A Pleasant Change

This week is youth camp for our Baptist Association. Because the churches here are few, far-between, and tiny (compared to the South), the associations sponsor or organize many of the activities that are typically the responsibility of individual churches in the South. Edwin and I again have the privilege of leading the small group Bible studies. We have organized childcare for our foster kids, and take our girls with us to the camp, where they get some intimate time with Mommy or Daddy while the inverse teaches their small groups.

I am deeply enjoying the time I get to spend teaching, the time I get to spend with the girls without fighting off two toddlers, and the time that we get as a family on the drives to and from camp. The foster kids seem to be enjoying their time at home with the sitter. It's pleasant to have a week with less pressure and a little breathing room.

We also have the joy of spending a little time with some friends that we pulled up here to lead worship and pastor the camp. It's a fun and bizarre thing to see friends from the past in our new surroundings, around our new friends.  I like being around grown-up friends. It makes me feel like a person. I find it odd that I have to go to youth camp to be around adults, but that seems to be how it is.

The fosters' mom is looking into getting a home, which will allow her to have overnight visits, eventually leading to a temporary discharge. We're praying for our guest children and their mom. We love them, and want what's best for them, and we really believe that their mom wants the same thing. It is such a strange state-of-being to live with children when you know that they are temporarily in your home. How do I teach them to trust when I know that it is my job to leave their lives? Well, that's the only deep question that I am presenting today. I'll let you stew on it for a while.