a little of life after camp

After a very full summer, I have been soaking up the relaxation this week brought about.  I won't bore you with all the laundry details, but I am so thankful that every time I came home, I came home to a clean house.  Jonah and Noah (and Todd) did a great job of keeping up the house stuff while I was away, and I came home to beds that were made and clean floors.

That does my heart good, y'all.  I love coming home to a clean house.

Here's what's been going on since Saturday.

Todd worked that night, but the boys and I went to some friends' house for a little Navajo mini-reunion.

Marissa and her mom Belinda and brother, Cole, were all in town for a wedding, and we took advantage of her time her and planned this night.  I love this family so much!

I love Noah in the background, too.

We spent Sunday at church, then went out for lunch, then to Rack Room to buy new shoes for the boys.  After that the older two had to come home and pack up for half a week away at kids camp.

My friend Mary took this picture, but I couldn't find one of Drew.  This is their fifth year to go as counselors.  It looks like it's been a great week, and our new young families pastor has outdone himself.

I've been having really great quiet times each morning.  I love my journal that you see in this picture, and I love my bible that my dad and stepmom bought me for Christmas last year.

More than that, I love the word of God.  I am so thankful that I have it to live by.

I made a grocery trip and got some things.  My lunch this week has been cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches on pumpernickel bread.  They are so good and light, which is good, since it's eight hundred and thirty six degrees here all week.

I have been reading this book and am almost finished with it.  I have three chapters to go, then I might pick it up and read it again in the coming months.  It's all about relationships we as women have with other women.  Mentoring and discipleship are always on my brain, and this is a book all about how to go about that.  It is so good!  You should read it for yourself.

After my quiet time each morning, I've made myself breakfast (rye toast and orange juice) and gotten started with my bible study homework.  I'm studying the fruits of the Spirit, and the week I just finished was on joy.  I can't wait for next week, when it's on peace.

I've gotten out a time or two each day and then come home and put pajama's back on.  Apparently, I don't love regular clothes when it's a thousand degrees outside and prefer light and airy pj's.  On Monday, Jonah, Noah and I rented a couple movies~The Good Dinosaur and Kung Fu Panda 3.  I've read and read some more.  I've caught up on my favorite blogs.  And today, we are going to my mom's house for lunch.  This afternoon my older boys come home!  I'll meet them at church around dinner time.

Love to all!  Don't die in the heat.

High School Beach Camp

This summer has been such great fun!  Full of trips and ministry projects and new things, and I am so thankful to God for all that He has allowed me to do.  Also, I have the GREATEST family and friends in all of the land.  All glory to God for them, too, because only He knows how long I prayed for them.
This was my last trip before school starts (Notice I didn't say "last trip of the summer", because we go on our family vacation at the end of August!) and it was a grand time.  This was also my first time to Daytona Beach, Florida, and one thing I never got used to was seeing cars drive on the beach.  Seriously.  People would drive in the sand, park and lay out beside their parked cars.  Crazy!

It was a LOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGG drive there.

Missy and I were bus buddies and this was us before the misery of the seat situation and the seat belt sunk in.  I finally gave in and laid down on the actual floor of the bus and slept a good portion of the night.  I am too old for that, but I sure did sleep decently.  Missy, on the other hand, not so much.

We arrived at one thirty, had lunch, then everyone had free time while Missy and I picked up a rental car and groceries for the week at Sam's.  We got back and unloaded, left to get dinner and then went to the service.

DAVID PLATT WAS OUR SPEAKER.  He was every bit as amazing as you would assume.

After the service that night, we had small group time with our groups of students, and I had "my" girls, the ones who will be seniors in three short weeks.

This one and myself were roommates and shared a bed all week.  Thankfully, we were so exhausted each day that we didn't bother one another.

The next morning, we got up early for quiet time and breakfast, then headed to the convention center for morning worship.  We got to drive the rental car all week because we were in charge of all the food throughout the week.  We had to leave early to go meet the lady who was delivering lunch that day, then we ate, had small group time, then free time every day was from one to five thirty, when we would eat dinner.

The girls stayed on the beach, and I went out there a few times (three), then pretty much planted myself in the pool.

Worship each night was amazing!

On Tuesday and Thursday nights, the only place that would hold us all was our hallway.  There were thirty thousand extra people in the city of Daytona Beach last week, and a few of those thousands were in our hotel.

We played on the beach Tuesday and Thursday nights.

More worship service before pictures....

Where we ate all our meals outside.

Where I enjoyed quiet time every day.

