The past week has been a blur of returning home from New York and starting school and dealing with stuff.

Now Brad and I head for the hills to go backpacking in the Dinkey Lakes Wilderness.

...Hoping for time that is restful.

...Praying for good connection time.

...Thinking the smells of rain and pine and air will be good.

we are home.

manhattan

Emily and I are having a great time, and there is still tomorrow...

Highlights have included:

--watching Emily rock the subway map and get us everywhere from Midtown to Battery Park to East Village


--eating at Yaffa Cafe




--Emily teaching me Days of Elijah and When Love Comes to Town while riding the L... the businessman who stopped us to say he had enjoyed the 'concert'



--the Holocaust wing of the Museum of Jewish Heritage



--Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic



--and the joy of seeing Emily take it all in.

it is good.

It was good to be in my sister's home...spending time with her and my incomparable nephews.

It was good to be with family, and to walk on the beach, and swim, and breathe in cool air.

It was good to bring Stuntman to the East coast.

Now we are in Manhattan, and it is still good to be with Puddin.

new york via boston. with puddin.

Tomorrow morning Emily and I get on a plane and head to Boston (assuming she gets home from Calvin Crest at some point...aaargh to Cosby on that one...)

We stop off in Duxbury (just outside Boston) where my sister and three nephews live. Nice.

After a day or two with them we head into Manhattan on a train. We have been there together before...briefly... to visit Sarah but it was winter. And we weren't touristing.

This time we are. It is her graduation gift, and I am grateful to be going with her. I'm taking the camera and laptop... stay tuned for pictures and posts.

the camping trip. it was good.

This camping trip, in this spot, has been happening for about 16 years now. And every year, God makes it happen, and He shows up, and it is good.

This year may have been our best trip, in terms of harmony, relatively few 'incidents', and just the feel of it.

All I can figure is that God loves adorable ghetto children, and camping.

Some highlights:

--watching the kids make and play their glockenspiels (thanks to Brad for that one)

--having Dee (you might know her as Mia) as my helper

--Emily arriving.. spending her scant time off from Calvin Crest with us...seeing her lead chants and share just a bit of her Sherwood Style

--witnessing Darian figure out Jesus Loves Me on his glockenspiel. Amazing.

--watching George do card tricks with the kids

--seeing Nate do such a great job leading the hike

--realizing how much Jason Wilkinson has grown (current youth pastor at Menlo Park Pres--former Sunday School student of mine and the first DH intern)

--enjoying kids, who are rarely free to be kids, slide down rocks into a creek

--boys eating record amounts of roasted marshmallows

--and this: watching Nate be amazed by Emily, who has changed and grown into herself at Calvin Crest. The best was when she ripped the head off of a Giant Ant and then ate it. I wish I had it on video. He bellowed out: "Nooooooo!!!" He was overcome. Wanting to know where his sister has gone.

But I did get this on video. Catch the expression on Emily's face at the end. Sweet. (you can also see Jason in the background, spending hour 5 trying to master Jesus Loves Me on the glockenspiel...)

dakota house camping trip

In a few hours we load up six vehicles with food, sleeping bags, pots and pans, and Dakota House kids. Then we drive a very windy road for a couple of hours, pray no one throws up, and arrive at the sweet little camping spot we have been taking kids to for about 15 years.

Brad and I drove up last night and saved the area--which is large and hidden away and not a regular camping site--by setting up the kitchen, and tents (one for boys to change in--one for girls; we all sleep outside), and cleaning up the disgusting mess left by prior 'campers.'

I think the people who were just there were Toilet Paper Terrorists, or Nazi Forest Criminals. It was bad. But it is cleaned up now and ready to host 21 kids from the ghetto and 9 very fortunate adults.

This is one of my favorite things we do all year. There is nothing like taking kids who rarely leave their neighborhood up to the mountains, where most of them have never been. Everything is new to them: from the cows on the way up to the creek to the campfire. They are astounded by everything and are free to just play. And be kids.

Please pray for us to keep them safe, love them well, and bring Jesus a little closer to their hearts. And for Emily to drive safely to us from Calvin Crest. I haven't seen her in weeks... I can't wait to see my girl.

God gives wondrous gifts of love. No wonder we love Him so much.