Meet My New Friends

Good morning from sunny Speculator, New York! It's a gorgeous day here in the Adirondacks. 

Today is turnover day at camp. The guests from last week head home and a few hours later a whole new batch arrive. It’s kind of exciting. We blow up balloons. It’s a busy day, full of activity and a lot of fun.

We don't have to work until 10am so we can sit in this sunny spot for awhile.

We survived another week at camp. I say survived because I’ve gone from not working outside the home for several years to working nine hours a day, six days a week. This girl gets tired at the end of the day if you know what I mean. After a long day the first week we were here one of our new young friends said, “Hey, we are playing glow-in-the-dark frisbee at 9:30. PM. You guys should come.” Isn’t he adorable though?

Scott arrived Sunday afternoon, making everything much better and more fun. I was still settling my nerves from morning golf cart duty. Because Alistair Begg was preaching, the place was packed. Imagine wall to wall people and three small golf carts trying to transport elderly and handicapped guests, me being the driver of one. Can we just pause a moment and thank God no one got hurt?

This past week, I spent the majority of mornings running the lift (elevator) for chapel. It’s built for 2-3 people, which means many trips up and down before and after the service. I enjoy it because I get to spend a few minutes with the same guests every day. Some of these darling older folks grow comfortable and get sort of sassy by mid week. I love every minute of it. AND I get a seat in chapel in case anyone needs to leave by elevator a.k.a I get to listen to the messages.  Perfect job for a sermon junkie.

I’m still mulling over the messages from these past few days. Pastor Begg preached the first six books of Daniel and always left us with an encouraging, hopeful thought in light of the current state of our American culture and what’s going on around the world specifically in regards to our temptation to fear. He would remind us daily that we do not have to fear the evil  because God is most powerful and firmly in control of all of  that and our personal lives too. 

This was one of my favorites.

“He changes times and seasons,

He sets up kings and deposes them.

He gives wisdom to the wise,

knowledge to the discerning.

He reveals deep and hidden things;

He knows what lies in the darkness

and light dwells with Him.” Daniel 2:20-22

He taught us that every world leader today lives and breathes by the providential hand of God. Every breath. Every day. Even though the world seems dark, the light dwells in Him. I just love that.

He told us not to be panicky because the Apostle Paul warned us in 1 Cor. 1:18:

“The message of the cross (the Gospel) is foolishness to those who are perishing,

but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.”

The Gospel is the power of God.

Which reminds me of my Benny’s favorite verse:

“The Lord is my light and salvation, whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1

We need to be living and breathing this confidence to those around us. To be reflectors of God’s light. That’s good stuff.

Man, I love being here.

Speaking of Benny, being only 45 minutes away from him and Ally, we snuck away one night and had dinner with them. It was so much fun. I love their faces and the sound of their laughter. Ally put the cherry on top of this night by wanting us to stay until the very last minute before she had to be in her cabin, “I don’t want you to leave. I haven’t gotten my fill of you.” Can I just say five years ago I would never have dreamed that would come out of her mouth?  God is faithful to His promise that He who began a good work (in her) will complete it. Phil. 1:6

While we are on the family subject, a little update on the two who are missing from this photo. Drew started his new job as a Youth Pastor at University Heights Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana this week. He and Brittany moved into their new apartment yesterday. We are so beyond blessed.

Another bonus is getting to know our co-workers/teammates. Everyone has an important story and I’m enjoying individual time with each one and hearing them. I especially enjoyed a long stroll on the beach (tidying up) with one of our guys. He’s 21 and a hockey player. I asked him to explain to me how in every other sport, physical aggression/fighting is unsportsmanlike and rewarded with fouls, penalties and the like but in hockey it’s a free for all. He talked a good game, having even written a paper about it once, as he tried to persuade me that it’s totally acceptable and necessary. We laughed a lot but in the end he didn’t convince me.

This cutie and I were given some signs to hang up with the instruction to send pictures back to our supervisor when finished. We had a little fun with that job. She and I have alot in common, like our mutual love for winter…and whoopee pies.

I like having Fridays off. Sort of completes the week. Yesterday we didn’t stay around camp. Scott needed to go home to mow lawns in our neighborhood. I was not really ready to go home yet and face the house with no kids but since home is where Scott is, I went along for the ride Thursday night after we got off our shift. I pretended it was date night with a sleepover. 

I admit it was good to sleep in our bed, shower in our bathroom, do the laundry, paint my nails and take care of some hair color issues. You know, the important things.

I also wanted to do some baking for the kids we work with. A precedent seems to have been set from when I brought cookies back after Ally’s graduation and I promised more this trip. So while Scott was out mowing, this is what I did.

For these people. Our new friends!

Starting at top: Adam, Clint, Steve, Scott, Cailee, Paige, Nicole, Liam, Mariah and Emily

Wasn’t it so kind of God to give me a whole new group of young’ns to mother, I mean, to hang out with and love? I will heretofore refer to them as our summer kids.

PS. Can I tell you it's a little unnerving to know that we could be parents to all of them. Ah! When did we get so old?