New Play Systems

Look what has shown up in the last week…

Two swing sets were donated to our playground…

This is the first set getting put together. This has been a very long process and so that you appreciate our play systems even more I’m going to share their little story with you.

Once upon a time… all good stories start there right? Once upon a time I was asked to do a little research on finding what might be a good swing set to add to our playground. I got online and started ordering all sorts of catalogs. As they began to arrive it became very clear that these wooden structures were not really in our budget. Well some were but for the sort of traffic we would put on a church swing set the kind that fit our budget would only last us a few years at the most. Not just that but because we would have children over the age of 8-10 years on them most companies would not honor the warranty. I started praying and doing a lot of research and discovered a company in Ocala called Rainbow Play Systems. I was already excited because that means we are dealing with a “local” company, so that if there were any problems they could always send some one over to fix it. Another reason I started liking this brand was that they use 100 percent untreated redwood. Untreated was really important because that means no chemicals, and that’s always something I like when kids are involved. Another plus is that there is no weigh limit, that means… adults can use the swings too! I called the Ocala location and got connected with their sales representative. It became clear very early in our conversation that he wanted me to buy a swing set that was way out of the budget I was given. I told him I would hopefully be in touch soon, but in my head I was thinking I had hit a dead-end.

I started praying and obsessing and worrying and then praying again, and a month went by and I did nothing. Honestly I didn’t know what to do. It was clear in my mind that the safest and best play system was Rainbow but the reality was that we just didn’t have the budget for it yet. One Sunday as I was looking through the Rainbow Play System’s catalog at the Welcome Station a parent came up to me and I started telling her about how we were looking for a swing set. Then what happened next was… well, it was God answering our prayers, and meeting me with an even better option that I had been trying to figure out. The mother said, “Oh is that a Rainbow catalog? We have a Rainbow that I think we are done with and would love to give it to the church.” Not just any swing set but the brand that I had felt was the best option for our situation (i.e. lots of kids of all ages).

Just wait, God gets an even better idea.

I called to check on the donation and make sure every member of the family was really ready to get rid of the swing set and yes we were ready, and oh “I have a friend who also has a Rainbow and wants to give it to you too.”

See I told you it gets better! Through two families who were generous with their loved swing sets God was bringing us two play systems, one for the little kids and one for the big kids. Now we could have two different class rooms outside at the same time. I had never even had that as a dream, I had never even had that as a thought. I was only asking for one, and He provided two!

Now the actual work began. We had to line up Safety Inspections of each set and then order some new parts. Once those were finished we had to wait on the new lumber to get delivered and then finally after that the Ocala location send up someone to take apart the two sets and bring them to our property and then set them up. I imagined a whole team of men arriving to put them together, but no one guy did the both of them alone. Mike the Ocala Rainbow guy we give you a huge pat on the back, its amazing you did all that work by yourself. We are also thankful to the Ocala store because they were helpful in arranging a complex system of two system owners, a soon to be owner (CCC), their sales rep., the set up guy, the business manager, our business manager, and a really hot two days of tearing down and setting up.

We are so thankful to the two families who gave without asking for anything, and were so helpful in the the ordering of new parts and the transition of the systems. Thank you thank you thank you. And thank you for letting God use you.

And finally thank you to everyone who knew what was going on and had to have a lot of patience with me. This was my first time to pull of such a huge job, and everyone was so patient with me and let me fumble my way through and gave me grace when I made mistakes.

And finally thanks to God for bringing us two beautiful swing sets that the children of CCC can use for years and years to come.

Our next phase is to create shade, but that’s another story yet to be born.