the summer is drawing to an end...

I apologize for it taking so long to give a final blog about my fifth week, and then on my summer as a whole with CEF. The remainder of the fifth week went very well. By Friday morning, I was feeling much better, and Praise the Lord for healing me. I am also very thankful that I was still able to go to club each day and teach. I especially enjoyed the second club and the sweet children in attendance. I had one mother share with me on Friday how special it was that her daughter had wanted to come to club 'today', even though none of her friends were able to come with her. How awesome it is to see that the Lord wanted her there on Friday even though her friends who had come previous days were not able to accompany her. I find this little girl on my mind a lot just thinking of what the Lord has for her life. If you think of it, please pray for her.

I look back on my summer with CEF with fond memories. It was a good summer, which the Lord worked in my life immensely. I loved the time I had with the children, and was SO blessed with my host homes (one of my fears). I learned many lessons (not always the easy way) and am glad I did this ministry. One of the ways God really worked in my life was in flexibility. Since going to college, I became a too-structured person with hardly any flexibility, and I knew that needed to change. Between my time before CEF and then my time with CEF there were many times I had no choice but to be flexible and I find that the Lord has graced me with some much needed flexibility.

This past week has been a fun week as Daniel came up for a visit. He arrived on Saturday evening after a long day of traveling. We enjoyed the time together and were able to do so many things! Monday we went blueberry picking with Mom, Sarah, and Mrs. Lyons in the morning and in the afternoon we ran into town to run some errands that I had been needing to run for a while, but too busy with CEF. Also during the week, we were able to visit with both grandparents, which was just a sweet time of conversation and visiting. On Tuesday we spent most of the day with Beek and Nick. Nick showed off the good 'ole town of Danby. We first went to some beautiful water falls which the four of us climbed up barefoot. I am not usually overly 'adventurous', but I really enjoyed it and can't wait to go back. After those falls we went a natural rock slide and watched people slide down them. We picked up some yummy soft serve ice cream and then headed over to Beek B's house where we visited with her and her family a little bit and got to enjoy her two adorable puppies. Yesterday though, Daniel and I had set it aside for us to spend together and we had a blast enjoying the state of Vermont. We went to the Ben and Jerry's factory, Von Trapp Family Lodge, and Burlington. We finished off the day trip Daniel treating me to a delicious dinner. The week was a ton of fun, and we are now praying his safe arrival as he travels to be back at School by Sunday afternoon.

(our day spent with Nick and Beek)

(our time at Ben and Jerry's)

(After walking around Von Trapp Family Lodge)

(On the boardwalk in Burlington)

For those who have been asking, I leave to go back to school on August 25th (or around) to take a mini vacation with my parents. On the mini vacation, we will head down to Alabama to visit with Tim and Beth (+baby). I have to be at school on the 30th and my classes start on the 1st. Thank you all so much who pray so often for me. I am so appreciative of each and every one of those prayers. I will do my best to continue to blog even though my time with CEF is technically done for right now, so keep checking back! Have a great weekend!