landscaping, zoo, & movie

My morning started off with some hard work. Ya see, for parents of kids who either can't afford to pay completely for their kid to go to camp, or want their kid(s to take an active part in bringing in the funds to make to go; we provide opportunities for kids to get the money. I helped kids today to mulch and do some yard work. I believe there was 7 girls, and Kevin. Kevin is the kid who I just got to know by hanging out at his lunch room table, and for months inviting him/them to come to club. Well, not only did he start coming to club, but I got him to agree to go to camp, and NOW HE IS PUMPED!!The girls and Kevin really worked hard out there today. They made it look good too!It was fun. As I was taking Kevin home, he first told me that I am crazy (the good kind) and that he never thought he could have so much fun doing yard work. That is what it is all about.

Once I dropped off Kevin, I went and picked up Nicky. Then, we met up with Jared at the ZOO. It was a fun day at the ZOO, I forgot how much I love the ZOO.You can always find something awesome and fun to do at the ZOO. And we did, it was a whole lot of that stuff. Ya know, the fun stuff. I think that my favorite picture to share from this experience would be from the American alligator exhibit. Check this guy out.
Now that dude had some teeth!

After we were done at the ZOO, Nick and I went back to his place and just chilled for a bit. Then I went over to Tom's house. I am talking about the Tom that I had as an English professor last Fall semester at IPFW. He has been wanting me to come over and watch this movie called Brother Sun, Sister Moon. It is the story of St. Francis of Assisi. First, Tom cooked an amazing meal for me. Home made meatballs, and an amazing sauce with a suburb salad. The meal was "that good," and the conversation was non-stop fun and intelligent Godly conversation. I love that kind of conversation SO MUCH! It was good to just kind of get a re-cap of Tom's year, and it was exciting for me to explain what is about to shortly happen with my adventure to Arizona. Then we watched the movie. We had tried to do this once before, but it didn't work. This time it worked good, as Tom slipped the DVD into his fancy new Blue Ray machine. The movie was soo good! Now I understand why he has wanted me to watch it for so long. Everything that man went through, and the process of life events that God created to bring him to the point of accepting redemption, was astonishing to watch. I want, and will continue to try to attain what he brought to the world. Watching the story of Francesco (St. Francis) brought me closer to Christ, it also challenged me in how I love myself and others. I kept asking myself, "what does it really mean to deny yourself?" I keep coming up with real and applicable answers to that question, and it is exciting! Today was a good day, a real good day.