I emailed all my piano and voice students this week, and have loved hearing back from them how they are using their music and what they are doing during this difficulty.  One dad responded that he is playing music from different eras and genres for his kids each night!  So cool--a little "music history class" in their kitchen and they probably don't even realize they're learning!  That same dad said to me "I think this was God's way of reminding everyone what is truly important in this world." Yep, I think he's right.

Another person said to me, "God has a plan in everything, and I pray we can use this time of a slower pace of life to really evaluate where we are in life and how we are using our time in service to Him!"  Ohh yes, and did I need to hear that!!!

During this past week I have been able to connect/reconnect with friends I haven't made time for in a while.  One morning my friend Kim called me after she sent me and Jeremy a text to check in and I told her I was having a rough morning.  We talked for probably 45 minutes, and I bet we haven't talked on the phone in years!  She was such a comfort to me!

One day, Pastor Todd issued a Facebook challenge to our church to reach out to 10 people, and I did that.  I delivered a couple of the bags I crocheted last week to friends and was able to visit--from 6 feet away--with Jenna and Will (and Martin) for a while.  They are such cheerful people, and Jesus' light just shines out of them...such a refreshing joy to just talk with them for a little bit!

I also texted dear friends that are far away that I haven't caught up with in too long, and had sweet conversations with Lori and Cora.  Ohhh, that does a heart good!

Friday evening I received a really difficult message from a friend and I have been extremely upset and emotional about it all weekend.  I decided to fast my phone for the weekend, and it has helped not to have it in my hand as much as usual.  

Saturday morning, the girls and I started an online women's small group with several women from church.  We will be studying this book, and I am really excited about it!

For the first couple weeks, we are just chatting and praying together, since we need time for our books to arrive.  It was so wonderful to see the faces of some of our closest sisters in Christ on the zoom meeting yesterday, and to hear about what the past weeks have been like for them, and to pray for one another and feel encouraged!  Every person is experiencing the situation differently, but we can all appreciate and support one another through it.  Such peace and comfort in that!  I am so grateful to have the time to be part of this group and study, as it occurs during a time when I would usually be teaching and unable to participate.  Thank you for that, God!  

We have loved our PoC online worship service each Sunday morning.  Sundays have been crazy busy for us for the past I-don't-know-how-many years! It is so refreshing to get up and come to the living room and worship at home, then have lunch and spend the day relaxing together.  A beautiful sabbath, really.  I know it is still a lot of work for those on the church staff, the worship team that is rehearsing and playing, and especially the technical staff.  They are doing a great job, and it is so meaningful and wonderful for our congregation.

Annah recorded this for her recital at school.  We've all enjoyed hearing her learn this very difficult piece these past few weeks!

Today was a gorgeous day here, and we all got at least a little time in the sunshine. Jeremy spent a lot of yesterday outside removing a stump in the yard, and starting to fashion a fire pit in the corner of our yard at Annah's request.  Today, he and Sylvia threw a little nerf football back and forth for quite a while, and Sylvia spent time skateboarding, of course. Sometimes it would be nice to have a bigger yard, but I am thankful for the little spot we have.

Annah stood on Sylvia's skateboard and has pretty good balance.  I got on for about 7 seconds and found it pretty scary, haha.

This evening, I noticed these flowers by the garage looked so pretty in the sun.

Real Life Randoms

Just a few random photos I currently have on my phone from the past week...

My kitchen, last week when I was so sick I had to lie in bed all day...

I will say, my wonderful family spent their entire Saturday
morning and afternoon cleaning up the house.  

 A wonderful reminder from the YouVersion app verse of the day...

Caeden is learning this rap in a song the Steadfast band is working on.

Jeremy, teasing Annah while they both enjoyed a rare few minutes to relax. 

Today, we learned this great news!  Annah is so excited, and we are happy for her too!

I'm doing a 7-week Beth Moore Bible study on the book of James in a Facebook group.  It is a nice way to work at our own pace, and I'm really liking it.  This point really made me think:

This evening, Caeden had wrestling practice until 5:15 and call for his concert was at 5:30.  I took him his concert black dress clothes and a sandwich to help him get ready quickly in between!

