Championship Village!

It has been an awesome week! Championship Village is Oak Hill's version of Vacaton Bible School...they alternate between that and Bibletown Marketplace, which I was a part of last year, only a couple of weeks after we moved to San Antonio.

This year I was in charge of the crafts, however even that was much different than I had seen done in the past. We had a missions theme, and so instead of all the day to day crafts, the kids made things which could be actually used by children in needy countries. The only "souveniers" they got to take home were a frisbee and a megaphone they got to decorate. They all seemed so proud that they could minister to other children by sending gifts, that I believe God used this week to teach all of us about taking our eyes off ourselves and focusing on others!
We had about 300 kids this week, and each group represented a different country. The leaders signed up for countries they had an interest in, so the tents were decorated impressively.














The last night, the teams all marched in holding their country's flag, as the Olympic Theme played. Each child was honored in a ceremony for making God their "Hero", as their leader placed a ribbon and medal around their neck. At the front of the room, all of the school boxes and bags they had made were placed in piles ready to be shipped to other countries. It was a joy to see the looks of pride on each childs face!

Looking Ahead...

We only have a couple more weeks before I'm due to fly to Illinois for most of the summer, so we're trying to pack in all we want to get done before my trip. Last night we had a much needed rain late in the afternoon, but when we arrived at church, we discovered all the electricity was out due to the storm. Instead of the regular service, we ended up having a really special time of worship. Max gave a condensed message along with prayer and communion. Although it was dark and very warm w/o the air conditioning, it was a neat time. Just the night before, Larry and I had attended a "Welcome Home" party for our missionaries from Africa. Archie and Mandy are a young couple who just retunrned from serving five years in a very remote African village. As they talked, I wondered how it would be to worship in an area w/o the luxuries we are used to...I think God gave me a slight glimpse by the lack of power Saturday evening. After church, our good friends Doug and Patty Gilbert came over for the rest of the evening...it was fun playing games and just hanging out...I'm going to miss these friends while I'm gone!

Since Larry and I met while working at a Christian ranch camp, I've been thinking it would be fun to celebrate our 30th anniversary at a dude ranch. So this morning we drove up to Bandera, about an hour north of San Antonio in the hill country, to check out some ranches I had looked at online. We found a really neat place that had horses (a must), golf (Larry was excited), a water park, a ghost town where they hold the evening campfires plus a great lodge with wonderfu meals! We're looking to plan an October getaway this fall.

Father's Day Weekend

Now that Larry has his own motorcyle, I figured for Father's Day I would outfit us with official riding gear. We went to one of the largest bike shops in the area and bought new helmets and jackets. The shop wasn't what I expected...the girl that helped us was really nice (and normal?) and even though Larry was embarrassed when I asked her to take our picture, she just laughed and said this store was more like a toy store for anybody who liked biking. It was fun!

Today we had plans to ride up to a festival in a small town north of us, but we woke up and found water in our garage due to a broken water heater. So after breakfast at the Magnolia Pancake House (mmm...), we went to Lowe's and purchased a new one. So Father's Day was spent installing the new water heater. I'm just thankful Larry has the ability to do that kind of thing himself...certainly saves time and money!

The rest of the day was spent with Larry watching golf and me feeling kind of melancholy knowing our kids were so far away AND due to the fact that this was the weekend for Tim and Caroline's wedding. When it had first been planned, I had said I would help my good friend Brenda with the wedding, but obviously that didn't happen. Caroline and Shelley became friends 14 years ago when we moved to Rockton. When Pastor Bob and his family came to Hope Free, his son Tim was in middle school and I had no idea that someday Shelley would be in their wedding. It's a good thing that God's in control of this roller coaster called life and all we have to do is hang on for the ride!

Since school was out this last week, Larry invited me to come to a retirement party at his plant for one of his engineers on Friday. It was fun...I got to see Larry in his "work mode". I really wasn't expecting much since it was held at the plant (and how do you make a production line look festive?) but I was really impressed...they all had pitched in and helped with the decorating and planning and it turned out great! It was a Cowboy Barbeque theme and everyone seemed to be having a great time. I was really glad I got to be there!

This afternoon, after church, we headed up toward Austin to do some exploring. We found a little lakeside town with actual pine trees and of course a few cactus mixed in. Then we went into Austin to see the capitol. We ended up at the University of Texas, where we enjoyed a great lunch at a restaurant on the lake.

School's Out For the Summer...

Larry took his motorcycle class last weekend so we've been "practicing" by taking rides each evening after work. It's been so much fun heading out on rural roads and seeing country that we haven't seen before. It seems as if you notice more details when you're on a motorcycle...at least I do because I don't have to worry about driving!

Today was my last day of school and it was kind of bittersweet...I'm really going to miss the kids as well as a lot of the friends I've made this year. I ended the year by playing a game I used to play at Rockton Grade School, but I enhanced it a bit. I called it "Brainy Baseball" and made it much more challenging now that I have older students as well as the younger ones I've always had. Everyone had a great time! The picture is of one of my students who gave me the cutest gift...it was a cylander filled with giant gumballs and a note that said "Hope you have a 'ball' this summer!"...we have the most creative moms at Encino Park!