A brief update...

Okay, okay - I'm back. For those who don't know, and that's probably most of you since I've been MIA for a/b 3 weeks - I went to the summer youth camp in Glenrose this week and then spent the last 3 days in Corpus on the beach...yes - it was wonderful. Camp was amazing, as I expected and I have plenty on that to blog a/b later, and the beach was so very relaxing, just what I needed.

Now I'm home - and back to the familiar things of life, such as the little boy who lives above me running laps around their apartment. The kid's gonna be a track star someday - and I'll be able to say I knew him when... I never knew a kid could run continuous laps in an apartment my size, but I assure you it can be done...the little pitter-patter of feet seems to never end - it's quite humerous at this point.

Anyway - back home and back to life - as usual it's hard coming off of a week with nothing but God, teenagers, sun and sand, but it must be done. At least now I feel like I have the energy to do something other than come home and crash. So for now, I leave you with the things I learned on vacation...

1. God is amazing -

not that I didn't know that already, but I learned it in a much larger capacity this week - ways that will alter my entire outlook on so many different things in my life.

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2. I'm not as young as I used to be - spending 5 hours reffing basketball games in 90 degrees on hot pavement left me with an aching back, terribly sore and swollen feet and with the desire to do nothing but lay as still as possible, flat on my back in the cabin...a far cry from my much more active youth.
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3. If you sit on the back porch at the coast with a graham cracker in your hand long enough, the seagulls will attack you for it. Sea gulls do not fear me what-so-ever.

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4. I am a master poker player - I won $25 in my first poker game ever...yeah, it looked something like that...I'm the one with all the chips.

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5. I am a terrible fisherman - I give up on the idea of ever catching a fish. Even in the Gulf of Mexico I couldn't get one to bite. I think it's a conspiracy of the aquatic life to leave me feeling defeated any time I step on the scene with fishing pole in hand...well, I quit. If she can do it...then they must be conspiring against me - I refuse to accept any other explanation.
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7. It is possible to hit rush hour in San Antonio, Austin and Waco all in the same day...and it sucks.
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8. And finally, I lived a truly blessed life. When I have the ability to spend 3 days in the midst of the 600 kids and Lord and then fly to the beach to stay in a beach house with a family that is not my own, but who treats me as if I were where I am able to lay on the beach in front of what I consider to be one of God's most amazing creations and just do nothing but bask in His sun and enjoy His sky and His clouds and His waves breaking on the shore and just take it all in....it humbles me to think a/b where I was 7 years ago and to think about where He's brought me since then. I am blessed beyond anything I could have ever imagined then and I am deeply grateful for where I am and for the people the Lord has planted in my life.
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It's been a wonderful week - hopefully I'll have some real pictures to share soon. I hope everyone is well and happy! Have a safe holiday weekend and I love you all!