The J6 Journey: Day 192 An almost no picture day!

Yup, it's been awhile, but we were so busy today that not a single picture was taken on the DSLR. That's amazing! I did have my phone with me, but it was low on battery at times, and well, I just didn't take pictures! So, what did we do?

Church, well, we went to the 11am service again because Benaiah and Jared got in late and there was no way we were going to rush out the door for the 9:15am service. We would have to leave at 8:30am because it takes 20 minutes to get there, plus get kids into their classes. For those in other parts of the world, Indian Creek Christian Church is a HUGE congregation (5,000) and their "campus" is HUGE and it takes a bit to get in from the parking lot, check in and print name tags for kids, and then find a seat. It's a megachurch, and it definitely feels like it. Today, I did feel the bigness of it. Specifically, we were at this celebration tonight for what happened at CIY last week and to send off the middle school kids this week. I bet that there were 500 people there alone! 150 kids went on the trip, just from our church! That's like 1.5 x the size of our congregation on PEI! And for once, I only knew a handful of people. And I didn't recognize any of the youth minsters or the youth worship band (except one young lady that I've known since she was like 6). I felt way out of place. Weird feeling for me. Plus I had the feeling that, wait a minute, I've become my mom! This is what my mom felt when we were all in high school, listening to the next generation become excited for Christ, with lots of hope and young eyes. I just kept going back to 17 years ago and how I felt as a youth. Can I really be that old that I have son in 9th grade? Yup, I am. But, it was great evening of worship, storytelling, praying, and 10 baptisms! Wow!

So, what happened in between? Well, I took Benaiah out to lunch so he could tell me all about his experience at CIY. Oh, and did you know, Grandpa Gary had spoken at CIY on the very campus they went to in Holland, Michigan, probably 8 years ago and had taken Benaiah with him? Yes, as a young child, and there's a picture of them hand in hand walking down the sidewalk there. I wish I had thought to tell them to recreate that picture this week. Oh well, they were too busy playing goofy games and ranking high in the dodgeball tournament that Benaiah recruited people for and was the Captain of, of course. He may be a sarcastic LOUD 14 year old, but he does lead well and has a crowd pleasing personality. He's well liked and loved. And he made a commitment to go into ministry! Well, we kind of knew he would, but he says he wants to be a high school youth minister. Yeah!

I briefly saw Keturah and Abishai today. They were in their classes this morning, then they went to Grandma's house for Sunday lunch with Daddy and Justin, then Abishai took a nap (and Daddy did too) while I drove Benaiah up to Fry's Electronics. I had talked about his new favorite "candy" store, so he begged me to go. So after a few practice tries of parallel parking in Beech Grove, we drove all the way up there and actually got some questions answered by a young man (who I think isn't much older than Benaiah, but anyway) named Chance. Then we got back to Grandma and Grandpa's, Abishai was still sleeping, so Daddy took Keturah and Justin out to the storage barn to swap out some boxes for me so I can work on stuff this week.Then we reconvened at the house in time to get to this evening's celebration. Jared had a migraine so he took Keturah and Abishai home while the rest of went back to church. So, yes, not much time with the younger 2, but had a great time with the older 2 today.

THEN, at 10pm, fireworks started I think at our local park. I wish I had known that it was going to happen. They were too big to be backyard fireworks. Oh well, Justin and I enjoyed a few of them. I tested out Facebook Live where you can take a live video and it's on Facebook right then and there with me and the fireworks! Fun times!

I would love to catch up tomorrow on the house, but we got to pack up Justin for his CIY and then we have a meeting with Benaiah's new principal in the evening. Ack, that's still hard to say for this homeschooling loving mama. I'm glad it's a tiny school and I know a few people there, but still, it feels weird thinking about official start dates and school supplies and backpacks, etc. He starts mid August and we won't start ours until after Labor Day. I still have more summer stuff to do and books to sort out first and finish last year's planner.

Here's a couple of things from tonight I captured on my phone:

My climber! Don't worry, Grandpa, we will take precautions and make sure everything is safe!

Abishai reminds me of Linus from Peanuts (I have yet to see the new movie!) and his blanket!

LOVES this blanket, which has ducks on it, and may have come from my childhood, not sure, so it's not replaceable.

Lately, Abishai wants to sit in my lap and surround himself with my legs and feet. He will literally arrange my legs around him. Too funny! Touch is most definitely his love language!