I watched a little bit of Jeremy leading the high school practice while waiting for Caeden to change clothes. I love that he gets to be part of something he loves so much.  It is not easy, and he makes a lot of sacrifices to coach, but I am so proud of him for doing it.

Siblings

We had a sweet Saturday morning today.  Jeremy shared with all of us some things the Lord was showing him in Ephesians 4, and we talked about being mature in Christ, not tricked by deceit of others, and operating in unity in the body of Christ.  (This isn't our typical Saturday morning, by the way, but it was excellent!)

After practicing his guitar, Caeden was allowed to check on his Clash of Clans game on the iPad.  Annah was intrigued by it, and snuggled up next to him on the couch for a long time.  These two are often pestering each other, so it was pretty cool to see them like this.  

It's been sunny and in the 50's today, so the kids were anxious to get outside for a bit--

even with the mud.  They rode their bikes and the scooter up and down the sidewalk, and after a while I saw them in the backyard.  They always find creative ways to play with their toys...

They said they were playing pirates.  

Friday

Annah finished her pyramid and turned it in today.  She used texturized cotton squares to cover it, and it made it look like bricks.  Then we sprayed it with Glimmer Mist to make it look more like sand/stone colored.  Her teacher told her that she hates the feel of cotton, so I hope that won't count against her grade.  I'm proud of Annah for working hard on this project.

My friend Dawn and I went shopping today!  She dropped me at my dentist appointment, then when I was done we checked out the Bergner's Community Days sale that PoC sold coupon books for over the past few weeks.  That sale was a complete bust, and I realized why I never go to Bergner's.  But, we had a nice lunch at Panda Express, yum!  And Kohl's is having some great sales!  It was fun to have a day with my sweet friend!  What a blessing!

This evening, we put together our new quizzing boxes, and went through all 7 of the first lessons to prepare for tomorrow's quiz.  The kids gained a lot of ground with understanding these scriptures tonight!

While Jeremy was reading questions to the kids, I enjoyed the fact that we were spending a Friday night together in our living room.

Sylvia is very into mismatched socks lately.  She rarely wears matching ones.

The Quiz is in Sterling tomorrow, which Google Maps says is 2 hours and 52 minutes from our house. So, we went to bed early, and will get up early to get there in time.  I think the kids should do pretty well, as they are understanding the questions better after this week.  

Hope & Happiness

This is how I love to start mornings... I get up around 5:30 a.m., have some coffee, and spend time with my Jesus.  Today I had some yummy pumpkin spice coffee and was encouraged by the book of Acts.  

Pastor Todd gave me two study Bibles the night before PoC Launch, and I am reading every note in my NIV Life Application Bible!  It is eye-opening!!

The kiddos made this video for Krampa this morning on his birthday:

This evening, we studied quizzing.  We're revieiwing the first 7 "Dig Sites" of our Book of Acts curriculum, as the first quiz of the season is on Saturday.  

The kids were crakcing up making their hair extra static-y on the couch while we studied!

God is really teaching me a lot through Acts.  The kids are learning a lot about the early church too.

A new "old" neighbor

Annah is still jabbering away. Her favorites right now are "bye bye" and "dada." 

She has now learned to put her stacking rings back ON the stacker! And, she knows to be excited when she puts one one too! 

We started a class called "Growing Kids God's Way" at church last night. It will last 18 or 19 weeks. We are really excited about it, and hope it will help us become better parents. 

And, the town of Arrowsmith will soon have a new resident! Our friend Kevin (whom Jeremy lived with in Newark, Ohio) recently accepted a position at SF's Corporate Office. He came to town on his house-hunting trip last week, and found a gorgeous old house right here in Arrowsmith! So, we are very excited that Kevin will be our close neighbor again soon. He'll even be staying with us for a while when he starts his job before he'll close on his house! Welcome to town Kevin! Congrats!