Children, Children EVERYWHERE!

A glimpse into my work-life in the Summertime:::

Here's the "light green" team at Boy Scout Camp! These kids were awesome - i was very impressed with their behavior, well, there's one pouter in the front row in camo - but oh well, you can't make everyone happy. We did a lot of walking and skills training ( We learned some specialized knots, which we could use to make a "lean to" or a raft to float away on). We slept in hard-corp-flapping-in-the-crazy-night-wind-army-tents-on-planks and watched the flag go up and down at dusk and dawn each day. I wish I had taken a picture of the tents - it was a crazy indistinguishable maze of tents and the kids were always getting confused and turned around, which was hilarious.

playing with the i-phone

one of the Loves of my life

playing in the creek is a common event

one can never spend too much time playing with the sand

S-A-S-H-E-T = Tonight I'm Tender

At House Church sometimes we do this thing to transition or kick off our time where we go around the circle and "check in" with a brief description of where we're at, how we're feeling, using the acronym:::  S-A-S-H-E-T (pro. "sa-shay")  

S - sad

A - angry

S - scared

H - happy 

E - excited

T - tender

And tonight I'm TENDER -- I'm constantly exhausted at the end of the day - partly I should take my Iron supplements and drink lots of water but partly it's inevitable with my current work situation.  I'm exhausted from thinking/dreaming/not-planning about what Matt and I are going to do in OCTOBER!  I'm exhausted with the poor way that I am dealing with my frustration of not having a plan...  I can usually always muster up something positive from deep within -- but I'm drained and it feels good to write it down - now maybe I can go back to sleep.  Feel free to share how you're doing.  =)

Memoirs and Biographies

FIVE STARS!!
The Glass Castle is a superb memoir, very well written, hard to put down. The little stories throughout the book are sometimes so crazy, tragic and eccentric it's almost unbelievable, a rare combination of personalities, dreams and illusions which emerge into hopes, gratefulness and simple wonders --- this book gets 5 stars from me. (which is rare and I have only ever given to Poisonwood Bible)







FOUR STARS!
The Heavenly Man is another remarkable true story about Brother Yun, a house church leader in China. This story is about the POWER of God as seen through the life of a man of EXTREME faith. I think every Christian should read this book. The way his experiences [being imprisoned and brutally tortured numerous times and seeing miraculous demonstrations of God's love and provision] bring scripture to life is priceless. He uses familiar Bible verses in this totally high stakes "God's-gotta-come-through-or-I'm-toast" kind of manner that is really challenging and inspiring for someone wanting to follow Jesus more closely.





THREE STARS
Look Me in the Eyes is a fascinating memoir written by a man with Asperger's syndrome, on the Autism spectrum. No one ever understood him, growing up before Asperger's syndrome was diagnosed. He was mostly perceived to be a rebel or a misfit, preferring machines over people. His perspective shines a light on the humanity and humor that lie behind the awkward social interactions.