Praises – Illinois friends doing much better, safety and protection during travels and getting stuck, John’s hearing aids arrived and working much better
Prayers – Renters still needed, continued health and strength for February volunteer work, contractor cancelled due to health problems (prayers for him and us to finish the work), Mississippi friends continued healing and physical therapy,
“Lord, there is no one like you. You are great, and your name is great and powerful. Jeremiah 10:6 New Century Version NCV
Hello to our friends, followers, and family:
Before leaving for our volunteer work in Florida there were some chilly mornings! On January 6 we lost power for about an hour in the morning with a temperature of 24 (feels like 18). There was snow on the truck and ice on our steps, and it remained cloudy and didn’t get above freezing all day. We turned up the heater in the addition for an evening swim, came back for a shower finding the gray tank was full and it was still too cold to try to open the valve. We decided Tuesday evening (7th) that we would leave on Thursday before the snow and ice came, a really good decision because Friday morning brought 6” of snow to our Mississippi home.
We were able to get a few fixes done, photos and instructions for the contractor laid out, and water shut off instructions to our renter/manager (just in case) before leaving. There were the goodbyes to our church families, prayers for our travels and our volunteer work, and a ‘men only’ farewell breakfast. We had a couple of shopping trips to pick up John’s new glasses, fill propane tanks, pay property taxes, put our mail on hold, and pay-off our short-term construction loan (good to be debt-free again). Of course, we had to say goodbye to our swimming (temperature turned down) and hot tub (drained).
On Thursday we were up, packed up, and ready to go at 9am . . . then the electric tonneau cover over the truck wouldn’t open! Eventually a friend came over and helped John get it partially disassembled and fastened for travel. Then surprise! The hitch lock bar wouldn’t go in, finally on the road at 11:30!! We stopped overnight north of Dothan, AL after dark, missed our spot, circled around and squeezed past a power pole into a pull-through site. We hooked up the electric, got somewhat leveled, and stayed warm with only our electric heaters. Travel day 2 brought a few sprinkles before we got the jacks to go in (too much slope error) with no rain the rest of the trip. We arrived around 3:15 (EST) and got stuck in the sand driveway between two trees! Not fun, but the camp had a backhoe and operator along with several spotters to get us pulled back, straightened up, then pulled forward until we reached solid ground. We treated ourselves to a great Italian supper, and Connie was able to wear sandals!
Salty Strings was busy this month. There was music for SALT, the dulcimer group practice, and dulcimers at the Natchez Trace visitor center before our travels. John was able to practice inside and outside once we arrived in Florida, and we found lots of other musicians at the camp as well. We had a potluck jam one evening with great food and 9 musicians sharing their talents. Country, folk, 60’s, hymn sing, a new mandolin player, a few original compositions, and most enjoyable, a flute and tuba playing along with many songs. So much talent and encouragement to each other.
Our volunteer work was with 4 other SOWER couples, 4 RVIC couples, and a COM couple who had our materials ready and coordinated the daily work. We met the camp director on our first tour and found there was lots of work to be done. He is a visionary and shared camp history as well as future visions. The camp hosts a community lunch the third Sunday of the month, to which we were invited, free of charge. It was great seeing many church people head to camp for their Sunday lunch, and how they appreciate and support this ministry. There were a few days we lacked direction, mostly weather related, and we were glad we didn’t have to coordinate all the volunteers.
Connie helped arrange siding and bead boards for painting, caulked nail holes, moved and stacked painted boards, walked around the camp picking up branches, prepped and painted the front of the office, painting in the men’s bathroom including cleaning the screens and trim, cleaning the staff dining area, and ended with a few hours in the kitchen. The ladies were invited to join a weekly Bible study “12 Extraordinary Women” which was uplifting and wonderful to be a part of. Connie also had our keyboard and played a song or two for most of our morning devotions.
Most of the work requested by the camp was outside, and the weather did not cooperate! Our first week was chilly, mostly overcast, a few damp drizzly mornings, but usually reached mid 60’s. The second week brought the cold wave, nothing like the north had, but COLD for Florida with a few nights below freezing and a high of 34 one day, others in the low 40’s – not good for outside cleaning or painting and Connie had to wear shoes and knee socks!! Our last week brought more sunshine, still in the 40’s overnight, but usually 60’s by afternoon.
