Tuesday
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Our prayers for good sleep for Kaelem were answered and he woke up ready to go at 6:45. Right now, he’s talking to his bear in his crib trying to sleep while the counselors are out in the gym probably wacking each other with noodles. Kaelem is loving the attention from everyone and I can only imagine that he sees himself as a big kid too. I’m relieved that they are being good examples as he is undoubtedly noting their every move.
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This afternoon was our biggest day of free time. Since, sad to mention again, tubing would have been miserably cold, we decided to spend a couple hours in the touristy town of Stillwater. The counselors went off on an apparently challenging scavenger hunt while Jed, Kaelem, and I strolled around. It really is a cute place to visit with hills, the river, antique shops and boutiques, fudge, and even cave tours. Still, if you’re not there to spend money it could get on the boring side so we ended up leaving earlier than planned and stopped along the way for “decompression” as Jed termed it.
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The location was a cemetery at a country church. They thought at first we were just turning around, or perhaps going to play a game of some kind, but Jed had everyone (except Kaelem and I) get off the bus respectfully and take few minutes to walk around the cemetery alone. They then gathered again to talk about what they’d seen and how being in a cemetery affected them. I couldn’t hear the actual conversation since I was inside the bus, but one take away I heard later was that life is so short and the best life is one lived for God’s glory instead of one’s own agenda.
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Along the same topic, I’ve been thinking about what it means to be ready for Christ’s return. There are so many strivings in life such as, earning a degree, starting a family, buying a house, getting out of debt or building a fortune, traveling the world, growing a business, retiring young…but is focusing on these things preparing me for Christ’s return? Does it make sense to spend so much time and energy on succeeding in a world that is perishing when I could be investing in the next world? What does that look like? What does, as Jesus said, “get my house in order” really mean?
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Anyway, that was the deep thinking of today. We then had some DQ for supper. Kaelem was stoked for ice cream, shivering with every bite but not slowing down a bit. We stopped by the little bowling alley afterwards for a couple games. Again, I didn’t participate, but it was fun to hang-out and watch. I didn’t think my balance would be on or my back hold up to the weight of the ball. Jed let Kaelem try a couple turns of rolling the bowling ball though and the rest of the time the sugar -high two- year old ran around and under the tables. I think he’s finally crashed now at the end of this post, the tired little guy.
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Fond memory of the day: Recalling on the spot my short repertoire of kid songs with Kaelem on the bus in the cemetery. His favorite, “Bringing on my baby bumblebee, OUCH, he stung me.”

Related posts:

1. Family Camp Day 1
2. Quick Funnies Before Camp
3. Getting Older
4. Oxymoronic
5. Bye Bye Bear