Do know what happens when I don’t write a blog post for a couple of weeks? A lot! The answer is that a lot of things happen in a short amount of time around here!
Emma and I arrived back from Maine on a Tuesday afternoon. It was a flurry of activity as we prepared to leave for a week in Florida. My friend, Laura and I left at 4:10am on Saturday morning with 8 kids in tow to leave for Florida taking the kids to camp at Pensacola Christian College. We made good time down to Florida on Saturday, and arrived at the condo where we were staying for two nights around 3:30pm. Everyone was happy to arrive and spend time in the pool and at the beach for a few hours. We certainly were all happy to go to bed on Saturday night!
On Sunday morning (6/ 25) we visited a church that the Everett’s had been a part of fifteen years ago when they had lived in the Destin area. The church was very friendly (of course, it’s hard to miss two moms coming in with six teens and two elementary students!). The preaching was solid, the people friendly, and it was a church that I would re-visit if I was moving to the area. Living in a post-Covid world, so many churches are plagued with the same problems: people not returning after Covid, an aging generation of pastors and laypeople, and the struggle to find the balance between technology, Bible translations and music. But we press on in Jesus’s name to share the Good News and to live our lives for His honor and glory.
Monday afternoon found us dropping off six teens at camp where they met up with the other 9 kids that came from our church. It was a great group of teens to take to camp, and Pensacola Christian College definitely put their “best foot forward” as they represented the college and camp. The boys all had a great week and the favorites from the week were the preaching and the food! It was a little bit of a struggle having three of the brothers be in the same room, and I could do without that next year, but overall, it was a positive and great experience. All the teens said that they would like to go back next year, and Chandler and Wyatt said that they’d like to try basketball game, We are so thankful for all those that poured into them and mentored them during that week of camp.
Meanwhile, while the kids were at camp, Laura and I hung out with our children that were too young for camp- Emma and Brody. We stayed at a place about 20 minutes from the college, and it was the perfect spot for the week! I had heard about this place through our friends, the Falde family. They have a great little Airbnb that was the perfect price for us. Emma and Brody played together so nicely all week! We spent a day at the Pensacola Beach with our friends, Laura and Cara, who had also come down to drop kids off at camp. Emma and Brody spend probably seven hours outside playing in the beach and then playing in the pool! Needless to say, they slept very well at night! It was a fun time of relaxation and enjoying each other’s company, and we wouldn’t complain if it became a yearly tradition!
It was a long drive back from Florida! We left the campus about 8:15am on Friday morning, but we didn’t get home until around 11:00pm. Traffic, rain, and longer stops than usual, ate up our time. We also decided that we prefer the route down to Jacksonville, Florida and then over to Pensacola versus the route through Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia! But now we know!
Roger and Justin stayed home to work while the mamas and the kids went off to Florida, so everyone was glad to be home on Friday night. Roger told me earlier in the week that he thought the washing machine was on its last leg- something that no mama wants to hear! We arrived home to discover that the washing machine had quit working altogether. It came with the house and had been used multiple years without the water filtration system and I’m guessing that the hard water has just worn it out. But a family of seven has a hard time going without a washing machine for too long! We went to get a replacement one on Saturday, but we were told that it wouldn’t arrive until Wednesday. Nothing to do but let the laundry start piling up! Thankfully, my friend, Laura took some of it home with her and that certainly helped diminish the pile- but we are looking forward to having a washing machine!
We spent the Fourth of July floating down the Neuse River on air mattresses and rafts! It was totally red-neck, but also free! The Neuse River is not very clean, but it’s not very deep and the current doesn’t flow very quickly. It was a fun afternoon with friends, rope swings, laughter, fellowship, and only one lost flip flop! We followed up the afternoon with an all-American barbecue and fireworks. It was a very all-American day, and a reminder of how much we have to be thankful for in our land. It’s very easy to become discouraged by the wickedness swirling around us, but I still pray fervently that God will continue to work in hearts and lives and bring revival to our land. We are a blessed people.
We hosted a missionary family for supper on Friday night, and that was a good blessing as well. It’s always great to hear missionary speakers in church, but it’s so much more personable to have people in our home. We had a great time of fellowship as we talked with the missionaries to Togo,Africa. Our older boys both said how they think that they’d like to go on a missions trip to Togo sometime soon. It’s expensive to fly across the world, but it’s definitely something that we’d like to see them do also. I made lasagna for supper last night as it’s one of our kids favorites. I’ve been making lasagna for 20 years now, and rarely use any kind of recipe and it turns out fine. On Thursday morning, I had Wyatt brown the meat for the lasagna while I mixed up the egg, cheese, and cottage cheese mixture. We started layering the two pans we were making, and I was feeling very accomplished about getting the lasagna made a day ahead of time. We finished the lasagna, wrapped it up, and put it in the fridge. I turned around and looked at the stove and there sat the three pounds of browned meat! Yikes! I had forgotten to put in the meat! I texted Roger to tell him that I was going on a run as I clearly needed to clear my mind! I ended up making one additional pan with the meat and saving the rest of the meat to use for tacos on Saturday. Anyways, the lasagna was still delicious!
On Saturday, we had the Hardison family over for fellowship and tacos! The Everett kids were here as it’s Justin and Laura’s anniversary weekend. Since five of the kids are on the cross-country team, we had them run before supper. There were minimal complaints although it was very, very hot! Thankfully, they were able to run and then jump in the pool to cool off. It’s been hot and humid here- welcome to summer in North Carolina.
My friend, Laura, and I are coaching cheerleading this fall/winter, so we’ve been preparing for our cheer camp which starts next Monday! We’ve typed a lot of notes, talked through a lot of different ideas, rehashed some more ideas, and are still a work in progress! Cheerleading is out of my wheelhouse, but I’m fairly good at communication, coming up with games, typing out schedules, and coordinating things. Laura will take on the teaching of routines, stunts, etc. Together we are hoping and praying that we will encourage these girls and point them closer to Jesus. We are looking forward to the challenge, but we surely would appreciate your prayers!
My sister, Jen, has been facing all sorts of challenges in trying to move across the country to North Carolina. Please pray that God will give her peace and that He will make the way clear. We are looking forward to having her in the area.
The summer days are flying by- way too quickly for my liking! We are trying to soak up memories and moments as we see our children growing up so fast. Garett will be starting his job tomorrow. He will be working with a seamless gutter company right near our house. God orchestrated this job to be 1.5 miles from our house, and the two guys that run the business are both Christians. Pray that God will help Garett to understand the job, be a hard worker and have a good testimony. Chandler would still like some summer employment, so he would appreciate your prayers that God will provide some work.
Garett took his IEP testing last Wednesday and Travis will take the testing tomorrow. The testing is long and it’s tiring, but we are praying for an accurate representation of any learning challenges that might be present. It’s a long and tiring process, but we do feel like it’s important.
Many things we are praying for this summer- school, employment, experiences, and so much more! But God is so faithful to lead us step by step. We continue to trust that He will direct our steps.
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