2011 Colorado Camping

Have I mentioned how hot and dry it was this summer!  So when we went to Colorado where it was cool and rained every day, I don't think I'm exaggerating too much when I say it was refreshing to our mind, body, and soul.  These were some of my favorite memories from this year's trip.

SweetTate and Great-Granddaddy

SweetTate and his cousin spent so much time in the river, they were wet more than they were dry!  And loved every minute of it!

 My Dad and his brother cooking breakfast and swapping stories.

SMORES!!

Horseback riding...absolutely beautiful!  And one happy SweetDoll!

My Dad on the hunt!

This was our crew this year.  My kids had four of their great-grandparents here.  Pretty neat.

 Hike with Granny and Papaw around the lake.

SweetBoy thought there was gold in them thar hills!  No such luck!  Snap.

I loved this tree, but I thought this picture was especially cute with Grandma and Granddad enjoying its afternoon shade by the river.

Sighhh...makes me happy just thinking about it again.  :)

2011 Summer Rundown

It seems like ALL we did was baseball this summer, but when I was working on the summer scrapbook, I realized that we did squeeze in some other fun stuff.  Here are the hightlights:

SweetTate's birthday

We met Curious George.

SweetBoy's birthday.  Gotta love trick candles!

We saw Cars 2 at a drive-in!  (I thought that was so cool!)  It was our first time to a drive-in.  The drive-in promoted the movie by putting cars all around town with eyes in the windshields.  By the theater, they had several cars lined up there including "Frank."  I thought it was clever and cute!

Bowling...SweetTate got a strike and I asked him to show me that celebration again and this is what I got.  Such a ham!

Fourth of July with SweetHeart's family

Kid's nature hike at a state park

Trip to our favorite kids' hands-on center

Trip to cool Colorado where it rained every day!  That was so sweet!  We had the hottest, driest summer I have ever seen.  (I couldn't narrow the pictures down, so that will be the next post.)

SweetHeart's parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.  We had so much fun hosting a reception for them.  Here they are with their kids and grandkids.  So blessed!

Aaaah.  Then we had a little break before school started!

Baseball 2011 Recap

When last I left you, we were gearing up for baseball at the SweetJourney house.  Oh. My. Word. did we baseball this year.  Having all three playing kept us hoping...well, literally driving 6 days a week to a ballfield here, there, or yonder!

SweetBoy had a good season.  He did a great job off the bench making the most of opportunities he was given.  He even tried pitching!  His team won the district tournament for the first time!  By that point it was late into the summer and our plans were up in the air about pretty much everything.  "It depends on if we are playing baseball,"  became a common phrase around our house.  After district, we advanced but that was as far as we got.  And it happened that it was the week before camping.  It would have been neat to advance to the next round, but it just didn't happen.  And since it didn't, we were really looking forward to a break from the heat in cool Colorado!  It was a record setting HOT summer and we had been out in it a lot!  Here is SweetBoy in action.

 SweetDoll's team had a rough beginning but continued to get better through the season and finished 2nd!  (There were only 3 teams, but hey, 2nd still sounds good!)  She had another good season and contributed to her team on the field and with her bat.  Great job, Sis!

 After cheering Brother and Sister all these years it was finally SweetTate's turn!  This was SweetTate's rookie season.  He loved every minute of it!  It didn't matter if it was practice or a game, he was ready to play.  He played well and had a blast!  It was so fun to watch him play.  And his favorite part...the free snow cone after every game!  (For some reason they are so much better than the ones you pay for.)

So for most of the beginning of the summer, this is where you could find us--on the ballfield or in the car on the way to a ballfield, but I would not have it any other way.  :)

Hello?

Blog?  I have a blog?  What was that password again?  I usually tried to keep the blog current for family and friends would know what was happening.  It also served as a reference when I was working on my scrapbook because, you know, I can't remember details that long.  Well, we had a crazy summer with baseball mostly.  Then we had a breather before school started.  And it has been a whirlwind ever since.  The wierd part is...I have finished my scrapbook, not only for last school year, but the summer also!  Crazy, right!  (My book should arrive tomorrow, and I'm so excited to see it!)  There was a sale to get it published, so I was really motiviated!  So here we are at another breather before the busyness of the holidays.  I think I'll catch you up...if you are still there that is.  See you soon!

Day of Prayer

I know that you thought I forgot my password, but I really didn't!  This summer was crazy busy with, you guessed it, baseball!  Then it was vacation and...you understand.  Many times I thought I would jump on here and give you a quick update, but it never happened.  Maybe I'll get to that soon, but the fall is not looking any calmer!  Anyway, these are some thoughts for today.

