Saturday: back

We're back!  Vacation posts will come shortly, or longly, but they will come.  There were a few minor hiccups, but overall everything went very smoothly.

Today was our rest day.  Thursday is always our busy day, but add on trying to get groceries and get some laundry done and it was a bit crazy.  Friday Isaac went to a mock competition near South Bend.  We decided last minute that Ben would bring him, but it still made early evening a bit more chaotic than normal.  (The competition was set up as a regional style, which is a bit harder than the other competitions he's done.)  He had mixed feelings on his performance, but Ben said the routes were really hard and he still got some points.

Ok, today.  My back went a bit crazy.  It felt as though it was really sore, but I haven't done anything that would make it so sore.  It has been like this a little bit, on and off, for the last two days, but it was really bad this morning.  We all just laughed about it, but it was rather weird.

We got a bunch of loose LEGO at Disney Springs, and so used it today for our LEGO challenge.

Amanda: A flower decoration, like you would see at a public area.  (I said mall, but that's not where you'd see it anymore.)  It is mini-figure scale, so rather large.

Joshua had several.  The first was inspired by my clear towers.

A flower mad so that he could say he used all his flower pieces.

The seasons - spring, summer, fall, winter

A rocket, inspired by Isaac

Ben: a geode.  Ben had a really hard time with these pieces and after 45 minutes of tinkering still didn't have anything.  He was trying to use the water pieces (we had a ton!) but not as water.

Isaac: a flower spaceship with water tanks.

Wednesday: normal

 It was a pretty normal day.  I did my stuff.

Isaac tried a bat hang yesterday.  They're scary and he didn't quite get it.

Monday: things

I got a lot of stuff done today!  It was mostly short things, but it still all needed to be done.

A new student (black belt) started at the dojang today.  He's trying to break into the pro-circuit.   Anyway, we started warming up with jumping jacks.  We're supposed to all do it in sync (and it's really cool when it works).  Oh my, he went so fast.  I couldn't keep up (and keep bladder control) so I gave up.  I obviously don't know him yet though but I'm really glad he's here for another student's sake.  There are currently only three black belts that currently show up regularly: a really good student (Will), me, and a student with special needs.  Now, I know that Will is happy to work with us, but I don't think we challenge him very well.  Hopefully this will be a nice challenge.

Last Sunday: Profession of Faith

Last Sunday Isaac made his Profession of Faith at church.  Several friends showed up and it was a joyous way to tell everyone about the commitment he has made.

"I believe that God forgave me of my sins because he sent his only Son to die on the cross. God will always love me no matter what I do. God also challenges me in ways that help me grow my skills so I can best serve him. While on Earth, Jesus set the ultimate example and showed me how I should try to live. Jesus died on the cross even though he knew he would suffer. He died because that's what needed to be done to forgive my sins. I believe the Holy Spirit moves in both powerful and subtle ways to change my life in big ways. The Holy Spirit is how God intercedes in my life. The Trinity is Jesus, God and Holy Spirit all at the same time.

My faith is continuing to grow. The church helps me by providing worship services, mission trips, discipleship groups, and ways to serve the community. I will use my gifts of discernment and mercy to help the people around me. I will continue to learn about God. A life serving God can take many forms and I want to be ready to give up everything for Him."

additional video transcript:

24:14

there's tremendous joy. and celebration. And this morning we have the opportunity to celebrate along with the Hildor family as I want to invite Isaac to come and join me on stage right now and along with Derek Wright. As Isaac is this morning uh going to profess his faith publicly and in the sacrament of holy baptism, we are adopted as God's own children in Jesus Christ and made members of the body of Christ. In our baptism, we are united with Christ in his death and resurrection in our promise, the gift of the Holy Spirit. Our baptism also calls us to personally respond to God's promises by publicly declaring our faith in Jesus Christ and promising to live wholeheartedly for him. So, Isaac, a number of months ago, you expressed interest in taking this step in your faith journey. We've talked about it as a milestone, not a completion, but an important milestone. And so, you reached out to Mr. Derek Wright, who is right behind you, to be your mentor through the pre-profession of faith process. And that led to you developing your I believe statement, your profession of faith that you shared with myself and a group of elders along with Alex Seiffel in uh your your private profession of faith. And so this morning, we are excited for you to be able to share that publicly with your church family. You ready? All right, here you go. 

I believe that God forgave me of my sins because he sent his only son to die on the cross. God will always love me no matter what I do. He also challenges me in ways that help me grow my skills so I can best serve him. While on earth, Jesus set the ultimate example and showed me how I should try to live. Jesus died on the cross even though he knew he would suffer. He died because that's what needed to be done to forgive my sins. I believe the Holy Spirit moves in both powerful and subtle ways to change my life in big ways. The Holy Spirit is God how is how God intercedes in my life. The Trinity is Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit all at the same time. My faith is continuing to grow. The church helps me by providing worship services, mission trips, disciplehip groups, and ways to serve the community. I will use my gifts of discernment and mercy to help the people around me. I will continue to learn about God. A life-serving God can take many forms, and I want to be ready to give up everything for him. 

