The Ethan Update, Around the World in Twenty Minutes edition.

Our ten year old, Ethan, has been at Servant Camp at our church all week, which means each day he did a service project in the morning and then did something fun in the afternoon.  So he has helped at a soup kitchen, spread mulch at a park, played bingo with elderly folks in a nursing home, given homeless pets some exercise at a shelter, and so on.  He has such a loving heart and I’m so proud of him.  I’m grateful to attend a church that helps kids learn to serve others.  This morning, I dropped him off at camp and the drive over gave us some time to talk.  NPR is usually on in my car and Ethan began asking questions, so we discussed Edward Snowdon, seeking asylum, and how people disagree whether what he did was good or bad for the country.  We talked about Nelson Mandela, what apartheid was, and why Mr. Mandela is such a great man (I got in a recommended reading plug for “Long Walk to Freedom” for when Ethan’s older).  And we wrapped up our tour of current events with gay marriage.  Not bad for 20 minutes on a summer Thursday.