Hello friends and family!
What a year it’s been! New positions in the ministry, new friends, new house, new challenges and blessings, new schedules, new growth… And now we’re about to start another ‘new’ year! Time pauses for no one, but we’re very thankful for a holiday season to slow down and reflect on God’s goodness.
Camp News
As expected, our camper numbers were down over the months of November and December as people prioritize spending time at home with family and church family. We were, however, able to serve two of my personal favorite camps: On-Target and Ministry Outfitters. On-Target is a marksmanship camp where people bring a variety of guns to compete and grow their skills. It’s a great time to reflect on how to better hit the ‘target’ of Christlikeness as well. Ministry Outfitters is a camp for highschoolers who feel called into ministry. They get practical teaching in the sessions as well as exposure to pastors and teachers who can mentor them in their journey.
These ‘slower’ months allow our staff to catch up on big projects that tend to get pushed to the side by lots of camp. For example, the kitchen crew spent several days scrubbing baseboards, floors, and the hood above our equipment. The deadline for finishing the new cabins was also looming in mid-December. Praise God we were able to meet our deadline and have six new cabins finished and ready for furniture in January!
Right before Thanksgiving break, the resident staff gathered for our annual planning meetings, called (very creatively) November Meetings. If I were to show you a picture, all you would see is a bunch of us sitting in office chairs around three tables full of snacks and games. But I promise, we are working! This year’s theme was communication, and it was a challenge to think about all the way we should reflect Christ in our communication with each other and with campers. The meetings also give us a big picture of where the camp has been in the last year and where it is headed in the future.
Palkki News
The shop didn’t have as many end of year projects because of the 50th Anniversary clean-up, but Gabe had plenty of ‘normal’ stuff to do. Ordering parts, fixing tires, replacing hydro-boosters, and diagnosing a major problem with the backhoe were all in the month’s work for him! I got to run a few meals, prepare textbooks for next semester’s Defined classes and even help out in the new cabins by painting, staining, and taking care of a few other small details.
We spent our second Thanksgiving as a couple with our adopted family in Apple Valley. There were terrible tacos, flamethrowers (2.0), roller-skates, movies, so much food, and many good memories made with friends. God has put some incredible people in our lives and that blessing never ceases to amaze us. Christmas break so far has been wonderfully peaceful. We spent three days in Paso Robles (about four hours north-west of Ironwood) with some friends from camp, which was refreshing. It’s amazing how little time you have to just be with your friends when you all work at camp! Instead of traveling to be with family, we decided to make this our first Christmas in our little blue house. I’ve used the extra time to do more fun writing in a week than I have in months. Gabe is enjoying the ability to relax, which he doesn’t get very often given the on-call nature of his job.
Last Sunday, I got to tell the story of Jesus’ birth to my nursery class. We went all the way back to the beginning of our Bible storybook and looked at God’s promise of a Savior to Adam and Eve. Then we flipped through the stories of the Old Testament. God kept his promise to Abraham. God protected His people through Moses. God strengthened heroes like David. And yet, the Savior was not Abraham the father or Moses the leader or David the warrior. It wasn’t until Jesus was born that the angel declared, “Unto you is born a Savior!”
Sometimes, God’s plan seems unlikely or untimely. But the message of Christmas is this: God is always faithful. Over hundreds and hundreds of years, He did not forget or withdraw His promise. That night in Bethlehem is the point on which all of time turns, the moment God had planned from eternity past to affect eternity future. Because of it, we are children of that trustworthy God. Now that’s something to celebrate!
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Galatians 4:4-5
Love in Christ,
Gabe and Cheyenne Palkki