In May, I graduated with three of my dear friends. It was truly overwhelming to see all the love and support of family and friends!!
June-the beginning of August- I had the joy and privilege of serving as a counselor and camp staff member at, Kako Retreat Center, in Alaska! The Lord had a lot in store for me to learn and it was a great summer!:)
We had 6 weeks of summer camp-counseling a new set of girls each week. Each group taught me something really special and I found that the Lord used my campers to teach me so much more than I could ever teach them. He has a way of doing that.:P
Dave and Vera-founders of Kako. They both opened their home to me during my stay and shared with me their experiences of living out in Alaska. They were such a blessing! (Vera asked me to stay and be her secretary but, I needed to get back home to help Mama.:)
Sharon and I spent many days together, working around camp. On weekends we had quite a few adventures in the outdoors! We also shared many times of fellowship in the Lord and Sharon shared with me about her experiences with the Eskimo people and life out there.
John and Rebecca-soon to be married-were a clear example to me of two people working together for the cause of Christ and they inspired, encouraged and admonished me many times over the summer! They were such a blessing, as well!!
An aerial shot from the mountain overlooking Kako
(photo credits: Missy's Photography)
In July-Daniel had his 15th birthday while I was up in Alaska so I sent him a t-shirt and name tag (the campers are required to make and wear during camp.) Happy Belated Birthday to our young man, Daniel!! We love you Danny-Boy!
In August, Katie celebrated her thirteenth birthday! We are so happy to have had our Caytlin and she is an answer to my prayers as a five year-old wanting a sister. Happy Belated Birthday, Caytlin! We love you so much!!
This year our church had the Seminar/Children's Institute in August instead of April. So, Dad, Ryan, Daniel and I, helped with that. I always enjoy the seminar week so much and this year was probably the best, in my opinion! It was such a special week, getting know the kids and spending time with them. There's something worth while about being dead tired from the crazy schedule but, seeing the smiling kids faces and hearing them tell their parents all about what they learned.:)
Ryan manned the book table again.:)
The blue team with our leader, Stephen and assistants, Ricky and Emily. We had a really good time with our kids! (As the week wore on-they adopted me onto their team.:)
Brian, telling a story about "Gideon's Pot." This story has been a favorite of mine for years, and it was especially a blessing this time!
Performing for the parents
A few weeks ago, the Pau girls invited Katie and I over to swim and visit! We had a great time, cooling off, jumping from their diving board, racing and playing water tag!
Katie really enjoyed diving:P
Last week, I received a surprise invitation to join some of the Brimlow family on a trip to Mexico to attend a Christian Conference in T.J.!!
We stopped in Ensenada, for a few days.....and took in some sights. The store owner insisted we looked good in these hats and promised to give us a special deal if we bought them.:P
The fish market...what a sight! They had swordfish with the heads off. Those things are huge!!
Aunt Cheryl's lunch....fish, salad and rice...very yummy. Later I investigated the head.....strictly for scientific purposes.:P
We had lunch at a very nice Mexican restaurant. The waitresses dress in traditional Mexican clothing.:)
Lunch before driving to T.J.
A mariachi band serenaded us for five dollars (Mexico's rate if exchange is 12 pesos per dollars so 60 pesos)...that was a fun treat.:)
residential homes....
Once in T.J. the conference started the following day. Time flew by quickly and the meetings were an encouragement. Thankfully, we had translators and they gave us ear pieces to hear with. The day started with prayer and singing, then a break followed by a meeting, lunch, two more meetings with breaks in between, dinner and two evening meetings.
The kids had so much fun swimming during free time as the pool was right outside the conference room.:)
our conference room in the hotel
the dinning room
travelling buddies, Hannah, myself and Anna...it was way too much fun to have two names so similar..:P
At the end of the conference they had a baptism for three people. It was an encouragement to see these believers taking a stand for their faith and publicly announcing it.:)
Daniel baptizing his third and last candidate.:)
Two of my favorite people on our trip-Sebastian and Shelah Nicoara. Sebastian gave us
quite the ride in the back of a pick-up truck!!:)
My roommates for the weekend-Hannah, Emily, and Leti.:) "We had a great time together staying up late, talking and dragging each other out of bed to get to the meetings on time!:P
On Monday we crossed back over into the U.S. and at the border we were met by all kinds of vendors. This guy was selling churros inside a dish drainer...!;)
As for the rest of my family, Dad's working hard, Mom's resting up-she's pregnant folks!-and the kids are busy at school and making some wonderful messes around here.:)
Until then, Adios, amigos!:)
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.
Proverbs 27:1
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will
go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what
will happen tomorrow. For what
is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you
ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”
James 4:13-15
