Gluten Free Friday ~ Avocado, Arugula, & White Bean "Pita" With A Side Of Baseball And Flying South

 It was a really disappointing semi-final baseball game last night for Kory and the Amherst High School team.  They lost by one point.  The last at bat, we all really thought they would tie it up or pull ahead, but it was three pretty quick strike-outs, and the game was over, meaning no more baseball for Kory.  Though they had a really good season, there was still a pretty discouraged 17 year old at my house last night.  I was pretty sad that they lost, too, but I am glad that I won't have to do any re-arranging of our scheduled trip to Texas next week.  The loss means that we can leave as planned on Monday morning, I can get to my Classical Conversations training in Austin, Kory can attend the orientation he registered for, and we can spend some time with family in the area.  Whew!  We had to get this in before 17th when my friend Karla comes for a visit, and the 21st when Kory leaves for Haiti.  So glad it seems to be working out so far.

Speaking of schedules, would you believe our summer schedule is almost planned and scheduled down to the day?  Yikes.  There's this trip to Texas, the visit from Karla, Kory's trip to Haiti, his graduation/birthday party, a trip back to Texas for Kory in July for a freshman camp, youth camp the week after he gets back, a couple of weeks at home, a week long vacation to Maine at the beginning of August, a week back at home, and then another trip to Texas to take Kory to college and get him settled for his freshman year. Crazy times. And did I mention that my 25 year high school reunion is in San Antonio in October? Really hoping I can make it to that also.

And now I should get to the recipe for the week...

I've been eating this for lunch about twice a week for the last month. It's delicious and healthy.  I think I combined two different recipes I've come across in recent months to create this, and I really love the blend of flavors.  Instead of real pita bread, I substitute a brown rice wrap, toasting it a bit to make it sturdy and crunchy.  You could definitely just wrap up the ingredients in one of these, but they tend to be pretty frustrating to roll, always seeming to break and tear, so we've about given up on the traditional "wrap" around here, and go with more toasted pizza-like uses when eating these.

Avocado, Arugula, & White Bean "Pita"

1/2 ripe avocado
1/3 cup canned white beans {great northern or cannelini}
juice from 1/2 a lemon or lime
salt and pepper to taste
GF brown rice wrap
baby arugula
tomato slices

Place avocado and beans in a bowl and mash together with a fork.  Add lemon/lime juice and salt and pepper and mash more to combine.  Toast your pita.  Put a handful of arugula on the pita and spread the bean and avocado mixture on top. {You can put the arugula on top of the spread, too, of course, but I prefer this order of layers for some reason?!}  Top with tomato slices and more salt and pepper if you like.

Enjoy for a light, but filling lunch ~ or yummy summer picnic dinner.

Have a good weekend!

Three more days till I land in the land of 50 cent avocados. Did you know that they freeze well?

H.E.B ~ here I come.

My suitcase will probably be a lot heavier when I return to the land of $2 avocados!

"It Ain't Over Till It's Over"

 I just Googled "baseball phrases."  Wow. There are multitudes of baseball related phrases and cliches we Americans use!  I guess it truly is, or at least was, America's pastime.  I know it's partly how my friends and I passed the time when we were young kids, and we had all kinds of alternative rules for our games due to being in someone's backyard and near house windows. An assortment of bases, too, of course ~ mainly tossed shoes and frisbees, I think.

Seems like there's no time TO pass these days, though. It's all hurry and scurry and deadline and multi-tasking.  No seventh inning stretch in today's fast-paced culture. Maybe that's why I enjoy baseball so much?  It's an excuse to sit and enjoy the springtime surroundings, observe people in the stands, chat with friends, and watch the mental strength, amazing reflexes, and physical abilities of the players.  You have to be smart and strong to play baseball.  The rules are intricate, and so is the strategy. I'm still learning the ins and outs of the game.  Why did the catcher tag the batter?  Why did that guy get to take an extra base? What in the world is a balk?  How come the runner ran back to base before running home?  Why didn't that run count? He's required to slide?  Why?