We went out on the beach Thursday morning at seven thirty for group pictures.  I love these ladies and students so much!  I am so thankful that I get to serve alongside them all.  It's a joy and a privilege, also, to be able to pour into these students.  I love them all like they're my own, and I feel that we all came away from camp closer to God and to one another.

No words.  Just love for this one.  We were hot and sweaty.

Last night of worship and more sweet students.

And then, the bus ride home began bright and early Friday morning.  I slept the entire bus ride.  I'd wake up and get off, then fall right back to sleep.  Thank goodness for that, because that kept me from being so tired over the weekend.

Thanks for reading.  Love to all!

hope

Hope.  It's a word that I love.  "A feeling of expectation or desire for a certain thing to happen.  A feeling of trust."

I do not have hope in this crazy world that we live in, or in this country, and sadly, I do not have hope in people.  Especially because the bible tells us in Jeremiah 17:9 that our hearts are desperately wicked.  Yours, mine, all hearts are this way.  

I always say to my sons about all of us, that we are wretched sinners.  There is nothing good that is in us.  But Jesus.  Because of the relationship with Him that I (they, you) have, His Holy Spirit is now abiding in me, and THAT is the only thing that is good about me.  It's not me, it's not what I've done, or what I plan on doing, it's not how I think, it's all HIM.  

And THAT is what and who my hope is in.  Jesus Christ.  

I know that this world that we live in is fallen.  It's crooked and depraved and it's only going to get worse, never better.  

But one day, and we don't know when, the Son of God is going to return for those who love and follow after and believe in Him.  On that day is when things will begin to look up. 

I don't say all this to be all doom and gloom, but we are kinda at that point, I feel.  Mankind will continually let us down, and though things might improve slightly, it won't last.  

A relationship with Jesus Christ will last for all of eternity.  Have you put all your faith and trust in Him yet?  I have and I'd love to talk to you about how to go about this, if you are not a follower of Him.  We do not know when we will breathe our last breath on this earth, so don't wait.  The time to act is now, don't keep putting it off.  

I am saddened by the chaos and turmoil that is in our world, in our country and sometimes even in our families and friends lives.  But I know that God is in control, He is sovereign and He has a perfect plan for us.  I am prayerful this morning, that if you don't know Him, that you will come to know Him.  I pray that He will draw you to Himself and turn you from the darkness into His glorious light.  

If you're reading this and you don't know Him, please don't hesitate.  I would be glad to talk more about this.  

In the meantime, I am leaving you with one of my very favorite verses in the bible, out of Hebrews 6:19.

This hope we have as an anchor for the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil...

I stop there, because the veil is indicative of Jesus going before us to God the Father.  When the Old Testament was written, only the priest could enter into that inner curtain or veil where the mercy seat was, or where God's presence was.  When Jesus died on the cross for our sin, that curtain was torn and there was no longer any need for an intercessor to go to God before us...Jesus became that for all of time and the bible says that He intercedes to God the Father on our behalf.  That is what the words "the veil" are talking about.  

One last verse that I love is from Psalm, and in light of all the chaos we are watching on the news, I love this reminder.

I am so thankful that I have Him as my refuge.  You can have that as well.  Don't wait.    

Love to all.  

holiday weekend

Amidst the piles of laundry from Street Reach on Saturday, I had some really quality Jesus time.  I love mornings when it's quiet in my house and it's just Jesus, me and some strong coffee.

On this particular morning, I issued a challenge to my girls, to read through Proverbs with me this month.  Thirty one days in July, thirty one chapters in the book of Proverbs.  Sounds perfect, right?

(Just for fun, I love these pens that you see.  They're Papermate Flair pens and they last forever.  No need to buy pricey pens on Amazon anymore, when these are just as good.)

Todd was in and out all of Saturday, and eventually, we ended up at my mom's house for dinner.  Graham and Drew were invited to a friend's lakehouse for the weekend and were having the time of their lives.  I am so thankful for their guy friends!  God answered that prayer of mine, and all the glory goes to Him.

See?  How much fun is this?  I relished those days when I was their age.

On Sunday, I had to be at church at nine in the morning for praise team practice.  Jonah and Noah just sat and napped in the sanctuary while we practiced.  There were no bible fellowship classes that day.  During the service, this happened.

This is a picture my friend Jessica posted on social media.  Our pastor called down all the veterans to the front of the sanctuary, and they lined the entire front.  I got so choked up during these moments, especially watching the elderly ones make their way down front.  I am so thankful for the ones who have fought for our freedom.

Our church service that day was not patriotic.  There's not much to celebrate about this country right now and the state that we are in with all the corruption around us, but it was a service of prayer and Scripture reading.  It was a wonderful service.

