First Baseball Game

WE WON! WE WON! I mean, they won...Seth won. It was a great game with both teams taking the lead at times. Seth did a great job. He got a hit on his very first ups and the very first pitch! In fact, he was three for three and another batter hit him in. The games go for six innings or 90 minutes whichever comes first. Tonight they did 5 1/2 innings. On the bottom of the sixth Seth's team was already up so the game was called. They won 12-6.


Ellie had a grand time as well. There is a "mountain" of sand as she calls it right behind the bleachers. Many of the siblings gather on and around it to play. The last time we were there she had chosen a dress to wear that day but every day since she has asked about baseball before choosing what to wear. Yep, today I had to answer the "Is it time yet?" question about 45 times. Everything is pretty dry right now so the sand pile is more of a dust pile...remember the Charlie Brown character named Pigpen? That would be Ellie tonight; just a pat on any part of her body raised a cloud of dust!

beginning baseball

We have arrived. I have arrived.

I am a baseball mom!

Seth is playing little league this year and he is so enthused, I can hardly stand it. Here is how bad he has it: On Mondays practice is from 4:15 to 5:30 pm. (Notice the pm) He gets up eats breakfast then gets dressed, brushes teeth, combs hair, arrives in the living room for the beginning of school. What does he have with him every Monday as we start school? His baseball mitt. Today we worked on school with the mitt right in the middle of everything. We broke from school and I sent him to clean the bathroom sink and toilet that he didn't do on Saturday. What's in the bathroom with him while he cleans? Yep. At lunch? Yep. Afternoon school? Yep. That thing stays within his reach ALL DAY.

That's alright. I would do the same thing if it were me. As it is, I am eagerly anticipating the first game on Thursday. Go Seth...I mean...go team!

Spring in Haines

We have had a beautiful spring. Friends say it is unusually pretty this year. I wouldn't know since this is our first in Haines but I can agree that it is unusually pretty compared to others I have known.

We are hanging in there until the end of many things (school for our family, schoolyear schedule at church) and the beginning of many other things (gardening, little league, summer hikes, increased family time).

In the meantime we enjoy the sunshine and warmer weather.

new position

Well, Bill started the pastorate on January 1, just three days ago. We even got a pastoral call at 7:30 am that day, no kidding! Although it was official on the first, tomorrow is his first Sunday and that seems to be the Big Day. He is prepared for his Sunday School class, the morning service and the evening service, too. He plans to go to church much earlier than the rest of us except for Seth who asked to go early when dad goes. :-)

Wherever we go, whoever we talk to the questions are: How is the transition going? Have you started the new job yet? The answers: Fine and kind of, yes. Ask again on Monday and I will have much better answers then...I think.

ministry change

Well, if you haven't already heard there have been great changes in the Diggins household. No, not a new baby...Lord willing (and He would definitely have to will it), we are done with that. Actually, we are embarking on a new adventure in ministry.

When we moved from camp back to Haines this fall it was a permanent move. Bill takes over the pastorate of our church here on January 1. Yep, it was a big change but we are certain God has directed every bit of it.

Right now we cycle through all the emotions looking back to the past at camp and forward to the future at the church. Mostly, we stay in the present though. There are so many items, meetings, persons, etc. that demand our attention that staying in the present is not very hard at all!

So there you have it...an end of the year update.

The sharpest sword.

Last night was the mission impossible game for Maverick camp. This is a game that started at 10:43pm and went until after 1am. It is kind of a glorified treasure hunt. I played as a guard for the game which means my partner and I guarded a point where the cabin groups were to get the next clue. If we caught them in the range of our flashlights we could set them back a little. It was pretty fun.

Bill manned the laser room. They (the program staff) converted the third floor of the gym. It is totally cleared out, a couple of extra walls built with a tunnel where you have to crawl to get through. Everything is black and every possible crack where light could get in is blocked. There are a number of black lights and flourescent rope strung around the room is the lasers. The goal is to get through the room without touching a "laser"... pretty tough to do. I plan to take pictures of it. Anyway, when the cabin groups got to him, Bill took their swords (plastic toys they had picked up earlier in the game) and gave them something sharper than any two-edged sword --you guessed it, a Bible. At the very end everyone gathered at the castle where there was a fire and rice crispy treats to eat. Nick (part of programming staff) talked to the group about how the Bible is our weapon against Satan's attacks and how even if they can't find spiritual support at home, etc., then they can find it in the Scriptures.

2007 counselor story #3

"So during one of my [individual conversations with campers], two girls mentioned they didn't have a church they go to so I asked if they had ever trusted Jesus as their savior. Both said they did last year here at camp and that camp is all the spiritual "food"/support they get back home. that broke my heart!"

Yes, God cares for these two girls and even though they don't have much spiritual support from other people we do know that His eye is on them. II Chronicles 16:9 says, "The eyes of the Lord travel to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose hearts are completely His."