March has disappeared into the past, and April is moving forward at “full steam” ahead! I feel like I can barely keep up with all the school events, sporting events, church events, family events, and the busyness of spring. I read a quote recently that said “we are not promised tomorrow, and we are not even promised ‘later’, so live every moment with intentionality.” Whew! That is true, and trying to be intentional is a big job in these moments.
March flew by with Roger’s birthday soccer games and practices, preparation for our fine arts competition, Chandler’s senior trip, a quick visit to Raleigh to catch up with some friends, and everything else that fills up the regular days of our lives. Earlier in the month of March, we were able to meet up with some dear friends of ours from Wisconsin. Roger and I have been friends with Jared and Beka for a very long time, and although we hardly see each other any more, it’s such an easy friendship to jump back into. We jumped back into our friendship, but our older teens and their older teens took a bit of time to warm up to each other and visit together…Emma doesn’t know any strangers though, so she was happy to talk to their teen age daughters! It was a very quick evening in the Raleigh/Durham area, but I am thankful for the moments to catch up on a few things and to know how to pray more specifically for them. It was a fun, albeit cold, evening.
I am very, very thankful to have the first fine arts competition behind us. We took 41 entries in Jr. high and Sr. High to the state competition. The students competed in various art categories, and there was a total of about 483 entries! We had 2 senior high students place first in their categories, so they will be allowed to enter their art pieces in at the national competition in April. This was very exciting to me, as going to Nationals is a big deal! We had a few entries that didn’t place well, and it’s hard to know sometimes what the judges are looking for in this type of competition. However, we are moving on and preparing for the next fine arts competition which is just 2 days after we get back from spring break! And my elementary students are preparing for their competition which is the following week, so April is going to fly by…and I’m going to be very tired! I am thankful for my aide and friend, Kaycee, who helps fill out forms, organize art work, file papers for me, and clean up a million messes a day! I will also be thankful to have these big events behind us, but I am thankful for the opportunities for our students to use their talents and skills. I often tell my students “Progress over perfection”. Are we progressing in our skills and implementing what we have learned? The Christian life is similar to that also. Perfection won’t come until I see Jesus face to face, but am I progressing in my walk with Him? Am I more like Jesus today than I was yesterday?
March 23-27 - I took Chandler and another boy from school on their senior trip. Jessie and Chandler went to visit the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the Sight and Sound production of “Joshua”, and snowboarding in Maine for two days. It was a very full week with lots of driving! We left early Monday morning to head to Philadelphia, and we arrived about 1:00pm. Parking is always interesting in big cities, but we managed to find a place to park. We went to the visitors center (an impressive building), and I quickly realized that there was a lot to see and way too little of time. I spoke to a nice lady at the information desk and she recommended that we see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. She was able to get us tickets for Independence Hall for the next tour, so we quickly headed that way. The tour was informative and well done, but I think what struck me most was standing in the same room that our Founding Fathers had stood in almost 250 years ago. To see where George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and others had sat and penned the “Declaration of Independence” was a sobering and reflective experience. They were not writing for the needs of the country at that moment, they were also writing for the future United States of America. I’m glad that we were able to get in to see Independence Hall.
Next stop was the “Liberty Bell”, which is more than a bell as they have a whole museum dedicated to the the bell. The boys enjoyed the experience, but by then it was 3:00pm, and we were all hungry for lunch. Can you go to Philadelphia without eating a Philly Cheesesteak?! You can, but we went and found a place to try cheesesteak and cannolis. It was a little tucked away place, but it was good. We all tried the cannoli, but I decided that Philly can have that. I didn’t love the taste of cream without a lot of flavor wrapped in a crunchy cookie. I can skip that.
We traveled to Amish country outside of Lancaster, where I had lodging for the night. I had been struggling to find accommodations since both the boys are just 17 and 18, However, there is this adorable place that has converted railroad cars into hotel rooms in Pennsylvania. The place was so cute with a petting zoo, rows of railroad cars, and an old farmhouse that had been converted into lodging. We stayed in the farmhouse as we could all have our own rooms, and it was pretty cheap lodging. It wasn’t fancy, but it was clean and the place was quite cute. The boys went to Planet Fitness in the evening, and to Play it Again Sports where Chandler found a putter for Travis. It was a full day of travel and memories, so we were all happy to go to bed.
