Michaleh is a senior this year! Wow, it’s hard to believe that time goes by so quickly. She is trying to figure out what to do with herself next year – weighing the debate of college vs trade school vs winging it. She’s working hard at her new job (and passing on the perk of discounted groceries to her very poor parents) and trying to enjoy her senior year.
Joshua has enrolled in a new school in another town that’s 45 miles away. It’s a drive and a hefty payment which not only requires financial sacrifice on our part, but a lot of time commitment and faith. He attends a university model private Christian school which engages the parents in co-teaching. Basically, he goes to class on Tuesdays and Thursdays from early morning to late afternoon and then I co-teach in a homeschool setting at our house the other three days a week. We are into week 2 of this system, and so far, no one has died. Or been threatened. So I think we are okay.
But we love the school that he is at – just yesterday, I used the Bible to teach Social Studies! How cool is that? And he loves it as well – he puts in prayer requests during class, really likes his teachers and is full of information the whole 45 minute drive home (maybe the starbux frappucino helps a little).
We have also been preparing for the oldest to get married in October. A small, family affair hosted by family, catered by family, cleaned up by family! But it will be perfect for what she desires and that is what matters. Weddings can be insanely stressful and we’ve encouraged her more then once to elope – which she has said NO to. But I do understand that little girl fantasy of wedding and so off we will go in October – hopefully no Bridezilla there.
Chris and I have begun marathon training and we have reached the double digits – which means that usually one of is sore – somewhere, in some way. Juggling kids schedules and training schedules can cause an OCD type personality to actually overload at some point! It’s been a lot of hard work, and we are excited to reach the finish line in November. It will be our last marathon as we really want to play more – Tough Mudder and Warrior Dash comes to mind!
And in between school, work, training for marathons and weddings, Chris and I remain faithful that we follow what God desires of us – chasing Him every breath we take and sometimes making a mess of it all. I am always excited to see what God is doing in the lives of our campers and youth that He blesses us with throughout the years, and I’m even more excited about the upcoming retreat season – watching Him grow and develop new leaders at each one is always a wonderful gift.
We are truly blessed – even during these hard times. We are blessed because we are loved much by God and friends. After all, who wouldn’t love us… we are Freakishly Amazing!
