Fun happenings: We don't have a kitchen table or chairs yet, so we all ate on the floor last night. Kate cooked a cornbread/chili/cheese dish that she copied from trader joes and it was so delicious. We drank raspberry iced tea and had some salad on the side.
+Sunday night we had a bonfire at the beach. It was Dayna's first bonfire at the beach ever! That was exciting. We brought djembes, a guitar, and a harmonica to play. Roasted some mallows, drank sparkling lemonade, and used piles of wood as seats.
+Two little birds landed on my porch while I was reading my bible during lunch. They were singing a delightful melody together. Then they started flirtin' a bit and flew off :)
+My job today: Preparing camp for the weekend. Part of that is organizing and going through all the games to see what we have and what is missing. I think I am good at this, for I acquired skills from my dad of all the times we had to clean out our game closet, organize them by shelf, and keep inventory :) Thanks dad!
Word: John 15 sticks out to me today...some of Jesus' words: "“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
+We can do nothing apart from Him. May we abide in Him as we work and serve Him today. Jesus was a carpenter for many many years and served the Lord diligently in His work before His ministry with His disciples began that we read about in the Scriptures. I'm sure pounding in a nail to make a bench didn't always seem significant, but it was what the Lord called Him to do to serve Him and be a light to others. --May it be more than a job Father. May it be another way to glorify You in all I do, as an act of serving You alone.
+Keeping His commandments is abiding in His love. An act of obedience to Him. Following His Word that He has given to us. We must strive towards simple obedience to the Father in all that He is so that we might abide in His love....our wants are then fruits of His wants for us.
Road to Redwood--First fall day
