I have SOOO enjoyed hearing what people have learned this summer! The mystery Pampered Chef giveaway item is a Large Scoop as pictured below. You still have time to leave a comment about what you have learned this summer. The winner will be picked this coming Friday, August 8th.

I have learned in the last week not only to enjoy the simple life but to enjoy the moment. We spent a busy week at our cottage helping with the many activities that made the 132nd annual campmeeting fun, inspirational and relatively smooth (until the second weekend which I will get to in a moment). This particular campmeeting included a nightly non-denominational dynamic Bible-believing speaker, daily vacation bible school, morning bible study and a couple of community meals and fun activities including an auction, candy store, Ladies Tea, Little Girls Tea and much more.

By Friday night, everyone who came the previous Friday were exhausted from hauling water from the natural spring to wash dishes, trudging up or down the hill to the bathrooms and keeping kids busy. It was a fun night to relax into old wooden chairs and watch the various levels of skills displayed at the annual talent show that followed the evening service.

My mother-in-law (MIL), who grew up near the campground, had been attending this campmeeting since she was a little girl and been privy to many changes over the years. That night, she helped sell soft pretzels & ice cream and watched the show before heading back to her cottage with the complaint that she wasn't feeling well.

After rounding up my girls on what was a later than usual night, I was surprised to see all the lights on and doors open in my in-laws' cottage. Going upstairs, I found my father-in-law trying to help my MIL into bed. She was complaining of severe pain below her chest.

I ran to get my husband who was talking outside the old boarding house where the talent show was still being cleaned up. By the time we returned, she was lying down so I went to bed.

After falling sound asleep, I sat straight up when the beeping sounds of a truck backing up filled the campground. It was too close and too late to be anything but an ambulance. Running down in my PJ's, I saw four medics carrying a yellow mega-stretcher down the old poorly paved sidewalks to the cottage. I then saw my mother-in-law carried away from one of the places that had meant more than anything to her in her life. She had shared with us more than just a place to sleep here. This community, these trees, this week, her strong soprano voice singing hymns and the deep level of Christian fellowship enjoyed by those willing to open up have engraved a joyous tradition in our hearts that I couldn't imagine experiencing without her.

Testing took two days but resulted in an emergency Sunday surgery on a perforated ulcer. We attempted to carry on as normal at the campground, trying to keep the stress out of our voices for the children and for fellow campers who knew her long before myself and were very concerned even as they suffered through their own various ailments.

She's on the mend now, I am grateful to report. In the simplicity of campground life, you realize that all you ever need is with you – family, friends, fresh water, and God's green earth (and of course the Bruster's ice cream around the corner). In crisis, you develop greater appreciation for enjoying the moments we have together.

After a week of close quarters, it is easy to get frustrated and ill-tempered. Even under the best circumstances, the exhaustion and emotional pulls of differing opinions throughout the activities threaten the peace of the campground. I was reminded through the speaker (who spoke about having a heart of God and how King David was such an godly example to us despite his failings) how important it is to stop in our determination to be busy and productive and inventory where the love, patience, kindness, goodness, and self-control might be breaking down. I was reminded through the crisis how little time we have sometimes to correct ourself and get it right. We have to be in such prayer every morning for God to help us and every night for where we got it wrong. Humility, simplicity and joy in trials. These things are what I learned and hope to continue learning through everything I do in life.