Life Lessons

Ever read something that just spoke to your heart, your soul, down to the marrow of your bone? I just had that happen. It started with Romans 12:9-12, I was doing my daily writing of the Word...the verses captured me. I read on through verse 21 and realized this is how I want to live, this is how I want my kids to live, if I could teach them anything, this would be it:

9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection,[e] and take delight in honoring each other. 11 Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.[f] 12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. 13 When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,

“I will take revenge;
    I will pay them back,”[g]
    says the Lord.

20 Instead,

“If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
    If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap
    burning coals of shame on their heads.”[h]

21 Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

My "Aha" Moment

Snoring. The hardest part to marriage besides finances is snoring. My husband could snore like crazy...and the more stressed he was the louder he snored. We went on a trip and in a hotel room, there aren't a lot of escape routes so I put a pillow over my ears and held it there making sure my arm laid over my head as a final line of defense. (And before you suggest ear plugs, I had those in too.)

 By the time we returned home, my right shoulder was in a lot of pain. My doctor suggested a massage and a chiropractor. Done. Hasn't helped. It's been 3 or 4 years since this happened and now Greg has a CPAP, lost a LOT of weight and doesn't really snore (humility lesson here, the kids say I am now the snoring one...in my defense, they have snored since the day they were born).  I digress...My shoulder really hurts now. (Another humility lesson, I used to scoff at the suggestions made to modify yoga poses if you have shoulder pain...I am the Queen of modification these days).

I went Sports Med, saw a specialist and ended up with a cortisone shot for my tendinitis, bursitis, and arthritis. Arthritis? Moi? Can't be! I'm not old. (I also was prescribed with an anti-inflammatory and my shoulder feels great, thank you!)

Walking through the kitchen yesterday and my ankles clicked with each step. And then I had it, the "Aha" moment...THIS is what getting old feels like.

Forgotten

Searching through my drawers yesterday I found a really pretty date book for 2010. "Huh, what's this?" Flipped through it and found the front half empty and the back with random quotes and things I wrote about what was going on in our life..It took me a few minutes but "OH YEAH!!!" popped in my head. I had remembered the forgotten book.

An acquaintance told me I should publish my Facebook entries because she thought them terribly amusing. Huh. Who knew? Someone who wasn't that close to me actually appreciated my wit. I didn't think they were THAT amusing.

However, my kids might like them or maybe not. I pondered whether they would be interested in my ramblings on their early life or my thoughts as their parent or a person who actually had a personality unrelated to a parent.

My conclusion? Probably not until they are parents or past middle age will they be interested in anything I wrote. After pondering whether the internet would even be around by that point or become something archaic like Word Processors and typewriters, I started a date book entering my posts working backwards for the year...I never finished. The best laid plans go awry in my hands.

So kids, if you ever look at this (my blog aka the next best thing to a scrapbook) and you're going though my things and find an empty looking date book, dig through it a little deeper. It might amuse you. Oh! And I never did find what I was looking for!

The Weekend

Yellow is finding its way into the leaves making for a beautiful drive as I do my 3-4 times a week drive to Nashville and hockey is kicking into high gear. Matthew was in St Louis this weekend and Hannah was in Nashville. Matthew's team is being introduced to the high speed of AAA and Hannah's team for the most part is making the transition from House League to Travel League. Hannah's team fared better this weekend of the two.

Hannah also seems to have her own little fan club, another team from Huntsville was playing after her game and the players were all standing by the glass cheering her on. It was sweet. One of the hard decisions about leaving figure skating was not being around the girls she skated with...The hockey director pitched she would lose 10 friends but have 100 new friends and he was right. Of course, being a cute girl among a throng of boys doesn't hurt.


Other side notes, Hannah was asked for her phone number by one of the players on the other team. He asked in front of his friends putting her in the position of being kind or humiliating the poor little guy. First thing she did after the game was let the boyfriend know before he heard it from one of her teammates.


I tried to watch Matthew on livestream.com, the first game the wifi kept disconnecting on their end and the second game had terrible audio but I know a good a whooping when I see it, audio or no audio. The Coach has his work cut out for him before the HUGE CCM Tournament in Nashville. Sadly, I will miss this Tournament.

I have a picture of my little darlin' making her first trip to the Sin Bin. It was a bad call more of a stick getting entangled not tripping...but funny none the less...

Benefits of livestream for the oldest sister is watching in bed with her best friend

New Team New Season

And we're off! Matthew has bumped his game up to AAA and is now playing for the Jr Preds...it's a bit of a drive for practice but it's a really good fit for him. I wasn't sure if we had made the right decision until this weekend. I am now convinced this was a good move for him. (I do enjoy the time in the car with him driving him to practice...they may all change when it starts getting dark before we leave and I just want to stay home for the rest of the evening. I am by nature a homebody). New team, new season, and now checking.

One of the player's parents do a livestream so if you want to watch the games from this past weekend or live in the future, you can sign up here: https://livestream.com/accounts/21755584

I hope I did that right, if not, go to livestream.com and follow account: NJP2004

I encourage you to watch/listen just for the commentary, it is hysterical! The dad doing the commentary is excellent. I would pay for this but it's free! Even better!

The first period of the first game was a bit rough for Matthew but he got his mojo back for the next two games. The third game was abysmal for the entire team, today's game they clicked and wow! Excellent. Huge win.

A few pictures for you....

This is It!

Today is the big day! Greg turns 55 and Matthew is playing in his first Jr Preds game. I am praying for the best, I am hoping I can post on Monday that we won all our games...but I did hear the FL teams are tough from one of our Hockey Board Members. The woman knows her hockey so I hope they're tough but we are tougher.

Hannah's hockey is progressing nicely, she has a natural talent and could probably play college hockey if she applied herself but she would rather read a book...and that is okay with me since she can't get injured with an academic scholarship.

Greg is working on his third Master's Degree. This one is for unmanned aircraft, he is staying up late most nights and I am not quite sure if this is the season to take this task on...he is getting job offers from his papers. One was for a place in MS and one in NV, both extremely interesting jobs but I am not sure he has met his children....they would not take kindly to moving. At all. To be honest, I have zero desire to pick up and move again, ever...once I lose my faculties, my children can put me in a Nursing Home...at that point, I won't even know I have been moved. But, until then, I'm not budging.

Speaking of things that fly in the air, Matthew's Rocket Team Coach asked if Matthew was still going to be on the team this school year. He wasn't going to have a team if Matthew was not on it. He will be and his rocket is already designed, it even has a name, Rocket Lobster (suggested by Hannah's boyfriend).

You are now all caught up on the two things that dominate our lives...sports and academics.