one.

One week left.
ONE.
Denial.
I'm so there right now.

My friend Ashley teaches 5th grade. We've devoted August to fun activities so that we can pretend, at least for a few hours each week, that school has not taken over our lives.

Summer has been grand...and will continue to be for the next week! Heck, for the month of August too!

Looking back, I realize that I never posted about one of my favorite events of the summer. I got to take four kids from a family in my school to Pine Cove week 6 on full scholarship. Hands down, I saw Jesus at work all through this.

• First, a series of small events the last few weeks of school led me to listen to the little voice in my heart telling me to pursue scholarships for these kids. I won't go into tons of details, but it was affirmation that the Lord is persistent in planting ideas for furthering his kingdom.
  
• Second, they all 4 got FULL scholarships!! That's about $3600 worth of donations to this family and there was availability for all 4 to during the same week.
  
• Third, before hearing from Pine Cove that full scholarships were granted, I asked 2 of my friends, Summer and Anne, to be praying that it would work out for them to go. With the help of these friends (and a few others) we were able to equip these kids with what they needed for camp. I wish you could have been there when they each saw their trunks, filled with clothes, costumes, toiletries, etc. We spent a few hours the day before leaving for camp trying on the clothes, packing, and trying to prepare them for what was coming...not sure that was at all possible!
  
• Fourth, my kids LOVED every second of their week at camp! I have never seen the youngest boy as happy as he was Sunday night during club, singing and dancing and thrown up in the air by his counselors. The older girl from the Ranch, who can be very quiet and shy, talked nonstop when I picked her up, sharing cheer after cheer, verse after verse, story after story about her week and her cabin mates. The oldest boy told me he prayed to receive Christ in his life with his counselor. It just so happened to be captured for a brief second on the camp highlight video (which he watched 3 times on my laptop during the car ride home.) The 3rd grade girl said she felt Jesus talking to her for the first time ever while she was on the blob in Puddleglum. According to her, He said 'You and me - we need a fresh, clean start. You and me, we've been through a lot these last few years and I can make it all new. Trust me.' And she said that she did.
  
• Fifth, it definitely helped build a relationship with their mom, because she could see how deeply I cared for her kids and people at Pine Cove would invest in her family.

Of course, there are way more details that would be fun to share, but I know I shouldn't due to confidentiality. Suffice it to say, it was so worth it and God was most definitely magnified! I can't wait to see those kiddos when school starts back...which is one reason I can actually get excited about summer ending...