Practicing the Presence thought-of-the-day (TotD)

I started reading "The Practice of the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence a couple weeks ago during my devos. This excerpt is brought to you from today's reading, and comes with a high recommendation for repeated reading for comprehension.

"That many do not advance in the Christian progress because they stick in penances and particular exercises, while they neglect the love of God, which is the end. That this appeared plainly by their works, and was the reason why we see no little solid virtue.

That there needed neither art nor science for going to God, but only a heart resolutely determined to apply itself to nothing but Him, or for His sake, and to love Him only."

~Third Conversation, Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence

Don't know what day & Week #10

And thus begins week #10 of summer camp. 850 campers this week, so 50 fewer than last week.
For lunch today, my crew managed to pull off a conference-level meal on schedule for about 350 people! You guys (and gal) rock!
Lunch consisted of chicken oscar, cheese tortellini in red sauce, shrimp scampi, and broccolini. For your recipe book, here's how I made the tortellini.


Cheese Tortellini in Red Sauce

Start water boiling for tortellini before preparing sauce. Make the red sauce however you'd like or use prefab. Make about 1qt of sauce per 10lbs of tortellini. In a frying pan saute sliced bellpeppers and red onions (and mushrooms if desired) until onions are nearly transparent, adding chopped garlic during the last two minutes of cooking; set pan aside for the moment. By now your water should be boiling, so dump the tortellini in and let it cook. When the tortellini float, they're done. Drain and return to pan, tossing with olive oil. Mix tortellini with sauce, 1.5c powdered Parmesan cheese per 10lbs tortellini, sauted veggies from a moment ago, whole olives (half drained), artichoke hearts (half drained), and/or fresh diced tomatoes. Season with salt, black pepper, basil, oregano, and crushed red peppers, all to taste. Serve and garnish with grated Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley.

Church Music & the David Crowder Band

I just received a confirmation email for the highlight of my summer: David Crowder Band's new release, Church Music, is available for preorder via their website at http://www.davidcrowderband.com/ !!!!!!!!! I've been waiting for this since I found out they were in the studio again this spring. True, the album doesn't release until September 22nd, but it's finally within sight⁄! Go preorder your copy right now!

Hot Water Is Restored

A couple days ago when I went to shower off all the food from that day's work, I discovered there was no hot water left. Thinking the roomie had somehow used it all, I took a very fast shower and proceeded on with my life. The next day, however, the same problem presented itself. I showered quickly again, thinking the roomie was trying a new schedule, and since the weather was hot it wasn't really a problem. By the third day, I was beginning to miss my hot water, so I went out back and checked the water heater, but couldn't see anything. So I followed the 6,428 steps for relighting the pilot light, and when I turned the gas back to "on", behold! Blue flames ignited with a passion beneath my water heater! I returned to the house and soon had a hot shower, and have had one every day since!
The End

A Bearpaw, four of them

Yesterday morning (Sunday) I worked breakfast. That means I got to get up at 4:50 in the morning so I could be at work by 5:30. It also means I got to sleep in a half hour and that there was enough light to see the road without using a flashlight as I cycled to work.
The night before, I saw on facebook that two other food service members were going to try and find a bear that night. After four or five years, the bears are finally starting to return to Hume, and the native Hume residents are taking advantage of that to catch a sight of them. They usually like to hang out around the trash compactors, oddly enough, sitting around and sharing laughs over dinner leftovers (the bears do, not the Hume staff).
In the morning when I woke up, I saw last night's bear hunt had been successful. I updated my facebook status to something about going bear hunting myself that night, and I proceeded to work. The ride was uneventful, allbeit cold. My usual parking slot for my bike was open, but then again, at 5:20 in the morning, so was the whole bike rack. I head to the kitchen, starting to work through everything I needed to do for breakfast. As I'm passing the clothing company building, I hear a poking around in a trash can from down the side of the building. It wasn't the typical rustling racoons make, it was like the big paw of a big animal. I turned the corner and saw the behind of a black bear scurrying away up the stairs, leaving behind his trash mess (typical.). A moment later I saw him running away up the hill. All the same, I made it to the kitchen door faster than I make it out on my Friday night.

Skeleton Saturday & A Fitting End to a Crazy Week

Every week, after all the campers are gone, Hume Lake staff breathe a sigh of relief. Another crazy week is over, and there are about 24 hours before we start over again. Many people go swimming, play volleyball, or just lay by the lake to relax. But not Pondy kitchen. We play a song from this year's winter camp band, 1000 Generations, called "Skeletons Dance", and do... well, the video will do it justice.

There are some things money can't buy; for everything else..-