Fly Creek

giant "rocking chair" that didn't rock. 

Rejoice!

I survived teen camp and learned a new song.

7 At 6

It's been different living in NY vs my life back home. 

One of the many changes, is that at 6:00 a.m. my Mémêre and a friend of hers walk seven miles around her town. 

I've been tagging along. 😊

Teapot Troubles...

One project I have to work on this summer is planing Bethany's Bridal shower! 

Fun fun :) 

Along with the decorations and food and other fun things to be found on Pinterest, I needed to figure out the invitations. 

Then I found this beauty. 

So darling! So classy! 

Not perfectly "Beth" though, but it was a great start. 

Also it's currently unavailable on it's Etsy page. 

So what's a clever bunny to do? 😏

Upgrade

So long, my (somewhat) faithful little tracphone. 

You were a practical, sturdy, cheap (until I had someone who wanted to text me everyday) phone, and despite randomly dropping calls, not letting me set up voice mail, and randomly calling people when you were in my pocket, you did what you were supposed to.

Shawn:"pull your phone out of your pocket, you've called me three times"

Me:"I'm sorry!"

I shall miss your size and simplicity, but I'll remember you fondly.


So long!

Rainy Day Play :)

Put this song together this morning - it's been raining here and it seemed to fit.
It's a little funny having more then one voice on the video, but I was having fun with adding harmony on Garageband and still wanted to keep the video simple.

Hope you enjoy it!

The light of the Gospel

Fireflies are just starting to come out tonight. Or maybe I'm just starting to notice them. :)

They're one of my favorite parts of camp- seeing all their tiny lights blinking out in the field.

While we're on the subject of light....

"For it is the God who commanded light to shine out in the darkness, who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 

2 Corinthians 4:6

Hey, I learned how to use a can of tuna to explain a biblical principle today, so going from fireflies to this verse was pretty easy. :)  Just one of the cool skills you get from coming to staff training. 

Roses and Jubilee.

Roses, fresh cut from Memere's garden. 

Jubilee is my ukulele's name. 

And the binder and notebook are cluttering up the picture a bit, but I had them out for work stuff. 😏

Omaha, NE

I was there today.

Got to meet with some cool people for staff training.

Also got to try bee pollen ice-cream, which wasn't quite as good as another crazy flavor called Good Morning Dawn Patrol, which had fruit loops, oreos, and granola in it.

If you're ever in Omaha, go to Ted and Wally's Ice-cream. :)

It looks like I'm not in the Midwest anymore....

Hello!

(Becca here) 

There have been a few big changes I hadn't mentioned on the blog yet.

Running On Empty

Don't worry, I was parked at a gas station when I took this picture, and I made it there safely.

The fuel gauge pretty well represents my energy level after this week, but I have a weekend to recharge before the next week of camp- staff training, starts.

Butterscotch

Once upon a time... there was a rocking horse, who had two enormous googly eyes.

And a little crack in his neck.... but that shouldn't be a big deal...

Eternal Purposes

"Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

It's not fun to be tired, worn out, discouraged because kids aren't listening, distracted by a headache.

I know that's not exactly the same as "perishing", but I could kind of relate. :)

If focus is on ourselves, it can make us quick to snap at people, (sorry Shawn), and not put our best effort into what we're doing.

That was my day, but after reading the forth chapter of second Corinthians, it helped put my focus where it should be. 

Doing this VBS this week isn't for me, or for my team, or for Camp Assurance- it's to reach these kids, who maybe have never heard the gospel before, with Christ's love. It has eternal purposes, far greater then how we might "feel". So it should be worth it to go through a little suffering, knowing that it's not the temporary things that are important, but the things that last for eternity.

Photo credit: Shawn :)

Sun Tea

This is the newest favorite tea in our house ( we go through phases ) 

It makes wonderful sun tea!

With it being in the 80s and sunny, it's been perfect weather for making sun tea!

"Adventure is out there!"

My car got a little muddy today.

On our way back from the town we did VBS in this morning, we were just about to camp and we looked ahead to see a train across the road of our last turn. Not only that, but the train was stopped.

We weren't in a big rush, but we didn't want to just sit there waiting for a train we didn't know how long would be there.

So, we decided to find an alternate route to camp. :)

We knew there had to be some gravel roads, so I kept driving, and soon we found a road to turn down.

After a little ways, it split off two ways, and the road going our direction was minimum maintenance. It looked alright though.

There was a semi truck on it, backing up, but I drove around it, and we continued on our adventure.

This little dirt road went up and down over some hills, but when we reached the lowest part, we saw why the semi had backed up.....

It was muddy, and someone had driven through, leaving a trail of deep ruts through the mud, something the semi must not have wanted to venture through.

What should we do?

Turn around?

Go for it?

We went for it.

Dennis, our team leader, prayed as I started driving again, and gave me the encouragement of "What's the worst that can happen? We can all get out and push if we have to."

Thankfully, we didn't have to. God got us through, even though there was a couple times my wheels were spinning a little.

Back on dry road, we made it back to camp to see that the train was still sitting there, so our out of the way trek was not in vain. :)

It's always fun to have a little adventure. 

Those Rosie Roses!

  

Guess who just bought these gorgeous climbing roses?

( Becca did! ) 

With such lovely fragrant apricot hued blooms, and winter hardy to -40 F; I am one very happy customer.

 Joined mom on a last minute trip into town, and while browsing through greenhouse - came upon this darling. It just had to come home with me.  😍

( Roses are my one weakness ) 

And freshly watered roses just are so photogenic. 😏

Last Day of the First Week

VBS, where Camp Assurance goes out into the surrounding towns and puts on bible clubs in the park, is just finishing up today.

My team had the farthest to drive- nearly and hour and a half to the first town, but they've been troopers. We've had a lot of fun together, and it's been a really good week.

There's a rather funny typo in the Missionary story.

We've decided a hippop3otmus could mean a three headed hippo. :P

Pretty Kitty :)