Treasures

I have a feeling I’ll catch the kids talking about our time at Spring Hill camp. It’s seems God had gone before each of them, planting treasures, secrets, and wonders. He had a couple for me too, but I’ll write about those later, (pinky swear…).

We knew camp would have horses, which got Haven through a pretty lonely spring. I can’t tell you how many times I pulled out, “But Haven, you’ll get to see HORSES in just 10 weeks,” – “But Haven, you’ll get to see HORSES in just 9 weeks and 6 days!” You get the picture?

Well, there were 38 horses at Spring Hill to be exact, and by the end Haven knew them all by name. We spent many, many hours each day watching the beauties. That would have been a treasure in and of itself, but God also provided a very special wrangler named Natalie. Natalie remembered well when her own horse addiction began, right around Haven’s age, and she bent over backwards to make our time with the horses educational and fun. She also gave us lots of ideas for getting Haven around horses back at home without having to spend a small fortune.

God also placed a few very special students at Spring Hill who loved on Haven. They played with her, took her on hikes, and let her drag them around while she played, “Wrangler Haven.” One has even called her since we’ve come home.

Tim enjoyed the horses too, but it was the special times fishing with Ben that brought out new things in him. There is something so right about seeing a boy and his dad walking into the woods with fishing poles slung over thier shoulders. The easy conversation, the teachable moments, the quiet unspoken company – they were just what my boy needed after months of being cooped up with Mom at home in a strange town.

The students also included Tim in lots of games of 4 square and frisbee, which Tim loved. They made him feel like a part of the team! I can’t tell you have wonderful it was to watch Tim jump into games and competition with confidence and joy.

Libby loved the horses about 1% less than Haven, so they were a huge blessing for her too, but camp brought out her adventurous side. The camp has a huge obstacle course outside the dining hall with a large rope wall which she scaled on day one.  Most days I could look up from my meal and see her swinging from ropes, and jumping off wooden beams. She has bruises all over her from her exploits!

The Lord provided tad poles, frogs, turtles, slugs, snails, and baby mice for the kids to find and nurture. They spent countless hours making potions and soups in puddles with long sticks. They slept hard every night and ate Lucky Charms in the dining hall every morning.  Above all, I think they began to learn what it is to love the outdoors…to know how to play and enjoy God’s creation.

Thanks for praying for their time. They had a blast!!!