Montana Campmeeting, 2013

Boopsie trying his best to get packed and come along.

Grumpy, left-behind cats not-withstanding, Caleb, John, and I headed off to campmeeting early Tuesday morning. The actual meetings didn't start until Wednesday night, but it would take those extra days to get ready....especially since, of necessity, I'd had to save so much preparation to do there.

So much to do! I started by shape-shifting into a million nagging pieces. There was no escaping me, and after last year,  my work crew knew better than to try! Decorating was first because it was the most fun. The backdrop was hung, and I bent my efforts to making a mountain for the Wise Man's cabin to stand on.

Looks just like one, doesn't it?

Damon and Tiggy helped me get the paper spray painted, and then Jack, Noni, and Caleb worked on taping it together into one big piece. Then I showed up, like a doctor at a delivery, and assembled it after all the hard work was done.

It turned out pretty well once it was put together. You'd never know this was only a couple desks and some cardboard boxes....

Here's the Foolish Man's house. Tsk, tsk. Built right on a flood plain, but I suppose he's applied for government flood insurance subsidies....

The whole scene, complete with hastily painted sign. I'm practicing my sign painting, because I'm going to be doing a few signs in the the next couple of weeks. I was excessively proud of how this turned out---until my dear sister pointed out I'd spelled "Build" as B-U-I-D-L-D.

Hater.

So now there's a little taped line after the "B" where I cut off the old sign and taped on a whole 'nother piece of paper.

Soon it was Wednesday night and showtime. Not quite ready, but ready enough to get by.

Every time I do one of these, I end up questioning my sanity by the time I'm done. But as soon as the little kiddos show up, I forget all about the work I do ahead of time and start remembering just how completely cute and enjoyable they are. I can't help it. I'm a sucker for cute kids.

The whole crew had a great time learning about earth science....

 taking field trips to see grizzly bears (plus a swimming trip on Friday)...

discovering a different character role model each class....

and having a great time learning that Jesus is our firm foundation. I hope that they remember that lesson for a long time, because trying to live life without God's help is like---well, like building a house on shifting sand and expecting it to last.

I certainly had to depend on my firm foundation this month, and I'm grateful I found it as dependable as always.