I can remember things my parents said to me as a kid. Some of them hurt my feelings and some of them were good things. Now that I have an 8 year old son I am more conscious about what I say to him and I’m not talking about bad words. Its referring to size and weight or school work, creating things etc. I know as a kid what our parents say to us has a big impact on our lives and I’m sure we can all remember something said a long time ago that hurt us…… or a good thing wasn’t said.

Last weekend my family went to my aunt and uncles cabin in up state Pennsylvania. For many years there has been Sunday school by the creek with anyone from the other cabins who would like to come. Its cool to sit by the water and look at the mountain. In a day of power point and bands on Sunday morning, its fun to go back to (manual) church . The picture is my aunt teaching a new song .

My son Stephen can make a toy out of anything. He is so creative. You can give him a couple of things and he will make something out of it . Today he took some dominoes and paper and made a fish market. The other picture is Stephen in the tub with scuba gear that he made out of straws and duct tape. Note the air tank soda can!

Back in 1989 I was invited to go on a mission trip to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. I had never been on a mission trip before. At the time the church up there was in the process of putting up a building. I went to drive the bus and work on the building while the rest of the group were camp counselors at a camp that the church puts on. Even though Nova Scotia isnt really backwoods, At the time I thought it was. They would tell me Gilligans Island was prime time and I believed them!

Needless to say that trip changed my life. I continued to go up to work on the church building after the summer till it was done and for years afterward. I made some life long friends there including some that were in my wedding.

The other day I was looking at Facebook and I decided to l see if I could see some of the people I know up there. It was mostly kids that I remember as campers and it was really cool to see them all grown up, with some even married.

I’ve been an advocate of missions for years and I’ve had opportunities to go to other places. I tell people that they should take a trip to a ”third world country” at least once, it will change there lives….

Whens Fall coming?

Every year about this time a lot of the churches in my area start a summer ritual named vacation bible school. In May the signs start going up with all sorts of cute themes like beach, pirate, kingdom stories, pioneers, etc.
With most of these churches this is the only outreach they do all year except for those silly signs out front with catchy sayings like ”Give God whats right, not whats left” or ”Its hard to stumble when you are on your knees”. All the gut busters we have grown to love!

I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with vacation bible school. Its just amazing how geared up the churches get for one event and expect a big result. I wonder how much of an effect they really have…..

Did you ever notice that a fresh cut lawn makes your house look better no matter how the rest of your house looks ? With my house it looks really ratty with the grass tall even if the flower beds are over grown and the house needs some work. But if I mow, somehow it transforms the house into a much better looking place.