Project 365, Week 39

When our pastor starting teaching a series on the Sermon on the Mount, I decided to study it more in depth during my Bible time throughout the week. Its been a transforming, challenging study. I love this modernized version of "The Beatitudes" (part of Jesus' sermon) by John Mark Comer.

September 21

We invited Amanda's youth group tribe over and also extended it to Maddy's tribe (the incoming 7th graders) so the girls could get to know one another better. I was expecting 6-8 girls, we ended up with 20! We ate dinner and they played games, soccer, manhunt, made s'mores. It was so beautiful to watch them play and be kids and enjoy each other (and I barely saw a cell phone come out!). Community is a gift!

September 22

We had a family over from church and the adults sat around the table for several hours and the kids got along great.

September 23

Parking lot meet up on a beautiful afternoon. Such a great group of ladies! It also occurred to me that I was the oldest mom there! My heart went out to the couple moms who were there with toddlers, just starting out with houses and careers and "finding themselves". Those were good days and also I wouldn't want to go back. 40s is the place to be!

September 24

Sometimes, life is hard. And a girls night out at Moe's while the guys are fishing can't fix everything, but its a nice break. So blessed to get to hang with these girls!

September 25

Its getting so pretty around here!

School. :)

Our last bible quiz night outside. This group has been so resilient! We started the group from scratch in March, unknowingly. Without missing a week, we switched to FaceTime and then later Zoom when the world shut down. And then when we got the green light in May (ish), we met on the lawn on church grounds. These kids have diligently studied blocks of scripture every week, with no plans to have a competition any time soon. Its a bright spot in my week to get time with these kids and the co-leader.

 

An evening on the porch with special ladies. Grateful.

September 26

Back in March, Amanda got certified to be a soccer referee, which is a great way for a 13 year-old to make money. The only problem...that training was months and months ago and it was completely virtual. Early in the morning I overheard these two cramming for her game. She was SO nervous and he was so patient. 

One day your child is crying because she doesn't want to go to Little Mites practice. You blink, and she's there on the field with her team, playing an actual game in proper field position. You blink again and suddenly, she's one of those big teenage kids who is the official referee for the game of the little girls where she was just playing. I was proud of her and it was also unexpectedly emotional. Time! Slow down!

 

Aiden's team was scrimmaging on the next field over and the coach asked for siblings to join. Avery's friend Sarah was with us, so she agreed to join in and Amanda joined when she was done reffing. When Sarah got tired, she switched gears and played an elaborate make-believe super hero game with the kids. 

It was fun to see all four of my family members on the field at the same time. 

We picked up this little guy for the weekend. He was very happy to see Aiden, who was the only one with me at the time. 

Since we were in the neighborhood, we stopped by the orchard to get Honey Crisp apples, aka the BEST variety. :)

And then we just spent the afternoon/evening outside on a beautiful day, having fun. The big kids think its great fun to have the little kids and the little kids think the big kids are where its at. Such a fun combination for all. 

September 27

We couldn't even deal with D in his overalls!! 

Shaun was in and out with the kids, doing soccer and such. After the baby and I dropped Sarah off it was quiet with just the two of us. He helped me plant bulbs and was actually quite interested. I say "plant bulbs" like this is just my normal fall thing. In reality, its my first time ( at least that I can ever remember) planting bulbs in the fall. I felt a little bit fancy and grown-up (but mostly I'm reserving judgement until spring comes).

As Dakota was keeping a steady commentary on what we were doing, it struck me that at that moment and other moments like the night before when he was up for an hour and I sang Jesus Loves Me 50 million times (until I switched to Twinkle Little Star and he started crying, No Twinkle, Twinkle Star!), it dawned on me...we are planting bulbs of love in his heart and life.  That's what we've tried to do with all the kids that have come through our home. And someday maybe little shoots will sprout out and beautiful blooms will appear. I love those little things God shows us when we're looking for them, even while digging in the dirt.

My sister has reminded me of this quote from Hamilton:

Legacy. What is a legacy? It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.