Busy, busy, that seems to be a way of life anymore, although, it has been a very nice sort of busy. Last week, my husband and I celebrated our 23rd weeding anniversary. I surprised him with a night away at a nice hotel not too far from home. We have not gone anywhere without the children overnight since our honeymoon. It was very good for both of us. I think it might become a new tradition.
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Our rainy season is upon and working wonders on the garden. The corn seemed to shoot up a few inches after Sunday evening's drenching rain. In our dry, arid area, rain is like steroids and very much appreciated. :) My niece and Hannah got up yesterday morning at 5:45am and headed out to the garden to pull weeds as a surprise for me. It was so sweet! I am very blessed to have such great children in my life.
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I have been enjoying Ann Voskamp's blog, Holy Experience for a few years now. I appreciate her candidness and I always leave her blog feeling inspired. I did purchase her book, One Thousand Gifts, but I honestly just have not been able to finish it yet, although, I do plan to. I want to start my own list of one thousand gifts here on my blog. Remembering all that the Lord has blessed us with, big and small, is very powerful. We serve a very big God who cares about all the details of our life. With that, here is the start of my list:



1 twenty-three years of happiness with an amazing man

2 funds to provide a night away with that amazing man :)

3 a steady income from a stable job in uncertain economic times

4 a sweet little girl who travels over a thousand miles to spend the summer with us, and who is blessing us in so many ways

5 girls who wake up early to bless others with surprises

6 sleepy hugs from barely over waist-high boys

7 quiet morning time before the rush begins

Blessings,

Marninah

Discipleship Camp

I am enjoying a quiet moment before the troops awake, enjoying a yummy cup of coffee with coconut milk. The past few weeks have been super busy. Our sweet niece is here with us for the summer. We sure are enjoying her company. She is super helpful and has a great attitude. She doesn't even mind pulling weeds in our huge garden, which is good since that is a daily assignment. :)

Last week, I served at our church's High 5 Discipleship Camp, think VBS just slightly different. Each morning we would greet the kids, listen to memory verses, worship together, listen to anointed in-depth teaching, and then break off into different "camps". I was a leader in the cake decorating camp. There was also a basketball and judo camp. We had so much fun learning to use different decorating tips and made lots and lots of pretty cakes. The amount of frosting we went through for twenty-three girls was incredible. I lost count at 15 gallons!

It was a very blessed time. Halfway through each camp, we broke off into small group discussion times going over the day's lesson. They were some smart girls who really thought through the issues. Some, including myself, realized how important our words are and how we need to change some habits. As with any type of ministry, the Lord always teaches the leaders something important. What He showed me was how pride likes to rear it's ugly head in so many areas of my life. It is not a pleasant thing to realize. But, I sure am thankful. By His grace and mercy, I have been catching my thoughts and "taking them captive to the Lord" as often as possible. It only takes a small match to start a forest fire (something we know all too well in the South West) and so a small negative thought can have the same disastrous effect in our lives if left unchecked.

My son was in the judo camp. His "coach" was an elderly man who was the highest degree black belt in judo and a former national champion. He was a great, big man with a heart that matched his size. He really spoke a lot into the children's lives all week. My son came home the first day and shared with his father how impressed he was that the man said how would have given up all his judo honors to have Jesus. He made sure the kids knew how much he loved the Lord and that it was not about judo, it was about Jesus. Sadly, on the fourth day after praying for the kids, he collapsed from a heart attack and went home to be with his beloved Savior. He will be sadly missed and remembered for a lifetime.

Things like this always cause us to pause and consider our own salvation. Are we ready? Each and every breath we have is a gift from God. May we not take any of it for granted.

Blessings,

Marninah