Cactus Flower

Kid's Camp 2013 My summer was full of lots of kids and lots of smiles.  Sometime the smile was not on my face as the work was long and hard, but at the end of day there is contentment for a job accomplished.  The job of telling boys and girls about the Lord while their hearts are still warm and ready is not easy in today's hard, harsh world. This particular scene above came on the boat ride home after the big kids' retreat out on the island in July. On the way home from many retreats, I pull out my purple earplugs and find a place to curl up in the bottom of the boat.  This retreat found me playing "stewardess" and passing out water and snacks during the first part of the trip.  During the second half I was supervising the great flux of up and down with boys and girls wanted to come to the bottom and go to the top - around and around. To keep people seated and happy we started singing songs.  Before long someone said - where are the papers and we sang ...

Some of my small {End of the Summer} prayers: our emerging youth group (we have a great group of about 10)   my aging hubby                                                   (he still looks great, but his bones are creaking) my traveling boy   (William who is in Mozambique all of August) the ones who heard the Gospel this summer at schools and camps  (week long event at one school & Aventura Brasil kid's retreat)  the start of homeschool  (we have a limited amount of actual weeks before we go to the States) 

{photo by Josh Huang} My Shadow  Robert Louis Stevenson I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me, And what can be the use of him is more than I can see. He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head; And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed... This was taken during the children's retreat last month.  The little girl is actually one of my Sunday school girls who just happened to go to the school from where the boys and girls came for the retreat.  She is only nine years old though and the age restriction was set at 10 - 12.  When it became evident that there was not going to be an overflow of children eagerly ready to jump on the boat, the principal said that Clarinha could go with her mother's permission, of course. Clarinha is a little shadow to me at church.  I think she learned to read as I would have her follow the words of songs with her finger in my hymnbook and by memorizing verses.  I've k...