On Tuesday morning, we checked out of the hotel and hunted down a bakery and coffee shop. We found a cute little market that also had a coffee shop. Yum! The doughnuts and bakery items were made right there in house, and it was a great stop before heading to “Sight and Sound- Joshua”. If you’ve never been to Sight and Sound, it was a 10/10 rating for me. A job well done and very impressive! It’s not a cheap experience, but they really did a great job of making the story of Joshua come alive. Jessie and Chandler also enjoyed the show, and I would love to take Emma and the other boys some day. We got out of the show at 1:30pm, and we were probably about the 4th people to get out the door as we hustled to get out of there. The gps said it was a 9.5 hour trip to Hannah and Josh’s house in Maine, but traffic was terrible! Trying to get out of New York City and Connecticut felt like forever! We traveled 100 miles in 3 hours, and the time on the GPS just kept rising. I wanted to make it to Hannah’s house as I knew that would save on the cost of the trip (since I wasn’t getting paid for these days away, every penny needed to be counted!). We finally made it to Hannah and Josh’s house at 12:27am on Wednesday morning- Praise the Lord!
Wednesday morning rolled around, and the boys slowly crawled out of bed, but excited for snowboarding and skiing. Chandler had made plans to borrow Josh’s old snowboard, but I had arranged for Jessie to rent skis at the mountain. The skiing weather was beautiful, and the conditions for skiing were perfect! The boys headed off to the mountain, and I spent the morning hanging out with Hannah and her kiddos, which I loved! Chandler called me about two hours later to say that they were at the ski mountain, but had a slight problem. I was like “ok…”. He told me that Jessie couldn’t rent the ski equipment because they didn’t have any one over 21 to sign for it. I told Chandler that I had signed the waiver online, and the additional rental information, but apparently they needed an adult to sign. Chandler and Jessie are pretty independent and good problems solvers, so I told Chandler to see what they could figure out. Well, they figured it out. Jessie ended up using Hannah’s old snowboard and boots (which were a little small), but they managed. Chandler asked the guy for a refund on the rental equipment, and the guys told him that they usually give out a voucher for that type of thing. I told Chandler that a voucher wouldn’t be very helpful since it expires in a year, and I know we won’t be back to ski in the next year. Chandler managed to get the voucher in email format, and the guy told Chandler that maybe they could get the money back if we would call. OH yes! Anyways, the boys had a great time snowboarding, and they came back to Hannah’s very tired and a bit sore.
Thursday’s agenda was another day of snowboarding for the boys, and I was able to head down the coast to see some of my friends from Maine. It was the quickest morning of the year as I sat at Dunkin and sipped coffee with my friend, Allison! We talked about everything under the sun, and although I haven’t actually talked to her in over a year, we didn’t miss a beat. We talked about the challenges of raising adult children, schooling concerns, church challenges, laughter and memories. Allison also has a young adult child, and it was good to know that I’m not alone in our concerns and challenges with our own young adult and soon to be two of them. After coffee, I headed over to the school that we were involved in for the six years we were in Maine. It was good to speak briefly with teacher and co-workers from my time there. Many of my kindergarten students recognized me, and it was fun to share a quick hug with them and speak with them…that class is now in 4th grade!! How time flies! I shared a quick moment with one of my mentor teachers, Becki, and then headed back to Hannah’s house with a full heart and memories to hold dear until the next time I see these friends. God is good.
Friday morning came early-4:30am early! It’s about 16 hours from Maine to NC, and that’s a long day of travel! Roger had recommended to me that we get on the road early to try to get through NYC before rush hour. We were in the car and on the road by 4:33am. What a day! I am thankful for caffeine, Chandler driving, the ez pass, and express roads! It was a long drive back, but we were pulling into our own driveway by 11:00pm. God is so good for His protection and mercy.
