So Far So Good

After a super long 7 hour drive down to Georgia yesterday I made it safely to Jasper. There was horrible rain/thunder/lightning for a few hours while I was driving through Tennessee. I absolutely hate driving in the rain, especially torrential downpour, so I gladly put my hazards on and drove 40mph in a 70mph zone. I know I have mentioned before I am an anxious driver, well for those couple hours in the rain I was just praying for the end of the storms to be near. When I got into town I met up with the Faison's and went to dinner at camp with the rest of the Work Crew/Summer Staff/Assigned Team. We stayed in a hotel last night because last session's Assigned Team moved out this morning, so we couldn't move into camp until today. After dinner I went back to the hotel with the kids and their Mom and we all just hung out and watched t.v. until bed time.

I learned very quickly that these kids say the funniest/cutest things and as I am very easily entertained they will definitely keep me laughing. For example, Delaney (4yrs) walks into the room and says to her brother Nathan (6yrs) "Nathan Andrew! WHERE did you put the toothpaste?". I cracked up because she said it like she was his mom or something and she hit him with the double name which just really tickled me. It did not take long for the kids to warm up to me or anything and they already seem to trust me so that is great. I have a lot of respect for their Mom, because I can already see that while they are good kids, 4 kids is a handful. I really think the Lord is gonna help me with my patience and my nurturing a lot this month.

We moved into camp this morning and I went to Worship with the rest of the Work Crew/Summer Staff/Assigned Team because their Mom was watching the little ones while she was unpacking everybody. I really really enjoyed Worship this morning and the message that Doug (he's on the Assigned Team) shared with us. He talked about following the Lord, no matter where the Lord is leading us. We can say "Oh yeah, God I'll follow you wherever" but when it comes down to it, truly following the Lord wherever will cost us something. His message wasn't that following the Lord hurts us, but that sometimes you have to let go of those things that are dragging you down that you are holding on to in order to follow the Lord. Maybe the Lord is telling us to pursue something, but we are doubtful about taking that path. Doug spoke about not letting things that are going on at home distract us from the experience we are about to start this month, whether or not they are good things. I know my place here this month is a little different, because I am not serving campers, but I am serving these kids I am watching and I am pursuing the Lord. I felt convicted because I know I am distracted right now by things not having to do with my month here. I am really gonna try to make sure I spend time with the Lord every day and focus on him and following him wherever he wants to take me, particularly when I go home next month.

Something today that has me distracted is Father's Day. There are lots of Dads here on the Assigned Team and watching them interact with their kids just makes my heart ache for my Dad. My Dad passed away 7 years ago on July 1, so this couple week span is always kind of difficult for me. I miss my Dad everyday and so many things remind me of him. I watch Dads and their kids and it makes me glad that I had such a great Dad growing up, but also sad about not having him here now that I am old enough to really appreciate him. I know he is always looking after me, but I wish I could just give him a big hug today. Happy Father's Day everyone, give your Dad a big hug and tell him how much you love and appreciate him.