Sunday, May 29, 2011

Well, summer is officially here!
I know this because camp has officially begun....for me at least!
Although there are no campers here yet, the camp is slowly filling up with staff and our week of training has started. Several of the "new" staff came in yesterday...making the long trip across the country by plane. It is so neat to see their enthusiasm and excitement. They are excited about everything....from picking out their rooms, to meeting the other staff, to exploring the camp. And it's contagious....I love it.
But I've been working here long enough to know that often, that excitement and energy is short lived. Although the we all love the work and the ministry, eventually, exhaustion and fatigue set in...and excitement is replaced with tiredness. It's inevitable....it's part of the ministry.
As I look around at all the smiling faces, I wonder....which ones will still be smiling at the end of the summer....which ones will walk away more fulfulled and more mature in their faith....which ones will struggle and find themselves in a place of disappointment. I wish I could see ahead and help them....I wish I could prevent any moments of struggle or heartache. Yet I know that it's all part of the plan. God's plan for this summer is bigger than just the campers....than just the camp schedule. It's so much more detailed than that. He has each of our lives, our emotions, our hearts in His hands. And He knows exactly what each of us need.....that's over 1000 lives He is intricately handling all summer. With that in mind, the upcoming struggles and the hard times that some of these kids (and maybe even myself) will walk through are for the best. Although I wish we could all walk away from this summer encouraged, enlightened and closer to God, I know that He has our best interest in mind and knows us more intimately than anyone else.

So, with that said, I am just as excited for this summer....and I'm going to enjoy all these smiling faces for now! And I'm going to embark on the journey with the rest of those who have giveb their summer to the Lord.....
....let it begin!

PS...If you want to follow all that the Lord si doing this summer, you can follow on www.brokenarrowbibleranch.blogspot.com

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Back to reality

For the past week I have been pretty much disconnected from the real world. My family and I spent a great week away from "work", just relaxing and spending time with each other. We were blessed to be able to stay with a dear missionary friend who has build a house so that people like us (tired missionaries) can come and stay for free. We had plenty of room, she cooked breakfast for us every morning and and encouraged us daily. It was great and I loved having no tv and little to no access to the internet (I had to check every other day because of work...blah!).

It was BEAUTIFUL in Phoenix and we spent a lot of time at pools, waterparks, etc. The kids had a blast! We spent some time with my dear bestest camp friend, Lois and her family and that is always an encouragement....she just "gets" me and I can just relax around her. And her generosity towards me and my family is such a blessing. I can't wait for camp to start and I'll be able to be 'encouraged' by her friendship every day!

As we made our way back to Vanderwagen, NM, we noticed the weather changing.....it got colder and colder the further east we drove. When we woke up this morning (our first morning back), we were greeted with 4 inches of snow covering our desert land.....what a drastic change! Not only was the weather a shock and a change, my "relaxed" attitude quickly changed to overwhelmed because of the stack of mail that awaited me, the phone messages, the emails and my messy house that all cried for my attention. It makes me almost forget my time away, surrounded by my relaxed family, laughing and vegging. BUT, I am determined to remember those days fondly and rejoice in them, AND do the same with the days that surround me now....although they look MUCH different, they are still worthy of rejoicing in....'for THIS is the day that the Lord has made....". I am trying to retrain my brain into finding the joy in the busy days too....in the middle of the "loudness".....when I'm surrounded by people and projects that demand my attention.....when I'm tired. Each day is a gift from God and I am trying to cultivate a better attitude of thankfulness.....starting today :)

So as I have a few minutes alone in my house, I am going to turn on some praise music, roll up my sleeves and get busy on my "to do" list.....rejoicing all the way...... :)

Friday, May 6, 2011

My Last Home School Weekly

Well, we are winding up with school....finally!

I am not going to post anymore weekly wrap-ups because basically we are only doing math and english at this point. I hope to be done with both of those in the next couple of weeks. We will for sure be done by the 18th, no matter what. At that point I have to give my full attention to getting the last minute projects done here at camp.

It has been a pretty productive past 2 weeks though....
We are flying through math, averaging about 2 lessons at least a day. Most of it is review or just really easy stuff. We are doing about the same in english.....Abby will not finish her book but I'm ok with that. We are starting a new curriculum for her in that subject next year so I'm good with where we are. We will be doing review in both subjects and then final exams. YAY!!!!

Last week we did do one last field trip....
My kids studied bees in co-op and so we took a trip to a local bee farm. The kids LOVED it! It was so neat to see them put what they had learned together with the real thing. I learned lots too.
It's been a pretty good year for our home school group, tiny as it is. We have had several field trips, 2 successful co-ops and quite a few "fun" days (swimming, bowling, hiking, etc). We are looking forward to just as much fun next year.

