Category: Fun

I bought a new duffle bag to pack for this summer's trip. Stacked on my spare bed are the piles of clothes and bags of toiletries I plan to take for seven days at the campground in Michigan.

Among the items I consider necessary for seven days away from home:

*Two swimsuits

*Two beach towels

*Two pairs of flip-flops, one for the beach and one for the shower

*Two pairs of sunglasses, or maybe I need to take all three

*Sunscreen

*Tennies because I hope to tackle the high-ropes obstacle course this year

*A good book to read on the almost-14-hour bus ride. This year I am taking Room by Emma Donoghue.

*GinGins ginger candy because I tend to get car sick when I read on the bus

*Pepto Bismol in case the GinGins aren't enough

*Snack bars and string cheese, because if I don't get car sick on the way, I will definitely get hungry.

I will be making this year's journey to camp with 11 teen moms from our YoungLives group, their children, and five other mentors. We will spend seven days together swimming, ziplining, dancing, singing, and praying.

I will be packing other necessities to help make camp a fantastic week.

*A sense of adventure to try new things like the ropes course and paddle boarding

*A sense of humor to laugh at myself when I fall off the paddle board. Hopefully I won't fall from the ropes course.

*An open mind to get to know new people, accept new assignments, and develop a new attitude

*An open heart filled with forgiveness, abundant patience, and positive energy

*The belief we are making this journey together to share an awesome experience and build caring relationships

*The knowledge this week will be wonderful, no matter what happens!

I'm also leaving space in my new duffle bag to bring back fun memories, renewed confidence, stronger friendships, deeper faith, and hopefully all three pairs of sunglasses.

Where are your adventures taking you this summer? What will you pack to prepare for your travels?

This week I asked my friend Heather to share the story of how she chose her daughter's name, Alice. These are Heather's words.

When Alice grows up, I'm going to tell her the story about why I picked her name. I hope she likes it.

In fifth grade I had to do a report about Teddy Roosevelt, but when I Googled him, I was more interested in his daughter Alice. While her father was in office, Alice worked to help people with tuberculosis, even though her family told her it was dangerous. Alice was rebellious and did things like climb on the White House roof. She was fearless and had a pet snake. But though she was a rebel, she was kind too, and she cared about other people.

I chose to name my daughter Alice because I want her to be strong, independent, and outgoing like Alice Roosevelt. I want her to be self-confident and fearless, but also caring and kind.

I hope my daughter Alice will stand up for what she believes in. I want her to know that every human life has worth, and I hope she will help others because it's the right thing to do.

My daughter inspires me because I have social anxiety, and when something bad happens, it shuts me down. The other day Alice fell off the kitchen step onto the carpet. She cried for a minute, but then she went back to what she was doing. She didn't let it ruin her whole day.

And she's happy to meet new people. Since she turned a year old, she's not afraid of meeting new people anymore.

I want to tell my daughter that it doesn't matter where your family's from, you can still do your own thing.

My prayer for Alice Marie is that she will be fearless, confident, happy to be herself, and appreciative of all that makes her unique.

"A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, loving favor rather than silver or gold" (Proverbs 22:1).

How did you choose the names of your children? Do you  have an interesting story about what makes them special?