Holy Ground, Daddy Time, and Anniversary Celebration

Holy Ground, Daddy Time, and Anniversary Celebration are three different events that occurred this weekend, each deserving of its own blog post, but all rolled into one for simplicity's sake!

Holy Ground

On Friday, Madalyn and I had the opportunity to ride with my parents up to Evart, MI, the home of Spring Hill Camp. We were going to pick up my brother who had spent a week there for a staff program. Spring Hill is one of my favorite, no, make that my favorite place in the world. I know that's saying a lot. It means a lot. This camp is where I attended every summer since age eight. It's where I first heard the Gospel and committed my life to Christ in a tiny little cabin by the lake. I still know the very spot. I still remember the very moment. I attended their teen programs in high school and graduated to working on staff. I spent four or five summers doing every thing from cleaning toilets to counseling elementary, junior high, and high school kids.

My brother's counselor gave us a golf-cart tour around the camp. A lot has changed. But the message, the heart, the energy, the presence of God is the same. I saw the spot where I first talked to God as an eight year old. We went past "Canoe Beach" where I heard and saw God more clearly than any other time in my life while sitting on a rock during a summer on staff. My heart was so overwhelmed to be there. I conned most of my good friends into working with me during me high school and college years. If you are in the Michigan area, I greatly encourage you to check out Spring Hill. Not only do they have the most rockin', beautiful summer camp you could possibly send your kids to, they also have family camp, parent-child retreats, women's retreats and much more. I couldn't be more grateful for the camp's mission and heart; I am indebted to the individuals who dedicate their lives to such a powerful mission. Below is a picture of Madalyn's first visit to Spring Hill, walking my Holy Ground. She loved it.

Here are a few other stock photos from Spring Hill's website. They are ultra-creative in their housing, as you can see!

Daddy Time

Dan is such a good daddy. I just wanted to state that for the record. On Saturday, when lawn-mowing, and refrigerator-fixing were calling, he took the time to take Maddy for a long bike ride, spend an hour doing water-color painting, and wrestle on the floor with his daughter. She soaked in every second, often stopping to say, "Oh, Daddy! I love you so much!" Where would we be without our Daddy?

Anniversary Celebration

On Tuesday, July 29th, Dan and I will have been married for three years. They have been three challenging, yet very beautiful years. We got off to a fast start when I discovered I was pregnant with Maddy a month after we said "I do", but God has been faithful to see us through this crazy adventure. Last night we celebrated by going to dinner at Andiamo restaurant in St. Clair Shores. My uncle loaned us his Mustang for the night, which made Dan's whole weekend :). We had a yummy dinner, and then cruised around, ending up in downtown Grosse Pointe (which I loved!) for coffee. What an awesome night.

Hope your weekend was great as well!

Love,

Laura