Quiet Times

The kids (all three of them!) are in Nebraska this week, attending camp and visiting Tim's parents.  It's a weird sort of quiet here.  Things stay where I put them, entire TV shows get watched without interruption, projects are being completed. But there's also less laughter, fewer entertaining comments, no piano lessons being plunked out in the living room.  After the hustle of the first two crazy weeks of June (VBS at our church and then Creative Arts Camp), this feels like going from 100 mph to 10.

Jesalynn is attending Camp Rock this week.  It was neat for me to realize that I was eight, as she is, when I went for my first summer there.  I have been praying all week that she would have fun, that God would work in her heart during this time.

Did you know that Tim also attended Camp Rock from the time he was eight, and that he came to know Christ as Savior there?  We also met at Camp Rock, served as summer missionaries the summer we got married, and you might remember that our first full-time ministry point was--you guessed it--Camp Rock.  This organization has made such an impact in our lives.  We grew as campers, as staff--even leaving the ministry was a time of learning to rely on God's plan instead of our own.
And now our children (Tyson heads out there next week) are bringing it all full circle.

I was sad that I didn't get to be a part of this camping experience with them.  Due to our schedule, they road out to Nebraska with Tim's parents and will return with them at the end of next week.  I had hoped to get to be a part of the drop-off or pick-up process, and it was hard to let go of that.  But it's been a good week--relaxing, productive, quiet--and I will be so excited to see them at the end of next week.
Speaking of which, Tyson will turn 10 on July 1.

Where has that time gone?

I feel like we are doing a good job of enjoying the moments with our kids, not pushing for them to grow up but rather experiencing each stage to the fullest; but it still feels like the time is flying too fast.  I see glimpses of a young man in my little boy's face.  I hear a young woman sometimes in Jesalynn's turn of phrase.  I listen to Natasha pray with a maturity that belies her five years.  And I want to hold on, to remember all of these little things, to be able to pull them back out and relive those moments even when the kids are grown.  That's the reason for my xanga blog (www.xanga.com/gwennieg).  I look forward to reading that with the kids someday, laughing over the quirky little things they did.

Well, I'm getting rambly, and it's probably time to get some things done this morning.  Thanks for listening.