To our friends scattered to and fro,
Hello from Paradise Mtn! Sorry I haven’t been very faithful at blogging recently- Summer is fun and very busy! We are rejoicing that wheat harvest is past… PTL for a good crop! Now we sit back and watch the rain and smile.. 🙂
Our project the last little while has been the Fresh Air Program. Karen came to us from Brooklyn.

She is a very sweet girl who is an amazing artist. She spent hours drawing each day.

The Fresh Air Program has been a part of summer ever since I can remember. My parents started hosting a child before I was born. Damon came for 10 years in a row. I can still remember how he would steal my special blanket and take it out and put it in the trunk of our car and declare that it was going to NYC with him. Of course I would reward him with a bunch of shrieks and running crying to Mother.. And he’d feel satisfied.. 🙂 Every year on Father’s Day, Father gets a text from him. Last year he brought his son Trenton for a visit.. And the friendship continues.

We don’t keep contact with all of our Fresh Air Girls, unfortunately. But I’ve been impressed for years at how much we are blessed.. Can you imagine never seeing stars? Or going barefooted in the grass? When was the last time you breathed deeply that fresh country air and were thankful for it? What if the only thing to do on weekends always included people, concrete, congestion..

And so my parents open their homes and their hearts for 2 weeks every year. What other program brings very needy children into your home for a small block of time-for free? Its such an opportunity to make a difference.. And they are always needing host families.. 🙂

Last Monday found Emily and I on a bus escorting 28 children back to the City.

What an experience! We spent most of the trip settling fights; learning different clap rhythms; answering “how much longer”,exclaiming over flowers, and feathers, walking sticks; and loving on children.. I had two children on my lap napping for what seemed like hours.. Precious innocent children. It broke my heart when the one little guy said matter of factly “I don’t have a dad”..

We got lost getting into the bus terminal and circled and circled and the driver was getting frustrated and his language was going downhill.. And the children were ready to get off and wondering “Why is he driving a bus, if he doesn’t know where we are going?!”

Finally we made it.. We were honored to be invited to Karen’s home for an Argentinian dinner. They were very gracious and spent the evening touring us around the City. Her sister’s boyfriend was driving and took a wrong road. Since every thing is one way streets, it was a problem, so he just started backing.. We backed around half of a block in downtown Brooklyn.. I wondered if we were done for.. 🙂

Tuesday was free time, so we walked to Central Park and watched all the excitement. I love to watch people, and definitely NYC has a lot of Variety! At one point a troop walked past that looked like Boy Scouts- backpacks and all. We wondered if Central Park is NYC’s equivalent to a wilderness experience.. 🙂

Our motel was right at Time Square, so we enjoyed that experience once again..

We had our picture drawn for $5 in about 4 minutes.. Hilarious! Still not convinced that it looks like me..

And then we returned home.. Once again with a full heart. I have been given so much! And its such a blessing to be able to share-just a little of our beautiful wonderful world with a child..

Blessings to you,

Kendra

While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about.
~Angela Schwindt