summer (and spring) reading

These are books I read, studied or listened to this Summer. I have a new found love of audio books. Since the stack of books on my bedside and on my Kindle were not shrinking in any way, I started listening to books. I LOVE it. Since I drive an hour back and forth to work 3 days a week, plus the traveling I did with the kids on my own this summer (they watched dvd's), I got a lot of "reading" in. 

Gwen and I led this Bible study this summer with some women at South Ridge. It's Beth Moore's newest study. As always, wonderful! And I loved our group of ladies that met every other week. This was similar in style to her James study and very doable.

I listened to this book in May and instituted the general chores/commission strategy for the Summer. This was a total win for me. I really loved this book a lot. Although we are not total Dave Ramsey followers (we use some of the concepts, kind of like we did with BabyWise), it has encouraged and challenged us personally and really was a great thing for the kids. Not only did they not beg for money at the pool, they both are learning the value of hard work and saved up for some fun things of their own. The chores also saved our house from being a total disaster this Summer, too. It's been a hard adjustment with school starting, especially when the weather is so nice after school and practices and stuff. But I'm committed to sticking with it for the long haul.

Although I already wrote a review about Interrupted, it really didn't do the book justice. I'm really wrestling with the concepts she presents and the thought processes of myself and church. I think it's especially thought provoking as it's a tension I've had in our personal lives for about the past year, and it's part of my job. I'm interested to see how this all shakes out for me.

I listened to this book on my Lake Champion trip. Although it was a great book, it's one I don't think I would've been able to read consistently and all the way through. I'm really glad I listened to it though. The Holy Spirit is such an intimidating concept to me. This book encouraged me to do some more research and really be aware of the Spirit's promptings.

This is a book by a blogger I read. She wrote Sparkly Green Earrings, which I read last year, about parenting. This book is a memoir type book about marriage. She's a writer I like to read because she's funny and can tell a good story. She doesn't write anything too profound or anything. But I like her stories and how she talks about and sees life. I listened to this book on my way home from Rockbridge. It was just about the same amount of time as my drive.

I just finished listening to this one. Hilarious! If you're easily offended or have children in the car with you - don't listen to it. Otherwise, if you like a funny memoir, it's a good one.

So that was my Summer reading. Today I found a draft post of my Spring reading. So here you go.

This is a devotional type book that comes from The Circle Maker. I kind of wish I would've read The Circle Maker first, but this was great. A few concepts that really stuck out to me and are a game changer in prayer.

I read this on my own in no time flat. Loved it. Jennie Allen writes about the "threads" of your life (gifts, suffering, people, places and passions) and how they all weave together together to equal your purpose. I read the book but would love to do the study with some women. 

My women's Bible study read this book in the Spring. Although I'm not a super big Lysa TerKeurst fan, I really enjoyed this book and it made a lot of sense. There are some super practical concepts of how to not come unglued on a daily basis. The women in my study really liked this one.

We finished up our women's Bible study this Spring with this study. It's a weekend event turned small group experience. Although it started out kind of strange, it was beautifully wrapped up by the end. There are some real truths wrapped up in scripture about the good and the bad secrets in life and what the Lord wants to do with all of them.


I've got quite a reading list for the Fall. But with my new found love of listening to books, I'm going to be able to bust right through it!

pittsburgh science center

We tried to go to Idlewild with the Underdonks towards the end of Summer. But it turned rainy on the way. So we turned left and went to Pittsburgh to the Pittsburgh Science Center. A fun day was had by all!

Aunt Sara met us there. We went out to dinner with her and then back to check our her apartments. She found this cute dress at Gabe's, originally white, and dyed it for Sophie. Sophie is in love.

younglives & capernaum - our weeks at rockbridge

We were at Rockbridge for several weeks for the August assignment. It's been a couple of years since we've spent a month at Young Life camp and it was really is good to be back. This the most beautiful assignment I've ever been a part of.

The first week was YoungLives - Young Life's mentoring ministry to teen mom's and their children. There were 170 young women at camp and about 150 babies under the age of 3. The rest of the girls were pregnant. About 100 men and women paid to come to care for their children (think of it as a mission trip of sorts). Every lobby of a dorm and some other spaces around camp were turned into nurseries for these sweet babies while their mom's enjoyed the morning and evening activities. The girls had their babies with them during all the free time and at night. Imagine a cabin of 8-12 girls AND their infants and toddlers. You can't until you see it first hand. I woke up girls in the mornings while their leaders were at leader meetings to make sure they were up and moving to make it to breakfast. But they did it and it worked. Girls felt loved and cared for and so did their babies. As a parent, I know what it means when others care for my children. It was beautiful.

 YoungLives Camp Videos

These are the actual videos of the week we were at camp. At least check out the welcome video. I was a hot mess that day as girls got off buses from FLORIDA and Nashville. And out of vans and cars from many other not close places.

Next summer, my plan is to take some people as childcare providers. I'm going to sell it as a mission trip and use it to jump start YoungLives in the Mountaineer Area.

