Hello friends!
What a busy weekend we had! I can’t
even remember everything we did around the house and running errands. However, I did capture three events with my
iPod camera.
On Saturday, my cousin-in-law Debbie and her husband Michael invited us for a party at their new house. 
I love, love, love Debbie's home. She is so artistic, and I love to get decorating and design ideas from her.
I brought a layered bean dip (quickly devoured), and a cake slathered with vanilla yogurt and sliced
strawberries. 
Debbie found the idea for a backyard water “blob” on Pinterest. She duck taped two sturdy tarps togther and filled
them with water. The kids had a blast. That’s my youngest daughter, and my
oldest grandson, who turned four that day.
\
I took a much needed snooze for an hour in the
afternoon, and then it was off to the monthly dinner outreach at a local motel which also functions as a transitional home to a lot of people who don't have any other place to live. There are also some totally homeless folks (who
live in the adjacent woods) who join us each month. We serve a full meal to
several dozen people, and provide bags of toiletries, laundry detergent, and
sometimes clothing. Folks enjoy the live music and short inspirational messages,
and there’s always a place for the kids to enjoy crafts and stories. My jobs are distributing name tags to our volunteers, bringing a few table decorations, passing out wet wipes so our guests can wash their hands, and greeting people. Simple stuff, and that's just fine with me. One of my
adult daughters launched this monthly outreach last year, and I’m so glad that
some of my younger kids join us to serve each month too. (See here for all of my posts on homeless ministry.) Side note: a lot of our homeless friends are missing teeth. I was talking to my dentist about this the other day as she was cementing a crown back onto my tooth. (I lost a battle with sticky Mike & Ike candies.) I don't have dental insurance myself, but I'm thankful that my dentist charges me only half price. I'm wondering how we can make health & dental care more accessible to our friends. Maybe at one of our dinners we could offer a health screening clinic with referrals, as well as assistance applying for government and non-profit resources? I need to research this a little more. Any ideas, folks? Always plotting...
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| Setting up ahead of time (I'm in the purple shirt, upper right) ~~ photo credit, Amber Carroll ~~ |
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| Thank you, Publix, for all of the desserts |
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| Naomi & Micah (my kids) |
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| Steph & Andrew |
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| Daniel |
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| Julianna and friends |
After the outreach, four of
my kids had youth group in Baldwin Park. I dropped them off, then headed over to see my
son-in-law so he could check out the belts on my van before our big two week 2,500 mile road
trip that starts Friday. I’m taking the four youngest kids to Maryland
(to see my dad and my sister Barb’s family) and Pennsylvania (for a family
reunion with my aunts, uncles, and cousins on my mom’s side). On the one hand,
I am delighted to be traveling again with my kids and seeing as much family and interesting places as
possible. We loved our three week jaunt last year. (You can find my photo journal of our trips
here: Traveling North). However, I am feeling bittersweet since my sweet mom
won’t be there to enjoy it with us since she passed away last summer after we
got home. Amid the emotional jumble, I’m going to have a hyper busy week. I
have to register one son for public high school for the first time
(transferring from the private school where I taught last year). We’re throwing
a a triple birthday party tomorrow for my oldest daughter (27!), my oldest
grandson (4!), and my second son who will turn 15 while we’re on our trip. We’ve
got a whole lot of laundry, house cleaning, shopping, and packing to do in the
next few days! Say a prayer for us, will you? Traveling mercies and all?
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| 2013 road trip with six kids - here at Luray Caverns in Virginia |
I'm grateful for this weekend: for family, friends, good food, a home, and a chance to give back to the community.
How about you?
Virginia Knowles
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