A Fun Church Day

We had a very special day at church yesterday. In Baptist churches, and most evangelical churches, baptism is meant to represent something that has already happened in the life of a believer. The Baptist stance is that immersion is the best picture of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. When a person goes under the water, it pictures His burial. When he or she comes back up, it pictures the fact that the life of Christ has been resurrected in place of the former person. Baptism is a representation of the fact that where there was once a sinner enslaved to his or her sinful nature, the power of Christ is now present, freeing him or her from the power of sin. (I am not insulting my brothers and sisters in Christ who baptize through sprinkling. I'm simply explaining why it is we Baptists perform baptisms the way that we do.)

We saw four people baptized in a local creek yesterday. The idea of an outdoor baptism originated with two of the candidates for baptism. (We don't vote or anything. That just means that they were on "the list" of people who wanted to be baptized. I'm not totally sure why we call them candidates.) I think that it was a wonderful idea!

That's my man!




He almost got swept into the current when he tried to go in too far. Oops!

I realized something as I was going through the pictures. Baptism looks much more violent when looking down on it than it does when you're looking up into a baptistery. I would just like to note that everyone was smiling when they came up.

After the baptism, those who brought sack lunches enjoyed our lunches together. Some ate inside a sister church's fellowship hall (where the creek was located), and some of us ate outside on blankets. It was the perfect day (high 80's) for an outdoor baptism and picnic. What a fabulous day!

School Year, Come Swiftly

Most kids are back in school already. Our school year doesn't begin until the day after Labor Day. My dad finds our schedule very patriotic. All I know is that the summer is beginning to wear on me.

This year we decided to put Ella in a friend's daycare two half days a week. With DeLaynie gone from 8-2 every day, she was beginning to have a serious case of Only Child Syndrome, with symptoms of selfishness, whininess, and dependency. DeLaynie doesn't help the situation. She is incredibly patient with Ella, and only comes to me if Ella has caused severe pain or comitted an act of great injustice. She rarely takes matters into her own hands.

I'll teach a Zumba class one of the mornings that Ella is in daycare, but the other morning? It's open. Completely open. Edwin has Mondays off, and Ella will be gone until noon! We'll have four hours every week that our's. All our's. (Insert evil chuckle here.)

This is why I say, "School year, come swiftly!"

Camp Pictures, As Stolen from Other People on FB

I didn't take a single picture at camp. I'm pretty sure that this makes me both a lousy mother and a lazy photographer. But things were busy, we lost our kids at least once an hour, and there were plenty of cameras around. After looking around Facebook for pics taken by friends, I have come up with enough pictures to satisfy grandparents for at least a day or two while I get a chance to pull out the camera and do my long-distance daughterly duty.

Edwin and I really flour football for youth events. It involves filling knee-highs with flour and using the product as a football. DeLaynie and I took the "footballs" that had been used to the point that they were no longer functional and wrote on the blacktop. She also enjoyed throwing it as high as she could and watching it hit the ground with a thud and a puff of flour smoke.

I used the stroller some, especially when I was losing my patience with chasing the kids around. It should be noted that this is a sit-n-stand type stroller, so it is completely acceptable that Ella is standing.

I had the privilege of leading girls' Bible study. It was definitely my favorite part of camp.

I have no idea what is happening here, but Ella seems pretty concerned.

Yes. DeLaynie is wearing a sweater... at summer camp. It may seem crazy, but we're in the North Country, and that means that temps can get very cold in the morning, especially next to a lake. Summer is no exception.

Return to Technology

I forgot to mention this before we left, but Edwin was camp pastor at the local student camp this week. We packed up the girls, what seemed like all of their earthly possessions, and a few things for ourselves (okay, maybe more than a few things were in my bag; I'm not much of a camper), and headed to a 4-H camp about half an hour away.

The girls had a great time. We had a great time. I'm not sure how Edwin is still breathing at this point. I've never understood his ability to go 24-7, but it becomes especially apparent when doing an overnight (or week-long) event.

All of this to say, I am now back to the world of Internet, cable television, and a home phone. Maybe I will share more about camp later. Right now I'm enjoying sitting on a couch while my kids play with their toys, watch a movie, and run around without pants. Maybe I'll think about my acceptance speech for mother of the year. I'm obviously a shoe-in.

Saying Goodbye To An Old Friend

My computer died on Saturday after being in critical condition since Friday. He met his unfortunate demise after Ella disobeyed her wise mother and ate her Play-Doh. Maybe you're wondering what one has to do with the other. Maybe you're hoping that I won't make the connection. No such luck. She threw up on my keyboard after ingesting said Play-Doh, thus causing the untimely death of my beloved computer.

The good news is that I will once again have a computer with an apostrophe. (You see, Ella pulled off several keys, and even after a new keyboard was installed, the part that connects the apostrophe key to the computer was permanently destroyed. She apparently loathes my computers for competing with her for my attention.) Edwin ordered me a new laptop that was at a ridiculously low price on Sunday night. It shipped today. I should have my new best bud by the weekend! (Not that I won't miss the meticulous process of going to Word, clicking on "Insert Symbol", selecting an apostrophe, copying it from Word, and pasting it into the html of my new post. And you wondered why I wasn't using conjunctions very often.)

He was a faithful computer to the end, even giving me enough time after his run-in with Ella's stomach contents to retrieve my files. For that, I will be eternally grateful.

As for the Bible reading, everything continues to remain on track.

Update on Bible Reading (I forgot yesterday)

By God's grace, I am on track with my Bible reading. There was one day that I started, had to check on the girls, and then forgot to finish, but I made up the reading next day. I am enjoying the experience, though I am not dreading coming to the end of the genealogies in 1 Chronicles. Yes, I know that they are useful for providing historical context, but reading straight through them really isn't really all that inspirational. Since I read some from 4 categories every day, I don't spend the whole time in genealogies. I always gain something, and I am grateful to discover what God has in store for me in His Word everyday.

Heritage Day

The neighboring village has a celebration every year called Heritage Day. The church has a booth that gives out free popcorn (the kind made in a movie theater type machine, yum!), water, and newspaper hats. We joined in the fun, taking in a parade and hanging out with church members and other villagers (Yeah. I like calling people villagers.).

The girls were pretty anxious for the parade. Ella dealt with her impatience with quiet annoyance. DeLaynie stuffed her face with popcorn.

The parade began, and the girls waved at the people, horses, tractors, firetrucks, and floats.



In typical parade fashion, some people threw treats. DeLaynie liked her ball.

But Ella decided it was her turn to stuff her face. (You can probably see some goo from the candy in the earlier picture of Ella and I. She is lovely all covered in gunk, eh?)

It was a fun first Heritage Day for the Attaway clan.