Life Catch Up

So I haven't blogged in months, and I figured I'd get on here and try to recap a few of the highlights of the past few months.

Easter was cool. We did the area sunrise service at Edgewood. The youth and I led worship, and then we watched a sand art depiction of the passion, then Jason from Salem spoke. He talked about how we need to get away sometimes, and when we do a lot of times we go do what we know. Like go watch a TV show or go running or ride a motorcycle. The disciples have been hiding out in a house after the death of Jesus, and they decide they have to get out, so they go fishing...at night. Here Jason sat down and guys from Salem came out and acted a scene like they were the disciples remembering Jesus while fishing on the boat. They catch nothing, but then Jesus (Don) comes up. Good service. Then we went out to eat at the Shoney's buffet, my family, Sandy and David and Sandy their neighbor, Margee, Kristen and Kevin, and Johnnie Tickle.

A few months later I went to RBC's Free Retreat. It was cool, much better than last year. I drove more than I was there if you don't include sleep time, because I left Monday at 11 and got there around 5:00 and then left RBC at 11:00 to arrive back at 5 on Tuesday. But the time there was great. When pulling into town I gto a call from Matt and he told me to come to 3 Amigos for dinner, I went and saw all sorts of people, including Frank! He came up and hugged me when I walked in, and I sat near him and Matt and talked for a while about kids, notw tshirts, the NC version of SMOV. Then came the service that night. So many friends there. The Hamiltons, Cross's, EL, both sets of Woolards, Joe Curry came from Roanoke (with Eric Wyatt, a sponsor of his who I met and who grew up at Edgewood), Rodkey's, Chris Conley, Corey and Nicole Jones, Dean Owens, on and on. I got a free MACU tshirt, the Cross's led worship (a very pregnant Beth, whose voice I love, broke down one time talking about her former youth minister and how he ending up being a pedophile, and how if anyone was struggling this was the perfect time to get help. ) Aaron is a great worship leader and it was refreshing worship. Then the speaker was a counselor from Southeast that talked about and asked us questions about emotional maturity. After that was free time, I played basketball all evening, then went to 7 eleven with guys, then hung out in the room and talked with Matt til 2. The next morning we ate Bojangles, and I talked with the Rodkey's about being adopted and how my parents told me (in a story when I was young). I really appreciated the whole time, even the ride, where I listened for hours to the biography of Oswald Chambers (insightful and inspiring).

Other big events have happened, but let me move on to family.
During this time Lily has grown so much. She still has this cute habit of laying her head on your shoulder when you pick her up. She scouts around on the floor real fast, dragging her legs as she pulls herself with her arms. She can crawl, but the scoot is her preferred means of transportation. She can also pull herself up into standing position. She'll probably be walking very soon. She eats so much, sometimes more than Isaiah eats. She also says a few words like uh-oh and da-da and ball (bah).

Isaiah can carry on a conversation with you. He still loves trucks and cars, and is very smart. He counted to 50 today! He has been a few weeks without a serious accident, and we gave him his race car potty cake two weeks ago at Hungry Mother to celebrate his using the potty.

Speaking of Hungry Mother, it was a great vacation. Tyler and Shannon and us and Sarah's parents and Joel, Cindy, Abby, Granny Fran, Anne and Amber. The last night Rachael, Emily and Adam came too. The week consisted of a lot of hikes, reading, puzzles, basketball, walks, Munchkin, cards (David and I killed at spades!) Good times. While on a hike we found a geo cache box, it was the first time any of us had ever seen one. We left a hair rubberband and took a jar opener. We all went out to Macado's for a good meal out on Wed night. I really like Sarah's family, I'm glad I married into such a great family, immediate and extended.

And that brings us pretty close to the present. I have camp and VBS soon, so hopefully I'll make it a point to write about them soon afterwards and not wait months for my next entry.