It was a great group of guys that worked in various combinations to get a lot of camp projects completed. John was involved in running water and sewer pipe for a RV site, tearing off and rebuilding the old chapel front porch, cutting siding for the south peak, clearing the bath house for the ladies, painting trim and bead board, putting up insulation and bead board in the old chapel, and turning into marshmallow man in his Tyvek suit for some tight crawl space plumbing! His nail gun was used by many, and it was great to see the addition end of the old chapel being transformed before our eyes.
January was a great month of fellowship; having morning devotions, working alongside others, and several meals together. We got to go out to eat twice before leaving; once with a church couple, and once with fellow volunteers traveling through from Wisconsin. A local restaurant has Music Bingo on Thursday nights. We went the first time they introduced the ‘90’s Rock’ theme – definitely not fun; too loud and didn’t have a clue what they were playing but, the second theme was ‘All Together Now’ which we really enjoyed even though it was getting a bit chilly outside (imagineentertainment.biz). Only 6 winners per night and of the eight in our group, three came back with winner coupons. We had fresh baked cookies, delivered warm to our door one afternoon, what a treat. One of our pot luck meals centered on a wonderfully cooked brisket with great sides, we brought pudding cake with whip cream for the dessert.
There was lots of walking around the camp, up and down ladders, crawling around with plumbing fixes, and the ½ mile loop around the camp for exercise. Connie posted January 1-11 on the Journey Church group chat some self-examination questions, that was great sharing with each other and it kept us connected part of the month. We prepared three devotions and used our folk instruments most of those mornings. John visited the local music store with a thrift store next door, finally finding a good jacket. Connie started on our taxes and a new baby blanket (the 11th), stand by for the finish dates on these projects. We went to Friendship Bible Church our first Sunday and have continued to go there and joined Bible Study the following weeks. We have great internet here and several TV stations which allowed John to finally catch some football games. After an afternoon of looking at various displays and models, we ordered a new cover for the truck bed with a two-week delivery. We spent part of an afternoon getting the old electric cover off and the new cover came within a week of ordering. January 31 found us cleaning the rail and installing the new cover, easier than expected and we think our gas mileage has improved.
We drove to Gainesville one Friday morning to the La Chua Trailhead where we had an easy walk on board walks and trails through the Alachua Sink (prairie marsh and wetlands). Lots of herons, cormorants, other birds, and mostly big alligators sunning themselves on the opposite shore. It was great to be in the sunshine enjoying the fresh air and huge mossy trees. Another Friday we went thrift store shopping in Keystone Heights, then on to Waldo to a huge flea market where we found some clothes and stained-glass ideas followed by a great lunch at the Classic Café (a lonely date ‘night’). At our camp site we’ve enjoyed the squirrels right outside our window, one enjoying TV with his evening meal, burying acorns (and digging them up a few days later), we hear sandhill cranes, spotted an eagle soaring overhead, and a huge reddish gold hawk (Red-shouldered hawk?) has landed a few times on a nearby water spigot post. We had a visit from a big pileated woodpecker before leaving Mississippi.
Thoughts for the Month:
Irish theologian Frederick Whitfield said, “God’s way of answering His people’s prayers is not by removing the pressure, but by increasing their strength to bear it.”
Pastor and missions director Bruce Howell reminds us: that you are not what you used to be, you are not what you ought to be, and you are not what you hope to be, but who you are is according to your reliance upon the grace of God in your life.
Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!
John and Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry
Contact Information:
Mail: John & Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry
30A Hwy 367
Burnsville, MS 38833
Phone – John 909-336-8910 or Connie 909-336-8912
Email – SaltyStrings@hotmail.com
Facebook – Salty Strings Music Ministry
Web site – SaltyStrings.com
ONLINE DONATIONS via PayPal through our web site
TRAVEL PLANS AND UPCOMING LOCATIONS
- January 12-March 6, 2025 – SOWER Project, Melrose, Florida
- March 7-8 Traveling, Mississippi home base likely for a few months