Cool, cool day!

Last Tuesday, the whole family went to the beach of Ludington (MI) for a time of day-off. The children loved it, splashing around in the waves and playing with the sand. Sarah and I just sat on our lawn chairs that we brought with us and enjoyed gorgeous cool 70-degree weather, the warm and sunny day, and the splendor of Lake Michigan. The ocean, I mean the lake, was a sight to see. Because of the size of the lake, you could not see the other side. We saw some sea gulls flying around us. I guessed they were waiting for us to throw them some scraps for a snack. But we did not bring any. They later decided to leave us alone.

Wednesday evening, we went to the Prayer Meeting of the Big Rapids Free Methodist Church. They set aside the whole evening for our Missions Presentation. We had a good time. Before the presentation, we enjoyed a meal and sat down to eat the food that everyone brought with them for that evening. I talked to Jim, Carol, Betty, Roland, Shirley, Jim, Ted, Peter, Andrea, and two other college-age girls, whose names I have already forgotten. (I am so bad with names.) These girls came to me after the presentation and had several questions for me. I won't be surprised if someday they will end up in Asia for a short-term missions trip. They were cool girls, very eager to contribute to the work of global missions. As I was talking to them, I could not help but think of the many other FM young people all over the country who have the heart for missions work but needed to meet that one missionary or to be coached by their local church pastor or they simply needed to be initially pushed by the adults around them so that they can take that initial step of obeying God and going out for a short-term missions outside of this country. At that moment, I said a prayer for all the youth out there who are in a similar situation as these two girls.

Friday evening, we set up tent on the lawn beside our house so Carmen and Jacob can have some camping experience. I grilled some fish for dinner. After the meal, we huddled around the "portable" fire and cooked some marshmallows. At the last moment, however, Jacob chickened out and decided to stay indoors and watch Go Diego Go! on his video player. So, after his bath, Jacob stayed inside with Diego. The three of us huddled outside around the camp fire. I brought my guitar and we sang some songs. We said our goodnights, and Sarah and Carmen slept in the tent. I stayed in the house to cuddle with Jacob. It was a cool evening, about 40 degrees Fahrenheit. The campers survived. Sarah had difficulty sleeping. Carmen enjoyed it.

It was a beautiful full week . . . a cool central Michigan week!