Jesse and April Schutt

Zucchini anyone?

2008-08-20T13:16:38Z

Yesterday I went out to our garden to see if I needed to pick any zucchini. Well I sure found a lot and one was a giant that I had been missing every other time I went to look because it was on the very bottom hidden under a bunch of leaves.

Lauren thought they were fun and she was using them as a phone! The biggest zucchini was just about the size of her and it made me laugh.

Here are a few pictures…

Oak Forest Center Workday

2008-08-14T16:45:40Z

One of the nice things about working at Camp is that we have a tremendous variety in our “responsibilities”. Yesterday I went to Oak Forest Center and helped hang drywall in the new lodging units.

Currently there is no overnight lodging at this facility. The plan is to have the motel units ready for use by the middle of this fall.

Our first egg

2008-08-14T13:54:22Z

From little chicks to layers, I found our very first egg this morning! Yea I am so excited. It was a pretty small one but I am sure they will get bigger. I handed it to Lauren to take a picture and she said “ball” and then threw it on the ground. So we were not able to enjoy our first egg and now I know that Lauren is still to little to hold one but I still managed to get a picture of it before it broke. Hooray for chickens. Yea.

Wood Weekend

2008-08-13T13:52:00Z

This weekend was such a blessing for Jesse and I. On Friday night his whole family came to help us cut firewood for the winter. Bright and early Saturday morning everyone got up and headed out to the woods to get some wood. Two days and five truck and trailer loads later and we definitely have enough fire wood to last us the winter. Thank you so much everyone for helping make a “chore” a lot of fun. We love you all and greatly appreciate every one of you!

This picture was taken before two more loads came in so there is even MORE wood in our yard than you see here!

Katelyn always looks so cute even when she is splitting wood!

This is Levi after he cut a huge hole in our foundation. Boy we must really trust him. This will help tremendously giving us a shoot to throw the wood down into the basement.

Thought this was funny. Joleigh and Levi brought one of their great dane puppies. She is only 9 months old and is already 100 pounds! For those of you that know Asher (the middle dog) he is already a middle sized dog weighing about 45 pounds, but Yuna (the great dane) makes Asher look tiny!

To Sum it Up

2008-07-28T02:50:00Z

To sum up the past eight weeks into one post is going to be a considerable challenge! God has done many wonderful things in our lives and through the ministry of Camp Forest Springs. I would like to try and tell you about some of the highlights.

The summer began with a bang as we celebrated Camp’s 50th Anniversary during our Memorial Day Family Weekend. We enjoyed reflecting on how God has brought us through many difficult times, given fruit to our efforts, and taught us more about Himself.

Soon after the celebration, Camp filled up with summer staff, for their time of training, as well as a whole lot of short, squatty wrestlers for Camp of Champs! (no offense intended regarding their physical stature )

Then, in the middle of June, our 26 counselors greeted nearly 200 children for the first of five Summer Youth Camps. I was privileged to be able to follow these campers closely throughout the weeks as I put together their follow up DVD’s. Many kids made significant decisions regarding their relationship with Jesus Christ. When all was said and done, the Gospel was preached to nearly 1000 campers, and over 90 of them placed their faith in Christ!

Four years ago this camper learned that we shared the same name. Each year when Jesse returns as a youth camper, we make it a priority to get our picture taken together.

At the end of each camp, I set aside some time to do video interviews with several campers about their experience at Camp Forest Springs. It was great to hear how many kids said that CFS was the place that they heard about Jesus and trusted in Him for their salvation. One camper shared how he placed his trust in Jesus while at camp and that when he went back home, he told his family about Jesus and they all trusted in Jesus together! What an awesome thing to be a part of!

Youth Camps is by far my busiest time of the entire year. At certain times during the seven weeks, I almost forget that there is life outside of camp! Many thanks to April for holding down the fort at home, and to Lauren for being patient with her daddy being gone so much. Now that we are into Family Camps, my schedule will level out a bit. I will be transitioning into more office work while at the same time being available to help out with the Family Camp program schedule. Pictures and video still need to be taken for general camp promotion, so I won’t totally be an office hermit!

My little sister Katelyn was able to be a counselor

Danielle (Another of my wonderful sisters!) was the Senior Counselor along with Andrew Kling

I hope to post some of the videos from the summer as well as some of the testimonies that we gathered over the past several weeks. So please check back if you’d like to see them.

Here are some more links of interest from Summer Youth Camps 2008!