Mondays will probably continue to be pretty consistent. I left for work and had a good day with the kids. Then came home to an empty house and did laundry, cleaned, exercised, took a shower, ate, etc, all before then leaving at 5:30 to go babysit for group.
Chloe and Christian went to class and then to Plato's Closet and Walmart afterwards.
Mom took Ava to her first day of sewing camp and did all the grocery shopping.
Dad and Mia took Gabe to gymnastics.
Everyone else was home by 7:00 and had a mostly quiet evening.
I got home, caught up with Mom and Dad, and headed to bed as soon as I could.
Tuesday morning I worked on my class work and then took our truck to be inspected and get an oil change. The gentlemen at the shop made sure I understood all the different oil options, and how to know when to come back for another oil change, and opened my doors for me, and gave me $5.00 off "because Tuesdays are ladies' days." I guess it's a good thing Dad sent me!
Chloe and Christian went to class and Mom took Ava to sewing camp again.
I got home to exercise and shower, then got back to class work and other things.
We have been trying to find outdoor furniture on Craigslist for a couple of weeks. Several times we found great deals, but then someone else just barely got to them faster than us. Mom looked again before engagement group and found the best deal so far and it had not sold yet! It was actually even the exact same table we'd tried to get a couple of days before, but this one was $50.00 less! Mom was pretty proud of herself. *wink*
We had a medium-sized group that night and it was special as always.
Wednesday I went to work and my day with the kids was the best one so far! That was nice. *smile*
Mom and the littles left pretty early to take Gabe to his class and hung out at the library until it was time for Mia's one hour gym class. Gabe's class ended by running an obstacle course like American Ninja Warrior. He loved that.
Once all gym classes ended, they all took Ava to her sewing camp and then met friends at Chick-fil-a.
Chloe and Christian had a good day at class.
We all got home around the same time and I exercised and cleaned up, then turned around to go get Ava while Mom went to her hair appointment.
I think I have a love/hate relationship
with the feeling of being drenched in sweat.
It was nice to eat dinner all together that night and hear a very animated description of Gabe's class, as told by Gabe.
Then we all watched an episode of "Christy."
After the littles went to bed, us older ones got to tell Mom and Dad more about our days and have "deep" conversations.
Thursday I went to work and got home to exercise and do class work as usual.
Chloe and Christian had a good finish to class for the week and came home to finish the remainder of their homework.
Dad was gone with meetings most of the day.
Mom took Gabe to his class.
We were all together for dinner again and watched another "Christy" before bed.
After dinner we had some chocolate, fudge-y cake, a la Chloe. I think that set me on a chocolate high; I was plenty tired before dinner, but then remained wide awake past 11:00. It was worth it.
Friday morning everyone started a little bit slowly. I exercised after breakfast and took Chloe's car to be inspected. The men at the shop were confused as to why I was back so soon.
Chloe and Christian didn't have class, but homework was still to be done.
Mom took Gabe to spend his weekend with Aunt Lauren and Uncle Phil for his birthday and had our other car serviced and then finished by swinging by Costco.
Gabe put together this care package to give to a homeless person.
Meanwhile, Dad, Ava, and Mia went to a meeting and had frozen yogurt.
I spent the afternoon on class work, accompanied by a headache. Remembering how Dad pushes through with his work even when he doesn't feel good kept me going strong.
When Mom returned home, Chloe was still working and Christian was at the neighbor's house hanging out. She and I enjoyed relaxing and catching up in the quiet house.
We all ate dinner, minus the boys, and then the others settled down to watch "National Treasure 2." I had about an hour's worth of class assignments to finish for the week and then finished the evening with some blogging.
Saturday morning we didn't sleep in crazy late, but got up to be ready and have brunch food prepared to celebrate Father's Day with Dad's entire side of the family at our house. We were also recognizing three June birthdays.
The cousins enjoyed playing after our yummy meal of all different breakfast foods and the adults visited. Before they all headed back to town, Dad took people over to see the progress at the little house.
Once everyone left, Christian, Ava, and I got ready and left for church.
I played piano and Christian helped with slides while Ava floated about.
The others met us there.
After church, which was really good, we stayed to fellowship for a while and then I took the kids home. Mom and Dad left from church to get dinner out and then stay overnight at a hotel in honor of Dad's birthday.
At home I got everyone to bed and Nana and Grandfather were around to make sure everything was good.
Sunday morning Mom and Dad enjoyed resting at the hotel and then got lunch out and did a little shopping before coming home.
The rest of us slept in and Chloe and I spent the day mostly reading, while the others played Monopoly.
I also prepared a roast for dinner.
There is nothing too terribly difficult
about getting a 7 lb roast in the oven by myself,
except for actually getting it into the oven.
Not too long after Mom and Dad returned, Aunt Lauren and Uncle Phil brought Gabe home.
It was weird without Gabe. It just was. We were all glad to have him back.
Nana and Grandfather joined all of us for dinner to celebrate Father's Day with Mom's side of the family. While we ate, Gabe gave us a very detailed narrative of his weekend.
He got to watch some "Star Wars" movies, go see "Finding Dory," play with Uncle Phil's legos, eat yummy food, and go swimming.
Afterwards we discussed all manner of tiny house ideas and got gymnastics demonstrations from Gabe and Mia.
I've been pondering...
As a believer, how do you view God?
When you pray, is it to give Him glory, or ask Him to do things for you?
Is He a part of your life so that in every situation you face He can receive the glory, or so that you can be sure He will cause everything you do to prosper?
When trials come, if God's primary purpose is to prosper His people, then your trial would be evidence of some problem in your life. You won't understand why He has allowed X, Y, and Z to happen to you because your view of God's plan is skewed.
But if, when trials come, you understand that everything God allows in your life is for the purpose of bringing glory to His name, then you can rejoice! Because with your trials come greater opportunities to glorify Him.
God's primary focus is not prospering His people. His primary focus is receiving the glory and honor that belong to Him.
One day "every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord." This has nothing to do with "everything you do will prosper."
That moment when...
Your phone falls out of your pocket and you just barely manage to knock it onto the carpet before it hits the wood floor.
You discover birds flying around in your attic and those active birds decide to stay up until midnight and wake up at 6:00 am.
The policeman stops by while the family is working at the little rental house to ask how many kids y'all have.
The Herd: Quoted
"I'll hobble my way downstairs." -Mom
"Sore much?" -Me
"No, I just feel old, this time of night." -Mom
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