Our 7 year daughter was getting goodnight kisses from Daddy. “Daddy, do you have to go to work tomorrow?”

“Yes,” he said.

“Ohhhhh, why?!” she wailed.

“Because people around here keep eating.  And they like to sleep in a nice house.  And sometimes-” he fixed a mock stern gaze on me — “they even turn the air conditioning on.”

“Oh, ” said the 7 year old, looking sober for a moment at his undeniable logic. Then her face brightened.  “Can I come to work with you?”

“No.  I work at a hospital.  You wouldn’t like it there.  People are just dying to get in.”  His eyes twinkled, waiting.

“Daddy!” she wailed in dismay.  “I know exactly what you mean by that and I don’t LIKE it!”

“Why not?” His eyes twinkled more.

“Because that’s just a gross joke.  You should joke about something else!”

He burst into laughter.  And agreed.  And hugged her goodnight again.

And left.

And his little girl lay there, smiling into her pillow.

Discovery: A month that contains a week in Korea, a week of church camp planning, five days of church camp, and two days of wedding can leave a gal a mite tuckered out. So here are some of my best pictures from camp, standing alone to tell of the fun we had.

Newlyweds driving to church camp in the mountains. Car trouble 20 miles from camp. Dimming lights. Stops. Starts. Worries. Checking coolant. Changing fuses. Losing power. Cell phone out of range. Limping miles. Stopping. Starting– barely. Getting a jump start from a random stranger.
Wondering if they’ll make it.

Finally they pull into camp, heaving sighs of relief. Soon the car is surrounded by older relatives, questioning them about their troubles. Menfolk, dad and grandpa, pop the hood and tighten the radiator cap and clean battery contacts and somehow produce a battery charger. Solutions are tossed about.

The young folks’ brows unknit. Their shoulders relax. Their faces look brighter. They heave a sigh and go off to find a late dinner, as the older men continue to strategize over the car.

The afternoon’s problems have worn out the young people. Their part isn’t done– tomorrow they’ll be borrowing an aunt’s car and driving miles, then forking over bucks for car parts. An alternator, it turns out to be.

But this evening the car has enough heads under the hood. The worries fade back. Their problems have solutions. They toss a frisbee and sit with cocoa. They are not alone.

We, the older generation, find our minds drifting back to problems that felt too big for us alone, for rescues made by loved ones on our behalf. And are glad to pass on the favor. And also to snap a picture. Some day, when the hassle is not so fresh, they may be glad even for this memory.

I will be sharing pictures of camp soon, but today a story is just bursting out of me. A love story.  The story of a sister of mine who waited a very long time for love.

She played the cello at my wedding at the age of 13, maybe even then dreaming of the day she would walk down the aisle.

She grew up and began life. She attended friend’s weddings and more sisters’ weddings, doubtless always with a question in the back of her mind. A wondering when her turn would come to fall in love. To find a partner.  Her own soul mate.

Her 20’s went by and she kept waiting. Wondering. Striving for patience.

All the while she led a busy and mostly happy life. Productive and active and adventurous and faith-filled. Except for those moments late at night when she wondered if she would even get to fall in love. Ever get to walk down the aisle into loving arms. Ever have the chance to establish a family with a man who adored her.

She was resolutely, determinedly cheerfully. Determined to find joy in exactly what God had for her future, whether it be single or married. But there were times when that good cheer was hard. Because she wanted a family of her own, plain and simple.

Why is such a simple dream so hard sometimes?

And then last winter a blessed, wonderful miracle happened. My dear sister met the right man. Her man. The one she’d been waiting for all along but didn’t know it.

Turns out he’d been waiting too.

They fell in love.  He proposed.  She said yes.

And today. Well, today is their wedding day. At the age of 35 my precious, beautiful sister is a bride. Today I get to go and cry my eyes out for her. Rejoice with her. Praise God on her behalf.

Because God is good. All the time.

Great is His faithfulness.

Five days at camp left us tired but full of fun memories.  More tomorrow, but I thought I’d leave you with a picture of the dough hook I used to make pizza dough for 80 people on Thursday.  15 lbs flour.  15 cups of water.  Yeah.  Never made that much pizza dough at once in my life.  Fun, fun!

Rejocing today in this truth.

Foodie Plus 4: BBQ Pizza
Simple Dollar: How my wife makes our life work
Rebecca’s Pocket: Thrifty food plan challenge
Learning Patience:I want my kids to be as comfortable…

Last week when we were getting ready for my 7 year old’s birthday, she requested a pinata. The day before the party we ran errands. I didn’t have all the time in the world. A pinata was on my list. But all that WalMart had besides Tinkerbell was in a patriotic theme. Stars. Uncle Sam hats. I resigned myself to going to another store to pick out something more girly. But before we left WalMart we had to pick up a few other things. Marshmallows. Candy.

It was while shopping for these items that I had my epiphany. Marshmallows at this time of year can be found star-shaped, and in patriotic colors. Ditto for candy. The ’seasonal’ aisles are currently loaded with decorations in red, white and blue themes. Ditto for the children’s t-shirts at WalMart.

We ended up with a “You are the Star” theme for my daughter’s birthday– not a bad thing when you live among 9 siblings. She chose a ‘dirt’ cake for her cake, and I decorated it with candy stars.

Lemonade was served in a gallon sun-tea jug decorated with stars.  Star-shaped marshmallows were a side dish (-though I don’t think that addition was duly appreciated- some of the rowdies at the party ended up pelting each other with them.)

Jello jigglers were going to be star shaped, but when my 7 year old pointed out that would waste jello, we went with the classic square shape.

The final decorations were ones we made ourselves: simple stars cut from red, white and blue paper, taped to the valance above the vertical blind and strung on red ribbon from the light over the dining room table. It was a project that took 30 minutes and delighted my daughter.

We even ended up finding my daughter a t-shirt and skirt with a star theme. If you have a birthday to celebrate this summer, you might consider taking advantage of the 4th of July decor that is filling every store, and give your child a “You’re a Star” birthday.

Remember when you learned to ride a bike?  I remember my dad pushing me.   And pushing me.  And pushing me.   Seems like it took days before I figured it out.   He probably ran miles in the elementary school parking lot behind our house.  But finally one glorious day it all clicked, and off I soared.   I could balance!

As the mom of ten kids, I’ve spent a fair bit of time running after a kid who’s learning to ride a bike.  And if you think it is tiring to support a 40 pound 5 year old, just try teaching an 11 year old.  Our two girls who arrived at 9 and 11 from Ethiopia learned to ride bikes in America.  Pushing them around wore me out in mere minutes.  Thankfully they were really motivated and learned quickly.  These days all but one of our kids can ride.  I’ve just been thinking that it will soon be time to start pushing our 4 year old around the driveway.

The other day when I read about Balance Bikes at 5 Minutes for Mom, I was intrigued.  These cool little bikes allow preschoolers to quickly master the trickiest part of bike riding:  balance.  Come to think of it, that’s one of the trickiest parts of life in general, isn’t it?

If you’d like to win one of these cool little bikes for your kid, check out this contest.

My sweet little girl turned 7 last week. Here are a few pictures from her party. Much fun was had with the pinata. Eldest remarked wryly that since we go youngest to oldest, the pinata often ‘dies’ before she gets a turn, but this time even the big ‘kids’ got a crack at it. Remember, you can click on the pictures to see them bigger.