Sophie loved all the babies. We spent a lot of time playing with them in the pool. This little guy would throw a ball into the water over and over again for Sophie to retrieve.

Every other seat in the dining hall was a booster seat or high chair.

Every lobby was turned into a nursery.

Strollers everywhere.

Sophie and a new friend, Aaliyah. They sat back to back one night for dinner and both had pigtails.

 Tents were set up with water tables and sand boxes for the babies while they were with the childcare providers.

The babies got to play outside a lot too.

My heart is forever won with YoungLives.

The second week was Capernaum - Young Life's ministry to kids with disabilities. 230 kids (the biggest Capernaum camp ever) with special needs were at Rockbridge experiencing the best week of their lives. They range in various degrees of physical and intellectual disabilities. Every single camper has a buddy that stays with them every minute of the day. Camp is significantly altered from the program to ramps around camp to the club room to food choices to slowing things down incredibly. Many campers have trouble communicating and caring for themselves. But there are leaders and buddies here who hold their hand wherever they go, chase after them, change them, fix feed tubes and wheelchairs and tend to their every need.

One morning I was completely blessed to be a "buddy" for a girl on her first ever horse ride. A women who does equine therapy with kids with special needs came for the week to oversee the horses and helped every kids that wanted to be able to ride. Autumn couldn't balance herself on a horse and had one good hand to hold on with. Her buddy and I balanced her on the horse so she could go on a trail ride. We have done several weeks of Capernaum camp since our first camp in 2009. Every time I am blown away by leaders love and extreme time and energy they are investing in kids with special needs. These leaders KNOW these kids and care for them in ways you and I can't even imagine.

Capernaum Camp Videos

Sorry for my lack of pictures on this one. Just watch the video. You'll be blessed.

So, below are the links to some of the videos of YoungLives and Capaernaum camp (in case you missed them earlier). Take a minute and watch one or two - each one is about 3 minutes. You'll be amazed. My favorites are always the welcome when kids get off the buses and are so very excited and surprised about how beautiful Young Life camp is. Watch a video or two and pray for these kids and their leaders - many who went home with a new relationship with Christ!

YoungLives Camp Videos

Capernaum Camp Videos

summer wins

And just like that summer is over. It's been a good summer. Although it wasn't what we expected or had planned, it was still really, really good. I'm thankful for all that we got to do, the fun we had and how I feel like we really were flexible, spontaneous and had a lot of fun. We're definitely leaving summer on a really good note, and for that I'm thankful.

Tomorrow is the first day of school. Except for Sophie right around bedtime, both kids are excited to get started. We had meet-the-teacher night on Friday. Now that they have met their teachers and figured out who's in their classes, both are ready. Ted has a sub at this point - the same long term sub he had at the end of last year. We're hoping she gets the job permanently, or at least gets to keep it for the year and there are no more transitions. (It really is amazing all the switching of teachers that happens right up to the last minute).

All in all, it was a great summer. Ben and I were semi-lamenting how fast summer went and how busy it was before we left for assignment. We weren't super excited to go. But assignment seemed to wrap up our summer beautifully and put a nice big bow on top - a total surprise and complete blessing!

So, a few of our summer "wins"

• 4 trips to the river - although we wish we could do many more, they were each a unique visit and always so fun. I am forever thankful for the river.
• family & friends - we got to spend a lot of time with each of these this summer. Although there were some of both we wish we could've seen more (or at all), it was still a lot of good people.
• Sam's click-n-pull - any event in your life needs this. It's a beautiful, beautiful service.
• steroids for poison ivy - I just go straight for the meds now. Nothing else works.
• summer bible study - for our young life leaders and for women's ministry at church.
• chores - this may be in my top 3 wins of the summer. Dave Ramsey's book Smart Money, Smart Kids gave me the outline for this. It gave the kids responsibility, helped keep our house clean this summer, and made me way more fun!
• quiet mornings - my internal alarm was 6:30 am all summer and the kids would sleep until between 8 -9 am. Although I lost my quiet evenings, the mornings may have been better and way more productive.
• camp (YL College, Young Life, WyldLife and Assignment) - seeing our kids and our leaders at camp made everything over the past year worth it. Our assignment team blessed the heck out of us. YoungLives camp won my heart.
• big kick soccer camp - BKSC doubled in our second year. A great facility. Amazing volunteers. Hottest week of the summer. I am proud of our church.
  
• ted praying to accept Jesus into his heart - while our Young Life kids were at camp, Ted and I had some pretty neat conversations about what it means to have a relationship with Jesus. After asking a gazillion questions and really thinking things through, it was a decision he chose to make.
• sophie's bad hair summer - she was just one bad hair day the entire summer, which is very unlike her cute little haircut. It was hilarious and something I had to just get over.
• audio books - I'm on my 4th audiobook of the summer. i've given up on the stack of books next to my bed/on my ipad. After traveling a lot by myself with the kids watching movies and my drives to work 3 days a week, I had plenty of time. This is a real game changer for me.
  

Summer 2014 may have been one of our best as far as the kids ages, staying up late and sleeping in, being spontaneous and all manner of fun things we were able to do. Here's to a great school year. Cheers!

interrupted - do i even care?

