It's That Time of Year!

It's summer. It's hot.

That must mean it's time for church camps, day camps, and Vacation Bible Schools!

 

Time for kids to learn about God's wondrous creation...

through making art, listening to stories, putting on plays, learning about gardening and cooking and having summer fun! I was "volunteered" to do the science activity.

 This was a lesson in chromatography; with the results, we made butterflies.

This was a lesson in ultraviolet light and an experiment with UV beads & different SPF sunscreens.

"Cooking" time! The kids made puppy chow one day and decorated cookies another day. The best thing about this lesson is they get to eat the results!

Summers with my own little guy and his friends are some of my best memories. They're all grown up now and there's no little "grands" in sight. This was a good way to do one of my favorite things - helping children make happy summer memories. Priceless.

A Sunday Meditation

Today we attended service at a church that had experienced breakdown and "family" conflict. They had the wisdom to call upon help and employed a transitional pastor to lead them on a 13 month journey to  rediscover who they are in Christ, individually and as a congregation.

He guided them in redreaming and defining their vision. Now the time for release has come. He released a healthy body to fulfill their mission as a church. They released him to another congregation in need of his special skills of healing.

During their year of self-discovery, one of the questions they had to explore was what are people looking for in a church? In his sermon, Pastor made three statements so simple and profound that I had to write them down. I suspect that he was not only addressing the congregation's recent story, but was painting a broader stroke of thought in reflection of last week's ruling from the Supreme Court.

Is there love there?

Is there grace there?
 

Can I really sit there on the Lord's Day...

                                                                                                and find peace for my soul?

When it's all said and done, isn't that really what we're all looking for?

Alfred Hitchbird

If you're old enough or you watch old tv shows on cable, you might remember the Alfred Hitchcock show.

This little bird reminded me of the show's opening - a silhouette of Mr. Hitchcock.

There's a bird nest in the maple tree by our front door. The baby learning to fly made it as far as the window ledge. He stayed there all day. We watched his mama come feed him and his brave attempts to fly.

Here's mother waiting for me to go back inside so she could serve supper.

The next day he was over by the bushes. Hopefully by now, he's spread his wings!