When life is changing

You know, it's true what the Bible says,
"Life is a vapor."

It's there, loud and overwhelming, and then poof,

it's gone.

We moved our first child to her student apartment last week

so she could begin her junior year of college an hour away from us.

I hope we taught her everything.

I'm not sure we had time.

Maybe we did?

But did we use our time wisely?

Did we waste too much time not infusing those things into her life?

Those thoughts keep nagging at the back of my mind

worrying me at two in the morning when I should be sleeping.

But, all-of-a-sudden, here we are.
With our bossy, sassy, messy, excitable 8-year old.
At least, it seems like she must still be 8.
I don't feel that much older.
And yet, it's that time.

That time I seriously believed would never happen.
I never thought we would survive homeschooling
and all the terribly long days of mind-numbing discipline and correction.
Those days that were fruitless no matter how much I poured
into planning, and creating, and trying, and re-trying.

And yet, time keeps marching on.
And it's time for her to start her new university classes.
I remember (yes, please indulge my motherly reminiscing)
like it was yesterday the exact day I moved into my dorm
when I was a freshman in college.
I was so excited, fearless, and ready to go.
Of course, there were a few nervous tears as I swallowed down
that huge lump in my throat,
but I had worked for an entire year to earn all the money I could
to pay for this, and I had reached my goal.
I couldn't wait!
New things and people were all around me and I knew that God
had clearly led me there.
What was there to look back at?

I feel the same way for my daughter,
and I dare say she feels the same way too.
Goals set, goals met.
Fun shopping.
God providing!

Yesterday, we all went up to her apartment to spend some time with her.
Younger siblings got to try out the pool.
We played games, ate pizza, and enjoyed meeting
the girls who share the apartment with her.

We couldn't be more thrilled for her and finally reaching
the culmination of years of pouring
God's Word into her, staying on our knees in prayer for her,
and hard academic work.
The praying won't stop.
The encouraging to stay faithful to the Lord won't stop, but
the adventure begins and we can't wait!!

First Day of School

Last week we began our 16th year of homeschooling,  

and our 5th year of homeschooling through

the homeschool program at Galilean Baptist Academy.
Because it is a homeschool co-op, I get to participate in teaching

a Speech and Drama Elective to the high school students

on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well as help out in the 

learning center for part of those days.
My girls get to play volleyball through this program,

 and my boys will have opportunities in a vocational shop class

as well as some basketball.

My goodness, how blessed we feel to have this opportunity once again!!

Fall volleyball

My girls love their volleyball team!

They could not wait for the team to start practicing

and started "working out" at home the week before just

to get ready!

Our volleyball season is very short this year.

Their team lost two seniors last spring,

and they have one brand new player this year.

It's a season of adjustment for them.

But they have won 2 of the 4 games they have played so far

and they are learning new skills and growing stronger every game!

We are thrilled for this opportunity for these two lovlies

to learn team work, perseverance, and great sportsmanship!!

Summer Recap!

And just like that the summer is almost gone!

The 4th of July came and went.
The temperatures soared in our neck of the woods forcing
us indoors where the air conditioning blasted cold.
For the next 6 weeks we didn't do anything spectacular.
We slept in late most every day.
I have an intensely large Christmas dinner theater I'm directing at our church,
so my focus has been on getting that up and rolling cohesively before school
starts and we are swept up in the busyness of those days.

We did manage to find some fun things locally to help us cool off,
and to keep the cabin fever from getting too fierce.
Our second daughter bought her first car.
Our oldest daughter took me with her for her college orientation.
We celebrated my Mother-in-Love's birthday!
School clothes were dragged out and tried on.
School curriculum was ordered and delivered.
Ice cream was eaten, and slurpees slurped.

We have an exciting fall season racing toward us that has at times
overwhelmed me with its scope and ferocity.
I will not lie and deny the fact that I have awoken at 2 am more than once
and my mind raced with a million things that still did not have solutions.
The "what ifs" snarled at me of all the potential catastrophes that could happen.

But after years of episodes like this, I've learned to receive those fears as flags.
Signs going up to remind me to pray.
To give all my worries, and all the problems,
and all the things that haven't even happened,
and statistically can't happen......to the Lord!
The work of prayer often wears my mind out and empties it of all those thoughts
and then I'm able to go back to sleep.
I know that I can trust all those details to the One who I have followed
to this place and who I know won't leave me stranded.
He has promised to never leave me nor forsake me.
He has promised to provide our needs.
I can follow Him in faith and confidence
because He has never failed!!

This fall.....trust.

Teen Camp 2018

"Mom, I want to go."

You cannot imagine the explosion that happened in my brain

when my new 12-year old told us this.

At the turn of the year, he heard our church youth group was going

to charter a commercial bus and drive 19+ hours

to The Wilds of North Carolina for teen camp this year,

and he determined in his mind that he was going because this

was the very first year he was eligible to go.

It did not matter to him that he is notorious for getting car sick

at least ONCE on long trips.

As long as he could take a bag with snacks and there were going to be

movies played on the trip.....he was IN!!

It did not matter to him that he is insanely allergic to poison ivy

and the last time he went to camp was pretty traumatized

when he came down with a mild case of it.

We would be sure to pack his prescription medication for it this time.

It did not matter to him that the price tag for a trip like this

was breathtakingly high, 

he was going to work for every penny of it.

The whole, entire spring and early summer this guy worked his tail
off mowing lawns, digging up rocks out of the neighbors yard,
washing cars, doing extra chores at home to earn all the money for the trip

plus a lot of spending money.

He marked off the dates on our kitchen calendar so we wouldn't forget.

He reminded me to start packing a full-week before the trip.

He even found his poison-ivy cream for me.

Even though this expensive bus did suffer a blow-out a couple hours from home

that delayed them for four hours, 

and even though he did indeed throw up all over himself

on the long ride home.....he had a blast!!

It was a process that no one in our family is likely to forget for a long time!!
Way to go, Garrett!!!!