Wowza!

So I was sitting here looking on facebook and it dawned on me, I haven't been on my blog in a month! To tell you the truth, I kind of forgot about it. Its been a busy month so I'll quickly recap it all for you.

Just a few days after my last update, our family and a group of teens went down to Joplin, Missouri to help out in any way that we could. We had initially made plans to go to Colorado and those didn't pan out. We really had no idea where we were going to go and then the May tornadoes hit. During one night in Youth Group one of the teens asked if helping was something we could do and we said yes! We intentionally waited. When things like that happen there is always a mad rush to get help in and people go down immediately. Well we waited on purpose. We waited for the point to come when there wasn't as much help. We found a church to stay with, packed up and went for 5 days.

Now I have to say, waiting was a great idea. We were right, not near as much help. However, we didn't think to account for July's heat and humidity. It was so hot in fact they were restricting work days to 5-6 hours max. We made the most of what we could. Woke up early so we could be ready to work by 8am if not sooner. I think one day we made it at 715am. Everyday was eye opening. We drank water, and more water, and more water. And had a naptime every afternoon too. The mornings were so exhausting and by day 2 you felt horrible for being so tired. Here we were on day 2 and the city was going on 60 days of this. Day in and day out. We had free access to the YMCA for showers and the use of the rest of the facilities. So we went swimming for a little while each day. That was a nice way to cool down.

On day 3, we went to a church that was now a disaster relief center. Somehow we never met Kiki. She was in charge of the tents and I never got to meet her. We were the first group there, managed to figure out what to do and started. Well other groups started coming in and they didn't know what to do and since we had a system going I just started plugging people in, in different places giving them different jobs. It was crazy!! By 10 am local residents were coming to get necessities, clothes, fans, ac's, etc. Shoes for school. You name it. They had papers that needed signed off on and somehow that signature had to come from me. Like I said crazy! I was like, I'm just a volunteer, WHERE IS KIKI!!! lol I laugh now but it was stressful. We met several families, one who had lost her baby girl 2 days before the tornado hit, and the tornado took her home. She has 4 boys. Another single mom who has a son. She just wanted scrubs so she could go to work and have more than one pair. Another family that still looked so lost, it was heartbreaking. And we met some groups of people there helping that were from all over. Alaska, St. Louis, Arkansas, Arizona, etc. People with some really big hearts! We only had one person get sick from the heat and it was a teen. We got worried a few times about Caleb but he made it thru. And Jonathan and Noah were big helpers. I wasn't sure how they would react but you would've thought they were a teen. They jumped in and helped out every day.

After our time in Joplin we took all of the teens and our kids to Great Wolfe Lodge. Now it was awesome. I will give it that. But for the amount you pay, I'm not sure its worth it. The kids had a blast on slides, even Caleb had fun on the kiddie slides. I had to push him down it twice and then after that he wouldn't get off. I'm sure I looked like a great mom pushing my screaming child down a water slide. But it worked!

Once we came back, got ourselves rested up all 3 boys and I went to KC for our District Assembly. Nazarene church's are broken up into districts and regions and those districts meet once a year. We vote on things, fellowship, play games, get encouraged. I had a great time! The boys all went to a day camp while I went to assembly and they had a blast. Caleb wouldn't go the 3rd day but it all worked out ok. He slept through the entire morning session. I wish so many more from our church would go, especially if they've never been. It was really interesting to see the behind the scenes things. And the speakers were awesome!

That brings us to last friday, we went and enrolled the boys for school. We have a 3rd grader, 1st grader and preschooler. They are super excited about their teacher's and ready to begin.

The weekend was crazy. We did a lot to get ready for VBS, which started this past Monday. We spent most of the weekend at the church. Monday came and believe it or not we had everything ready! We had a great first night with a good number of kids. Then last night we added even more kids. Almost everyone that came the first night brought a friend last night! I'm excited to see God moving in our children! We have 3 days left and then our big celebration on sunday!