A long week...

So...it's been one long week...and it's only Wednesday. 

Jim and I took Clark to Kanakuk on Saturday. It's his 9th year to go and he loves it. He was SO hoping to get into Super Deal this year, but he was back in teepee 13. He was a little sad b/c the guys in there seem a little on the young side...but he will be fine. I'm sure he would've preferred being around the guys who were his age and a little older...he really likes hanging out with Logan and his friends. But I told Jim that I believe God had a purpose in putting Clark in that exact teepee again this year. One of his counselors is a "first year," and when Clark said it was his 9th year to go, the counselor goes, "well, hello ASSISTANT COUNSELOR!" Ha! Not really, but Jim and I talked about it on the way home. Clark has expressed a desire to help with youth and middle-school youth as he goes thru high school and college, if he's able. We think this week will be good for him in many ways...not only giving him that little booster-shot-in-the-arm we sometimes need in our spiritual lives...but also helping to hone the skills he will need to mentor others. 

(Of course, that was just our interpretation of how WE THINK the week COULD go, based on what we observed...and after talking about specific things we had prayed for for Clark this week)

(And seeing him in some pictures on-line...he looks SO HAPPY! So things must be good!) 

(His spiritual growth is more important to us than anything else!)

One of the Bible passages I have prayed for over Clark this week (especially verse 3): "and he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither, and in whatever he does, he prospers." Psalms 1:1-3 (soli deo gloria)

Can't wait to see what Clark learned and experienced.

I sure miss him. SOOOO much.

Then, I talked to my friend, Stacy. Her daughter, Sarah Grace, is spending a month working in an orphanage in Haiti. A MONTH. Sarah has been very sick, but is getting better, thank God. It doesn't matter how old your kids are...when they are sick, you want to be there. My child is in another state. If I need to, I can be by his side in less than 5 hours. My friend's daughter is in another country...where travel is difficult...and medical facilities are less than ideal for something serious.

THE SAME GOD is watching over Clark in Missouri...and Sarah Grace in Haiti.

Clark will stay at Kanakuk all week. We go to pick him up early on Saturday morning...and then on Sunday, he is leaving for 5 days at Beach Camp in Alabama. 

Not gonna lie...it's gonna be reallllly hard to let him go on Sunday.

On another note...it's been a long week. Maybe I said that already. My mind is in a constant state of motion, but I can't seem to get my body to follow. SO much to do with preparing for the move...but I just want to curl up in a ball until it's over.

We closed on the new house on Monday. We went early and did a walk-thru of the house with the homeowners. It was the first time I had been in the house since we made the offer...and that was, like, for 10 minutes. I wasn't sure Jim would feel the same way about it, but he seems just as thrilled. Joshua was with us. I took him thru the home and pointed out the 3 available bedrooms...and told him he could have the first pick. As expected, he picked the one I thought he would pick. I asked him if he was excited about it, and he looked at me very seriously and said, "how fast can you paint?"

(Did I mention the room is PINK?)

Yeah...lots of work here...and then lots of work THERE...before we even move in.

"You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!" Isaiah 26:3