the Rivers Edge: June 2014

Saturday, June 28, 2014

camp rap up

hello people!
wow! being responsible for other people's kids can be exhausting. they have entrusted you with their babies. a lot is expected- sometimes those expectations are unrealistic, but hey that's how it is.
overall it was a very good. the speaker had never spoken to a group of kids this young (4th-6th)
so sometimes he would lose them, but he recovered well and delivered solid biblical truth.
our youth pastor and one of my former grappler students came along with me as my support team.
i was soooo glad they were with me. we had 5 guys of our own and were given 3 additional young men that came without a counselor. pastor joe is amazing and extremely adaptable on the fly.
he dealt with homesick weeping, wailing, funky (really funky) smelling, aggressive boys.
i had 9 girls with major back up from hope (former student). we dealt with fainting, throwing up and a stalker-like camper that attached himself to our girls.
needless to say, we did a lot of brainstorming as a team and had some heart to heart with individuals as well as the group.
so glad joe was there to give the girls that needed protection. we stressed safety and met with the young man's counselor. we had a mini crash course on guy-girl relationships. what is proper and improper and setting boundaries. pretty heavy stuff for 4th-6th grades.
this led to a meeting with the parents after we arrived back at the church. i knew that the girls would have their version of what happened, but i wanted them to just be aware of what occurred and that these conversations about self-esteem, guy-girl relationships and boundaries needs to happen sooner rather than later. i assured them that i didn't go deep in talking about these things but we needed to address them head on while at camp. i stressed that i didn't intend to overstep my boundaries with them. most of them were shocked, a bit numb and somewhat alarmed.
we will see on sunday how it all shakes out.
so that is a rap up of my week. whew! i think i need another cup of coffee!

Friday, June 27, 2014

Update from Wichita

Hey Family!

Just a real quick update from Wichita. Last Friday evening Ashley, who has had a real rough go of it this past year, started having lots of pain in her lower jaws brought about by what we suspected to be her wisdom teeth. This proved to be the case when we had it confirmed on Monday at the dentist. We met with the oral surgeon on Tuesday and she had them removed earlier this afternoon. Everything went just fine with the procedure and she is resting peacefully on the couch. Thanks so much for all your prayers! I'll be sure and keep everyone in the loop as she recovers.

Love you all!

Jonathan & Ashley

Sunday, June 15, 2014

hello landon

welcome landon

we talked about how we were going to have to evict landon. well, we were sorta right. the poor guy was stuck so he did need some help. it was a good call, megan had been laboring too long without much change, so we got called into the birthing room to get particulars about what was happening.

megs was so tired, james was concerned and we all were praying.

landon burst into the world with a bang.

he is a chunk of burning love. just a cute as he can be.

final stats: 8lbs, 12oz 20 1/2 inches long lots of hair and very hungry

Welcome Landon!

Saturday, June 14, 2014

we are having a baby

wha woo!
come on Landon....

Saturday, June 7, 2014

pics of the Playwright Center

Just got these pictures from our cousin Janet in Minneapolis. She and her husband were our eyes to look around downtown Minneapolis, this is what they came up with: