Hayrides, Tornadoes, and Fireflies

Today we find ourselves in Portage, Indiana. The church has graciously allowed us to stay in farmhouse on the church property and we have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. After a rough week, I am feeling more rested and encouraged. Wednesday evening I was able to catch up in person with a former professor and friend from Moody and yesterday I had the joy of going out to breakfast with a family I nannied for in Chicago. What a blessing it is to see familar faces and catch up with old friends. Last night some wonderful members from the church took us all on a hayride around the farm....so fun! What farm stay would be complete without smores too? The children enjoyed roasting marshmallows (aka lighting them on fire and blowing them out), and smashing their charred sugary goodness between graham crackers and chocolate. We ended the night by singing several devotion songs around the campfire. I always so enjoy being able to break away from our usual schedule and do different things with the kids. The chance to swing on the tire swing, rest in the hammock, shoot baskets (from the picnic table) and enjoy the kids all together was a breath of fresh air. Two of our managers are visiting right now as well and it's good to have new people around :) After the kids went to bed last night we sat down as a team to play dutch blitz, only to be interupted by a tornado siren. The children were roused out of bed and we all headed to the basement for 15 minutes where we spent the entire time explaining tornadoes and other natural disasters to the children who had a million questions. Thankfully that was as exciting as things got and we were able to play a rousing game of dutch blitz and catch some fireflies in a jar before bed...