Deep *sigh*

Well....for now, all the things on my plate are done.....referring to graduation, youth banquet, anniversary celebrations and mom's bible study. I really enjoyed all of them! Still can't believe that Chelsey is actually done with homeschool. I think in my mind I never thought that we would make it through to the end. Yea God! He did many awesome works in the two of us.....there was definitely a lot of character growth that took place, and as a family, He has been faithful to keep us drawn to Him. So now she must decide what she is going to do next. She has some really mixed feelings about whether she wants to start school in the fall, or whether she just wants to work. She is really enjoying working at Chick-fil-A. I can't decide if she really likes it or if she just realized how cool it is to get paid and enjoy the work at the same time. Today she made a huge investment. She bought herself an ipod. She really had a tough few moments of justifying spending that much money. I'm grateful that she doesn't want to spend all of her money. I pray that she stays with that mindset.

The youth banquet went very well. I think that was very and there have been lots of compliments. I am very grateful to everyone who contributed! The place was beautiful! Kendra did a great job with decorations, and many ladies did a fantastic job with the food. AND, M28-ers we can't do it without them! Their servant hearts on Thursday and Friday were outstanding. What a wonderful evening! Congrats to Mark and Chelsey for receiving the Quest Awards this year. What an honor. It will be exciting to see all that the Lord has in store for the youth, and how He will draw them as they enter college and M28.

Anniversaries....well Gene and I celebrated our 21st....I think we celebrated several days. Shelley reminded us that not only was Chelsey's graduation taking over our anniversary, but her high school graduation was also on our anniversary....that was 12 years ago! Wow! But Saturday we drove to Greenville (SC) to Gene's sisters....she and her husband were celebrating their 50th anniversary. Their kids threw dinners and receptions all weekend. We were so exhausted, we only made the Saturday afternoon reception. It was really nice. There were folks that we got a chance to visit with that we don't see very often. Gene's sister from Iowa, his nephews from Florida and Pennsylvania. AND, Gene's mom returns from her winter in Iowa back to SC. It was great to see her...we haven't seen her since last year! WOW!

Sunday, needless to say, we crashed. It was a very nice day, Gene put up the hammock and took his nap outside in the breeze. I made it to the couch! It was a great day of just relaxing!!!

Monday....I worked on the bible study for my mom's WOC (women of the church) meeting that was today. I emailed Gene in the afternoon to ask for prayer because my brain felt like mush and I just couldn't decide how things were going to turn out....but I did know that I just needed to trust the Lord for what He wanted me to share. So I took Chelsey to work and when I came back home, was able to get it done without a lot of trouble. And today, I was able to trust the Lord for the delivery! It was nice to be able to share what the Lord had shown me with these ladies.

So that's what I've been up to lately!

Quick Post -- More Later

It has been a crazy busy couple of weeks culminating in this past weekend. Friday night was the Q222 End of Year Banquet......then a Saturday trip to Greenville, SC for Gene's sister & husband's 50th anniversary reception, home again and then finally a very relaxing Father's Day. That was very nice! Today I have to prepare for a Bible study that my mom asked me to lead at her church for a small group of ladies tomorrow morning......this is the 2nd time that I have done this.....anyway, I have a short passage about Elijah that I am to focus on.....I would definitely appreciate any and all prayers during my preparation time today and presentation tomorrow. Sooo, I'll give a more detailed post in the next couple of days....but for now.....praise be to God! His mercy and grace abound!