nail guns are fun

Week 4 of the summer, and week 1 of Bowling Green is down, 2 more camp weeks. Going into this week i was nervous. we were expecting about 180 kids, which is alot. roofing sites would have atleast 20 kids, which is a bit ridiculous. with that many kids, its hard to keep an eye on all of them and make sure they dont break anything, much less keep them busy roofing. luckily on my week off, i talked to whitney, and the told me that a youth group canceled, leaving us with about 140 kids. while 140 is still alot, its much, much more manageable than 180.
This weeks roof was the biggest roof ive had all summer, 22 square. While its not a huge roof, its still a good sized roof. I had 15 campers, 5 of them which were not allowed on the roof. This left me with a bit smaller crew than i would have liked to have, but still worked. I had a very hard time finding jobs for my ground crew (the 5 kids that werent allowed on the roof). typically, when there wasnt any work to do, the ground crew would start cleaning up the yard, and doing any work around the house that needed to be done. our homeowner, a korean guy with three kids, living by himself, kept a spotless yard, they definitly had some down time. The roof was a typical project, had many boards that needed to be replaced, but nothing too crazy, Todd did give me a hard time about always having to call him and tell him that i needed more wood. It was a hip roof, which adds a little bit of difficulty to the roof, but not too much. My kids were great, they all pretty much worked really hard, and did a great job. i was very pleased. we did encounter one hiccup this week. wednesday we got rained out. it rained all morning on wednesday, which means we cant do any work on the roof. this was really bad, especially considering three of our roofing sites were behind. one site was having nail trouble, the roofing nails were staying in the boards, while the nails securing the sheeting kept on pulling up, which the exact opposite of whats suposed to happen. another site had some very serious structural issues. the sheeting was incredibly weak & the front porch actually started to fall off the house, the porch had to be resupported which took precious time. the third site was the worst, they had a 7 layer tear off, meaning there were 7 layers of shingles that had to be torn off of the roof, and under that, there were cedar shingles, there was no sheeting under the cedar shingles, so the roof required a complete resheeting. it quickly turned into a two week project. thursday morning the shingle fairies came to my site so we could get ahead and then help another site out. we were finished by lunchtime friday, and then went to Melissa's site to help her finish. her site was the one that had the porch almost collapse. my crew jumped right on it when we got there, and helped to finish their site in a couple of hours. after that i went and picked up a few trailers so they could be dropped off for next weeks assignments. then i went to hatfields roof. hers was the one with nail issues. here, i got use my first nail gun, and man are they fun. it was almost 4 by the time i got to her site (my crew stayed at the church and hung out) todd and i hooked up the airhoses and the guns, and got to shooting. we had three nail guns going (a kho staff running each one), while the kids passed out and lined up shingles. it was so fast! its amazing how much faster shooting a roof is that nailing it. not to mention how much more fun it is to shoot than nail :) friday was definitly a long, busy day, but a fun one none the less.

we had atleast 5 professions of faith this week, all 5 of those from one church, so theres no telling how many there were in other churches. its an incredible blessing to see the Lord working in youths lives, i just hope it lasts and its not just a camp thing. it was also a tremendous blessing to see how apprecitative my crew, especially the chaperones, were of what the staff was doing, and especially my homeowner this week. everyday we worked, he either cooked or bought us lunch, it was an increidlbe change from the usual ham and cheese sandwich. in regard to my homeowner this week, the most amazing blessing of all was the fact that hes going to start going to church, possibly join the church we are staying at, i was also able to buy him a bible, which i hope he appreciated. another cool story, wednesday, about half the staff went to steak and shake for lunch, when we got there, there was a man in military uniform, i cant remember which branch, eating by himself. i just felt like i should buy his lunch, i dont have a clue why i felt like that, just felt like itd be good to show some appreciation. it was good to see how a small gesture really meant alot. bottom line ive really gotten my socks blessed off this week in so many ways. its awesome being here and seeing how God is working.

only two more camp weeks, and then one closing week. even though i love everything thats going on here, im ready to see everyone again.

weve already seen the packets for our jobs next week and mines going to be a fun one. its a really small roof (only 8 square) but its a 5 or 6 layer tear off, and then it will most likey have to be completely resheeted, always a fun time.
im really looking forward to next week, but im not too pumped about only getting only a half day off today, also brian, our camp pastor was let go today. definitly bummed out the staff. they didnt really explain why they let him go, just that they needed to. other than that, its been a great birthday, but its really sad to see him go.