For Love Of Words: That Was Quick

Well, here we are at the beginning of our last week of Summer camp. Fastest summer I can remember. I haven't written in a few weeks because, well, it's been kind of nuts around here. A real zoo, in fact. I sit in this window every morning and this is what I see.

Bears!

And deer. They practically let you walk right up to them.

I don't know if I've mentioned some of the endless perks to our jobs up here, but one of my favorites is daily Chapel. Most of the time I listen through the speaker on my desk phone, but every once in a while I can sneak out of the office and actually go to the auditorium. A few weeks ago Crawford Lorrits was here with us. I love his style and his study. That week I put on a hat (incognito) and snuck in the back on my day off to get a much-needed message. So great!

Of course you've noticed that summer is slipping away. I've always been one who is eager for Fall but not so much this year. Since it's rarely super hot or humid up here in the mountains and the nights and mornings are gloriously cool, I don't wish it away. Especially because I know that we dwindle back down to a 40 person staff and only host guests on the weekends. My summer staff has been slowly going back to college for 2 weeks now. Sniff. In other words, it's way less busy and bustling. That's got its pros and cons for sure. Essentially though, I've loved this summer and will be sad to see it end.

Because of our insane schedules, we've barely had time to sit back and enjoy the view. That's coming up after Labor Day too. In the meantime, let's just pause a moment and take it in.

Sometimes you just have to find a beautiful place to sit and be quiet. These are a few of my favorite spots.

As if adding a new member to our growing family, baby Adeline Grace (see gratuitous pic),

wasn't a big enough event for us to marvel at, this other little thing happened last week.

Our baby girl graduated from the Word of Life Bible Institute in Schroon Lake. I was introduced to WOL when I was 18 and our brand new pastor suggested I attend. I remember wondering, "Why would I do that? Will it make me a nun?" Oh, youth.

I won't tell the story of how I got there today but suffice it to say, Jesus stole my heart during my time at WOL and completely changed the course of my life and I couldn't be more thankful. I fell in love with His Word, the Bible, and His people. I surrendered my will and promised to follow His ways for all of my days. Best decision I ever made.

Later we annually sent or took our kids to WOL Camp every summer but didn't even consider that they would follow in my footsteps and attend the BI. My emotions can't handle (aka - I weep) that all three of our children now have the same foundation heading into adulthood. Isn't that just like God? He blesses us beyond what we can imagine (Eph. 3:20, 21).

Back to our CAMP-of-the-WOODS perks, our kids always have a job when they are here. Now that Ally's l9, she can run the grill at the TeePee. No complaints from her. I'm sure it's her work ethic or the fact that she can eat all the fries and mozzarella sticks she wants. Whatever.

As sort of a graduation/we know you need to get away present, the other night we put her on a train to spend a week with her brothers. First stop, Chicago and the big city, then on to Indianapolis for baby love.

Gotta love public transportation. It's cheap and convenient. We were both a smidge nervous about her travelling alone all night, until we saw some of my people waiting for the same train. Phew.