Welcome to Friday - 7/8/16

You must forgive one another, just as the LORD has forgiven you.  Colossians 3:13

Welcome to Friday

What's up.  Okay, that is probably too informal.  How is it going?  How are you doing?  How are things going with you and with your family and friends?  I just wanted to touch base with you and see how you are doing.  I also wanted to let you know that you are in my thoughts and prayers.  I know that holidays and the post holiday times can be a challenge for so many reasons. 

I am praying that you know how deeply you are loved by the Most High God.
I am praying that He will grant you peace, refreshment, and renewal.
I am praying that in the chaos, we will find the calm and joy of His presence.
May the Lord God, our Almighty and Sovereign King bless and favor us tremendously.

How was your 4th of July weekend?  What kind of celebrations did you attend or host?  Did you grill out?  If so, what did you cook?  If you didn't grill out on your own, did you go to somewhere and enjoy some good food, good fun, and good fellowship?  How about the fireworks, did you get a chance to see any fireworks?  Did you purchase and host your own fireworks display? 

We are doing well.  We had a great week and as always so much to be thankful.  My week started off with this question: "When was the last time you laughed deeply?"  As I was thinking back to the last time I had a bust your gut kind of moment, Emma decided to give us a new moment.  Over the weekend, Trish and I took the girls out to celebrate their grades and 4th nine weeks accomplishments at school.  We had a lot to be thankful for and to celebrate this school year:

• Cassarra's graduation
• Gabbi's good grades
• Gabbi's grade improvement
• Sydney and Paige's all A's
• Cassarra's grades
• Ava's first year of school
• Emma's first year being the lone homebody
• Our first high school graduate
• Cassarra making her school choice official
• Sydney being invited to be in an advanced band group
  

Our celebration took us to Old Chicago pizza and the belly laugh didn't take long to come.  We sat down and got our drinks (waters, lemonades, and sodas).  After a few moments we ordered from the menu a couple of appetizers and a couple of pizzas to share.  All of the older kids knew that it would be a while before our food arrived, so we all began chatting and just laughing and catching up.  Emma, however, was noticing plates passing her table.  And she really noticed when the table beside us got their pizza.  As we were talking Emma piped up and said she wanted a slice of pizza.  When we tried to tell her it wasn't ready, she piped up even more and asked if she could have a slice of the other table's pizza.  She looked at their pizza, pointed, and asked for some of "that one."  We had to tell her no, and she responded with big, sad eyes.  Thankfully the appetizers came before long.  We manage to finish the dinner out with a lot of fun, laughter, and some good pizza.  Well, mostly good pizza.  Cassarra and I decided to be creative on one of the selections and in my opinion it back fired.

The rest of our week was really great.  Trish and I had a nice date night at Five Guys.  We had time with the girls at the pool.  Ava was able to get in the water, but Emma, Sydney and I just hung out on the edge.  I wasn't feeling the best and I didn't feel like I had the energy to wrestle with Emma in the pool.  For the 4th of July we relaxed and had a lot of fun.  I started the grill around 11 and I didn't stop grilling until nearly 4.  We cooked steak, hotdogs (lots of hotdogs), Red Hots, sausage, gator sausage and hamburgers.  The gator sausage wasn't as good as I remember it being last time, so I've decided this is the last time for it.  The hamburgers were good, so good I didn't even get one before the were gone.  We also had a blast playing Monopoly.  My reign nearly came to an end as Cassarra managed to make a sweet deal with her sisters to gain control of 1/4th of the board.  The game was really fun and I think Sydney, Paige and Ava enjoyed playing even though they didn't win.  We wrapped up our 4th of July with a visit from my niece and her friend, Trish's cheesecake, and fireworks.  Now, Trish's cheesecake was delicious.  I might rename her cheesecake to the selfishness identifier.  If you happen to get the first slice, you are a lot less likely to want to share.  I got the second to last slice and just barely controlled the urge to finish off the rest.  Our neighbors treated us to a really big show.  They had bottle rockets (bad idea), cannons, Roman candles, and several other beautiful displays.  Our fireworks were fun, but no where near the magnitude of the collective.  It was fun though to watch the kids play with the sparklers, and safely light their own displays.  We all focused on staying safe, and we only had one incident.  This year we bought some small fireworks called "Ground flowers".  We had six or eight of these.  I think eight.  Seven of them went off without a hitch.  But we had one ground flower that seemed like it was chasing Paige.  It was lit well away from her and all the other ground flowers stayed in a 3 ft circumference.  But this one seemed to jump the 3 ft marker by a foot or two, and it followed Paige's every zig and zag until it finally petered out.   Paige was running... boy was she running.  When it finally went out we cleaned up our mess and then watched the last remaining neighboring displays.

We also spent two days at Clemson University with Cassarra's orientation.  That last day before "college" is getting closer and closer.  In many ways orientation was really good and a little tough. They presented a lot of information to both parents and students.  We got to see Cassarra making some good decisions and showing us that she will be okay; provided she continues what she knows, keeps perspective and of course walks with Christ.  We also got to hear a lot about the school and things that parents can do to make the first year successful.  The sessions lasted quite a long time, but in the end it was worth it.  I know Trish had lots of notes from all of the sessions.  I had some good notes as well, but not the same quantity.  That is the good part.  The tough part was just the reality that we will have a college student, and we can't be there every night when she comes home.  And we have to let her learn and make her own mistakes.  It was also tough hearing about the cost... All in all it was a good experience.

Well, I hope that you are doing well.  I hope that you are in the midst of another great week and that you are feeling strong, refreshed, and blessed.  I am praying that you will be kept safe and given a weekend that will be fun, thrilling and enjoyable.  As always,

Welcome to Friday!

I am thankful for:

• Trish
• Date nights
• The girls
• safe travel to and from Clemson
  
• Good grades and learning
  
• good pizza
• laughter
• my parents and siblings
• my mother-in-law watching the girls
• orientation
• time off from work
• reliable and comfortable transportation
• a clean and safe hotel
• comfortable shoes for walking at orientation
• Coffee, especially the free kind
  
• Fireworks and the fireworks displays
• Safely lighting and using fireworks
• Good food on the 4th
• visits from Brittany and her friend
• Bible study time
  
• Time to relax on the back porch
• Cool breezes before the rain
• Cool breezes after the rain
• The chorus of birds in the early morning
• The squirrels not being able to eat all the bird seed

--- Cassius Rhue 

"Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.'" (Job 28:28)

Love is irresistible, irrefutable, undeniable. Nothing rises to it. The dark side of our character has no weapon against it. It's our trump card. - Jim Daly