Cars that speak for you…

The girls and I were laughing heartily this morning as we considered the message our van might have been sending as we had careened under yellow light after yellow light on Route 31.
The message from the last photo had us laughing the hardest as Marie suggested a new meaning for her soccer team cheer.

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Psalm 121:8

The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

Big Brother

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They don’t see him as much as they’d like to, but thankfully Stewart still finds time to mess around with his little sisters.

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I’m so grateful for the connections they all have.

A few weeks ago, as we were commenting on how much he is gone these days, Stewart said something like, “Can you imagine if I had been in school all these years?  I’d, like, barely know these guys.”

Amen, buddy.  That makes it worth every tough school day, in my heart. 

Galatians 6:9
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

What to wear?

The girls’ closet it a treasure trove of beautiful garments.  It is a treat to dress them as the LORD has seen fit to fill their closet to bursting with hand-me-downs.

This lovely morning, they asked Daddy if they could wear these outfits and presented themselves to Mama for her stamp of approval.  I deemed them gorgeous, but pointed out that they would need to wear stockings with these selections.  Neither of them are a fan of stockings, but Katriel had a thought:
”Johanna?  Do you want to wear stockings and you can be Mrs. Claus and I can be an elf?”

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Johanna opted to squeeze in another warm-weather dress, as we are enjoying higher than normal temps this October.

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Matthew 6:28-30
And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

A Soccer Game Down Memory Lane…

Marie’s game was all the way out in Brockport today.
Once upon a time I drove to and from Brockport with my eyes closed.  (No.  No.  They weren’t closed.  I mean I was really, really tired, but they were open.)  I attended college at Brockport and I’ve only been back through the town once or twice in the last 23 years. 

A lot of the scenery has changed, and there are a lot more stores out there now, but it isn’t any closer and it made for a long trip.

The trip included me turning one street too soon for the soccer field and ending up smack dab on the west side of campus, where I was suddenly greeted with the high rise buildings I had lived in all those years ago. 

Now – if I had never, ever seen the campus again, it wouldn’t have mattered to me.  I rarely reflect on those years at all and I certainly don’t pine for those days.  But it was interesting to see them still standing tall there.

We made it over to the field where the team won again.  It was a very good game.

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But it wasn’t 80 degrees like it had been last Thursday!

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After the photo we drove back through the south side of campus to see what we could see.

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I’m not one of those folks that smile wistfully about my “college years.”  College was something that I needed to do to get on to the next step in my life.  I did have some fun, and I made some great friends, but I’m  not a “whole college experience” kind of person.   Especially these days.  College has gotten astronomically expensive for very little return on investment.  But – it did make me smile when I remembered the days when this was my home for the night. 

In an effort to emphasize that these structures were my homebases for a season, I said, “Marie – this is where my bed was.  This was where my pillow was!”

She responded with, “Mom, you are always thinking about sleep!”

Colossians 2:8 –

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.