So, Isaac, do you believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God sent to rescue our world? Do you personally love and trust him as the one who saves you from your sin? And do you with repentance and joy embrace him as the Lord and shepherd of your life? Do you believe that the Bible is the word of God revealing Christ and his salvation and that the teachings of this church faithfully reflect the truths of scripture? Third, do you accept the gracious promises of God signified and sealed to you in your baptism? And do you affirm your union with Christ in his church which your baptism signifies? Finally, do you promise to accept the spiritual guidance of the church in a spirit of Christian love and participate in its worship, fellowship, and mission? If so, say, "I do. God helping me."

27:54

Praise God. And congregation, would you rise as you are able as we too make commitments and vows to Isaac on this day? So, do you, the family of God, rejoice with Isaac and all the Hildor family on this day as he professes his faith? Do you gladly welcome Isaac into full membership of Calvary Church? And do you vow to continue to support, encourage, admonish, mentor, hold accountable, and pray for Isaac as he continues to grow into a man of God? If so, respond with a hearty, "We do God helping us."

We do God helping us.

28:31

So remember your baptism and be thankful. You are disciples of Jesus Christ. Live in love as Christ loved us and gave himself for us. Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you all. And the peace of God which passes all understanding. Isaac. Keep your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. Amen. And amen. Well, I want to invite folks who are going to come and pray over Isaac, friends and family members, students, uh, come. Isaac, why don't you head down here onto the floor and we will pray blessing over you. All others, you may have a seat.

29:40

Well, what I would like to to spend a couple of moments listening on Isaac's behalf. So, in a couple of moments, I will pray, "Come, Holy Spirit." And we together will tune our attention to hear the voice of God as he would like to speak affirming words to Isaac, words that are consistent with the story of scripture and the character and mission of Christ. And if you feel like you hear something um that's affirming, biblical, and Christlike, then I encourage you um as we greet each other later in the service to come and share that with Isaac. Um but let's listen to what words God might want to say about or to Isaac as we pray. Come

Holy Spirit. Father, Son, and Spirit, we give you thanks for this day, the opportunity for us to bear witness to the work that you are doing in Isaac's life. God, we see that work and we bless it and we ask for more. Would you continue your good work in Isaac's life? strengthen those gifts of discernment and and mercy. And Isaac, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. And the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. God, we pray these things for your glory and the joy of your people and the good of those who don't yet know you. And all God's people said together, "Amen." And amen. Congratulations, Isaac.

Several days ago: an alarm

Several days ago Ben, Isaac, and I were playing a game at night and suddenly an alarm goes off!  BEEEEEEEEEEEEP!  It is a continuous beep, not a "this battery needs to be changed" beep.  It seems to be coming from the kitchen.  The only alarm (besides fire, and it wasn't that) in the kitchen is the water alarm behind the fridge.  Unfortunately, the string to pull up the water alarm had fallen too, so we had to pull the fridge out and pull out the alarm, only to find that it was not beeping.  The fridge fits in place just perfectly, so Isaac and I spent a minute pushing it back in...while the BEEEEEEEP is still happening.

Ben checks the garage, the room behind where we think the beep is coming from.  Nope.  I check the light fixture.  Nope.  Ben opens up the dishes cabinet.  Ah ha!  It is coming from there!  ...but I only have dishes in there. 

Well, it turns out I also have a digital kitchen scale in there.  Earlier in the day, Joshua decided to see if my kitchen scale could weigh itself.  It could.  However, it didn't turn off properly after that and after three hours it decided its best course of action was to emit a loud and piercing beep.  I had to remove the battery before it would stop and reset itself.

Friday: LEGO group

Friends came over tonight.  It was a lovely time.

The kids had seen each other on Sunday for Isaac's Profession of Faith and made plans.  They all made LEGO cars and played a hide-and-seek/tag game.  I think Joshua was the main force behind making the plans and I was so proud of all of them.  1) No adults were involved in the plans.  It was amazing.  2) Most of them participated!

We also played a game called "herd mentality".  I wasn't too sure of it at first, but the leader of the game kept it running well and it was a ton of fun.  It was with the adults and the kids and it was just easy.  I would totally play it again.

Thursday: will there be a snow day?

Tomorrow morning is supposed to be very cold, but we've used up our allotted snow days (without having to request more from the state).  We got a message from our school saying that while they normally follow what the local school district does, for the rest of the year they might not.  Especially tomorrow as it might only be cold and we don't have kids waiting for buses.

To be fair, there are no school districts that have school closings yet.  The prediction for our school district was "very high", so with the above information I guess that Eagle Crest is about 50/50.

I only fish tailed once today, so the roads have gotten better.  It was in a really random place and I have no idea why there would be any ice there.  Fortunately, I just needed to keep going forward and I didn't actually need to stop - it was just surprising.