More Good Stuff to See (And On a Personal Note)

I know my blogging lately has been sparse.  I think mostly it's just been spring and lovely weather and I have a need to be out there doing stuff, enjoying the days and haven't had as much need to sit by my computer and write.  Everything has a season, right?

The blogging season will return, I am sure of it.

In the meantime, the Lord has been bombarding me with a lot of good music and videos and other messages that draw me closer to Him.  I'm loving it.  So much I wish I could share here, but then don't take the time to do it.

Okay, so first, the business stuff...

Did you know that K-LOVE (and probably other radio stations, but K-LOVE is what's on my radio usually) offers a free song download every day?  Sometimes the same song will be there for multiple days and other times, multiple songs will be downloadable for free for just one day.  It all balances out.

Anyway, since I just did that post on Amy Grant I wanted to let you know that RIGHT THIS MINUTE, K-LOVE is offering another song of hers from the same album as a free download.  Yes, I already downloaded it.  I don't know how many days this will be up there, but I think that link will take you to whatever they are offering for free when you get around to clicking the link.

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Next on the list is a stupid video my good friend, KF, sent to me today.  Okay, so the video isn't "stupid" at all.  That's just a word I learned from my mom while growing up for when something is really great, but we don't want to like it (for example, "Those deep, rich, chocolatey brownies are so stupid").  KF warned me to grab a tissue before I watched, which usually means that something is on purpose sad and it's made just to make me cry.  I love/hate those kind of videos.

Point in case:  Steel Magnolias.  That's my all-time favorite "I need a good cry" movie.  Maybe you know of some like this.

Anyway, this video is nonfiction.  It's about a real family and a real -- I can't even call it a struggle although, I'm certain it must have been -- a real situation they lived through.  But this family has come through this with such great hope and joy that I am inspired by their strength.  I'll tell you up front, their teenage son died two days ago.  Spoiler alert.

But the video is about so much more than his impending death ... it's mostly about the way he lived.  It's also about his song-writing "career," and a very popular song that I've heard a hundred times but never knew the story behind it till now.  Maybe you'd like to know the story as well...beware of feeling inspired.

And here's his most popular song, "Clouds"...

And if you're not tired of his music videos yet, click here and here and here and here, to see more.

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On a personal note, we are concluding our school year tomorrow!  That doesn't mean we stop math and reading (and field trips!!), but it means that we are finished with the current grade that we say everyone is in and we move them up.  It usually means a celebration and a small break before diving back into math and reading summer-style.  Summer is a great time for me to pull things back together in our homeschool room and regroup before the new school year.

Summer is the time of year when I have more time for doing a lot more "other stuff."

Some of my Summer Bucket List items are the following:

• Clean and organize the home school room.
• Finish up the photo albums for my mom and aunt and uncle that I didn't finish when I was in California this past January.
• Scan all or most or some of the photos and memorabilia I "borrowed" from my Grandma's house and the ones my parents gave me from their house.  Everything is sitting around waiting for me to have time for that!
• Experiment more with my camera.  Learn something new photographically-speaking.
• Love my God.  Love my family.  Love my friends.  Devote more time to them.
• Keep breathing.
• Have fun. 

While we have a lot of little things already on the calendar for this summer (is it sad that so many of them are doctor's appointments and stuff?), there is one big thing that's coming in June.

S is turning 18.  I will be a mother to an adult child (in the legal sense).  This is strange and fantastic.  Strange because I still don't feel ready to be a parent to a teenager (and I'm on the second one of those) and here I'll be mother to someone legally responsible for themselves.  The great news is... she survived!  We all did!  We must have done something right since we've made it here.

The day after her 18th birthday, she and I (along with my friend, KF and her son AF -- who is also S's boyfriend), will be traveling back to New England for an opportunity for S to reconnect with her birth mother.

As one might expect, I do have some trepidation about the trip.  The thing I'm trying to focus on, though, is that the Lord provided me with a loving husband -- who has allowed us to travel over Father's Day AND be home with the other four kids by himself -- and some good friends willing to fly halfway across the country to be a support to us during this possibly emotional time.  In return for the favor, we will happily act as tour guides in the region and show them some of our favorite scenic spots (and introduce them to a couple friends of ours from the area).

I have a lot of fun hanging out with KF here at home and now we get to have a slumber party for four nights together out-of-state.  It's going to be a lot of fun.  I feel like a kid again!  We'll probably sleep more now that we're adults though.

Oh yeah, and we'll keep an eye on the new adults in our group, too.  Try to have some fun with those guys, too.  Haha.  S is just anxious to walk along the coast hand-in-hand with AF (I'm sure the feeling is mutual), but don't worry, two mamas will be right there snapping pictures and whistling at them from behind.  They love when we do that.

In the meantime, I'm asking for prayers for the following:

• Safe travel.
• Patience for C with the kids at home (and for KF's husband home with their other child).
• God's will for the direction of the visit between S and her other mother.
• Friendships to be strengthened by time together -- and for those we'll be visiting, for the time together to be joyful and lasting (until we can meet again).
• For S.  That this trip will bring closure or new beginnings -- whatever God wills -- and that she will be at peace with it all.  That her relationship with AF grows better and deeper during this time when she may be very vulnerable.

Thank you so much for taking the time to watch and read my blog.