Boy Scout Campout #1

Sunday morning the sun greets the campers as they tumble from their tents to meet together to worship God together, at least the ones who are not frozen in their sleeping bags. I think this must have been record lows this weekend. It did not get above 35* during the day and it was around 28* that night. Saturday afternoon, the boys were working on badges and that night they did a campfire with skits, marshmallows, and also a ceremony to retire some American flags. It was very fun. Samuel, our cub scout, had a great time. At around 9:00, when everyone was turning in, I turned toward home. Yes, I admit, I could not take it, so my dear husband sent me home with the blessings of both sons. So I came back in the morning to help wrap up and pack up. The boys had a great time. They are looking forward to the next one in the spring. Hopefully the weather will be a little more cooperative.

Jewish Tradition

This year, we have been studying the Old Testament, and along with that Jewish customs and traditions. We started by celebrating the Sabbath as they do on a Friday night and finishing on Saturday. There is a lot of ceremony that accompanies this dinner. It is a celebration to honor the Lord and the day of rest. Ours had a focus on Jesus, as christians, that the Jews do not have. We were all struck with how much it affected us to be solely focused on honoring the Lord throughout this meal.

We also had the opportunity to tour a true to life replica of the temple that traveled with the Isrealites during their years of wandering. At each place within the temple, the group who does it, presents the information about what you are seeing. For instance, below is the alter and the water basin. This is where the sacrifices for the people were made. It is humbling to see how the Jewish people had to live by the law of sacrifice to be presentable before God, knowing that we are not bound by that because of Jesus's sacrifice on the cross. Amazing!

In the end, the group presenting shared the gospel, which I thought very appropriate and bringing it full circle to why we as gentiles can be called children of God. We have an amazing God who created us and redeemed us all according to His plan.

September Beach Trip

The beach is always great. It was beautiful and we had a blast. Matt even bought a boat for the girls to use so we could float and sun. However, it turned out to be a bust, due to the waves that kept trying to flip us. Yes, we did take a dive once into the very cold water. My dear husband, who was supposed to be helping us get out past the breakers, helped us into the wave and the water and then pulled us out of the water spluttering, soaked and cold. Bad Matt! All in all it was a blast.