Est. 2008

Welcome to our online Lodge! If you can't stop by in person to visit us, then check back here for a chance to "catch up" in our online Lodge! We'll share current happenings, prayer requests and other events here at the Lodge! Thanks for stopping by and y'all come back now!

Friday, September 27, 2013

Lessons from God's Handiwork

As some of you may have seen on our Facebook earlier this week, we happened upon an underground yellow jacket nest.

I thought about titling this post "Lessons learned from Montana" but in all reality this was too great of an event to not see how God can be seen through this adventure of sorts.

We (our family) and another staff member decided to take a drive over to Siegel Creek - just down from the camp- and walk down by the creek. We parked our vehicles and got the kids ready and we headed down to the Creek to check things out there. Ivana was in the back carrier and the older two were on foot like the rest of us. Oh! do the kids ever love to "hike" around here! Ruger was keeping up with the men and Evelyn was doing well but kept tripping over some random stones (which we don't really have in Wisconsin) so Krystle was
helping her and lagging behind a bit. A "bee" got on Evelyn's Columbia fleece jacket and stung her hand so Krystle stopped and tried getting it off of her when she looked down and noticed the ground moving beneath them and had about 50 "bee's" stuck on her pants legs by her shoes. We all took off running towards the creek. Eric looked back and noticed there was at least 500 of the "bee's" swarming over the spot where Krystle and Evelyn were standing. After all is said and done everyone had at least one sting.

The tally was as follows:
Krystle: 13
Eric:10
Evelyn:6
Ruger:5 or 6
Ivana:1

Praise the Lord none of us were allergic! Some made their way through the woods on our clothes and we had a few stragglers still swarming our car the following day.

The lesson we learned (mostly Krystle though) was that fleece has no business in the woods. Had we not been wearing fleece we probably would not have gotten stung so many times. Eric was not wearing fleece and only got stung trying to help out the children from getting stung. Evelyn, Ruger and Krystle were all wearing fleece, which the yellow jackets legs really got glued into. Even after washing the clothes we had to pick out some yellow jacket remains. Performance fleece is great for working out or casual shopping but not for wearing into the great outdoors!

The "Lessons from God's Handiwork" is really quite interesting. Those yellow jackets are annoying when it is just one. You get stung, kill it and move on. When it is a whole hive of them the situation is totally different! They join together, fight to protect and they just do not stop! 

We were thinking that is (minus the aggressive part) how the church ought to be. Sticking together as a hive. Working in unison towards a common goal.

 In Matthew 12 God's Word talks about how a house divided cannot stand.
James 1:27 instructs the church to look after the widows and the orphans.
John 13:34 is a command to love one another as Christ loves us!
Ephesians 5:2 says to walk in love as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us as a sacrifice! Galatians 6:10 instructs us to do good to all when we have the opportunity- especially those in the body of Christ! Hebrews 10: 24-25 instructs us to think of how we can encourage each other to love and help others and also to meet together in fellowship. Don't stop meeting with others in the body of Christ!
Matthew 18:20 says that where 2-3 gather in His name God is there with us!

We, as the body of Christ need to continue to stand together. Encourage one another. Help each other. Love each other.

God is awesome. His glory far surpasses all that He has created yet there are so many intricate details in His creation one could never get bored seeing all that He has made. Let us keep in the Word daily, be renewed in our minds, encouraged and then sharing that with other believers around us!

So the lessons from God's Handiwork in summary is to be in fellowship with other believers, encouraging them, loving them, helping them and being renewed by being in fellowship with God daily ourselves!

~Eric & Krystle Townsend and Family~

*Stay tuned for another photo post coming!*

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Sanders County Montana

Well, we have made it out to Montana and have been seeking out housing! House searching is hard, rent or for sale! We do know that God will lead us to the right one in His perfect timing! We are scheduled to look at 2 houses for sure this week, possibly a third also.

We found out that Sanders County is the poorest county in Montana. That is including all the reservation land also! The man we talked to back in June called this area "Poverty with a view". I guess he was not exaggerating!

We have been getting to know the area better, housing and neighborhood wise at least! Plus we have been meeting lots of local people and there sure is a variety of people out here!

Ruger and Ivana have gotten over their sinus issues and Evelyn is almost better! Krystle got a bad eye infection and by Sunday morning her eye was really swollen so we went to the walk-in clinic in Billings and found out that it was not pink-eye like we thought! Turned out to be cellulitis and an infection in the skin around her eye. The Doctor gave her 3 prescriptions and that is finally getting better almost a week after. Praise the Lord we went in when we did so it could heal up faster! Unfortunately everything was out of pocket and the prescriptions alone were $70 and the bill is almost $300 for just a walk in clinic! Thankfully we don't have to pay all that up front!

Some specific ways to pray for us would be that God will lead us to the right house quickly so we can empty our storage unit. Also for good health, safety as we search for housing and also while we continue to raise support out here.

We plan on coming back to WI the end of the month to collect the rest of our things, say goodbye to family and friends and finish moving into our house. God is good and we are so thankful to have you all supporting us!!! God bless you and hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Eric, Krystle & Family