Home again

We had a wonderful time at camp. Our boys were the only little kids there, since it was a high school/college age crowd, so they got tons of attention from everyone. It was very sweet - Ethan sat with someone other than us every meal and every chapel time. And he didn't know a soul there when we arrived. What a little socialite!

The speaker for the weekend was Robert Fitzgerald from St. Louis. Dave and I enjoyed meeting him and his wife Barbara- they have 4 sons, and just in our casual conversation, they shared so much good parenting advice. It was helpful for us to hear what they thought they would change if they could do it all over again, and what they thought was important for raising godly young men. We were really blessed by meeting them and spending time with them.

Because I don't know about the rest of you, but I LONG for the advice of those who have walked this path.


The Lord has given us this huge task of raising the next generation. Sometimes I am so overwhelmed by the enormity of it! There are plenty of days I am just sure that motherhood was designed to make me feel like a complete failure. :) How do I look past the nitty gritty of today's work at home and trust the Lord to do His work in my children's lives? It was inspiring to see the godly young people at this conference, to listen to seasoned parents, and to visualize what we are aiming towards.

Robert spoke on the "man of God" from 1st and 2nd Timothy, and went through the books in an exhortational way, encouraging us all to live for the Lord with everything we are. "...that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:17) which of course refers to being in the Word - there is no way around it, is there? We need to be reading, studying, meditating, memorizing the Word of God. We have no power against sin without it, and we are useless in the church if we're neglecting it.

We got home late Sunday night, and so far this week has been less than desirable. I was tired and cranky for the last couple of days (I assumed from the long weekend), and the kids were up to their ears in mischief. And as of this afternoon, I have a fever and the pukies. Instead of doing what I was planning on, I ended up laying in bed all afternoon. I was supposed to lead the women's Bible study tonight, go to a VBS meeting, go to MOPS tomorrow, and have the evangelistic study over here tomorrow night. Now what, Lord? He has been changing the plans on me a lot recently. I know I can trust Him, but I still wonder sometimes.