Winding Down

Hard to believe our time at TWL is coming to an end.  We only have five days left!  This week has seemed to fly by.  Addie popped another tooth (noticed it yesterday) and Jackson has been living it up spending most days in the sand.  Daily he a) pees outside b) ends up running around in his underwear because his shorts have gotten wet and c) has a meltdown of some kind.  BUT he is also a) dancing to every song at meals (and pretty well I might add) b) making lots of friends in the college and high school students here and c) loving the ability to come and go outside as he pleases.  Today he spent at least three hours (no joke) riding one of the other kid's little scooters.  He has a three wheeler but he was fascinated with the two wheeled one...and drove it all around.  He loves the sand, especially the escalator in the sand and is super attached to any toy here that is a tractor.  Go figure.

Addie is just so easy.  She seriously sleeps so consistently and has pretty much been just in a great mood all around.  She is such an observer.  Another little one, Phoebe, is here with us.  She is a month younger than Addie Rose.  It's amazing to see the difference between the two of them.  Phoebe is so extroverted and in the mix in terms of interaction with you when you approach.  Adelyn observes for awhile and it is obvious that is her 'style.'  However, she can bust a move like no other.  The minute the music comes on she is a bouncin'.  I think this girl is gonna be a dancer...

Knowing that our time is slowly finishing up I can't help but think about how wonderful this all is...So I thought I would share a few things that I really appreciate about assignment.

Things I love about assignment and especially Timberwolf Lake:

• I don't have to cook.  By far this is one of my top loves about assignment. 
• The sunshine.
• The beauty of this place.
• The fact that I look out and see God's creation right out the door, not city buildings or streets..
• The kids are so free.  Jackson can go outside, wonder out at any given moment in the day and I know that there are various sets of eyes that will help ensure his safety.  I know that if he falls and scrapes his knee throughout the day, someone will pick him up in love and hold him.  I know that if he is misbehaving, someone has our back and will help discipline him.  I know that if Addie needs someone to pick her up because she's heading for a shiny object on the floor she could choke up, someone will grab her.  There is freedom in their security here...and is it blessed.
• I only do two or three loads of laundry a week.  Heavenly. 
• I get to work out with other women, almost daily.  We do it together.
• I am outside the majority of the day.  
• Our family get's a lot of time together, even in the midst of Michael working.   
• I get to focus on one thing...love.  Loving the Lord and loving my family.   
• And most significant, I think, is the fact that I can talk about the Lord any given moment of the day.  I can mention God as if He is a part of everything, I don't have to step over my words.  What freedom that is...

I remember Michael sharing what started to soften his heart to God...or at least raise an ear to the movement of the Spirit.  It was the fact that, in Morocco, and some other Muslim countries, God was a part of everything.  There was no 'secular' culture.  The call to prayer came over the radio.  There is no future tense in Arabic, only the addition of the word 'God willing' at the end of a sentence in the future tense.  That struck him, considering the fact that the religious life we experience here is very compartmentalized.  In these months of assignment, it isn't.  We get to be really honest and transparent about who we are in our relationship with the Lord, good or bad, and know that anyone you talk to at any given moment will understand.  I believe this is the way we are called to live as Christians, but we don't necessarily get that on a daily basis.  

I'm so blessed to be here, to be away.  Tonight was had an assigned team gathering, played some fun games, rode on the timber carts, went on the big swing...and just had time together in between yet another camp week.  Gosh-it just sometimes feels surreal.  

I read Psalm 100 two days ago.  And I feel like I want to shout it out to the Lord...giving Him all the praise and glory for such a gift as this assignment.  

¹ Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
²     Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
³ Know that the Lord is God. 
    It is he who made us, and we are his^[a];
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving 
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name. 
⁵ For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; 
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.