Operation Obey

Sam and Ben had the opportunity a few weeks ago to attend a birthday party for one of their friends.  I have been to many, many birthday parties, but this party was by far, the best!  It was built on a military theme and the title was "Operation Obedience".  From the time the boys arrived, they were treated as military recruits.  The boys LOVED it all!  Here is Sam getting his fingerprints done.

 Here is Sam taking his meds.

 Ben, getting fingerprinted.

 They even had the boys change clothes into military attire.  Ben got to wear this cool flightsuit.

 Ben and his friend Ben.

 Two adorable little Ben's!

 The whole class of rectuits.

 Benjamin doing the zip line.  It was kind of high, as you can see, but he LOVED it!

 The two Ben's were made military police and rode these 4 wheelers, patrolling the grounds, looking for offenders.  They even had tickets to give out.

 Sam on the zip line.

 The first ticket!  And it was to the birthday boy!

This was a great party!

Heard at the Dinner Table last night

"Mom, you are a genius.  You make bery licious food."

-Benjamin, age 4

Benjamin

Ben wasn't feeling well this evening.  He said his tummy hurt, so he came and laid down with me on the couch.  We got to talking about many different subjects.  That boy has so many funny ideas and perceptions.  (Reminds me so much of another little boy...)

At one point in the conversation, he said he could hear his heart "beeping".  I asked him what his heart was saying.

"My heart is saying I love God".

I then asked him what other people's hearts were saying.  Most people were a variation of the statement above.  However, Sam's heart was beating to the tune of a different drummer.

"Sam's heart is bery angry.  Sam's heart is lyin and Sam's heart is foolish and Sam does foolish stups. (stuff)."

Alrighty then.

Sibling rivalry, anyone??

Make It By Midnight

Several months ago, Paul signed up to run a half marathon here in Lake Wildwood. I thought he was crazy! But he enjoys a good challenge so he decided to do it. The date snuck up on him however, and he really wasn't able to do any specific marathon "training", but did continue with his usual fitness routine. Apparaently, it was enough.

 At the last minute, Anna decided to join him.  She was not "officially" part of the race, but that didn't deter her.  She ran every step with her dad.

 The race course ran right by our house, so I was able to snap some pictures when they came by.  They also came in and got drinks and zija.

 They wore these glow in the dark necklaces when it got dark.  The whole idea of this race was to make it by midnight.  Each runner decided when to start so that they would achieve this goal.  Paul and Anna started around 7:30 and finished around 11:20.

 Woo-Hoo!  They were so happy to cross the finish line.  They did it in about 4 hours.  Pretty impressive considering it was the first time either has run in a race and that neither one trained for it. (We never did understand what the time clock in the above picture meant.  It wasn't their time nor was it the actual time.)

 So happy to be finished.

Way to go Paul and Anna.  They were so hyper at the end I think they could have run the whole marathon, especially Anna!

An Evening at Camp Eunice

Camp Eunice has been a part of our lives for over ten years.  The first summer we lived in Macon, I read in the newspaper about Camp Eunice, a Christian camp about 30 minutes away that was very reasonably priced.  I was always looking for things for the boys (Paul and Zack at that time) to do during the summer, so I showed the article to Paul.  A few weeks later, we drove out to the camp to check it out and we decided to send Paul Jr. for a week that summer, and one or more of our children have attended every summer since.  Paul, Sr. has taught Junior Camp every week for the past several years and is part of the camp family now.  I even attended a summer camp a few years ago.  Camp Eunice is a very "campy" and rustic camp, but my children (and husband) love it.  They have made lifelong friends there- and even Paul met one of his closest friends there.   The opportunity arose a few weeks ago when Zack was home for our entire family to go to Camp Eunice for the evening.  That has never happened before, and will probably never happen again.

 Emma greeting Dad and Ellie.  Paul, Sr., Ellie, Sam and Ben had come to Camp Eunice the day before.  Paul was teaching Junior Camp this week and Ellie was his assistant.  Sam was attending as a full fledged camper and Ben was a pre-camper, but you couldn't tell him that.  In his eyes, the camp was just for him.

 When we drove up, we found Sam playing around in the front of the dining hall. 

 He was one of the first in line for dinner.  He loves camp!

 Ellie, patiently waiting dad's instuction.

 Anna and Andrea (Zack's girlfriend) singing before the service started.

 Ben before chapel started

 Sam in chapel.

 Right before chapel started, Anna came over and said Mom, Dad wants you to sing with us.  Ok.  So I handed Emma to Paul Jr. and came up front with Anna.

 Zack played the guitar for most of the songs.

 Paul led the worship.

 When Zack finished playing guitar, he came over and sang with Anna and I.

 It was during this time that the thought struck me.  I am here with all 7 of my children.  The oldest 4 are all ministering tonight with their Dad and I.  Paul Jr. was holding Emma (and putting her to sleep), Ellie was running the powerpoint and Zack and Anna were singing.

 I was very blessed by that thought.  There are many days (both in the past and present) that I wonder if what I'm doing is making any difference in the lives of my children.  Sometimes I get so bogged down in the trivial and the mundane that I fail to recognize the glimpse of glory that God is giving me.  On this night, I recognized it.  I am so blessed.  No, my children are not perfect, but God is using them.  On this night, we were all serving God and others.  Together.  Does it get any better for a parent?  It thrilled me to sing praises with two of my children at my side and two more ministering in the audience and my husband leading the worship.   Wow.  THAT is amazing.

 Emma hugging Sam.

This was a night to remember.  This was a moment to tuck away and bring to remembrance when the going gets tough (like it always does) and when I feel discouraged.  This was an unexpected smile from my Father in heaven and a pat on the back. 

Thank You Father.

Sunday, July 8th