The first to arrive on Saturday morning was the kitchen staff, an hour before sunrise. There’s nothing quite like the smell of fresh roasted Turkey and baked apple pie while watching the sun shimmer over Still Waters. It was a cold but fresh and enlivening fall morning, and soon the Still Waters Welcome Center was teaming with lively youth. The final touches were being put in place before our guests would arrive at noon.
Giving Thanks had a nice change of view this year for our faithful elders. The longer drive to Still Waters was well worth the time to enjoy the beautiful, fall view of the Lake that most of them had never seen before. The ground crew spent many hours removing leaves and preparing the property so that everything would look perfect, while a hard-working crew was engaged in decorating the Welcome Center for a beautiful Thanksgiving event. The Lord gave us the perfect day to enjoy it!
With the sun shining, the temperature warming, and the food hot, it was time for our guest to arrive. They were greeted at the Welcome Center doors by our MC brothers and the welcoming smiles of the younger sisters. The atmosphere was warm and cozy inside as they mingled and found their seats.
The MC’s welcomed the veteran soldiers to Still Waters, and then went right in to camp mode. “We want you to have the true SW experience, so we brought the Still Waters song leader to teach you some camp songs!”
Brother William started off with a few warm-up songs before pulling out one of the all-time camp favorites, “Jesus Love Is Bubbling Over.” He called all the young soldiers to join him up front to help teach the elders the song. As you know, it’s a very lively song, so it was the perfect time to break any awkward silence, and to build up an appetite for the tasty smelling food!
Brother Billy Paul was then invited to offer the blessing over the food, but not before calling Brother Joseph to stand by his side. Arm in arm, the blessing was offered and the Holy Spirit was welcomed to be in our midst.
Time for food, and a little fun! The server sisters starting dismissing the tables, but it didn’t take long before the microphone ended up in Brother Joseph’s hand. He always likes to have a little fun with the campers when it comes time to dismiss the tables for food, and the elders were no exception. As you can see from the pictures, it was great time of fun and laughter.
Throughout the afternoon, the elders also had a special little treat. Many of the youth carry a wonderful talent for music, and it was arranged for different groups to play background music throughout the event. It created a pleasant atmosphere and a conversation piece.
After enjoying their delicious meal, we played a few testimonial videos for the elders from this years Still Waters camps. Then it was time for the most delicious pies you could lay eyes on and stick in your mouth! Hot coffee and Thanksgiving pies were sliced up by the older sisters and served by the younger sisters. It was a real gastronomical jubilee, to say the least!
Before it was time to part for the afternoon, Brother Joseph spoke a few encouraging words to the elders about “heroes” and “unity”. The event was truly a time where God’s heroes were gathered together from all walks of life, in Christian unity, around the one thing we all have in common; the WORD. It was a blessing for us to honor and serve them once again as dear soldiers of the Cross.
As each one exited the Welcome Center, we left them with a special gift to take home; a mini cutting board from Creations woodshop with a tasty pumpkin bread on top, made with love.