Are you ready for some FOOTBALL??

Today, the first Monday in August, for some means that school is right around the corner. In our house, it means THE START OF FOOTBALL PRACTICE!

So this morning, before 7 am, my husband was headed out to the muddy field to get ready for his players. Basically, the next week is about conditioning the summer cobwebs out of his players.....run, run, run, run, and more run. Sounds great, huh?

This is my husband's first year back as head coach after winning a state championship 3 years ago at his previous school, so he is excited and anxious to be back in the saddle again.

There is nothing quite like high school football....the lights, the crisp air, the band, the community crowd, the after-game get-togethers......we have really enjoyed being part of this as a family.

Go BULLDOGS!

Friday Night at the BallPark.

Good Friends.
HotDogs and Dippin' Dots and Elephant Ears and BLUE COTTON CANDY.
Prizes won (Canned Fruit Cocktail....Yummy.)
Dancing the Chicken Dance and YMCA.
A VERY LONG 8th Inning.
Lots of laughs.
Lots of kids.....ready to go home by the 5th inning.
A great night at the minor league ball park.
And a Pink Birthday IPOD loaded with all her favorite songs makes for a very happy 6-year-old.

The Upside of Tragedy.

GOD WORKS IN THE MIDST OF TRAGEDY.

I have become more and more convinced of this over the past two weeks. Today, our little town of Byron Center is in the newspaper again. This time, one of our high school teachers has been accused of sexually inappropriate actions involving a high school student. This on the heels of the murder-suicide involving two of our teachers and our personal friends; a car accident involving four high school students, two of whom were killed; a fire at an historic meat market in town; another car accident yesterday which apparently claimed another life. We are a town that is broken and trying to pull together to start the healing. Asking questions. Searching, sometimes in despair, for answers. What happens to cause a wonderful, thriving, seemingly happy young man who was so caring and wonderful with children and adults alike to murder his girlfriend and then commit suicide? How does a teenage boy involved in a car accident that resulted in the death of his two friends--though in no way through his own fault--go into a new school year carrying the guilt and questions? How does a father--who is also a principal--face a school full of kids when his own precious teenage daughter is dead and will never set foot in a school or her home again?

Tragedy and loss is part of the human experience. I say that with fear and a bit of trepidation, because I know that I have not experienced much death and loss in my life compared to some. And I know that time will inevitably change that.

Loss and death are painful. But in the last few weeks, another aspect of tragedy has shown itself real in our family and community. Loss has this striking way of drawing us close, shifting perspective back where it needs to be. A community pulls together to get the meat market back in business only a day after the fire. Parents find healing in the concern and caring shown by so many. A father reconsiders his need to bring his children to church on Sunday, even though his wife works weekends and it takes lots of extra effort. Many give their lives to Christ, the only True Comfort. Many who made previous life commitments to Christ renew that commitment to be salt and light to the lost.

God uses tragedy to change us. To shape us. To soften our hearts, break our wills, and lead us closer to Him. He uses tragedy for His glory, even when it seems so impossible. The possibility of someone I love dying scares me to my core. When I even dare let my mind wander to the question of what it must be like to lose your own husband or parent or, God forbid, one of my own children......I cannot even fathom. But God gives us a Hope and Promises that He will walk with us and He works together every circumstance for our good and His glory.

When I get to heaven, I am looking forward to seeing God's plan for how this string of events and losses here are part of His bigger plan. For now, we are pulling together and looking to Him for the Hope and Strength and Love to move ahead and reach others for Him.

Six.

It was all about PINK and PURPLE and unicorns and princesses and all things GIRL today. Two weeks ago, we were all about pirates and treasure hunting and all things little boy, but today was girls' day as we celebrated Kennedy's sixth birthday. What a fun day we had...though I am truly exhausted and ready for a break from birthdays. Highlights of the day included:

Breakfast in bed for Kennedy, at her request. For about the past year, Kennedy has been saying how fun it would be to have breakfast served in bed to her, so today was her day, complete with bacon and eggs, fresh-baked biscuits, and fresh fruit. Oh, and sparkly pink flowers in a vase that Aunt Kendra gave her pink flowers in on the day she was born.
Eight six-year-old girls for a unicorn party, complete with cake, making jewelry, a pinata, and viewing of "The Last Unicorn." So fun and energizing to be around little girls at this age. And Hayden loved being doted on by all these cuties.

