Welcome to Friday
The heavens declare the glory of God & the firmament shows his handiwork - Psalm 19:1
Welcome to Friday! Welcome to a new day created, blessed, and made ready for you by the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth. How are you doing today? How are things going for you and your family? What kind of week are you having, and did you have so far? I hope your week was great, and I hope that you were able to achieve your goals for the week. I am praying that you are feeling well and that you are doing well.
I am so thankful for you and your love for me and my family. I am grateful for all that you do and have done for us and for your continued kind thoughts and prayers. Every prayer has been a blessing that continues to help us all grow and mature in Christ.
This has been a very good week. We have had some interesting moments, some really good moments, some really great moments, and some moments of relief a long time in the making. For example, a relief moment came this week on Thursday when my team completed a software release. On Thursday we completed the first major software release in the last six months, and it is one of the largest in past two years. The team did an outstanding job of overcoming some technical issues, frustrations, and self inflicted wounds to accomplish the release two weeks ahead of schedule. I'm so glad this release is finally done. Now I am praying that we covered every test case, dotted every i"", and crossed every "t" so that the new sales will reflect positively on our hard work.
An example of a good moment was starting a new book study at home on grace. Trish started the whole crew on a new book study using a book by Max Lucado. We finished a previous book study, on changing our words, some time ago. It was a good thing to start another study, and hopefully it will be one to keep the growth of our family moving positively forward.
A set of challenging moments took place during this week as well. At lunch on Friday and Monday my team was soundly and embarrassingly beaten at basketball. Monday was the fifth loss in a row. The only bright side of Monday's beat down was not losing my temper like I did on Friday. At work on Tuesday I had to help a couple of co-workers handle some tough criticism. In the end it was cathartic for the team to hear some unspoken expectations and frustrations vetted in the open.
A lot of special moments and blessings took place in this week. Some of the great things that happened include:
- Date night at the SC State Fair
- Eating an elephant ear and turkey leg
- Enjoying the sights and sounds of the fair with Trish
- Exploring the exhibits, especially the paintings and sand sculpture without little people complaining that it was boring
- Getting to chat (and hear stories) with my brother Vincent on the job site in Columbia
- Cleaning up at church
- Cleaning up at home, especially getting a good start on clearing my accumulation of clutter in the office
- Sunday rest and naps and another date with Trish
- Laughing with Paige, Sydney and Emma at Walmart.
- Paige couldn't push Emma in the stroller without nearly running into something or someone
- Dinner together as a family on Wednesday night
- Completing the current software release at work
- Progress in resolving an issue with the high school
- Bible study with my friend Yuhui; we finally got our schedules synced after nearly a month
We had a lot going on at home, at work and at church this week. I spent a lot of time on Saturday getting to know one some of the older youth while picking vines out of the fencing, and cleaning the church yard. The work was time consuming and a bit tedious. However, getting to hear the stories from some of the kids, even my own, was worth the four hours and then some. Especially hearing how other kids try to manipulate, and successfully manipulate, their parents was eye opening and comforting to a degree. Scary, but somehow a comfort to know that every parent has similar battles. Sunday service was very nice, and even the critique of "Dad, you were too long," was received well. Or better than normal.
The weekend included more joys as we all laughed before church as the 2:30 am duo (Ava and Emma) finally crashed before and after church. For some unknown reason they woke up at 2:30 am and decided to stay up, and then try to wake up the whole house. Finally, as we were getting ready for church they began to crash. One by one they went down. We also enjoyed listening, as always, to the funny stories that my brother Vincent shares from his perspective in masonry, entrepreneurship, and construction. It was also fun to hear the girls shout out with excitement, "Hey, there is Uncle Vincent," as we passed by the building where he was working on Gervais Street. We all looked up at the familiar thermal wearing man on the scaffolds and smiled.
The girls were out of school on Monday and enjoyed a trip to the movies with Trish. They all seemed to really enjoy the movie, the popcorn, and of course having a day out of school. Later that same night I got a chuckle as Emma slid up in the couch beside me and started watching Monday Night Football. She pointed at the screen and looked at me as if she were trying to understand the game. It was only a bit later that I realized she was trying to hide from bedtime like her sister Ava. Ava on the other hand ran out of the room to hide from Trish. I guess Emma figured Trish wouldn't make her leave if she was sitting by my side.
All in all the week for everyone was pretty good. It wasn't too busy and the girls seemed to really thrive with the extra day off. I hope you have a great weekend. I hope that you enjoy every moment of today and have a splendid weekend filled with memorable moments, love, and laughter. Take care and....
Welcome to Friday
May God bless you to experience a fullness and depth of love.
May God give you strength, greater hope, and an unshakable love.
May the hope of early Sunday, the promises of eternal life,
and the peace of Christ richly bless you today and always
With love (& in triumph),
Cassius
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