A Night Out

Joel got some time off a few nights ago so that we could go into town.  I told him that I didn't care what we did as long as it involved pizza.  I hadn't had pizza since we got to camp...and you know I eat pizza quite a bit.  We went to a local place in Weaverville.  Within the first 5 minutes, I spilled both of the kid's drinks all of the place.  Sometimes, I'm thankful to make messes in front of my kids so that they know mommies and daddies have accidents too...but could've done without the lemonade running down my leg.  Before we finished eating, I noticed Ford kinda swaying in his chair.  Then, I realized that he had fallen asleep sitting up.  After getting a good nap in, he was ready for some ice cream.  He refused to use his hands to eat his ice cream.  His plan was to let it melt for a bit, then shake it really fast, and then drink it.  It's getting a little creepy in how much Mary Kate is like her mommy...like eating vanilla ice cream even when you have so many options, using lots of sauce on anything that requires sauce, and liking mustard.  We had a fun night out.  Usually, I'm dying for a night away from camp at this point.  I love camp, but I love to get away.  But, this time has been different.  Maybe, it's just being in a different place of parenting with the kids being older and I'm not as desperate for Joel's help.  I wouldn't say that we've had a lot of free time with Joel...maybe, even less...but, he is a little more accessible than usual and we can tag along with him throughout the day.

Enjoying love from Granna

On a weekly basis at camp, we do "God Sightings," where we can share how we've seen God work or seen Jesus in others.  I've had so many just involving my kids.  Last week, for some unknown reason, Ford decided to throw his R2D2 into the lake.  He freaked out as soon as he did it, but couldn't get it back.  Without us knowing, 5 or 6 work crew guys took turns jumping into the freezing cold lake to look for R2D2.  They actually found him and then started running all over camp holding R2D2 up in the air yelling for Ford and gave it back to him.  Ford was excited until he realized that R2D2 didn't talk anymore.  Another day, Mary Kate was swimming and really wanted to jump off the diving board, but I didn't have my swimsuit on...and the water is freezing.  Sweet Annie Rae was willing to get in the water to let Mary Kate jump to her.  It was such a sweet picture of Jesus, knowing that when we jump someone is there to catch us.

One of the perks of working with the Summer Staff is getting the hook up on Nascarts.  They let our family go for a ride on one of their slow days.  We had a blast.  

I also find it creepy that I have ran into so many people here this month that were on the same session as Stephanie and I when we did Summer Staff and Work Crew here in 1998.  There are 3 people that are on Property Staff that were on summer staff then.  One of my work crew bosses was here as a leader.  Stephanie's Summer Staff boss was here as a leader.  A staff couple that came to visit on their sabbatical were both on summer staff with Stephanie.  I have rarely run into people from that assignment, but that's 7 people that I've seen in 2 weeks.  Really neat...AND, they're all STILL on staff in some capacity.

The program guys did the opera for the assigned team last night, which meant that it was even more hilarious than usual because they threw in a lot of inside jokes and ad libbing.  One of the funniest parts was when Bryan/Mario came out doing a cardboard testimony.  The front of his cardboard said, "Addicted to Mushrooms and Gold Coins" and the back said "Jesus is my 1-up".  People's cleverness amazes me.

I can't believe that it's our last week here.  I hope to soak it all up.  As I write this, I hear the buses pulling in for another group of kids to have the best week of their lives.  I love knowing that many of them are going to get back on those buses in a week changed people...people that have stepped over from death to life.  Thank you, Lord, that you use Young Life and a place called Windy Gap to draw lost teenagers into a relationship with you.