I love my parents.  I love that my parents grew up in Iowa and taught us what good sweet corn is.  And I gotta love the corn project we got ourselves into!  Larry and I headed to Fondy and Appleton for a very quick overnight trip to see my mom and visit Bryan and Lis.  We knew we were going to “DO corn” (as mom and dad say), but we didn’t realize that we would be husking 20 dozen and freezing over 60 quarts!  When we taste the sweet sweet corn in the winter we will have forgoton how hot, sticky and sore we were while doing it all!  Thanks for the fun times mom!

To those who are interested in seeing inside our sweet lil home…here are a few pics.  (The only problem is that none of these pictures have any people in them, which means ya’ll are welcome to visit any time and fill our house up with people!)  (Yes, I included a pic of the washer and dryer because we no longer need quarters to do laundry!)  Again, we are so thankful!

“Where is home? Home is where the heart can laugh without shyness. Home is where the heart’s tears can dry at their own pace.” (Vernon G. Baker)

Today it became official.  We are home owners!!  Some of you know that we have been praying about the possibility of buying a home and we felt it best to be able to invest in a mortgage instead of rent knowing that now is a great time to buy.  (yea for good interest rates and first time home buyer’s stimulus!)  Soooooo, we now own the home that we have been renting for the past 9 months.  (okay, so the reality of all today’s signatures is that the bank owns it…but you know what we mean!)  Because we have been living here, we don’t even have to move!  We absolutely LOVE this home!!!  We live rurally, just minutes from camp. We pray that this home would be a safe place and that much growth could happen here…all that we have is His and for His glory.  So, come on over..we mean it!  (Below is a pic taken with our former land lords, the sellers, who are a great couple…we went out to lunch together after signing all the papers! And a pic of us coming home.)  To those who have been asking, more house pics to come.

Phone tag, e-mail updates, and monthly calls or so just aren’t the same as seeing dear friends in person.  It was a long embrace when Brian and Josey pulled into the camp drive and got out of the car.  Though surrounded by so many people, there have been days where we have felt a bit, well, lonely.  It was so good to see them and simply talk about life.  Our visit with them was brief, and looking back it seemed that we did nothing too exciting or huge together.  The fact that we could simply talk and process life among the safety of friends who love us well and have walked with us in another season is huge enough.  Their adorable son, Judah, played with legos and trucks on our living room floor while we made meals and chatted…discussing the pivotal and peripheral things of life.  We truly love you guys…thanks for being and encouragement to us! 

Silly cheers on the patio, the ring of the bell resounding through camp, 250 people eating spaghetti in the dining hall, campers running (some stealthy and some not so stealthy) for the all-camp game, the sound (and smell) of teens filling the auditorium for session singing praises to our great God, story after story about how GOD has moved in the lives of countless campers…WE LOVE IT.  We have LOVED youth camp.  Yes, days were long, some circumstances were difficult as we sought His wisdom, and the stories and struggles of some have broken our hearts.  Just a few days ago we sat with the counselors in their last counselor meeting as they recounted the ways that they grew personally and how they saw growth in the lives of their campers.  This is why we are here.  We recently had our mid summer staff celebration and counselor graduation.  (The one time to dress up at camp.)    As each counselor walked up the other night, I couldn’t help but be excited about where and what God will do in them to touch the lives of many.  It was a sweet celebration…what now?  We transition into family camps!

Presenting the 2009 counselors! 

Larry with the senior counselors: Carson and Maggie (we worked closely with them as they were in leadership for the counselors.)

In addition to offering the High Ropes Course to youth and family campers along with outside rental groups, I love being able to offer the activity to our very own staff.  Below is a recent group pic of summer staff who made it through in the rain.  Have I mentioned that I love what we do?!?  In a recent evaluation, one father wrote that the best part was watching his daughter overcome her fears and being able to do the course together.  Others have commented about how much they are learning about trust and control through doing the course…how in spite of wanting control, they need to give areas of life over to the Lord.  A high school girl talked about how she needed to re-evaluate what she was putting her trust in as we talked about firm footing and how that is hard to trust up on the cables.