Word of Life Camp

This was our 3rd year going to Word of Life Camp on Schroon Lake, NY. A little over 50 people from Immanuel Bible Church came this week, too. It's such a joy to have a family camp where there's excellent teaching, fellowship with believers, and time with family. Both HB Charles and Erwin Lutzer spoke each day. It was incredibly encouraging. HB's theme was prayer, and I was very challenged by the truth that the Holy Spirit brings our prayers before God. He knows what we need, better than we do, and will present our prayers before the Father. So I should pray so much more, seek the Lord's will through prayer about everything, because I have an Advocate that cares for me. And He not only cares about me physically, but eternally/spiritually. He also spoke about how Jesus went away to pray- these were long periods of time where Jesus spoke with His Father. He went to be alone and it was usually early in the morning. How much more do I need to make talking with God a priority. 

 Here we are enjoying a meal with the Goods. It's such a nice break not to cook for a whole week :)

So thankful for these friends!

 

Jeremy the illusionist gives a presentation every year, and while he performs some prey fun tricks, he gives the gospel.

 Look at their faces- so cute!! 

  They are truly amazed by his slight of hand!

One evening we celebrated Jody's 50th birthday of becoming a Christian. It was so encouraging to hear her testimony- she became a Christian 50 years ago right here at WOL. She gave her life to the Lord, knowing she was a sinner and needed a Savior. As she shared what God has done in her life, she challenged all of us to fill our lives with what matters eternally. She gave each family a pail filled with fun toys from the Dollar Store and said when these things brake or get lost, that's just a reminder that the pleasures of this world don't last. How much better is it for us to invest in our relationship with the Lord, character, and relationships with others that will be eternal.

 

Jody also supplied scores for everyone to enjoy!

What a neat evening of celebration!  

 Buddies

 Maddie is the crazy gal in the middle! She loved "surfing" on the tube!!

 Daddy took the girls kayaking.

Savannah became quite the kayaker!

 

And Stewart's ice cream is always apart of WOL camp :)

My crew.

 The rodeo is every Friday night.

 Howdy!

 Some of the original WOL recruiters.

 Friends

 Geneva has on her life vest, safari hat, eating an apple, and is using her toilet paper roll binoculars- love this girl. Styling on the lunch cruise.

 

 Savannah dressed up for the "Christmas" theme day- so creative using pine branches! She won :)

 Geneva asked if we could go on an alone walk- this girl asked the best questions. Love time with her.

 Enoch and Jesse competed digger through Jello with their mouths to find a Sweetish Fish.

 More rodeo

 Climb on, Savannah!

 Savannah had never had an Orange Crush- love at first sip :)

 Love the Lubenec's

 Ribit!

And on our 8 1/2 hour drive home, we stopped in NY at Bagel Boys for the world's largest bagels!!

Maddie is Ten!!

A few of my favorites from over the years...

 

 Ten years with Maddie is quite a blessing. She's growing into such a beautiful young lady outwardly,  but even more importantly, inwardly. I'm so thankful for her! God is doing a great work in her life. 

(And there's he birthday gift- Butterscotch our new kitten).

Bike Crash!

 Three weeks ago Geneva had a pretty big bike crash! She went down a very steep hill on her glider bike and wasn't able to stop. Poor girl not only scraped up her face, but suffered a green stick fracture in her left jaw.

 Can you see how her jaw is crooked?

So that night I hardly slept as I prayed for God's guidance, healing, and trust in whatever His plan may be. He answered that prayer so abundantly.

 The next day we took Geneva to the ER seeing that her jaw still looked off and she was unable to eat from pain. We were blessed to have the most wonderful care at INOVA Fairfax. The docs even gave her sticker books and puzzles to take home.

 After having about 4 doctors come exam Geneva, they decided she needed to have a CT scan. From that scan we saw that she did, in fact, have a bent bone and that the joint was partially hanging off, but attached still. Thankfully, Geneva did NOT need to have surgery or have her mouth wired shut. We were sent home with instructions to give her a liquid/soft diet and no activity. Hard to do with an active 4 year old!! By God's grace, this opportunity allowed us to talk with her about really big concepts that all people struggle with- obedience, thankfulness, contentment, trust in the Lord, thinking on what is true, and the lessons go on. She was so teachable that she made it a joy to walk through this little struggle. She even said to Savannah on the way to swim team (when she couldn't swim and was disappointed) "I'm happy that you get to swim, Savannah." She learned about thinking of others, guilt and how to ask for forgiveness, and the joy that is received when the weight of guilt is gone, and thankfulness in the midst of struggles. God taught me so much through her example. He also taught me to trust Him when I have absolutely no control.

 Mimi did pamper Geneva with a manicure!

 Ice cream- keeping to a soft food diet isn't so bad!!

 Her new hat keeps the sun off her new exposed skin.

 She loved chicken noodle soup and oatmeal!

 Happy 4th!
Maddie and Savannah were very protective of Geneva every time we were out- they loved watching out for their little sister!

 We were incredibly blessed by many friends delivering activities, milkshakes, soft pudding, coloring books, and games she could do while being still.

 The greatest encouragement was to hear from so many praying for her.

 Today we took an x-ray and see that the jaw is healing well. The doctor said she can go back to chewing, unless her jaw begins to hurt. We have our last follow up appointment in January just to make sure the bones don't shift as they settle. Please pray for continued healing and safety.

We celebrated with a chewy croissant!! As we sat there Geneva and I thanked God for healing her and giving her life lessons through this accident. What a blessing.

Then on the way home I heard her singing "God is so Good" from the back seat. He truly is. 

1 Peter 2:3 we have "tasted that the Lord is good."