In the moment, the joy of watching her play, and sweet 16.

Things I am thinking about:

How sometimes I have to choose to enjoy an experience rather than document it.  Lately everywhere I turn, every experience is being documented in some way by someone.  I think I miss out on some of the pleasure of being in the moment when I am distracted by my phone or my camera taking pictures.  I purposely did not take my camera to our youth group's DNow a couple weeks ago ... mostly because I wanted to BE THERE and not just BE THE PHOTOGRAPHER.  As much as I love taking pictures, don't get me wrong, it is so much fun ... but I want to be better about being in the moment sometimes.  It is the same way with blogging.  When I am in the blogging mode, I am often thinking, "This would be good to blog about" or "I should take a picture for my blog" rather than just living in the moment.  SO I have recently just been taking a break to enjoy life without my personal expectations and pressures getting in the way. It is kind of nice, actually. :)

I was reading an article recently, and I can't remember where it was or else I would share a link.  It was about how if you have kids playing sports, on the way home from the game we sometimes get caught up in analyzing the game or how our child played ... and the author said this often contributes to so many kids quitting sports at an earlier age.  Rather than doing a play by play of the game, we should tell them how much we love watching them play. Period.  Find our joy in their joy of just playing the game. I have thought about that a lot since then.  Ava plays on a soccer team, she likes it a lot but you know what?  The team is not that great, competitively speaking.  And yes, I know we are talking about six year old girls here, so I am keepin it in perspective.  However, irregardless of how they play, she loves it.  She has so much fun playing with the other girls.  Sure, they have never won a game.  She has never scored a goal in the game.  She told me last week on the way home, "It doesn't matter that we don't win.  It is about having fun."  I want her to get more out of the experience than just winning or losing.  I want her to learn how to win or lose gracefully, I want her to love the sport and love the experience.  And truly, I do love watching her play.  I want to communicate that to her every chance I can.

photo by Dona Gentry

In other news, Becca turned sixteen this month.  We had a fun night with a bunch of her friends, going to a drive in movie theater.  I love making sweet memories, and I want to soak in every minute with her ... college is coming fast enough. : /

Scenes from Nicaragua

My Guy

My guy is having a birthday.

I am one lucky lady.

I have a man who loves me.

He loves our kids.

He loves us in both words and in actions.

He takes care of his family.

Even if it means taking on an extra job to support us.

Not that anyone would ever know if he is overworked.

He does not complain.

When he has added responsibilities,

He just does it.

In a way that the rest of us are completely unaffected.

If I said that I adored him,

It would be an understatement.

He doesn't get so busy "doing ministry" that he fails to make family a priority.

He is intentional that way.

I don't mean to say that our marriage is easy,

because it isn't.

It takes work and effort.

But you know what?

There is no one that I would rather work

side by side

with.

Happy Birthday, Babe!

{40 looks good on you.}

Baby Maverick

 

Here is my niece, Autumn.  She had this adorable baby on January 30th.

 

I love a new baby! His name is Maverick Owen and he is so very sweet.

Little feet.  Can't get enough.

Here is Maverick's new big sister, Macy.  I think she has a big dose of the same sassy that Ava has.  Must be a family trait.












Of course it's March and I am just now posting pics. So typical. ;)

Chalkboard Wall

So here is a little something I did when I was bored one day.  I had a quart of chalkboard paint left over from some projects so I painted a random wall in the kitchen.  It is fantastic.  We use it for writing random notes, verses, quotes, planning out our summer schedule, chores, sight words and more.  It is messy most of the time and I wouldn't have it any other way.

PS: I love being able to schedule this so that while I am out of the country, blog posts can still be posted. :)

Memory Game

With sight words, of course!

Mission: Nicaragua

Becca and I are going to spend a week in Nicaragua with my dad.  We leave this Friday. This is kind of a big deal, something we have been talking about for awhile.  At first we thought we would be going to India this summer, but when my dad invited us to go with him over Spring Break, and everything just kind of came together fast.

Did you know that next to Haiti, Nicaragua is the poorest country in our hemisphere?  Very few make over $200 a month.  My dad's ministry is actively involved in encouraging and resourcing these church leaders.  His ministry even started a thriving Christian school with 150+ students and Bible Training Center.

The ways that God has provided for this trip, it has pretty much blown me away.

Once again, I am shown what an awesome God we serve.  Just to give you an idea of what we will be doing .. My dad (who has been traveling to and serving the people of  Nicaragua for over 20 years) along with another couple are going to lead a conference for Nicaraguan Pastors and their wives.  Becca and I will be there to assist in any way we can. We will be involved in some of the teaching (thanks to local interpreters), but mostly we will be available for serving the women.  We may be playing with their kids, washing dishes, serving meals, cleaning ... we are pretty much going there to do whatever they need us to.  Our goal is to be available to them, period.

Becca and I have been collecting goodies to put together bags for these thirty five women.  It has been so exciting to see this part of it come together.  Lisa Moose, a friend from church, got an idea to sew drawstring backpacks for us to give each lady attending the conference.  She, along with some other terrific women from our church, got together and sewed the bags ..  this was fun to be a part of and the bags turned out great!  Friends have donated all kinds of stuff-- toothbrushes, floss, toothpaste, hair brushes, pens, mini shampoos, soaps, and more ...over 150 pounds of gifts will be traveling with us there!

If you think of it, will you pray for us this next week?  It really does make a difference. Missions trips are life changing and I am looking forward to this special time with my Dad and my Becca.  Of course, I will try to take a lot of pictures to show you when we return! :)