Scrape Off, Brush On

So what do we do when it's the lazy days of summer and we're not hanging out with friends; or volunteering; or working?  Well, home repairs of course.  After all, it's one hundred plus degree weather of course we would be outside.  

Primarily, we've been taking advantage of having the nimble college boy home to make those trips up and down the ladder.  The front of the house is all brick and most of the lower level back and sides are brick.  But the upper portion of the house on the sides and back, plus the front dormers and chimney are all painted wood.  

Most of our spare time last week, this week and next week will be spent outside working. Caleb has removed old, rotting trim pieces.  Jon has measured, cut and primed the new trim.  Caleb has made the trip up and down the ladder nailing new trim up and caulking around the windows.  The kids have scraped flaking paint and repainted.   

Frankie, or Captain Safety, as we call her has held the ladder for every one of us!  She's made sure we were steady and kept the cold water coming!! I can't wait to see the finished product! 

“Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers in the service
 of the whole assembly.” So the leaders’ promise to them was kept. Joshua 9:21

Charge the Field

Tonight Abigail and her team members from the Rage went to their first professional softball game, the Dallas Charge.  The Dallas Charge play at The Ballfields at Craig Ranch in McKinney, TX.

Abigail has had several tournaments at the ballfields at Craig Ranch and even attended clinics there in the fall.  The Charge are a women's professional softball team based in Dallas. The team began play as a member of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) with their first game on June 3, 2015. Former Olympian Jennifer McFalls was hired as their first head coach. Currently there are are six teams in the league: Akron Racers, Chicago Bandits, Dallas Charge, USSSA Pride, Pennsylvania Rebellion and the Scrap Yard Dawgs.  

Abigail and her teammates from the 16U Rage along with players from the 14U, 12U & 10U Rage teams and their families came out for tonight's game.  The Charge lost in a double header against the USSSA Pride but the girl enjoyed watching the 'big boys' play! 

 Charge, you horses!

    Drive furiously, you charioteers!

March on, you warriors!

Jeremiah 46:9

Making Music

Eddy, Blake & Baylor's dad, was at it again, performing in another musical at the First United Methodist Church Summer Musical, Music Man.  He's performed here before as Will Parker in Oklahoma. 

It was a great date night for Jon and I to have some time together, kid free.  Eddy portrayed a fabulous con-man, Professor Harold Hill, posing as a boys' band organizer selling band instruments and uniforms to the naive Iowa townsfolk. 

Eddy's wife, Melody and the kids Blake and Baylor were with us enjoying the performance.  So proud of our friend, but the best part of the evening was sitting next to my honey and enjoying the show. 

The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang: “He is good; His love endures forever.” 2 Chronicles 5:13

Five Friends, Six Flags

Remember all that running around we did yesterday?  Part of it was to clear off our schedule for today!  The Gungan's came down from Oklahoma to play with us today!  

For a while when the kids were younger both of our families had season passes to Six Flags.  The kids have spent quite a few visits over the past 11+ years together at the park.  Fortunately for Donna and I the kids are grown up and while they spent the day in one hundred degree weather, we headed to the air conditioned mall.  

The kids were great about taking pictures as they went through the day.  It's hard to believe that in just a few weeks Caleb and Richard head back for their second year of college!  Hard still is to imagine that Ryan is a senior and that all five of the kids are now driving! 

I loved seeing the kids all together, laughing and cutting up!  It was wonderful to hang out with Donna.  I miss my no drama, easy going, God fearing, kindred spirit! 

My son, keep your father’s command and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

Proverbs 6:20

Manic Monday

Our Monday's look a lot like the lyrics of the Bangles 1986 hit Manic Monday.  We seemed to run from one event to the next, regardless of it being summer time. 

Our day began with our usual service at Metro Relief where we served 43 families.  I had quite a bit of paper work from being gone last week, while Abigail helped with inputting guests in the computer and Caleb and Abigail ran food pick ups. After our four and half hour shift Caleb had to head on to work at Hawaiian Falls.  

Next was a trip to the library to drop off books, then a stop off at the church building, with a bite for lunch along the way.  

Next we headed to Abigail's piano lessons.  Ms. Kathy was gracious and allow us to get caught up on the lesson we missed last week. Then we moved forward with this week's lesson.  Abigail has been working on a composition that she played for Ms. Kathy today. 

Our final stop of the day was softball. In addition to three team practices each week, Abigail also has private catching/hitting lessons weekly.  Being gone last week caused us to need to double up on those lessons this week also.  At the end of the day we crashed, exhausted!  Thank goodness we only have one school age kiddo at home and that school's out! 

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,

    while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.

Proverbs 13:4

Promises, Promises

Today was simply a lesson in keeping the commitments we've made.  It is an understatement to say that Abigail and I are exhausted from our week.  

While we were in Fort Worth, Jon, Caleb and Frankie spent the week replacing boards. scraping and painting our house.  The boys managed to do the work on the house plus working a full workload.  We are all dragging but today is the Lord's day.  Abigail and I had promised to help out in the nursery.  Frankie had committed to helping in the four year old Bible Class.  Jon and Caleb had agreed to help prepare, distribute and clean up communion. 

When services was over we came home for a roast in the crock pot and then Jon and Abigail headed out for three hours of softball practice.  Caleb had to work the afternoon shift at Hawaiian Falls and Frankie and I knocked out laundry.  Not a real glamorous day!  It was a good day to remember that each of us is tired but there is an importance to keep the commitments that we have made and to maintain a good attitude about our work.  I hope our kids take away from this is the importance of keeping our promises and that they always surround themselves with people of integrity.  Tonight we will all sleep well! 