Over the last couple of weeks, I read Interrupted by Jen Hatmaker. I love Jen Hatmaker because she's honest, funny and throws it all out there. This is the story of big change in their lives. The back summary includes this: "Walk with Jen into a transformational journey that began with one dangerous prayer: 'Raise up in me a holy passion,' and concluded with a life of service to the last, the least, the forgotten and the forsaken." It's her story. It's real, emotional and it's personal to her.

Although this one wasn't quite as funny as some of her other books and blog, it was easy to read. (Short chapters are always helpful for me and make me read longer.) I read it poolside at camp in about a week.

I wanted to share some of my major take-aways that still have me thinking:

• the statistics of extreme poverty are heartbreaking. The majority of people in America are rich beyond words compared to what the rest of the world faces. (pages 25-27) The question is, do I even care about that?
  
•  It is a sin of neglect, a crime of omission to neglect the last, the least, the forgotten and the forsaken.When we ignore the least, we ignore Him. "No amount of spinning or clever justification can neutralize Jesus' point." (page 127)
  
• the statistics about the church and who is coming and who is leaving is astounding, especially for our twenty-somethings. (pages 92-93) The question is, are we going to them instead of waiting for them to come to us?
• The basic premise of the book is living on mission - being intentional about investing ourselves in our neighborhoods, communities and the world. Living a missional lifestyle that is about relationships. At one point she says, "As missionaries have always understood, the key is to study the culture you are passionate about reaching and submerge into that space with respect and love." BINGO!
  
• "In an endless array of Bible studies, programs, church events, and sermons have left you dry, please hear this: living on mission where you've been sent will transform your faith journey. At the risk of oversimplifying it, I've seen missional living cure apathy better than a sermon, promote healing quicker than counseling, deepen discipleship more than Bible studies and create converts more effectively than events." (page 233)

So there's this tension that exists between what I know is out there and what to do about it.

"But it's foolish to become paralyzed by the scope of suffering or discouraged by the limit of our reach. . . Alone, we can affect a few. But together, we can change the world." (page 36)

Here's the thing, this book will make you think. It will make you think about the intentionality of how you're living life. It will make you take note of what your mentality is in the way of reaching out to people in your circles, your neighborhoods and those that you have contact with regularly in your comfortable world.

But it also makes you think about the tension that exists between your comfortable world and the world around you that is not so comfortable. The people and places that need Jesus as much as anyone else, but you don't know what to do to reach them or how to go about it. The tension that exists in knowing that you have so much and others have so little.

Honestly, I'm still really processing what this means for me. I'm the outreach director at our church - it's a new position for me. This puts a whole world out there in front of me that needs our attention. The church as a whole needs to take serious action about loving the lost, the least, the forsaken and the forgotten.

It's a fast read. Read it for yourself. Think about it. Pray about. And pray that the Lord would raise up a holy passion within you and see where He takes you.

other fun things at camp & new friends

And just a few more fun things from camp. 

Ted and Sophie both loved the climbing wall. 

And Sophie climbed in a dress, no less.

She made it up to the part where the slant meets the wall.

There was no scooter riding during Capernaum week. The walk from the pool to Walton's was definitely way rougher with a lot more whining.

And the kids got to be in the hoe-down this week.

Lori, Ben & Stefan

A little spitting during the joke telling!

Jacob (7), Ted (8) & Ryan (9) - They had the BEST time together. They were all super sad when we left today.

The gaggle of scooter riders

Assignment Team Kids:

Back Row: Jacob (7), Eliza (6), Addy (6), Evie (7), Caroline (11), Mary Kate (9), Lucas (8), Ted (8)

Middle Row: Claire (3), Abby (15), Jacob (15), Michael (14), Sophie (6), Emma (13), Ryan (8)

Front Row/On Laps: Johnnie (1), Mac (3), Kryn (6), Tristen (3), Autumn (0)

All 6 of these girls came with the same sweatshirt from 2 years ago. How cute are they?

Claire, Sophie, Addy, Evie, Mary Kate & Eliza

The August Assignment Team

YoungLives/Capernaum/WyldLife

As we prepared to leave camp this morning, I was overwhelmed with such a sense of gratitude. The last assignment we did in 2011 was far from good for many reasons, mostly regarding our team and the expectations of what we were asked to do and how that played out in reality. The two previous assignments in 2010 and 2009 were so difficult/frustrating/exhausting as a parent, although we loved the team we were with. I realized in so many ways, this month (or 2 weeks that I actually was able to spend there) was incredibly redeeming for me in terms of being on a summer assignment again- as a team, as a parent, and for our marriage. I am so grateful for these beautiful, kind people who have done assignments together and welcomed us in and made us part of the team and their family. For our kids that became fast friends and for the freedom that came from our kids being just a little bit older, more independent and able to truly love every second they were there. For the expectations I had of Ben's job and for being ok with how it played out. I am so thankful for the last two weeks for so many reasons. After this, I'm ready for an assignment again next year.