Second Week

I have began my second week of no driving the school bus.  Have I missed it?  Not yet.  I have been busy.  I spent the very first week working at Youth Camp at Baptist Hill near Mt. Vernon, MO serving as a camp cook.

I really don't think that camp cook is a proper title for me.  I have put food in the convection oven, prepared chicken for the oven, bacon for the oven,  eggs for the scrambling - 47 and one half dozen as a matter of fact - that is Jerry W. and myself cracked that many eggs.  We also added lemon juice to keep them from turning green, milk to make them fluffier, and also salt and pepper to season them.  The eggs were for breakfast Wednesday morning.

We were feeding about 175 youth and workers.  There were 9 youth who called on the name of the Lord for salvation; 11 other decisions and one who decided they needed to follow the Lord in Baptism.

My schedule while I was at camp went a little like this.  I was up at 3 a.m., at the cafeteria by 4 a.m. making coffee for the workers coming soon; and when the head cook [Jerry] arrived we visited a while, drank coffee, then started prepping breakfast.  One morning following breakfast I did go to my room and took a nap.  It was quite restful; and one afternoon I went and rested for a while.  Each night I was in bed by 9 p.m.  Tired, tired, tired; ready for bed and sleep.

The second week; it is hot,  hot, hot.  I prefer hot to cold though.  This morning I went out and hoed around our potatoes.  Even at 7 a.m. it was still pretty warm out.  I have more taters to work.

I am thankful for the strength which my Lord and God Jesus Christ has given me.  Thank YOU Lord.

Tim A. Blankenship

Summer Break, YEAH!!!

For some you don't know what it might mean by the term "Summer Break", however, everyone who has about anything to do with School, and its yearly sessions knows, at least those who are working from around the end of August to the end of May. There are workers of public schools, such as the maintenance people who work all year round, and they only get a week or so vacation each year. Thank you maintenance people and all year round workers at the public Schools, yes, even the Administrators.

Summer break is great for those who face the students each year, teaching them Reading, Riting and Rithmetic; you know the "3 R's". I am afraid, however, that it has now gone beyond the three R's to covering a lot of things that really should be left to parents, and churches. Then there are the Bus Drivers who always have their troubles behind them. Until you have driven a School Bus you have no idea how stressful the job is. The driver must always try and maintain a safe driving speed, keeping eyes on the road, watching the mirrors, and from time to time watching the kids. A sudden movement from one child can distract the driver, and if not careful can lead to a very serious accident, with a few children being seriously injured and, God forbid, maybe even killed.

I have sometimes wondered how I could handle it if I made such a grave mistake as to do something that would injure or kill a child while driving a Bus. I have determined that if I ever do, the School will not have to fire me; I would quit, and never drive a bus again. I pray that never happens.

Yeah! School bus driver's need the Summer Break, as do the teachers, and all who work with students while school is in session. Summer is not officially here, but it is here.

My wife and I just returned on Friday May 30 from spending a few days at our Baptist Associations Youth Camp at a place called Baptist Hill Assembly near Mount Vernon, Missouri. We fed about 196 youth, camp staff and CGL's for near to four days. We will return, the Lord willing, in July for Children's camp. We are working with a good group of of people, about nine total, as cooks. It is such a joy to see their faces light up as you feed them something they really enjoy eating.

May all have a great, safe, and God blessed Summer.

-Tim A. Blankenship

Some Good Stuff

The past two weeks have been pretty busy for my wife and I. We have enjoyed the days though. On the fourth of July we had our Blankenship family, friends and neighbors celebration down at the swimming hole, with picnic, fireworks and all. On the weekend preceeding the ninth we had our kids and grandkids at the house for our annual family get together.

My previous writing was concerning produce in our garden, which has been greatly neglected. With the rain and lack of time to get to it it has only been tilled one time. Yet, it is producing. My wife Madge and I went on Friday and dug some new potatoes, picked some green tomatoes, some bell peppers and some cucumbers.

On the ninth Madge and I headed to Mt. Vernon, MO. to join others in the kitchen of Baptist Hill Campground for Barry County Southern Baptist Association's annual Children's Camp. We were about a dozen strong doing kitchen work, cooking, distributing salads, drinks, cereals, and such as that. It was a long day for about four days. The day started for me at 4 a.m. with my regular devotion times, then, at 5 would go to the cafeteria where some of the men would have a cup of coffee and fellowship a few minutes before getting breakfast started.

As soon as breakfast was over and the pots and pans were clean we started lunch, then as soon as lunch was over we started preparing for supper (dinner). There was rarely a time to relax. I don't mean that as a complaint. The time flew by. It was also a joy to see those 280 campers come by getting their meals. Many of them were saying "Thank you" as they went through the line being served the food for that meal. That was a great thing.

One of the best things was having a young lady tell of her receiving Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. An update from our Director of Missions was that there were 20 decisions for salvation. That is sure one of the worthy affects of camp. We praise our God of grace and mercy