When you make a promise, do not delay to fulfill it. God has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your promise. It is better not to make a promise than to make one and not fulfill it.  Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My promise was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? Ecclesiastes 5:4-6

A Time to Celebrate

Today we celebrate the head of our family, the one who centers all of us and keeps us balanced, Jon!  This past week was exhausting fifteen hour days and we were removed from all electronics. I missed Jon terribly.  It was really odd not being able to text or call him.  It made today more sweet to be back together for his special day.  

We continued the tradition of chocolate donuts and Dr. Pepper. Caleb worked the morning shift, so we postponed celebrations until this afternoon.  When Caleb came home we headed to Studio Movie Grill to see the new Star Trek movie.  It was a good choice for a movie because in the film it was also Captain Kirk's birthday, so the entire crew of the Enterprise sang Happy Birthday.  

After the movie Caleb grilled steaks then we followed up with non-dairy ice cream sundaes and presents! Happy birthday, sweetie! 

For through wisdom your days will be many, and years will be added to your life. Proverbs 9:11

Dallas World Aquarium

After a week of serving others, this morning we slept a little later and then packed up our things to leave Fort Worth.  We swarmed the breakfast buffet for one last feeding at the Embassy Suites before loading into the four 20 passenger vans to head back to Dallas. 

We spent most of the day at the historic 1800's warehouse in the Dallas West End District that is now home to The Dallas World Aquarium.  A few additional buildings have been added to expand the aquarium over the last twenty years.   The glass domed shark tank and rainforest were two of the favorites for the kids today.  We also got to watch the penguin feeding. 

After a busy week we rolled in to the church parking lot late in the afternoon.  Everyone a little sleep deprived, with tired muscles but full hearts.  The kids drew closer together this week and found new talents for serving.  I really enjoyed getting to watch the process as they grew in the Lord.  

The sea is His, for it was He who made it, Psalm 95:5

Mission Possible

For our fourth day of Mission Adventure with the McDermott Road Church of Christ youth group our theme was Pure Religion:­ Aligning our Mission with the Mission of our Savior.  I went back to the Tarrant Area Food Bank with a group of high school kids.  Several other groups of teens finished up the yard work for the elderly members of the College Hills Church of Christ in North Richland Hills. 

The Tarrant Area Food Bank serves 13 counties in North Texas, covering roughly the same area as the state of Vermont! Our group helped sort, inspect and repackage the food, that distributed to the food pantries like Metro Relief.  In two and a half hours we processed 3,900 pounds of food, representing 2,600 meals!

Later in the afternoon we headed to the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District to watch the cattle drive by the Fort Worth Herd Trail Boss. We watched as Texas cowhands drove a herd of Texas longhorns down Exchange Avenue; everything from the saddles and chaps to the boots and hats were authentic and historically accurate to the Old West. The kids also checked out the Stockyards Museum located in the historic Livestock Exchange Building. 

For dinner we dined at the famous Joe T. Garcia's Mexican Restaurant and Fiesta Gardens. The restaurant opened in 1935 with seating for 16 and mouthwatering recipes.  It has now expanded to about a dozen dining rooms and patios, seating over 1,000! Many famous people have dined there including former Presidents. The lines on the weekend can be up to two hours. Our group rented out the La Puertita and dined on the most fabulous TexMex cuisine! 

After dinner we returned to the College Hill Church of Christ for worship and celebrated as Kaia, one of the girls in my room and a friend of Abigail's, was baptized!  The day could not have been topped off any better! The kids have learned so much this week about serving others and serving in a manner that is pleasing to God.  

It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. I Peter 1:12

On a Mission

The theme for today's Mission Adventure was Pure Presence ­ Be Still and Know.  It was another day where we needed to be down stairs in the hotel by seven a.m., meaning four teenage girls need to make through the shower and be ready for our day after not getting to bed until after midnight!  One of us, the almost 50 year old sponsor, is feeling the lack of sleep! 

I drove my group of high schoolers back over to Fortress Youth Development Center.  Some of us worked on thank you packets for the donors while others continued with the painting and clean up on the outside of the building. We also wrote letters of encouragement to the youth who attend Fortress to encourage them to work hard in the coming school year and to make good decison, but mostly to let them know we are praying for them.  Abigail went with a group back over to an elderly members home and finished painting and working on their home. 

We broke for lunch and then headed over to Holiday Lane Estates Senior Assisted Living Center.  Our group split up and some played bingo with the residence, while others went from room to room visiting.  The activities director asked is anyone knew how to play the piano, and Abigail was the only piano player in the group so she began to play.  It was fascinating to watch the residence come out of their rooms to gather around her playing the piano.  It was especially touching when we were told that one of the ladies hadn't left her room in eight days but she came out to hear Abigail play.  My girl ended up playing the piano for almost two hours straight!  

We finished out the evening with dinner at Chili's and a trip to the Fort Worth Water Gardens.  At the Water Gardens we went to the Reflection Pool where we broke up into groups (our hotel room groups) and had our devotion.  It was a time to reflect on where we had seen Jesus in people that day and how we would use that as the new school year began.  At the end of the evening we walked back to our hotel at the Embassy Suites.  

Let us not become weary in doing good, 

for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Galatians 6:9