Dana Ellis: learning life's lessons the hard way so you don't have to

This past weekend we went to Summit in Columbus. It was a really great trip. I had been under the impression that it was a youth rally but it was really a sort of family rally. The numbers were low which is somewhat dissapointing because I thought it was a great event. There are very few things that families with young children can go to and worship God and know that their children are well taken care of. They had a great child care section and Emma had a ball. Our group was the largest group there and that was quite a boost for us. The group did great and I was so proud to be a part of them. There were several times that I would see specific kids going to great lengths to make sure another kid didn't feel left out. They do a great job of loving each other. And, since the Bible says that "they will know us by our love", that's a huge deal. And it's working, Linda went and seemed to have a great time and felt really welcome. I'm so excited about all of this. I do believe that this group of kids are going to change the world.

While we were in Columbus, Jan flew in and Emma and I went and picked her up at the airport. Since we've been back in Vienna, she's been spending a whole lot of time with Jason. In case you don't know, Jason is a guy that works at OVU that I introduced her to. Yes, that was me patting myself on the back. This will be interesting to watch.

Now an Emma update... Well, that terrible twos stage probably wasn't really the terrible twos because it didn't last for very long. She's back to her sweet little self. We had her two year old check up last week. Yes, it's two months late but give me a break, we just moved. She was 36 and 1/2 inches tall and weighed 30lbs. She is in like the 98th percentile for her height. Guess she's going to be tall like her daddy. For the grandparents.. Sorry, I haven't taken many pictures of her this week but I'll work on that today. In the one I posted from Summit, her head is turned away. Funny things she's said... Well, I'm not sure this is funny but when I picked her up from her class at Summit, I asked her if she had fun and she said, "Yeah, I had fun playing with the boys". Also yesterday, she came up to me and pulled out her ears and said, "look, I'm a monkey". Then, a few minutes later, she said, "I figured I'd be a monkey". Who knows? She keeps us laughing. I have the best job in the world. I thank God that I'm able to be at home with her and not miss these precious moments.

Yesterday, we went to the park to meet people from this Mom's club that I've joined. We really enjoyed it and I'm really excited about all the events that this group does. They do all kinds of service projects and field trips and stuff. And, it's a chance for me to meet some people out side of church and do a little reaching out myself.

Tonight, we are having Heart to Heart with the teenagers and I'm excited about getting a chance to discuss things that are on their hearts.

We are going on vacation this Friday and will be gone a week so it might be a while before I update. But I'll try to add some more pictures soon. Hope all of you have a wonderful week.

Love from above,
Dana