Falls (The Water Kind, Not the Deadly Kind)

By the grace of God, nobody got hurt today... well, unless you count a couple scrapes and bruises from climbing rocks on steep trails and diving during Ultimate Frisbee onto sand. And because of that, I count it as a successful day! The youth group (and me, of course) went to a state park full of waterfalls, but to see those waterfalls requires hiking treacherously steep and slippery trails. Mmmhmm. It was great fun though! I was privileged to see the "real" hair of all youth, courtesy of creek water and lots of humidity! The PB&J lunch was fanta-bulous, even if I did get really sticky. Introduced the concept of "wading" to some people. Dropped my shoe in the water. Made fun of the "not-so-grand" canyon. Gave a zillion verbal safety warnings to anyone and everyone. Lifted an eyebrow or two at the Boy Scouts. Smiled at an adorable little tyke (twice) and his impossibly small suspenders. Accidentally ate a piece of gravel. Composed some glorious pictures of the sinking sun.

The Crazy Kid's wisdom:
"We should just tick-bomb the whole world."
"I guess I just don't enjoy nature that much--I'm too busy making sure I don't fall to my death." (or something like that)
Then he used my camera tripod as an imaginary machine gun. It wasn't "wisdom", but it sure was funny!

The Enthusiastic Girl starts telling a story, and it's long. The listeners' interest starts to wane. "Excuse me! I'm talking!!" *she waves a hand in other person's face and continues to talk for five more minutes..... And stops suddenly. "What was I talking about again?"

The Little Bro and The Country Boy scrounge up a rusty fishing hook, some sinkers and a tangled bundle of fishing line. After a few minutes, they're fishing. What ingenuity. Not much is biting, but the concept of standing on a boulder beside mirrored waters, with friends lounging beside, talking and laughing. It's just the epitome of relaxation. One itty-bitty fish did get the hook. And we got ridiculously big smiles for that one.

But not nearly as big as the high-pitched screams and riotous laughter that came from that boulder when The Sparkly Girl and The Chatty Girl caught a fish. From the amount of pure joy emanating from that spot, you would've thought they caught a whale!! He was... very small. And he had no lip by the time he was released back into the wild. Poor thing.

And someone's lemonade that spilled a record THREE TIMES during dinner! Once was interesting, second time was funny, but the third---I laughed so hard that my stomach hurt. Of course, the evil ketchup bottle that caused the last two spills made everything seem funnier! :)

The day was filled with moments of joy and times of just breathing the air. No youth roadtrip is complete without serious conversations... And this roadtrip was no exception. We talked about life, and music, and marriage, and standards, and relationships and pleasing the Lord. And I was reminded of what I am waiting for: God's design in my life.

Lord, have Your way in me.