Summer 2012

In my return to our blog and my assessment of past blogs I just discovered there were a few posts that started off great but landed in my "drafts" file and never got published, oh dear.  Yes they covered a span of a few months.  How do I write about everything that I've missed and all that is going on now??  To catch you up to speed on the basics of our summer:

Ministry-

• Cornerstone Block Party (see previous post)

• 3 VBS' were hosted through different groups

• Food Cupboard continued as usual

• We took 15 kids to camp at Victory Valley Camp - including 3 of our kids

• Jonerik preached two Sundays in July

• We met with some people to discuss the possibility of a neighborhood, faith based legal clinic in our neighborhood

• Church picnic

• Church swim party

• Cornerstone Staff Retreat - 3 days at Camp Men-O-Lan

Family - 

• Family vacation for a week

• Swimming at various places

• Library trips

• Lots of picnics!

• Older kids went to camp for a week

• Jonerik and I got away for a couple of days for a VERY belated anniversary trip

I know I am missing some things, but you get the picture.  We have been spinning through the summer balancing a fairly new family structure and a running ministry that is thriving and challenging at the same time.  Joy and grief punctuate our routines as we are all learning to live a new way.  

Sometimes I wonder what genre of TV our lives would be.  Most days would probably be viewed as a crazy sitcom.  I mean, really, its the perfect set up for humor - 5 goofy kids who love to mess around in a small space, in a crazy neighborhood.  Other days - that would give the Hallmark Channel a run for their money - are filled with sentiment and reminders of the grief that we are all still wading through.  Still others would fall under the Drama category as each week brings crazy ups and downs due to the fact that we are working with other family members to raise these children and our ministry includes interacting with complex lives.

Most things can't be shared on a public site but one thing can be known for sure - God has been faithful to our family this summer (and all along).  How has He been faithful?  Again I can't list every way we have seen His hand move, but we have seen Him provide work for Jonerik and Emily both (I work part-time from home for a great non-profit), we have been surprised by people offering ways to spend our summer days and we have been given some days of true refreshment.

Am I just saying that to sound more "Christiany"? Not in the least!  Yes my husband is a "pastor" and we are "missionaries", but that doesn't mean we don't wonder what God is doing (or not doing) at times.  We do not have what we need inside of us, that is proven again and again.  We don't have the patience that is required, we certainly don't have the knowledge that we need on a regular basis, and we have no experience in shepherding children's hearts in such intense circumstances.  We are brought to our knees and each day we depend on the Holy Spirit to walk through these things with us.

“The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; he will be with you.  He will not fail you or forsake you.  Do not fear or be dismayed.”  Deuteronomy 31:8