Just catching up a little. Folded laundry while Bruce plugged away at his homework. Opened windows and the cool air got me all wide awake.
Today we went to the library and then over to the K.'s house. They were gone but specifically mentioned that we'd be welcome to use their pool in their absence. God bless their gracious family. So we took a picnic lunch, swam, jumped on the trampoline, spread out the beach towels and read library books, and finally headed for home to rest.
I went in and deliberately woke Ruth up after Paul was up from rest time - I didn't want to start the cycle of "can't get to sleep at bedtime but still wake up at 6, then need a nap and then can't get to sleep at bedtime again." She was so sweet to watch. She'd hear my voice enough to smile a little, but not really wake up. I laid down beside her for a few minutes and then tried again. She finally was awake enough to respond when I asked her if she wanted to watch tv with Paul. She hits the ground moving before she's really, fully awake. I can relate.
We picked more squash and four green beans for dinner tonight. We took the extra squash next door as a partial thank-you for the apricots they graciously shared with us. The kids really liked them, and Paul was laying plans for planting the seeds and growing our own trees.
Yesterday we went to the park with friends, and a very cute puppy came and curled up under the bench my friend and I were sitting on, or under her baby's stroller. If we weren't hoping to move this summer, I think I might have called Bruce to see what he thought about bringing home a new dog. But we are hoping, so I didn't.
Tuesday is the last day of Ruth's school - though it's really going to be a party at a classmate's house. Paul is already done. At the end of the week, Paul and Bruce and three other father-son pairs will go backpacking. Ruth and I will stay in town and she'll go to a birthday party on Saturday. We might also paint our toenails - Ruth's been wanting to do that for a while.
We bought a roll of butcher paper so the kids can paint on the easel again, and we'll see what other kinds of crafty things we might get up to. I've been trying to think what kinds of things I want the kids to do. I've looked at VBS flyers from the church that houses Paul's school and the church that houses Ruth's school. I like the idea of something structured and wholesome for the kids to attend during the summer, but I find myself thinking, "Yeah, but sometimes (depending very much on who is running it) kids can be pushed into mouthing words that they don't mean or even understand about 'having Jesus as a forever friend' or 'Inviting Jesus into your heart.'" If my child doesn't understand even a little about his or her own sin problem and need for a savior, I don't want someone getting my child to repeat some words and telling him or her, "Now you're a Christian!" I'm really concerned about Ruth in this regard. I think Paul has accepted Jesus as his Savior, and has responded earnestly to as much knowledge as he's able to comprehend so far. But Ruth knows a good thing when she sees it, and getting adults to think she's winsome and charming is, as far as she's concerned, a good thing. I don't want her real relationship with Christ to be hampered by false mental constructions.
We
will be attending our own church's VBS. I'll be helping there, so I feel like I'll have a better chance of debriefing the kids and having conversations with a context that I was part of. Or rather, "a context of which I was a part." Grammar has really been nagging me lately - the attempt to reach correctness and then balance it with an awareness of audience and purpose and finding a tone that doesn't sound blatheringly pompous. Actually, that whole contested sentence really just needs to be recast: perhaps something like, "I'll better understand what the kids are talking about after being in the same context myself." Hmm. Maybe context is the problem word. Except that I really like it because it so concisely makes the point that I'll be hearing some of the same stuff that they are hearing, and with the same emphasis. On the whole, now that I've gone and beaten the tar out of this horse, I think I'll just say, "I'm glad that the kids will be going to VBS at our church," and leave it at that.
Bruce will begin teaching Summer School as a student teacher starting the 8th (Yay! and thank you God for answering that prayer with yes), and then take the RICA on the 13th. I can't believe our personal roller-coaster experience is starting to slide into the last series of loops and twists. Most of the good (literal) coasters I've been on are the quickest and most whiplashy (you know what I mean) right at the end - which is great in a ride that you know lasts only long enough to get your adrenaline pumping. I'm not sure how I feel about that in my own life. But I'm glad that the metaphor does not necessarily have to hold true, and I'm so glad that God is bigger than all our plans.
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