Finally Fall...

I have been looking high and low for Fall. My favorite season of colorful foliage had been hiding from the high 90s temperature and is peeking out to see if it is safe to come out yet. I saw a glimpse of Fall on Monday while driving to Nashville. There are golden autumnal hues gently emerging from the pervasive green covering the mountains.

Today it is raining, a warm rain but still my favorite type of day. Tea in one hand, book in the other, while heaven provides a nice long drink for the earth.

I always feel closest to our Creator when I look at His creation. Fall speaks to my heart. The closing of Summer, the approach of the holidays....Fall fills the middle with a nice respite from it all. Time to breathe before the busy. Time to be grateful. Time to be still.

Then and Now

Social Media is great for screenshots. Facebook put a memory of Hannah up from six years ago so I took a screenshot. One of my favorite memories, Hannah riding her tiger at the Nashville Zoo and then I stole some pictures from Hannah's Instagram. One of these days, my kids are going to block me from their social media accounts....

Cleaning Up

I was cleaning up my files and totally forgot about serving at Men's Night at Church.

A fun night of food, cars, and a Word

Greg and Matthew had a blast

August 2018

And we are off! School has started, hockey practice is in full swing, colleges are being looked at....

Matthew started high school, Hannah has begun her junior year, Greg has started his evening class, drives to Nashville have commenced. September is just around the corner and we will be kicking things up another notch, I am leading a Small Group for high school girls, Matthew's travel will begin and Greg has a birthday this weekend. I am trying to catch my breath just reading this...

I may have bit off more than I can chew with the Small Group. God really laid it on my heart but not even my own daughter is interested in a book study. I will have to trust God that if just one person shows up, that is the person He wants me to love and pray over.

We did have a movie night to see Christopher Robin this month. The kids brought a buddy and we filled up most of a row. I love all things Pooh, so I had fun...still trying to figure out if I liked the movie but the Pooh characters were adorable.

Matthew and I went to Iowa for a hockey camp and was able to see my brother....tried to surprise my mom but she wasn't home until it was time to leave...so much for surprises.

A few pictures from this past month...

I was playing with the You Bible app and I thought this verse hysterical for hockey (the app somehow pics an appropriate verse for you picture, magic)

Matthew and I cruising Iowa in a BRIGHT blue Hyundai with a little Tedashii

Hannah trying on a few cars

Stolen right off Lauren's story

First Day of School (right after 6 a.m. prayer)

Movie Night

My Small Group Study

More of me playing with my Bible Lens (You Bible App)

This food was served in the Cedar Rapids Airport and tasted just as good as it looks....thank you, Bible Lens for ramping up my picture a few notches

Top Golf

The most hideous visual in our town is Top Golf. The surrounding nets can be seen from all over town and I hate it...However, it seems to be quite popular and is a favorite destination for hockey families between games. Our eldest has now experienced this destination and pronounced it quite entertaining and a lot of fun.

Motion X

School starts next Tuesday, so that means our church was busy getting the students ready for the struggles and battles of life as a teenager. Motion X had speakers and music to motivate the next generation to live indepedently from the rest of the world. A huge challenge where communication is not respectful, intolerant of those who think differently, and completely lacking understanding of body language, inflection, and other nuances of face to face communication.

My heart breaks for the youth of today. I would not be a teen again for all the money in the world and today is so much harder than when I was young. There is so much potential in these beautiful kids, I am so happy to be a part of the church which encourages them to live with love.

Sixteen thousand students converged on the BJCC for three days to:

1. Know God
2. Find Freedom
3. Discover their Purpose
4. Make a difference in the World

These youth are a Generation in Motion, moving towards God and serving/loving others in His Name.

Screenshots stolen from Social Media...my little angels are further down...my bad attempt at doing this chronologically...mild fail by this blogger.

Kind of like "Where's Waldo?" but this is "Where's Matthew?"

Each Campus has a color, ours is purple

I was so disappointed to not be serving when Hannah came back from setup and told me about the stage being an X and the X backdrop. This is the 10th year of Motion...it has grown so much in such a short time. 

As part of Hannah's Internship, she helped set up the BJCC for this conference which included 14,000 LED bracelets which were synced to the lights on stage.

Matthew's buddy

And these pictures are Hannah's buddies from her 252 Internship

The 252 Internship name comes from Luke 2:52 "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."

The Boy in Motion

The boy is complaining that I am making him clean out the garage. I think it's a fair trade since I drove him to MN, washed a week of dirty laundry, took him to his high school counseling appointment, and I am driving him to Nashville this afternoon.

Here are some videos from his Camp at Shattuck-St. Mary's. I am lousy at video...I have no idea which ones have his great moments and which have his "oof" moments. But...here is what I have if you want to see him on video since catching him in person is a bit more challenging.

The Camp started with me being a bit concerned that the kid from Alabama was not getting a chance...he was on the last line, the last in drill lines, etc. However, I learned the Camp was a mix of 04/05 (hockey is by birth year) and also, by size. M is 04 and one of the taller kids...end of the line for him. However, by the end of the Camp, and winning the games to make the playoffs mattered, to the front of the line he went and he covered the important shifts. I'm good.

My absolute favorite moment of the Camp was a hockey dad stopping to tell me how hard Matthew worked, not just at games but at practice, he gave 110%. I could not ask for more.