After church, we came home for a quick lunch, then went to a friend's house for a cookout and pool party!  That was only my second time of swimming all summer.

On Monday, we had a lazy morning.

 I drank coffee, I watched Hope Floats, and I did laundry and had a really good and long quiet time.

Then we went to another friend's house for a potluck.  They invited us and a lot of teenagers.

There was yummy food, zip lining, four wheeler riding (in the rain!) and fellowship.  It was a great afternoon and I am so thankful for our friends for having us out.

That night, though, I came home and put on pajama;s and watched the fireworks from inside.

I finished a book and started another.  (Which I finished this morning.)  It was loverly.

Hope y'all had a great weekend!  Love to all.

street reach, 2016

On Sunday of last week, we arrived at Brinkley Heights Urban Academy at four in the afternoon.  We checked in, were given our room assignments, ate dinner and were assigned to our club sites for the week.  Our church had a large group, so as usual, we were given two sites again this year.  One site was National (with a larger group of students for the kids), and for the third year in a row, the other site was Treadwell.

If you are new to this blog, or if you don't know, street reach is a program that reaches out to all the kids in a really rough area of Memphis.  We give bible clubs five days a week, and in the afternoon, we go out and do a service project.  This happens all summer, week after week, and churches from all over the nation come to participate in this.  How fortunate are we, that we live only thirty minutes away?  I love that this is in our city.

On Monday, it was HOT.  Really hot.  We had a decent number of kids, but we grew in number throughout the week.

Drew's walking group had the most kids in it each day.  We would get there, they would get their assigned walking routes for the week, and they would go door to door, picking up kids.  They would return at ten fifty, we would have club, and at twelve forty, they would walk all the kids back home.  Because it was so hot, I went to pick up my group each day, to save them some steps.  The worst day, heat wise, was Monday, and that afternoon our service project was the Urban Farms.  We planted and weeded and sweat our tails off.  I almost passed out at one point, and went to my car to sit in the air condition.  Club National also had to be outside that day, doing yard work.

I was so proud of our students.  Never once did any of them complain about the heat or the work.  And on Tuesday, we started all over.

Bible club consists of a bible story, a craft, recreation and bible reinforcement.  Also, thanks to Shelby County schools for bringing lunch to these kiddos each day.  For every day that there are kids at club sites, they get a free and healthy lunch.  For some of these kids, it might be their only meal a day, or at least their only healthy meal.  The kids are broken into age groups.  We had a big group of younger kids, ages three to seven.  Older girls were all together and older boys were together.  Each site might run a little differently, but they designed to work for the kids in that area.  Every site accepts kids from the ages of three to twelve.

On Wednesday, after club, we have lunch then have free time until three, when we have to leave Brinkley.  The staff has to clean up for them to have church that night.  We stay gone until eight, when we are able to return.  Each year, we go to a movie, to dinner at a pizza place in Bartlett called Stevie B's, then to a park sometimes, but this year we skipped the park.

The kids that come to bible club LOVE affection.  They constantly want to be held or carried.  They are always wanting to mess with the girls' hair, or wear our name tags or just be there to hold your hand.  It's really sweet and really sad, all at the same time.  I think they're just starving for attention, because the parents have to work, or they don't give them what they crave.  Sometimes the kids are really sweet, sometimes they really push your buttons, because they want to see how far they can get, but they are always needing love and affection.

More than that, they need to know of the hope that we have in Jesus, and it is a privilege to be able to share with them.  This year was different than any other year, and in every little thing we did, it all pointed back to Jesus.  We were intentional with our games, our free times of conversation during lunch and especially during the crafts and bible story times.

Because of how well it was received, we in turn got a blessing from being able to share.  Sometimes kids accept Jesus during clubs, and sometimes seeds are planted.  This was a seed planting year for us at Treadwell.  This week, and the ensuing weeks of summer, more students will come to minister to them, so please pray for them, that God would turn them from the darkness to His glorious light.

Something new this year, at least I think it's new, is that names can be submitted for a discipleship program that street reach now offers.  One girl from our site at Treadwell, Moriah, was referred for this program.  Please be in prayer for her specifically, as well.

It is an honor to be a small part of this ministry each summer.  I am so thankful for the youth staff at church that put this whole trip together and I am grateful that I get to work with the youth in our church.  These students continually amaze me, and more than that, my Lord amazes me for the work He has done in all of their hearts.  I am so glad that He made me fall in love with teenagers.  They've been one of the greatest gifts in my life, and all the praise and honor and glory go to Him.

Thanks for reading about our week, and thanks for praying, all of you who prayed for us.  Love to all.