We have a light summer curriculum. I can do almost next to nothing school-wise in the summer, but we are going to just do a couple things a week....a math sheet every now and then, along with a few grammar work sheets...nothing heavy. But they will read quite a bit this summer. I have already ordered my curriculum for next year so I will go through that and have them go ahead and start some of the 'extra' reading. And I have a whole list of literature I want them to start on. They have a 'reading/rest' time every day so that will be a definite.

It's been a long year. The second half was much more difficult than the first. My camp schedule keeps me so busy...I really struggle to keep up with school on top of it. But I keep reminding myself that for us, this is the choice we have made and I am praying that in the end, it will all be worth it.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

I couldn't sleep last night......
I have so much on my heart and mind that I just could not find the 'peace' to fall asleep. It made for a very long, hard night.....and by morning, I was struggling to be the cheerful "everybody wake up, it's a brand new day" kind of mom that I usually try to be. So my hubby graciously offered to take the kids to gymnastics and the library for me (our usual Wed schedule). He told me to get some sleep, if I needed it. But as I have the house to myself and some soft Jim Brickman playing through the speakers in the house, I feel like if I get things accomplished, it will actually make me feel more rested (mentally, at least).....the sleep will come later...I'll get caught up.

So my first task this morning was not a pleasant one....but it had to be done.

Last night, I was driving home and saw 2 ladies on the side of the road, trying to get a ride. Now don't get me wrong....I hardly ever give rides to people, but since it was 2 older ladies and I didn't have my kids with me, I decided to do it. As I stopped, a man came out of the store and joined them. Turns out it was one of their sons and he needed a ride too. They were all VERY drunk (not unusual out here) but I decided to go ahead....they were too drunk to do anything anyways. They were very grateful for the ride and kept going on and on about how appreciative they were....in their very slurred speech.
One thing that really stuck out to me was the terrible odor that was coming from them. Apparently, one of them had gone to the bathroom in their pants and the stench almost made me gag. It was the longest 5 miles I've ever driven.
When I dropped them off and started heading home, I realized the smell was still there. I rode home with my windows down the last mile home, in hopes it would help. It didn't. I got home and immediately sprayed some lysol on the seats to try and at least cover it up. When I went out an hour later to get something out of the van, the smell was still there.....on closer inspection, all THREE of them must have messed their pants because there were 3 stains where they had once sat....I was not happy.
So I set about trying to clean it....I used some laundry stain remover....used some carpet cleaner....and LOTS of lysol. When I went out this morning, it was still over powering! So now, with a quiet house to enjoy for a couple of hours, I have spent a great deal of it out there scrubbing (using laundry detergent this time and a scrub brush....and febreeze!!). I noticed as I scrubbed, my bowl of water with the detergent in it was getting nasty.....I changed it several times....this was a gross job. And it reminded me.....

...sin is not pretty. Sin is gross. And it always leaves traces of itself on everything it touches. And sometimes we will be able to remove those traces of it....of course in God's eyes, when we confess our sins, He faithfully forgives and makes us clean. But in our lives, we still may have those traces, the slight scent of sin that lingers....for days....months....even years. Sin is not pretty......it's gross.

This 'clean up' job is a reminder that my sin affects not just me, but other people.....it can leave behind a foul smell. When I get angry at my children, that bitter taste of the words linger.....when I allow discouragement to run rampant, the unpleasant smell can just cling to me and follow me around for days.....when I forsake my time with the Lord, then everything I set my hands and mind to do that day can be tainted with pride, judgemental attitudes, selfishness, etc. My sin affects those around me.

As I have spent time in my van this morning, scrubbing out the stains and the smell, I have been trying to pray for those 3 'smelly' people that rode in my van for just a short time. They shared their hearts with me, they shared their pain, they shared their loss.....they begged me to remember them in my prayers.....I promised I would do that. And I am, as I try and restore my van to it's original condition....I pray that they will not leave the 'stench' of sin in anyone else's life....that someday, their lives will turn into a beautiful offering to God....a fragrant offering to the Savior. I pray the same for my life....that today, in all its peace and quiet (except for good ole Jim Brickman in the background) that my life will be a sweet smelling offering to the Lord.

Pray for Judy, Joanne, and Ernest today.....
and for all the other hurting Native people who live within just a couple miles of me.....the hurt is great, the pain is deep and the loss is unmeasurable.