Pool Day

When we bought our house almost 11 years ago (I can't believe it's been that long!) it came with a large above ground pool. It takes up a good portion of our backyard. The people we bought the house from offered to take it down, but we figured we could do that if we found that it just didn't work for us. Well, our children are fish! At this point, it will have to collapse in order for it to come down. We also like to have people over, since we are the only staff that have been blessed with this luxury. So today, Andy woke up and decided we should invite any of the staff over that wanted to enjoy the water on a hot day, as this is probably the last day we would be around all at the same time. Well, the Curry's and Hinson boys all took us up on the offer. So from about 3:00pm to 5:30 pm they all swam. Daniel thought this was great - so many people in the pool at once! He is becoming a regular little guppy in his swim tube. He kicks and swims and loves to throw a ball at the hoop we have set up! Give him a ball and he is a happy kid!

I am so thankful to have a pool so that our kids can learn to be good swimmers. God has truly blessed us in so many ways. So many kids around here are not as fortunate. Our local swimming pool shut down around 7 years ago due to too much violence. Our rec center also shut down shortly after that. There is literally nothing for these kids to do unless they have parents that take them to other area rec centers - a task many parents are not up for. The site where our local pool and rec center are located (right at the end of our block) is now sited to be used to build a new Elementary school. I am upset, not for the fact that it will be right next door, but the fact that it is the ONLY green space in this neighborhood and they are tearing it up to build a school. There are so many abandoned buildings/ factories, but Philly doesn't want to buy new land when they can use land they already own. It is extremely frustrating. It is a never ending cycle of poor planning and decisions. We need a new school, but we take the only grassy area kids have to play. I could see if the new school were going to actually help the education crises Philly is facing, but a new building is not going to solve the major problems they are dealing with. It is a constant prayer of mine - how do we end this vicious cycle? Only through prayer and His strength! Keep praying for the kids and families here.