Picnic, Capture the Flag, the Running Father and Ice Cream

Yesterday was special.

It was picnic day - all day!

On Monday I shared with you about a family with 11 kids. Yesterday we spent a day with them, other family members and friends at a park about 4 miles from their home. The kids only get to this park 2 times a year on these picnic days.

We arrived at 10am and didn't leave till around 7:00 that night. We ate a late breakfast and lunch together. The kids loved the food, but didn't linger long as they wanted to enjoy the freedom of playing on the green grass. Every other day of the year they mostly play on a narrow street on the side of a hill where they live. No open space. No grass. No ocean breeze.

But not on this Sunday!
We played soccer for about four hours(yes, I am so sore today it hurts to walk - really!) We then taught them the game captue the flag and they loved it! After a 10 minute break it was back to more soccer, jumping rope and a form of dodge ball. I was seriously exhausted.

The joy on the kids and adult faces throughout the day was heartwarming.

When it was almost time to leave I shared The Running Father and the Runaway Sons story with them from Luke 15. You can see that the Father of the 11 was my "lost son" who got hugged and kissed - he responded in like manner much to the delight of the kids and family!!

As the day was coming to a close, I asked Rodney if I could treat everyone to some ice cream before we all went home. He said many of the adults and kids had probably never had ice cream! As I bought the last of 26 ice cream cones and gave it to one of the kids, her face lite up! I chocked back the tears. Her first ice cream cone.

We have so much that we take for granted.

As we arrived home, the oldest daughter(19) was walking down the road to us. She couldn't join us this day because she was called in to work on a Sunday(her 7th 10 hour day in a row). As she walked toward us two of the girls ran to greet her. They hugged and turned to walk arm in arm toward us. They seemed to be talking about the day and the fun they had. I said that I was sorry she couldn't be with us today. She responded by saying that she really missed it, "and you had ice cream!"

Tomorrow night I am going to go visit this family one more time. I will represent your love, care and concern for them.

May God's peace, presence and passion for the lost be with you and with us, both now and forevermore.
Amen.