Goal ✅

I have no idea if anyone ever sees the thumbnail pictures that I choose for the posts. We’ll see if I hear about this one and that will tell me! 😂

Any who, one of my goals for this year was to transition the blog in May. It is the end of May and this is me doing that. A low bar for goals, you say? Well, you’re not wrong. I’m just impressed that I have goals at all.

I said last month that my plan is to give this a shot. I have no idea how long it will last or where it will go, but I tend to lock into routines, which probably doesn’t shock anyone, so that ought to give us all a little insight.

I’ve shared before that I appreciate making myself do this. If nothing else it is great for building the muscle of remembering, of slowing down long enough to take stock of things and look back over the previous month. We take so many pictures these days and, at least for me, look at so few of them. One of my favorite parts is going through our hard drive where all our pictures are backed up and looking through them. Let’s be honest, L takes most of them and I’m not on Instagram, so I end up seeing very few of them when they’re actually taken.

And that’s the driver behind this, my goal. To find a way to continue that practice of reflecting on our family’s life, remembering it, and recording it in some form or fashion where I or others can look back on it. I don’t know about you, but my memory is not the best. I’d like to blame it on our collective pace of life and the inundation of information that I experience on a daily basis. Looking back on the pictures, writing stuff down - it helps things stick. And I like that. So that’s at the root of why I am choosing to continue this.

I also do enjoy writing. I guess I always have…though there was about a 20-year period there where I didn’t do much of it at all😂. Somewhere around the last week of the month, I tend to let the looming to-do of getting it done overshadow that and it gets lost in the overwhelm of life. I start muttering under my breath about having to meet some self-imposed deadline and, until I sit down and let the words start to come, any sense of joy is buried. Once I find the time and start, it returns. And then when it’s finished, there is a definite sense of satisfaction.

So, we’ll see how it goes.

This was one of the highlights from the past month and so fitting that it dovetailed perfectly with his 5-year. Lauren was again on the Leadership Committee for the annual Charlotte St. Jude fundraiser, the Celebrity Chef & Wine dinner. (that’s her we-made-it-to-the-event face in that last picture) In honor of Jennings’s 5-year, we sponsored a table. Through her advocacy and efforts, our family was honored at the event with the Hope Award. She passed the speaking duties off to me and I got to speak for us as the recipients. It was an honor to do it, and a huge challenge to condense our story down to an acceptable speech length. Debatable whether that was pulled off or not. One of the best parts is that Dr. Bolen came up to give us the award! That’s her and all of us on stage, along with the CMO for St. Jude who introduced us. It was such a special moment and a celebratory night! We had Lauren’s parents and her sister and brother-in-law join us at the table. The company I work for sponsored a table as well and it was just a joy to celebrate with so many friends.

Ah, yes. You’re right…I did not mention the picture of just Jennings and me. Well, we had to be there way early since we were a part of the program and that gave the boys plenty of time to peruse the silent auction. They both fell in love with a Bryce Young autographed football. They drive a pretty hard bargain, so I agreed to make a few bids. For the rest of the night, they were all over me like government money on a bad idea. If you’re familiar with silent auctions, I gave it my all, but we were outbid by someone with a max bid set considerably higher than I was prepared to go. Disappointment abounded, but it turned out that the bidder was a friend of a friend who had seen them scoping out the football. He bought it and gave it to Jennings, and then he also bought a Chubba Hubbard autographed ball that he gave to Henry. Pretty good end to the night for those two!

In other news, May has once again lived up to its reputation. 👇

Left-to-right, top-to-bottom: In what has turned out to be Caroline’s last competitive gymnastics meet, she won a state championship, finishing 1st on bars and on floor for her group. It was probably her best meet ever and in true mic-drop fashion, she’s going out on top. Next, we had our first impromptu gathering with my family at the new old house. Like any good moving party, we served pizza and made the kids sit on the floor. That’s Charlotte and one of her cousins on L’s side out for a girls’ night for the Devil Wears Prada 2…as Lauren says, she comes alive around her cousin. The boys are back in the hood and right back to their feral status. That’s them and some of their friends “magnet fishing” in the big creek at the park. I had also never heard of magnet fishing…the goal is to pull random metal objects out of the water. It’s the epitome of one man’s trash… Next up is where Henry spent several nights last week after a random virus caused him to have pretty high fevers. They caused him to be delirious, saying some pretty interesting things. 😂😬 Lauren picked up a new game for family nights – What do you Meme? It’s modeled after Cards Against Humanity, but using popular memes from the interwebs. Needless to say, we had some good laughs. Next, we arrived back in our hood to an impressive HOA social committee that is scheduling regular events. That’s a Star Wars movie night at the park with a blow up, giant projector. A step up from the one 4th of July kids parade we used to have each year! Caroline is back around her canine buddies and likes to grab them for walks whenever they’re available. Lastly, we capped a rainy Memorial Day shopping outing with ice cream.

This May is May-ing. I feel like God is really stretching me currently. I would not describe the feeling as comfortable. Between work and our family life, I have the image of someone trying to plug holes in the leaking wall of a dam where there are more holes popping up than he has fingers and toes. Amidst that, it is a daily effort of staying grounded and grateful. Being back home in our house has helped tremendously. It feels like such a sanctuary to come home to and to take a deep breath in, even if it’s just one breath at the end of a long day. At the end of the day, no pun intended, we are incredibly blessed. The things that are stretching me and making me uncomfortable are parts of life. Each day is new with God’s mercies and I am reminding myself each and every day of that truth. He continues to give me the grace to make it through and back home.

Speaking of home, here are a few of the lived in version 👇

Clockwise from top left: we have furniture and rugs and lamps! The pantry is slowly getting stocked and filled – a game changer to have this space. Next is the van loaded up after trip #1, sadly the only trip thus far, to the storage unit. It was 90% things that needed to be hung on the wall 😂 Last, that’s the drop zone in action. And yes, it was staged for the photo. The everyday look is more baskets hanging half way out, shoes covering the laminate floor, backpacks haphazardly thrown on the bench, and enough snack crumbs to feed a small child scattered about the floor. Just grateful there’s a space where it all can happen!

That’s it for now. Plan on seeing me back here at the end of June or first of July. Happy start of summer!

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

I have been reflecting on that verse and how it comes in the middle of the book of Lamentations, written by Jeremiah, the faithful prophet sent to Judah and Jerusalem prior to and during its fall to Babylon. The city is in ruin and the people are mostly dead or in exile. God has used Babylon to bring judgement upon them. Jeremiah has been a faithful prophet, yet has been ignored and still yet, suffers along with the people who refused to turn back to God. It is in the midst of this that Jeremiah writes 3:22-23. I find such peace and comfort in that. It is truth and I do well to remind myself of it, especially when life is hard and the growth is painful.