldn’t pinpoint the source till later.  So we slept with no heat.  Then on Tuesday, Nathanael took the motor out, Dave Glass got us a new one in Janesville and Nathanael put it back together – like I said earlier, he’s doing a great job!
Um…  That’s about.  Oh, Valerie and Stephen and Nathanael and Mr. Todd and I scanned our faces tonight.  That Mr. Todd – he’s such a bad influence on us poor impressionable young people!

Well, have a good one, all!  Stay out of trouble, don’t forget to tell your mom you love her (if you can), and keep us in your prayers!  Thanks for your patience and for reading this whole thing!