It was a good week, albeit a bit crazy. Chandler and Jessie made some memories that will hopefully last for their lifetime. Taking this trip was not my first choice, but we felt it was a necessary trip for these boys. I asked the boys about their favorite parts of the trip, and Chandler said that, “Mom, I really enjoyed all of it. I’m glad we were able to go, but really nothing can take the place of the missed time with our own classmates.” And I totally get that as that’s what I would also think as an 18 year old. I wish the school had chosen a trip that would have allowed us to have a clear conscience in sending our child, but since that wasn’t the case, we chose differently for them. Again, I have no issues with those that choose to go to Disney as a family, and I’ll like your memories on facebook and ask about your trip, etc. However, for Roger and I, we have chosen to avoid Disney trips as they have become a voice for the LGBTQ movement in the last years, and that’s not something that we want to support, and also the cost is very high for something that is strictly entertainment driven. I like entertainment and fun, but we also wanted intentionality for Chandler’s senior trip. I read and hear statistics often about the fact that 7 out of 10 Christian young people will walk away from the Lord. In a family with five children, we absolutely have to fight against that statistic. I am praying, pleading, and working to raise five kids that love Jesus. I don’t expect them to do it exactly like I do it, but I do want to them to live full, emboldened lives for Jesus! Do we support other controversial things? Oh, I am sure, in light of Romans 14, we also do things that people think as controversial, but we are making choices as a family. Are we doing it perfectly? Never! But we take hope in the fact that we serve the GREAT I AM. We are thankful that Chandler had Jessie to spend the week with, and that God gave him a friend for this trip.
This week we are on Spring Break, and I am so thankful for that! We’ve spent five days at Topsail Beach, and Hannah, Josh and their kids have come for a few days also. It’s been some fun, full days of memories and laughter, but we are oh so thankful for these moments. The cousins have spend oodles of time together at the beach, golfing, fishing, playing outside, and eating lots and lots of food!
I finally finished up Chandler’s graduation announcements, and realized that we are about six weeks out from his graduation! Yikes! Chandler recently told us that he really, really doesn’t know what he wants to do when he is done with high school. I think he is overwhelmed with the decision making, and although he’s been accepted at Liberty, the cost is overwhelming to him in light of a four year college degree. Chandler recently visited the Armed Forces Recruitment office, so we are praying about God’s clear direction on his life. There are a lot of decisions that will be made in the next few months, and we need Jesus to help us. If you think about it, Garett could use some prayers…and some friends and fellowship. He is realizing that life outside of high school can be a lonely place to be, and we’d like to see him develop some friendships with other young people. He is struggling with a lot of decisions as well, and sometimes it’s hard to know how to parent adult children. We need a lot of Jesus and a lot less of us!
I am so thankful for the Resurrection of Jesus! I am thankful that Jesus defeated death, and that He reigns! We went to a little Good Friday service at a small local church on Friday evening. It was a little like stepping back in time, but it was a good reminder. It was kinda a drama with a lot of singing in it. People in the congregation had stepped up to fill the roles of the twelve disciples, the Sanhedrin, etc. As they were taking their places for the drama, Emma leans over and whispers to me, “Mom, why are the Wisemen in the Easter story?” I looked over to where she was looking and realized that “Pilate”, “Herod” and the “Sanhedrin” were probably reusing the costumes from the Wise men in the Christmas story. I caught her up to speed, and she nodded, but it was a funny moment.
Roger has spent the last several days working, so we missed him on Easter Sunday. We had a very untraditional Easter dinner, but no one seemed to mind as long as there was food to eat. I greatly enjoyed the church service on Sunday and the music at the church we attended near the beach. It’s always good to be reminded of the sacrifices Jesus made for me. I pray that I will never lose sight of what He has done for me…and you. Salvation isn’t a gift just for me or for a special group of people. Jesus died for all mankind, and He loves you with an unconditional love. His mercy is more that we can imagine and His forgiveness is offered to each of us. I pray that you will understand and accept His precious gift of salvation.
To all of you on spring break- I hope you enjoy every moment!
