Summer At Camp Love

My husband and I had a very concentrated six weeks of summer company. It was awesome and filled with joy and blessings. At one point we had sixteen at the beach! As our summer fun was coming to an end, our seven-year-old granddaughter handed us a postcard: Greetings from Camp Love! (with the word Wannago! struck out).

I don’t think our granddaughter knew what Wannago meant or she might have inserted the “love” in between Camp and Wannago.

The postcard has been in front of me for a few days. The house seems way too quiet, the laundry is caught up, and the bare refrigerator is filled with healthy food again. I miss the morning sleepyheads who straggled into the kitchen with a blanket wrapped around their shoulders asking for juice. I miss the kitchen table filled with art supplies and stacks of finished and unfinished artwork. I miss the chatter of small voices.

I wannago back to the chaos and feeling filled up with love. I wannago back to the beach, the zoo, the aquarium, and the theater. I wannago randomly to the ice cream store and sit at the waterfront in Washington, N. C., licking very fast to catch every drop of coconut, chocolate, almond ice cream in 98 degree weather. I truly don’t want summer company and fun to be over.

So today Dallas and I got in his ’57 Chevy, and we went to Scoops Ice Cream Store in Washington. We got our favorite ice cream and walked over to the waterfront to enjoy our dessert, people watch, and settle into the late afternoon heat and slight breeze off the Pamlico River.

And for a moment, summer fun was back on, and I could feel all the blessings and joy of those six weeks. I closed my eyes and said a prayer of thanksgiving. When I opened them, I witnessed the most beautiful sunset ever. It was like another blessing, a gift to remember God’s love pours out in many ways: grandchildren, fellowship, worship, fun, and nature.

As I get back into the routine of life after Camp Love, I realize I am eager and excited about our next Camp Wannago, I mean Camp Love. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for our family.

Have you had a wannago summer? If not, it’s not over yet. Plan a wannago outing and invite someone that needs to have a little fun and companionship.

God be with you!

Bayleaf Ladies!

 

Proverbs 3:1-2 My son, do not forget my teaching,

but let your heart keep my commandments,

for length of days and years of life

and peace they will add to you.

 Over the past year, I have had the awesome opportunity to be in Bible study and fellowship with the women at Bayleaf Plantation, plus a few extra women who drive over to join us. Sometimes we are twenty strong, and other times there are only five of us who gather to hear God’s Word and message. Over the past year, two of our members have died, and we had to come together to say farewell to good friends who had gone home to be with Jesus.

Today we are celebrating the last day on our study “Jesus: From the Cradle to the Cross”. We’ve been tackling Jesus’ life for nine months. The exploration has led us into moments of sheer joy and intense sorrow. Each of us has grown in our knowledge of our Lord and Savior.

We’ve seen the importance of gathering together to examine God’s Word. Every book, chapter, and verse we studied offered us a course in problem solving and speculation. Jesus asked lots of questions. He told stories and spun them around real-life circumstances. There were times when we had to just sit and ponder some of His teachings. I think Jesus did it on purpose to get us to settle down, stop, and consider. He drove the “ifs” into our brain. And He managed to woo us with words of love and encouragement.

Over the course of our study, we had lots of questions. Some had answers. Others were hard questions that didn’t seem to have answers at all. Then there were questions we had to leave alone because we realized God’s wisdom needed to pour over us before we could understand. A lot of questions seem to ask us to wait or be still. Waiting is like silence. It’s hard. We also talked about how it seemed God never answered our questions or our prayers. But in the process of studying, we discovered He always answered our prayers, but maybe not like we wanted or thought. That brought up more questions. I’m sure Jesus smiles at us a lot.

God’s Word is powerful. If you are not in a Bible study group, please search one out. It is powerful to worship, praise, and study with believers.

Here’s a picture of my Bayleaf Ladies!!! Aren’t they precious?

May God bless you abundantly through His Word,

Angela