So many fun and creative gifts, including two WEBKINZ. I had never heard of these, which are basically the technological version of stuffed animals. You can go on-line and make them a furnished house, clothe them, take them to the vet....very fun.

Summer reading club celebration at the library--both of my kids exceeded their reading goals, so they received cool prize bags. Great job, kids....love that you are loving reading.

Dinner at Panera Bread, one of our favorites. We all picked French Onion soup in a bread bowl....so savory and good, even on a 95-degree day.

All capped off with ice cream at ColdStone Creamery......chocolate with Oreos for the birthday girl, blue cottton candy with sprinkle candies for Hayden, and peanut butter cup for me. A sweet ending to a very sweet sixth birthday. Love you, 6-year-0ld birthday girl, and am so thankful that you are in my life.

Six Years Ago Tonight.....

.....precisely at this moment, I was in active and painful labor with my first child. At 12:09 am on August 2nd, 2001, I gave birth to our first child, Kennedy Nicole. And our world changed forever. And now, though I can hardly believe it, she will be turning six years old in just a few short minutes after midnight. Wow, how time has a way of slipping by. In a way, it seems that we have known Kennedy forever, because it is hard to remember what life was like before God blessed us with her; yet in another way, time has passed in a blink.

This is the "rated G" version of the scene at our house tonight, on the eve of Kennedy's sixth birthday:

I was in the house and the kids were supposedly out jumping on the tramp while I prepared dinner. Then, I just happened to glance out the window and saw streaks of VERY WHITE SKIN as my two precious kiddos streaked through the backyard BUCK NAKED. They had the hose going and were just have a fine time frolicking in the water. Giggling. Smiling. Just plain enjoying life.

My first thought: Oh my word! What will the neighbors think?

But, then I just had to chuckle and smile. Oh, the innocence that they have. To think nothing of shedding their clothes to feel the cool water on their bare skin on a near-100-degree day.

Now, there is certainly a time for modesty even when you are 4 and 6, so after letting them run for a few more minutes, I called them in and helped them get their swimsuits on.

Sweet Girl, you are turning 6 tomorrow, and I hope that you retain so much of this innocence and wonder and abandon that you showed me today. May you always be free from worry about others' expectations or what the world says you need to be or what you need to do; may you always keep your eyes firmly on Christ to define who you are and what you need to become. I love you, thank the Lord for each and every day He allows us to have with you as our precious girl, and hope you have a fun and magical birthday........let's just stay dressed when the party guests get here, OK?

Old Door.

I've been working with our vacation photos from Mackinac Island a little bit this morning, and I came across this photo that I forgot I had snapped at one of the old fort buildings at Fort Michilimackinac. I love the details of the old door, as well as the history that it holds. This is actually the door on the old school house, where the children of soldiers as well as soldiers themselves would have been educated. What learning and sharing and growing went on behind this old door. I like the version where I cropped in....you can't see Kennedy's face, but her loving and protective arm around her little brother, and the look on his face, says it all to me.

How do you know that it's football season?

When this appears in the basket on your table where fresh-picked veggies once resided!

I've been the wife of a football coach long enough to know that when ears of corn are replaced by sweaty helmet ear pads, football season is right around the corner. This is our last week of summer before football season officially begins, and my house has been overtaken by football pads, playbooks, boxes of camp tee-shirts, and other random football equipment. Seriously, we all love high school football around here and are very excited for another season...especially because my husband is going to be back on the field as a head coach after taking two seasons off.

Other than that, just a little bit of work and cleaning and swimming and playing around here today on a Monday....the last Monday in July, can you believe it? We are gearing up for my daughter's sixth birthday on Thursday, so we are moving from pirates to unicorn/fantasy themes. Then, we can relax from the birthday festivities until my husband's in September. Have a sweet and simply Monday.