I took two walks, one after breakfast and staff devos, the other after lunch. First walk was my customary loop I've been doing (it was chilly out this morning, by the way! I think it dropped at least 20 degrees from a couple days ago), and the second one was an exploratory trek to the southwest side of the property. I'd never been farther over than the bunkhouse and there were a couple of less traveled pathways over on that side. I started out walking, then moved on to scrambling and wading through all kinds of stickly scrub brush, then ended up climbing with hands and feet over some big rocks. I tried to find a way across the hillside to where Eddie's house is, but the ravine by the bunkhouse blocked me from any further progress and I had to do more wading through sticker bushes to get down to the bunkhouse road. Mark, Janet, and Doug have all warned me about rattlesnakes, so I was on constant alert. Thankfully didn't encounter any, but since I've now received three separate warnings, I think I'd better stick to the paths and roads starting tomorrow.
Anyway, I was walking because I literally had nothing else to do (except sit inside and draw, which is awesome, except it was nice out and I wanted to enjoy the day). I thought how weird it is to have so much down time and to have so much solitary time, and for some reason my mind wandered to Moses. We've been reading Genesis and Exodus in Bible study back home for a while now, but I never understood even one bit what the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses must have been like. How different from the fast-paced, media-saturated SoCal culture I'm so used to. I've never known anything other than urban/suburban life. Moses hadn't either--he grew up in Pharaoh's palace and was fully involved in the culture and demands of city life. When he left Egypt and ended up being a shepherd in Midian, it must have been a big shock for him too. He was probably so bored at first . . . just wandering around in the wilderness, nobody to talk to but a flock of sheep. David's case was the same. He spent years out roaming around with sheep, and later roaming around on the run from Saul, all by himself with nobody to talk to. But that was where God spoke to these guys: out in the quietness of the wilderness. I thought how crazy it must have been for Moses to see that burning bush and hear God speak out of it, after he'd passed a zillion ordinary bushes in his years of shepherding. Then as I was climbing around on the hillside, keeping my eyes peeled for snakes and trying at the same time to find a path through the bushes and over the rocks without slipping and falling, I realized where David was coming from when he wrote all those psalms. We in SoCal never even think about the concept of being safe in the wilderness, or about tripping and falling down, but David was out in the wild trying to survive, and he spoke out of what he'd experienced when he said to God, "You enlarged my path under me, so my feet would not slip." He knew what it was to be exposed to the elements, in danger of wild animals or of his human enemies, climbing over rocks, hiding in caves, scrambling up steep hillsides. In his situation, God was the only One he could turn to. It made me realize how dependent I am on the conveniences of my everyday life, and helped me understand better what David meant.
Today was another slow day, which I didn't mind. Staff devos were cool. Frances led it, and she and Trish wanted me to play a couple of worship songs, so I busted out my guitar and we had some worship at the end. After that I took Walk #1, and I would have done more in the linen room except that Janet wasn't back yet (she took Howard to the airport in San Diego yesterday because he had to go up to Oregon to help their daughter with some house fixups), and I needed Janet's help to go through the sheets and blankets. So I ended up helping Juanita with the lunch. We made meatloaf and boxed mashed potatoes, served with ketchup. Just like Grandma always used to do! It reminded me of Sunday night family dinner. Janet was back by the end of lunch, but she had other stuff to do so I took Walk #2 (aka Wilderness Trek) and then came back and worked on some art projects until it was time to help Frances make dinner. Quesadillas and vegetable soup . . . yummy! I had a really nice talk with Doug afterwards. We were all outside supervising the kids during their hour of playground time, and he asked me about what my typical week back home looks like, which launched an hour of conversation. I love those kinds of moments when you're either doing a job with somebody (or aren't doing a job but are stuck in one spot for a while), and you get into a nice long talk about family backgrounds, life challenges, what God's doing in your life, etc. I've learned a lot about the staff this week just from talking to them during these big blocks of time.
Here's another person for you all to meet!
RSM Staff Profile
Role at RSM: Cook
Has been here for: 9 years
Favorite thing about working here: Talking with people and getting to know them. She has done a lot of that over the years, since almost everybody who visits RSM passes through the kitchen at some point!
Fun fact: She has mad skills at recycling leftover food in another dish, whether it's meat, pasta, fruit, cheese, bread, or anything else!
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