Black (Coffee) Friday

Greetings To All:
Merry Christmas, and a belated Happy Thanksgiving! 'Tis the season for busyness and stress, right? For all of our sakes, I hope not. Usually the reason this blog isn't updated is because we've been busy. But where does the time go? All of our time probably goes to the same place, wherever that may be. What have we been up to? The Ropes season has ended. On Oct. 31 we hosted our last group of the season. The work didn't stop there. All of the belay ropes, helmets, caribiners, and other easily removeable equipment had to be stored for the off season. Once that was fiinished, Jeff, a friend of his, and I built a brand new deck here on base. It's more than just a deck, it's a place for people to mingle and mix and be. It's a piazza. (Can anyone tell me what movie that description of a piazza is from?) There was a deck in the same location previously; it spanned part of the way over the creek that flows through our base. It was old, so it was torn down before some one fell through it. Now, it is bigger and better and with a fence extending out from each side of the deck so the little children have a significantly less chance of tumbling down into the creek while playing in that yard. I will try to include a picture of it with this entry soon.
Other than that, I have helped load Christmas trees onto a semi for our friends who live just west of Salem. Some of you might know them: Brenda and Tony Kaufman (The Brew founders.) There are a couple of more semis to load in the near future, and I hope to help with that. While we were at their place waiting to load a truck this past Wednesday we stayed the night and had Thanksgiving with them. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with them. We also took an updated family picture in their front yard, and that picture will also be included with this blog at some point. Beginning this past Monday the Hershberger Family is officially on vacation. Every one of our staff has vacation time. We are unable to use ours during the Ropes season, so we are using ours now. This time is very valuable to us because we have needed some "down" time. Oh, part of this "down" time has been spent moving. That's right, we've moved! Well, we're still on base. A larger home recently opened up, and the powers-that-be offered it to us. Now, Dakota has her own room (painted green at her request) and so will the baby (painted brown at our desire.) We painted our room a deep red. New windows also got installed right before we moved in. This isn't a sprawling mansion, but it sure feels like it compared to where we were living. It's actually an old trailer home. Yup, we're in the trailer park now. The unit came complete with a nonoperating vehicle sitting out front (no joke.) However, we are all truly excited to have this change of living quarters and will enjoy our time in this new home. "Home" is wherever we make it out to be, right?
Kathy and I also baked each of our first turkey EVER last night. It turned out really well. We'll have leftovers in the freezer for a while, but that was the plan. Also on the Holiday Food line I will be baking 5 cheesecakes for a fundraising bake sale for one of the ministries associated with this base. Sorry, I don't think they are shipping them; you must be present to buy. Who knows what other holiday goodies will come from our home this year.
I had another new experience this Black Friday morning. That's right, I did it. I went during the biggest shopping day of the year. Target was my target. Our camera has now passed on, so we wanted to take advantage of a great deal. And since Target was offering, who are we to deny their enjoyment of selling a digital camera for $50 less than retail price? What time did I awake? 3:00 a.m. What time did the store open? 5:00 a.m. How long did I wait in line? 1.5 hours. How long was I in the store? 20 minutes. I got the bargain and was outta there. Would I do it again? It would have to be a really really really good bargain.
Standing in line and looking at all of the people leafing through their circulars gave me a strange thought. Here we were up before we cared to be, waiting and hoping to get a good deal on something that will be outdated or broken in a matter of months, and most people will do it year after year because the general rule is: if something is worth having, it's gotta cost some money, and no one should have to pay full price. What if something was totally, everyday free? What if some one else would come and pay the full price for it and then have it available for everyone? People are paying a lot of money in order to improve their relationships with other people by buying the latest IPhone to keep in touch, or the HD TV so they can then have more people over, or the newest toy for their child so the child will feel loved by them. What about the relationship with God that is ready for us? All we have to do is accept it and step into it. "Oh, but we are sinners. God doesn't want us if we are sinners." Well, He took care of that. Jesus is our payment. It doesn't cost anything for us to say, "Yes, I'll take that." And then to have a wonderful, true, loving, never-ending relationship with Some One who will never leave us is the most priceless deal of all time.
Isn't it ironic that Jesus paid the full price on the day we celebrate as Good Friday during the Easter season, and we look for the best discount price on a day we call Black Friday during the Christmas season. It seems like every day since the original Good Friday should be called Free Friday, because since that time the human race has no longer had to pay ANYTHING to have the ultimate relationship.
Thank you for keeping up with us. I do apologize for not doing better updating this blog. Please look for an actual newsletter in the near future. Some will be by email, and some will be by regular mail. I don't know which one you will get because I can't see who you are. Oh, and since we have a new camera, there will be some pictures added to this entry in the near future. If we think of some other exciting things to share with you, we will do so. Until then, share some of your exciting things with us, please.
God's Blessings To You,
Carson, Kathleen, Dakota, Baby