the Duffy’s @ HH

back at the Ranch

Summer 2009

Sometime around the
end of May, Jenny & I
made our way back to
Lake Luzerne, NY in the
Adirondacks. Our mis-
sion: to work at Double H
Ranch for the summer. If
you don’t know, Double H
is one of Paul Newman’s
‘Hole in the Wall’ camps.
This is a network of camps
all over the world which
serves chronically ill chil-
dren ages 6-16.
Summer ‘09 is divided
up into 7, 5 day sessions.
Every session a new group
of kids lands at HH for,
what they describe as, the
best week of their year.
The camp can accommo-
a Hole in th Wall Camp
When I think of sum- every child who comes
mer jobs, there is no bet- here says that this is their
ter one I can imagine than favorite place in the
employment with HH. To world. It’s not hard to see
be paid to work with kids why.
who are usually outcasted
from society in many ways Please continue to pray
brings me great joy. Many for Jenny & I as we finish
of these children have up our final two sessions
endured lives that none of at the Ranch and seek
us can relate to, but at a direction for the Fall.
superficial level, a child is
a child. Here,
all they want
to do is run
around, have
fun, and meet
new people
who aren’t
going to stare
at them or
make fun of

date approximately 150 their disabil-

Double H Ranch

kids a session. ity. Almost

staff housing at the Ranch

Blessed Margaret of Castello

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Order it from Ebay for
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Itinerary for the after HH:

 Aug 19-26: Visit Mama Deane in Virginia
 Aug 26-Sep3: Visit Paul & Racheal Adams, Kevin & Joy Moore in New Mexico
 Sep 3-8: Visit Jenny’s Dad in Windsor, Ontario
 Sep 8-11: 1 Yr Anniversary in Las Vegas
 Sep 11-26(or so): Ontario (Windsor, St Catharines, Toronto)
 End of Sep—mid Oct: PEI, then overseas
 the Duffy’s @ HH
You are our letter,
written in our
hearts and
known and read
by everyone.
Apostle Paul
(1Corinthians 3:2 ISV)
We’re on the Web!
joshandjenny.weebly.com
Where is My love?
There's something about being with 15
fourteen year old girls all day for 6 days,
that makes you realize that perhaps
you're not as patient as you thought you
were. When their requests (ok, maybe
demands) start to irk you, you wonder if
you're as compassionate as you've set
out to be. Don't get me wrong. A week
in the 'Fox Cabin' taking care of these
young teenage girls is fun from the
cheers in the dining hall on the first day,
to the carefully choreographed group
dances in the talent show on the last
day of camp-but there are those mo-
ments where you wonder where your
love is.
Is your love found in your time off when
you can just do whatever you want? Is
your love found when you get to sit
down for a meal that some one else has
cooked for you? Is your love found in
times when those around you are the
kind of people you like?
I've found that in the times where my
love is most needed, I have found self-
ishness instead. In the midst of stress, I
haven't found mercy but rather a crav-
ing for my own comfort and conven-
ience. To put a smile on and pretend to
Mattae, Josh, &
Kansas playing
‘Crazy 8 Coutdown’
at the HH Island
Party
Jenny with Lake
George and the
Adirondack moun-
tains in the back-
ground
love, is completely different from that and hope does not disappoint, be-
love actually being real and present in cause the love of God has been
my heart and being the root of all my poured out within our hearts through
actions. the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
My greatest relief in this dilemma is that Romans 5:5
God has put His own supernatural love
inside of me (John 17:25-26). I don't
need to try and pull out of my own sup-
ply of love, which is conditional and has
limits. I can draw from God's love which
is perfect, neverending, always ready
and never failing. On our own, we are
uncapable of loving people the way that
we want to. Our love is not perfect, but
God's love is the only love that is pure.
As we mature as Christians we see love
and the rest of the fruits of the spirit
cultivating in our lives. The Holy Ghost
implores us daily to surrender so that
we may walk in the spirit and exemplify
the very nature of Jesus which is all the
fruit of the spirit.
So here at camp, when I feel like I can't
love, I remember that it is true. I cannot
love on my own, but God has given me
His very love that I may touch people
with His beauty and gentleness that
draws people to Him.