I'm doing Beth Moore's Bible study "Living Beyond Yourself." In one of the videos she told a story about prayer. They had a lady come in to do a devotional time for their office and she challenged them with this. "I'm going to give you each of you an index card. I want you to write a prayer request on it. Here is the deal....today is the last day you are going to ask for this particular request. After today, you are just going to thank Him for it." She gave them time to think about it, and then they had a prayer time to ask for their request. Beth said that was an intense prayer time, knowing it was the last time to ask for it! I would imagine so! Then Beth challenged us with the same charge.
I have thought about what I might write on my index card for weeks. I think I have decided on my "spiritual" thing that I really, desperately want. I just have not been brave enough to actually commit it in ink. But one thing I have decided on and will share is rain. If you live in this neck of the woods, I don't have to tell you how hot. windy. and D.R.Y. it has been this year. We have had less than 2 inches all year! That is about 12 inches below normal! I know 12 inches doesn't sound like a lot to some, but this country sure does thrive on it. And when it is not here, we are beginning to really hurt. On this day, when our governor has called believers to pray for rain, I'm thanking God for the rain He knows we need and has plans to answer that prayer.

It is amazing how my perspective changes when it rains. It is more than, "Thank You, God, for the rain." It is a confident, rejoicing, "Thank You, God! I knew You would send rain! You are so faithful!"
Even as the clouds look very promising as I write this and the radar looks like it might miss us, I'm thankful that my God knows we need it and will abundantly provide the rain at just the right time.
 
Thank You, Father!

You might be a baseball mom if...

For the past 5 years I have known the day would come that all three of my kids would play ball at the same time.  I have kind of dreaded it.  Three different teams.  Three different practices schedules.  Three different game schedules.  One frazzled mom!  But actually, I'm so excited for SweetTate to start!  He has some mad almost-five-year-old skillz and he is going to love it!  I can't wait to watch him play too!  His and SweetDoll's games are on the same day in the same place.  And SweetBoy's schedule will be winding down when theirs gears up, so I think I can handle it.  (Remind me of that in a few weeks!)

You might be a baseball mom if...
* you have scraped a page or two on your laptop in the car during practice
* you have the early bird supper at 4:45 before practice or games
* you know what an rbi, dp, and k mean and when it is a good thing!
* you have a repertoire of suppers to take to the ballpark
* you are horse from cheering for your favorite teams
* you also have DQ's number in your phone so you can place an order and pick it up for supper!
* you have shopped for boy's foundational garments--that was a new experience!
* you love to see your man playing with the kids
* you have a permanent cooler packed with snacks and drinks by the door
* you sit through rain, snow, wind, heat, cold, and sun to watch ballgames
* you know how to score a game for the coach
* you can wash a uniform Friday after the game and have it ready for a Saturday morning game
* when you hear the word diamond, shiney and sparklely don't describe your picture
* your heart has sunk too when they strike out
* your heart has soared when they get their first hit of the season!
* you jump up and scream when they score!
You might be a baseball mom, if you can't wait to watch your kids play!

Fearless Climb

After I wrote the last post about our rock climb adventure, I got to thinking about how I wasn't afraid to do that.  I have always wanted to repel. It just looked fun to bounce down a mountain—that doesn’t paint a very pretty picture, but you know what I mean—bounce with a rope safely attached landing on your feet! It looked like too much work to climb up, but getting down looked fun! Of course, this one I had to climb to the top first!  Usually I am a fraidy cat and fear will get the best of me and I won’t even try something out of my comfort zone. So what was the difference here? I mean, I strapped that harness on, clicked on the safety rope, and didn’t even hesitate all the way to the top. Where did that confidence come from? I was motivated—I had always wanted to repel, and it is not as much fun to repel only half way! More than that, I trusted the guy on the other end of the safety rope that was almost twice my size, knowledgeable about his job, and strong enough to keep me from falling. I had no fear to go to the top.

There is a God stop here. So many times I talk myself out of climbing higher in life because I am afraid. But here is the truth of the matter. My God is huge! His wisdom is perfect. He knows me and has had a plan for me since before the world began. (Jeremiah 29:11, Ephesians 1:4) He is infinitely strong, and more than able. I just have to trust Him. How far could I go if I was so completely confident in my Father and His love for me?!

Ephesians 3:16-21
I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
 
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.

This might be a familiar passage. It is one of the first chunks of Scripture that I memorized, and it became so meaningful to me. I love Paul’s writings, but sometimes it gets a little wordy. Break it down with me.

He prays that the believers would have the power to grasp what?
           How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ

And that they would know what?
          This love of Christ that surpasses knowledge

God is able to do more than in our lives if His power is working in us. What power?
          Power through His Spirit
          Power to grasp and to know the love of Christ

So through grasping and knowing the love of Christ, God is able to work powerfully in my life. Wow! That is the safety rope! I need to be harnessed in and fastened to it—grasp it and know it all the time, and especially when things get crazy. On our rock climb, SweetBoy lost his footing and the coach kept telling him to grab hold of the rope.  Our safety rope in life is God's love for us.  I can climb higher knowing His love for me is strong, sure, and more than enough to keep me from falling. If I have my safety rope fastened to anyone else, I have reason to be afraid!  But in God it is a sure thing!

Romans 8:37-39
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Psalm 94:18 NIV
When I said, “My foot is slipping,”
your unfailing love, LORD, supported me.

I can climb with God all the way by knowing His love is my safety rope and keeping my focus on Him.  His faithful love endures forever (Psalm 136)—that is what anchors me and gives me freedom to be fearless.