Can You Say, EXHAUSTED??

I wanted to say a quick hello to all of my blog friends again! Travis and I are both home now, officially done with two long, busy, and full weekends! Travis was camping with junior high boys and I was hosting a weekend slumber party with junior high girls... that means we are both drained! I finished Sunday morning with my girls and spent most of Sunday afternoon, on the couch, with a sore throat, watching movie after movie. I didn't actually watch most of them, I really just laid there and stared at the tv. In fact, I was so tired, I didn't know what to do with myself. And my throat hurt, did I mention that?

Travis came home around 9:00 PM and immediately got in the shower. I believe a cloud of dirt and odor followed him down the hall! When he walked in the front door, I immediately noticed a scab on the bottom of his lip. I asked him what happened, and his answer was a classic one... he got shot in the mouth by one of the kids during their air-soft gun battle! Sometimes I can't believe the life we have. I'll be filing that injury under, "Things that only happen when you're a junior high Pastor!" Of course that wound was only one of several, but the boys had a great time and so did he. They literally canoed from a lodge out to three islands and they spent three days there. They were totally unreachable, which was a bummer for me, because I desperately wanted to reach him on Thursday night. After hearing about the horrible tornado and boy-scout incident in Iowa, I was watching the news Thursday night before I went to bed, and much to my horror, I discovered there were terrible thunderstorm warnings all over the area where they were camping. The kind of warnings that tell you to, "immediately seek shelter in a sturdy indoor building, away from doors and windows, due to the threat of large hail and cloud to ground lightening." Not good when you're sleeping in tents on an island! But, God was good and the storm ended up really going around them. They didn't get much more than rain and most of the boys slept through it, but for all the parents and I who were worried sick, we didn't know that until they rolled in Sunday night. Ahh, the joys of being a youth Pastor's wife! If I'm not worried about one trip, I'm worried about another. Anyway, Travis said it was a great weekend and I heard from lots of moms today that their sons had a blast! So, despite a sleep-deprived husband, who also has a sore throat, it was a weekend well spent!

My girls weekend was equally fun, although we didn't do any canoeing to islands! We did lots of fun girls stuff around town; movies, the pool, mini-golf, etc. We also made t-shirts and necklaces and spent lots of time just talking and laughing. I led a few sessions on topics like self-worth; conformity; friendship; modesty; and girl politics. That was fun for me and the girls seemed to soak it all in. I'm always amazed when we break up into groups, and share what's on our hearts, that so many of our "church girls" are struggling in some pretty big ways. This world is not the world I grew up in when I was in junior high. So many temptations out there, so much media bombarding our girls with lies... it's sad to see girls taken captive by that stuff at such a young age. Looking those girls in the eyes and telling them what Jesus thinks of them and what His word says about them is what makes these kind of weekends worth it too. I have to admit, I was dragging my feet about this weekend, especially after the wedding... I just didn't know if I had it in me to lead a big event and do it with no sleep, but I'm glad the Lord convicted me about it long ago. He made up for all the areas I was lacking and He worked in spite of me. Our leaders were fantastic and I've heard lots of good feedback, but even more than that, I know I obeyed the Lord by doing this and I honored my husband's request for my help. I looked around Saturday night, at all the girls having a great time, singing and dancing and I knew that all the stress and the lack of sleep didn't matter. It was sweet to see our girls having fun together and knowing that we were building valuable relationships in the process, eternal relationships. I did have to apologize to the Lord for lots of my complaining however!

So today, when we would have liked to sleep in, we were back at church, bright and early, for VBS. 700 kids came today, and we'll be there all week, all morning long. Travis is leading games outside and I'm helping with registration. Today I came home and went right to bed. I read some magazines and watched a little TV. Travis came home early and found me in bed... and he climbed in too! We got a great, and much needed, nap in and we were good to go... to another meeting tonight. Oh, the summer schedule is officially in full swing! We'll be busy every day and every night this week. I hope you are having a great week and a great start to your summer, no matter what your schedule is! Ours is off to a great start, but can you say, we're EXHAUSTED????