Camp Lauren

 This past Wednesday I dropped by Heather and Ash's in order to pick up a garage door opener, car seat, and this:

Leaving for a three day get-away the very next day, Heather and Ash needed to ensure that Kate and Sarah's world would continue to spin under the watchful eye of Your's Truly.

Hence, when Thursday afternoon rolled around just in time for school pick-up, Camp Lauren kicked into high gear.

Essential elements of Camp Lauren involved some
typical taking-care-of-life things,
such as walking to school, brushing our hair and teeth, dripping ear drops into rebellious ears, reading ourselves to sleep,

and feeding ourselves on a pretty routine basis--

goodies like

 "bunny cheese",

 pizza and sushi,  

strawberry pancakes,

and Dairy Queen.

(We love Dairy Queen...)

Other essentials were more in the category of recreation, like play-dates and bubble bath (not all at the same time, of course...),  

tree-swing swinging,

and popcorn/movie/let's-all-fall-asleep-on-the-couch time.

The recreation category was important, because there was also a lot of work that needed to get done:

 We had to tend to the garden since there were tomatoes longing to be picked;

we had to feed the cats, change their litter box,

and catch them when they figured out how to open the screen door and sneak outside;

we had to finish a sidewalk mural as a surprise for Heather and Ash,

fight off monsters in Michael's with a giant foam sword,

and host a photo shoot for our favorite American Girl Doll and her cuddly pets.

With all of these essentials, you can imagine that Camp Lauren was pretty intense.  

We are happy to report, however, that by the end of our 47 straight hours together the inventory showed a multitude of smiles, a bevy of belly-laughs, and an overload of photos-that-should-be-erased (courtesy of Kate).



And now--to give credit where credit is due, let the credits roll:

 Camp Lauren would not be very interesting, fun, or successful if it weren't for the parenting of Heather and Ash, the sweet thoughtfulness of Sarah, and the hilarious impishness that is Kate.

When can we do it again?

A Piece of Early Fall Late Afternoon Peace

Out of the mouth of one of my favorite babes

I laugh pretty routinely in my day to day life, but today afforded me a giggle unlike any I've had in a long while.

Allow me to set the stage:

School is back in session, so the Summer of Heather and Lauren has officially evolved into: 

Thursday evening dinner.  

Tonight I arrived a bit later than usual, and we were all quickly swept to the overflowing table and the delicious food waiting for us there.  We began to eat with gusto when--suddenly, halfway through--Heather stops and looks at me and says "OH."

I prepared myself for the worst.

She said:

"Today, Kate brought me this card with a picture of a horse on it and she said--

'Mom, I love this horse.  It reminds me of Lauren!!' "

Laughter was immediately burst into by all present.  

[Yes folks.  My own little Katela likened me to a horse.]

Kate ran to get the card, in order to show me.

"It's the curls!", she said.  

"It's the jewelry!"

Then, I read the inscription:

"Let the world stay a beautiful place to live"

Kate said:

"See? That's what you do!"

I giggled with my head in my hands for at least the next 5 minutes.

And here's the ironic thing:

I have always secretly thought I look like a horse.

[Leave it to Kate to say it out loud.]

But what she didn't have to say, and what I took away?

My world is a much more beautiful place to live, thanks to the love of such a special little friend.

The Danger in Real Friendship

Here is something I have come to believe:  

Our God is a Dangerous God.  

I used to look at scenes like these and see only Beauty--look at those clouds! Look at those colors!  Look at the Loveliness of God!

I also used to fight against the Reality of Burden in my life and the lives of my friends, thinking "This can't be from God.  God is Beautiful.  God is Good.  God is Lovely!!!!"

This weekend, however, I sat on the waterfront in Harrisburg and watched the clouds roll determined through the sky.  I felt the wind blow powerfully through my hair.  I reflected on the heavy movement of the water as my dear old friend Dorea and I discussed--with similar heaviness--those Realities of life, and I thought of what has been the theme of my past few months [but really my last 10 years]:

When we signed up to be Children of the Living God, we agreed to allow His Power to be unleashed in our lives.

What we didn't realize is that this can only mean one thing--

Get ready to be uncomfortable.

I was reminded that God has a standard, and He'll stop at nothing to make it a Reality in the lives of His children.

And as we shed some tears I thought--
Discomfort feels like DANGER!!! and causes us to flail about in despair, desperately attempting to make it go away, forgetting some very key things:

He hasn't left us alone in our journey.
And, it's a sure sign that good things are on the way.
It's a sure sign that He cares to take us out of our broken state, because a Dangerous God is a zealous God.

I thought of these things again the next day as I sat quietly with my tried and true Harrisburgian friends, a smile on my face and peace in my heart as I listened to the laughter and the banter being tossed lovingly back and forth through the air over dinner.

We are people who have walked through the Realities of life--together.

And I thought about the reality that allowing God to work His Power in your life, with the help of the people in your life, involves even more DANGER!!!!!
because it involves a nasty little word: Vulnerability.

I hate Vulnerability.

And yet.

Having people share your life means laying Vulnerability out before each other, admitting weaknesses and struggles and the burdens we bear, with honesty.

It means shedding heavy tears, with heavy hearts, for ourselves, for each other.  (Together.)




It means refusing to engage in counterfeit friendship, because it means recognizing that the Danger of Vulnerability is the only way to make a friendship Real.

And as I sat with these precious ladies over coffee and conversation this morning, I was shown yet again that the danger of vulnerability allows us opportunity to remind each other that God is as Good as He is Powerful.  As Beautiful as He is Dangerous.  And that Good, Powerful, Beautiful and Dangerous are all made of the same stuff.

So, after a heavy weekend full of beautiful moments, here is my conclusion:

The Danger in Real Friendship is that we can cry together, and encourage our hearts that we will be ok.  We can just be together, allowing for our brokenness and believing in a God who is at work in all things.

And we can laugh, smile, love--resting in the knowledge that this friendship is not counterfeit, because it is not made of nothing.

It is made of dangerous stuff, and dangerous stuff is Real.