I have a collection of pictures and things that happened that didn’t get posted during the summer. They were tiny adventures or a few hours here and there that made our summer such a good one. I’m very thankful for the good things that I was blessed with–those “good things” came in the form of people! Here’s to the ABEFC youth:
We helped clean out the Isaacs “new” house as a part of raising funds for our trip to Denver. It reminded me so much of the work we did gutting another house back in May, except we only tackled the barn on this summer project! Like I’ve said before, I love taking something “unlovely” and moving it toward “loveable,” so I liked working on this project, inhaling dust and imagining how many adventures the Isaac’s kids would have in this new/old farmhouse.
Olivia was working on the ground level of the barn–everything had to go!
The girls found some exciting things, including a really old wallet and an old camera.
This pile from the barn loft had to go all of the way to the dumpster!
Bailey made sure things got smashed so we had more room in the dumpster.
And then we spent a week in inner-city Denver learning about poverty and just living life together. I was with the 7 girls in an apartment and we survived the week together as we processed new things and hard things. I loved sharing what I had been learning in school and hearing their feedback and thoughts. I really grew because of their willingness to be vulnerable, and we all carried each others burdens. Family is a beautiful thing.
Bible Clubs in the park
This was just a taste of our community projects during the afternoon. Eliza braved the empty lot with the mower and the rest of us moved and hauled and weed wacked and weed hacked. I’d never been so thankful for ice in my water! I felt like our old Hyundai in CA that we’d have to pour water in it every time it started to overheat. Below is a picture of us getting ready to start the poverty simulation–little did we know what the next 44 hours would hold…
A few weeks after our trip to Denver we got together, ate hummus and peanut butter cookies, and drank tea while working on collages that were representative of what God had taught us. Our camera was floating somewhere in the South Platte River at the time, so I just now took a picture of part of my collage–I wish I had pics of everyone’s art.
And then I really got to hang out with Emma and Anna, mostly down in Manitou at the Mate Factor. We would drink yerba mate and talk about what God was doing in our lives. Anna and I also got to make our tarahumara shoes together–and we ate a lot of hummus, which seemed to be a theme if you hadn’t noticed. I almost always have hummus in my fridge, which you’re welcome to anytime! 🙂
All of these times with the youth and others were direct answers to my prayers at the beginning of the summer! I was so changed by these youth and thank God for their fervor in serving and their love for the Word–it’s rare and beautiful!
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