Clam to fame

Noah and I (Nate) went to a place called Clam Beach this last Saturday to spend some time with the guys from church and to learn a little about digging for clams. I thought I had us well prepared for the excursion with lots of warm clothes, a few snacks, and our rubber boots. I began to wonder what we had gotten ourselves into though, when the other guys began calmly suiting up in chest waders. Noah and I just stared down at our feet. Now, I don't know if you have ever seen rubber boots made for a four year old, but they provide maybe 9 inches of flood proofing. Suffice it to say that when the other guys went through the river (see picture above), we went hunting for a shallower place (which we found by the way).

After Saturday though, the linguist in me had developed some new terms that may be considered for the next update of Webster's:

• Clamsanity: The temporary distortion of ones reason which produces an uncontrollable urge to rise before 5:30am on a Saturday morning to spend two hours bumping the ground with a shovel handle in the hopes of dropping to ones knees and thrusting an arm (shoulder deep) into an ice-cold slurry of sand and ocean water while waves (still ice cold) wash the rest of the warmth from ones body.
• Clam Fever: The contagious precursor to clamsanity. It is passed from person to person in the following form: "Yeah, we limited out in __________ minutes." Where the blank is filled by a number less than 30.
• Clam-jumping...

...well I'll spare you the other thirteen or so terms I thought of while we shivered away on that foggy sand bar. We did have a great time, and I think at least one of the guys got a clam.

As for prayers, this week you can be praying as we are taking care of some of the legal paperwork that we need to finalize before leaving the country. You can be praying with us as we plan some of the things that have to do with the kids and insurance.

You can be praising God with us that things seem to be moving along as far as paperwork on the field. (Keep praying though - it is an election year and things are a bit more unsteady than usual.)

We know that these things may not seem like that much, but it seems that every hour of our time is consumed in some manner of preparation for August. Thanks for keeping us in your prayers.

Nate for the family