Just

They love story-books but not the record of it!

Just

A busy, happy 23rd birthday up at camp with my birthday buddy!

As I am

Installing a new outlet for my paternal grandparents' garage-door opener.

Thou wilt receive

A new story book before the house is clean? Absolutely.

Wilt welcome

The best nephew in the world learns to clap.

Pardon

It's a special moment when 3 out of 4 are reading.

Cleanse

I just want to help you!

Relieve

Making bread'n'butter pickle juice.

Because

Brother-brother time over the foosball table... and the window seat.

Thy promise

This was a long story. Suffice it to say he's okay now.

I believe

Not sure what to say about this one. Fun fact: I was barefoot?

O Lamb of God

Kneading doughnut dough in a bowl.

I come

Lawrenson family 2022!

I come!

Grief

Today is my cousin Isabelle's first wedding anniversary.

It was a beautiful September day.

She was stunning. My new cousin-in-law was spiffing.

Everyone was so happy for them.

The smiles were genuine.

But look at this. Do you see them? My dear cousins, Sophie and Acacia.

They weren't there.

I haven't written about grief here. But two days after the wedding, when I was in my little dorm room at Bible School in Colorado, I wrote Isabelle a letter. Here is a portion of it.

My whole life before 08/08/21 sits in a bucket on the back stoop. I know it's there, and every so often I go and sit beside it, and take things out, toying with them idly, but it has nothing to do with how I live now, and if the whole bucket were to get dumped I would feel weird for but a moment before I washed it out and began filling it with new nuggets as the Lord tossed them to me.

If there is one thing I've learned so far here, it's that there is yet more coming. That bucket? Empty compared to how full it will be by the end of the week. Nothing compared to all the gold the Lord is going to entrust me with over a lifetime, however long that turns out to be.

I will not pretend that Sophie + Kaysha finished their race or accomplished their purpose. I don't feel that way at all. I don't think they arrived anywhere more deep or true or real than any 17- and 15-year-old. I believe they were headed places they never reached. BUT, I also know that the Lord did use the moments He gave them. He did make good on their servanthood. They were able to accomplish something for the Kingdom, which is ALL ANYONE EVER DOES. No one 'arrives', 'finishes', or 'makes it'. No one runs out of future potential just because they've lived a relatively long time. All we can do is wake up in the morning and say,

"Well, it seems I'm alive for today, use me as You see fit." And our buckets of gold and how full they are of what is not our business, it's God's. S + A did as much for the Lord in their lifespans as any of us will ever do. The Lord does not mourn Jim Elliot's and Keith Green's not being alive on earth, nor did He for a second. He uses us as He sees fit, not as we see fit. As Rachelle's cousin said to Mercer at Field Day,

"We don't get to choose the method of our sacrifice; of our pouring out." When we pledge our bodies living sacrifices, we don't get a menu to pick in what way we'd like to suffer. You were chosen to be purified by grief. S + A were chosen to be purified by death.

Cousin Love

Happy Anniversary Isabelle.

Fisher Bay Bible Camp '22

How to describe my summer? Words seem too settled and decided to say how I feel about it in. Pictures, however, seem even less suited to the purpose, for you don't know these people like I do. Suffice it to say - Summer 2022 was like no other. Life-long friendships were forged. Bodies and souls were toughened on the battlefield. Names were written in the Book of Life. Worth it? Oh, ever so!

This was a scene that played out three times a day - we would race to sit here first, to win points, before going in to eat.

Which was sometimes a fancy occasion!

The joy on this kid's face in this picture is a joy to all who know him.

Braceleting is a deliberate cabin leader's device - great ice-breaker, friendship-maker, and dilution while talking about serious subjects.

The tuck line is also a great place to chat with the kids.

We had some of the best lovers of Christ to work with this summer - great friends old and new.

Camp was a two-month training in looking right past bodies to see souls. All week you strain to see a child's soul through their eyes, words, actions, demeanor. With 40+ new names to learn and sometimes unexpected bodies to assign them to each week, you can't afford to see a kid's exterior for even an instant. You must focus on their soul.

You can't always keep your hair neat, either. As staff we learned that our bodies were just tools, our faces just windows, our hands just avenues for the love we were there to show. We looked at our fellow staff and saw only the soul staring out from the war-torn flesh. We forgot how to be distracted by appearances.

I brought three of my boys up as campers. I loved watching them get out of their comfort zones.

Week 1 - Junior Teen - Ages 11-13

Week 2 - Junior 1 - Ages 8-10

Week 3 - Junior 2 - Ages 9-11

Week 4 - Teen 1 - Ages 12-14

Week 5 - Teen 2 - Ages 14-16

Week 6 - Lil Uns - Ages 5-7

After all the campers went home at the end of the last week, we spent some time together as staff - got stranded across the bay in our canoes during a thunderstorm, danced on the highway in the pouring rain, played some rolicking games and music, and spelunked the Jackhead caves. You can see what a tight group we were.

I'll make an honourable mention of a few non-camp things:

Two of my kids Graduated at our place on June 19. More pictures here.

And my sweet nephew gets very well-Auntied. Here he is, "cooling off" during Field Day.