Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Vacation with the Family in NY






Last week Paul and I flew to upstate NY to spend a week at Camp of the Woods with my family. It was nice to get a break from the 100 degree weather (it never got over 65 degrees in the Adirondacks!). We enjoyed wearing jeans and sweatshirts and sleeping with cool nights. It rained a lot while we were there and we even liked that because we didn't feel bad just sitting and relaxing. We stayed in a cabin that overlooked the lake which made it so nice when it rained. We enjoyed sitting on our porch and watching the rain come over the lake and here the loud thunder bounce between the mountains.

We were assigned seats at the dinning hall and were paired up with two older ladies, a mother and daughter. The mom was 86 and the daughter had turned 60 while we were there. At first they were really negative and Paul and I were nervous about how the rest of the week was going to pan out, but we loved these ladies! Both of them were new believers and had a really rough past. Paul and I enjoyed the fellowship we had with these new believers. We talked to them about church, prayer and even how to read and study the Bible. Even while on vacation there are ministry opportunities! Paul and I truly enjoyed getting to know these women.

The speaker for the week spoke on loving our neighbor. It was good to be reminded that we don't have to go far to find 'our neighbor'. We need to love those in our church, in our families, in our work etc. who might be right in front of our faces even if it is hard. Jesus isn't asking us to do anything he wasn't willing to do himself. Being a people of love means you are a people of action because love is something you do.

1 comment:

KGoth said...

I love the Smokers! I'll have to call soon for an update on the whole fam. I think the Readers should spend Christmas with the Smokers and the Gotholds could pop up for a visit. Whaddaya think?!