Blast from the Past

Today I babysat Grace, the last foster baby we had, who left in July. A friend of mine is doing respite care for Grace, and had to work today, so I offered to watch her. Mostly it's because within a week or two Grace will be moving to Washington state with an aunt to whom the State is giving custody. It was nice to see her again and have some closure. She is now 6 months old, and although she still looks so much like the little baby girl we had, she is obviously more alert and advanced. As you can see from these pictures, she still enjoys sticking her tongue out. She was teething today, so she slept for 3 1/2 of the 7 hours she was at our house. But during the times she was awake, we had fun together! I also had the privilege of spending some quiet moments rocking her, and prayed over her and her life. Precious moment.

Apples!

On Saturday Miles & I went apple picking at a local farm. We picked a bunch of apples and then today I had my first attempt at making a homemade apple pie. We just ate some of the results and it was pretty good! Thanks to Debbie's (formally Bev's) easy apple pie recipe. Now I have to figure out what else to make because I still have quite a few apples that I need to do something with this week.

I'm a Grandma

One of the girls from my small group had a baby girl today, so I think that makes me a "small group Grandma." This was not a planned pregnancy, but the girl is committed to doing her best with her new role as mommy. I am just amazed by the other girls who have surrounded her with love and support rather than judgment. After all, isn't that what Jesus modeled for us? It makes me realize how much I desire to see "my girls" make good decisions and honor God with their lives. But also how much I am not in control of the decisions they make and need to pray for them on a daily basis. If you think of Mandy and her new baby girl, Lily, please pray for them. And pray for me. I SO DON'T want to make this a situation in which I am angry because Mandy has something I have been praying for, but really want to surround Mandy with love and support, and guidance as she pours her life into this new little baby girl. I know God has a plan for us that is good and wise. And I trust Him to reveal it when the time is right.

Car Troubles

So my beloved minivan is being laid to rest for good. We bought it used a year and a half ago and in the last 6 months have put a lot of money into repairs on it. Yesterday I broke down while I was running errands and after getting it towed to the repair shop, we were told that it needs a new fuel pump. That is very expensive. So we've decided to dump the "money pit" and sell it as is. We'll be a one car family for now until we figure out what we want to do next. I'm so sad because I love my van. Oh well . . .

Seattle and Small Group

2 weekends ago, Miles & I took a wonderful trip to Seattle. We went there so Miles could attend Coffee Fest -- a 3 day convention all about coffee. The church sent him to the convention because he is the lead trainer for our church's coffee stand/cafe. I just went along for the adventure and to get free coffee!! We got to Seattle on Thursday afternoon and that night we went to a Jewel concert. She is a remarkable singer and really showcases her voice during her live concerts. It was a great concert because it was an acoustic concert, so it was just Jewel and her guitar. We had a great time. Friday and Saturday were spent at Coffee Fest all day and then we spent the evenings exploring and playing around the city. We stayed until Monday afternoon so we could get the most out of our time there. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. Even though we live only a 5-hour drive away from Seattle, I've never spent time there so I was very excited about this trip. I definitely want to go back more, but being in a big city again sure made me appreciate our simple little town of Coeur d'Alene. I'm so used to a small town now that even Coeur d'Alene is getting big for me!

This past weekend I had a "girls night" with my new small group girlies. Rychelle & I are going to continue leading a small group. Most of the girls have left for college this fall, but a few of them have stayed locally to attend the community college or work full-time. So instead of 15 girls, we're going to have 6. What a difference! But we're very excited about it because it will give us the opportunity to go deeper and invest more time individually with each of the girls. So Saturday night we had a sleepover to sort of kick off our new group. We also have a new member, so the girls shared their testimonies with each other. It was a wonderful night. These girls are very special to me and such a blessing in my life.

End of an Era

Miles & I have both been serving in youth ministry for over a decade. Recently we have felt God leading us away from that specific ministry and have given our "resignation" to our youth pastor. We don't know yet what God has in store for us next, but will be praying and seeking His direction over the next few months. Miles still volunteers in our church's coffee ministry, Hebrews, and is the lead trainer with that ministry. All of the money raised goes directly to the church's mission fund to send out teams locally and globally. I will also continue to lead my small group that I've been leading for the past 4 years. Most of the girls in the group are now in college or are working full-time and it's such a personal blessing to watch them grow into young, Godly women. This is really my passion -- to do one-on-one or small group discipleship and teaching.

We'll see what God has for us next. We will both continue on with our current ministries -- Hebrews and small group -- but still feel like there is something more that God has in store for us. It's just time for a new season in our lives and a new season of ministry for us. It feels strange to not go to youth group every Sunday night, but we still maintain personal relationships with many of the students and that won't change.

Backyard adventures

So we couldn't get away for Labor Day weekend because Miles had responsibilities at the church. He's the lead barista for the coffee ministry, Hebrews. But we really wanted to go camping, so we compromised and camped in our backyard! It was fun. We just pulled our sleeping bags out on to the grass and laid there and looked at the stars until we fell asleep. With all of the huge pine trees surrounding our yard, it was almost like we were camping!