Happy Fourth of July

I awoke this fine July 4th morning

bright and early to pack lunches for 

Warren and Mikey.

They are off to ride dirt bike with 

two friends of Mikey's.

 

I saw them off just after 6:00am

and settled down to download photos

from the week.

So many!

One of these days I'll show you 

a few photos of Chelsea and Grandma 

Ruth at a local park.  

We had gone out thrifting and decided to 

take a detour to this park to play with the

camera.  It was fun!

But for today I will show you some of our

church family at a picnic yesterday.

May I just say, one more time, 

how much I love our church?

It is becoming more precious to me as

it grows and I get to reap the blessings of 

years of endless hours of hosting and cooking

and all that goes into the ministry of a very small church.

Not that I minded it ...at all.

Nor, am I washed up and done....

it just doesn't all fall on a few of us because there are more 

than a few of us now.

Others have gifts and talents in these areas and

are delighted to share them.

Our family is one of the "oldest families" in the church

and as such I have seen a lot of personalities

in our little group.

We have never been in a better place.

Yesterday I sat and listened to conversations that were 

uplifting, entertaining and edifying.
My heart was sooooo blessed!!

I heard an older woman praise a younger

for her hostessing skills.

I heard mothers sharing experiences from 

their week.

There were comparisons of our chicken

flocks and protecting them from the 

foxes and owls and other predators.
(No not everyone has chickens...
but you might be surprised at how common this is becoming.)

I watched children of all ages playing together

and teenagers sit with children on their laps.

I really wanted to call this post "Picnic with Sonja"...because she was my shadow as I took photos of the day.  I loved it.  What a perfect little helper to show you the fun we had on this day!

I saw Dads totally involved with their children.

I saw several people holding our host family's pet duck....

 

but that really doesn't have anything to do with 

church....not exactly.

I saw the rockets come out to be launched and 

observed the silly excited grins on certain faces.

I was reminded that these things don't always 

go as planned.

When one experiments, one must be

prepared for the unexpected.

By the time we got in the car
to return home my eyes were 

so heavy they would barely stay open.

However, it was worth every
second of
exhaustion!

With memories to treasure.

Friendships deepened.

And more to look forward to.

The Lord is good.

Happy Fourth of July.

Chelsea, Jonathan and I are planning 

a quiet day....

what about you?