A very small piece of paper was stuck in the door jamb of our coach the other day. On it were several items that were available, free of charge to the 500 residents of this state park. Listed were a free pancake breakfast, a free RV wash and several other items. I originally didn't pay much attention to it but Sharon mentioned it again so we stopped at the registration office to find out what was going on. As luck would have, several other folks had asked the same question but none of the office help seemed to know anything about it. I persisted with one of the clerks and she finally agreed to make a phone call to a supervisor to get the details. She made the call and found out that a group of young Baptist college students were spending their Spring Break helping out travellers at this RV park. I asked the clerk to get out a note pad and start a list as I thought getting my dirty coach cleaned was a swell idea. Though the cost was free, I knew I could make a donation to help their efforts.
A van pulled up to our site promptly at 8:30am this morning and out piled 5 kids ready to tackle washing my coach. I quickly learned that this was their first wash job and none of them had ever washed an RV before and ... I was the first of 20 they had scheduled today. The supervisor dumped a pile of hoses, buckets and brushes out the back of the van .. gave a few instructions ... asked if I would be staying outside with them (yes ... of course, I said) and off he went to get another crew started. I helped them get my ladder out, extra hose nozzle, and towels and they went after that dirty old bus like a swarm of bees in a clover patch. Water was being sprayed everywhere, soap suds were oozing from every corner, and most of all the kids were having a good time and actually doing a pretty good job.
After about an hour they finished up their work and wanted to know if I was pleased with the job they had done. I said I was most definitely happy but wanted to make a donation to their organization for the fine work they had done. Very firmly and without a waver, they all said no ... we are doing this because they wanted to do something for others on their time off from college. Money was not why they were doing this, they said. I again pressed the offer of a donation and they again said we will not accept any. In a few moments their supervisor drove up and gathered all the kids around and asked me if there was anything that they could pray with me about. Completely caught off guard and more than a little embarrassed, I muttered some not-so-clever thing about world peace ... they said they would pray... then moved off to their next rig to wash. They were all probably wondering if I was off my meds or in the sauce after my little request, but thinking fast on my feet ... or doing anything fast is but a distant memory.
We've been blessed with many good things in our lives but this little gesture of kindness from this unknown group of young Baptist college students was very special and very thoughtful. It made our day.
My thanks to Caleb, Chris, Hannah, Everett, and Casey from Barefoot Ministries. (www.barefootministries.com)
Here's some real teamwork going on.
Incidentally readers... this is my 300th blog entry. Thanks for staying with me for these past 7 years.
So another day on the retirement trail and still livin' the dream.
Phil
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