Week of Hope.

Check out what Week of Hope is all about.

baby Colton is always popular when we go to Week of Hope on Thursday nights.

Kara & Danielle love to get their snuggles in...as do the campers and the youth group leaders. He gets lots of "Awwwww! What a cute baby!" from all that see him.

my love bug.

Colton's girl-buddy, Danielle.

she's from Colorado and probably my twin since we like all the same things (like ice cream out of mugs, iced coffee with cream and light ice, and are not picky eaters). she has a heart for mission work and impacting lives for Jesus and spreading joy along the way.

Colton's girl-buddy, Kara.

She's from Detroit and is in love with Myers [it's a store, not a person, just for clarification]. (She says that if Wal-Mart & Target had a baby it'd be Myers. She has a heart of gold and has really challenged me to seek out what Titus 2 would look like in my life. Not to mention her willingness to serve...specifically serve me and I am learning to be served. It's beautiful. )

these two young ladies are amazing women of God.

I love them.

They have come as Red Shirts to work as Summer Staff for Week of Hope. Kara and Danielle didn't know each other before this summer...and it is obvious that God put together the perfect pair for the Las Vegas Week of Hope.

I didn't know what to expect as far as the Summer Staff would go...God blew my socks off with these two women. They love the Lord above all else. They are full of energy and desire to soak up everything that this summer has to offer them through experiences, people, and time spent in great conversations. They have hearts that desire to honor God as they pray for their future husbands and wait on God's timing. Our time together has been so simple and so beautiful. Full of laughter. Full of fun. Full of serious talks. Full of sharing our hearts. I am going to miss them terribly (and so will my family for they have touched our hearts & lives forever--not to mention they have left very big shoes to fill when next year's Summer Staff comes!).

and i will miss them terribly!

Each night (except for Tuesdays) there is an evening program at Week of Hope.

Thursday's Evening program includes:

BIG Game Extravaganza [pictured below]

crew's are in a relay race to see who can fish the gummy worms out of the chocolate sauce with a clothes pin and feed it to their blind-folded teammate the fastest. Hysterical I tell you!

• Introducing the Local Coordinator (that'd be Wes) and his family.

Wes gives the crews a big thank you and opens the evening in prayer.

{I am usually leaking tears over the sincere hearts of the campers and what they have seen and done that week to impact our community for God. And to think that Wes organized it all. It's overwhelming in a wonderful God way.}

• God Stories

Members from each crew share where they saw God at work during the day as they served the community. This is so powerful!! Lives have been changed each and every week that this camp has been going on in Las Vegas, Boulder City, and Henderson. The campers are leaving changed. The people they served all week are changed. It's amazing.

• Worship

Lead by the youth groups that come. My favorite week was a praise band consisting of 3 people, one from each youth group that represented 3 different states. It was beautiful.

• Youth group devotions. This is a tap-light purchased to help our baby at night in the car. He usually cries the entire way home from Week of Hope (or any where really if it is after dark). This night the tap-light was on when the door shut so he wasn't in complete darkness. He promptly fell asleep. Problem solved? We are hopeful!