New Old Job

So I have begun a new job, or rather, returned to an old one. I am working up on Jenkins mountain in Morrilton at Ozark Conference Center again. I am hosting retreats one weekends occasionally, but the bulk of my work involves maintenance. 325 acres takes a lot of work to keep beautiful and everything running smoothly. I do a LOT of mowing on our ZTR mowers and more weed eating than I care to think about. But then there are days when I get to do things like cut trees down, cut them up and split it all, or clear out a 2 year overgrown flowerbed, replant flowers and mulch it. Or sometimes fix little things like a broken faucet or change a deadbolt. I know what you are thinking; that is hard physical labor, why are you talking about it like it is fun? Well, because I love doing it. I don't know why, but I have always loved working with my hands, especially when it is hard stuff that most people don't or can't do themselves. It is the feeling of being self sufficient and knowing that one day when I need to do these types of things on my own property, I will be able to. Plus, that feeling you have at the end of a long day of work where you are completely and utterly exhausted from your labors, I love that feeling.

Aside from all that, it provides me an opportunity to escape. I get up to go to work at 5:30am. I am on the road by 6 and have started whatever project I am working on by 6:30. I get to see the sunrise which is something I haven't seen in a long time up until the past few weeks.

 I often work for 7-8 hours straight without stopping and without seeing another soul. It gives me time to be alone with my thoughts and the Lord and mull things over. And believe me, I have a lot to mull over these days. There are also times that I get to work along side Mike Brown. Now let me tell you a little about Mike. Mike is one of the most amazing men I have ever met. He is a loving husband, and loving father of his three girls. He is generous with both his time and money and loves to love people. The man works harder than anyone I have ever met, but he also knows how to relax and have a good time. He has a wonderful relationship with the Lord and seeing him encourages me to further pursue and deepen my own. And goodness gracious, literally every day I spend working with him I learn something new, whether it be how to read a log to know which way to best split it, or how to keep a chainsaw in proper working order, or how to lay wood flooring so the light doesn't make the grain pop, you name it, he knows it, and he teaches it to me. I have more respect for him than anyone else I know.

I also get to run the Zip Line whenever we have a group there that wants to do it. That is always fun because I get to be on top and that is by far the best position to run. :)