Kory's team plays in the Western Massachusetts Semi-Finals tonight, which is SO exciting. It also presents a bit of a dilemma, though.  The dilemma is that Kory and I have plane reservations to fly to Texas on Monday. I was gambling on them being all done with the season AND the playoffs by this weekend.  I even searched the date of last year's state championship finals and they were on June 10, 2012.  This year's June 10 is on Monday, and it is the latest day we can fly out to meet all of the obligations we're hoping to.

Kory's orientation at Baylor is on the 13th and 14th next week, and I have a training for Classical Conversations in Austin on the 11th, 12th, and 13th.  It seemed like the perfect opportunity to go to Texas together.  I could check in on my dad, see my sisters, get in my required training hours AND drive Kory to his orientation and participate in a couple of parent meetings, etc.

I thought I had all the bases covered.

I even touched base with a friend of mine in Waco, who we plan to stay with on Thursday night.

If Kory's team wins tonight, then the next game will probably be this weekend or early next week, and my baseball-loving-varsity-playing senior son has informed me with great clarity that he will NOT be missing any games.  Not that I would want him to, but it does make my plans for next week still sort of hit or miss right now.

When he played tee-ball, I couldn't have cared less if they made the playoffs or not, but high school is a whole different ball game. They have been up against the team they play tonight two other times and lost both times, AND they will have to use pitcher #2 tonight, as the #1 pitcher is resting up after Monday night's win.

Definitely down to the last out tonight, and I honestly do want them to win, even if it fouls up my plans for next week a bit.  I certainly don't want Kory to miss a playoff game and he won't, but he'll strike out on next week's orientation and hopefully be up to bat at orientation the following week, but I, myself, don't really want to miss any future playoff games either, and I HAVE to be in Austin next week.

Doesn't Baylor know that New England schools are in session until the end of June?  The only orientations they offer are IN June.  I'm thinking they don't get a lot of Yankees in Waco.  We're throwing them a curveball by sending a Massachusetts kid to campus, it seems.

Here's hoping Kory's team will  knock it out of the park tonight, and then Monday morning, right off the bat, we'll still be able to travel to Texas for a whole new ballgame = college freshman orientation!

Impossible Pace, Inscrutable God

 Sometimes the pace of life seems impossible due to things out of my control, but in the case of the Mother's Day Half Marathon, the pace was within my control, and I chose to go faster than ever before, shaving 6 whole minutes off my previous personal record.  It was all Betsy's fault, really.  If I wanted to carry on conversations with her during the 13.1 miles of running, then I had to keep up with her, and her pace was fast.  I'd like to think I was pushing her, too, though, because she took 8 minutes off her previous half-marathon time!  A sharpening friendship in many ways, this one.  She made me do an "Insanity" workout with her on Thursday morning instead of our usual weekly run, and now I'm sore all over again, and in places I did not know you could be sore.  Anyone ever had sore arches?  Ouch!

You probably can't tell from these next photos, but because of the morning marathon pace, and then sitting still through our church service right afterward, I was SO SORE.  The kids came home from church after the early service and put together an incredible picnic and cookout in the backyard.

 The silk Gerber daisies each had a descriptive word on them ~ 2 from each kid and Robert.  They each told me why they chose the word they did, and it was very sweet.  And it was all very normal until we got to Cooper's word choices for me, one of which was "feng shui." He actually pulled off the explanation and connection pretty well, but I don't think I can actually repeat his sentiments, as they were, you know, unique to Cooper, and everyone knows he is his own man.  Original.  Mold broken.

Let's see...how many takes does it take for a mom to get a decent picture with her kids.  Keep in mind the photographer is a bit reluctant in that capacity as well.

 So, the next time you catch yourself thinking that Facebook or this blog are totally authentic and transparent and also perfectly accurate representations of life around here, and that life is perfect, think again.  This was painful, to say the least.  And I was sore, and therefore grumpy, but we managed to get this next one, which is pretty decent.

 I tortured the whole crew by making them drive a mile to the UMass campus where I had seen these gorgeous blooming trees on my way home from the half-marathon.  Kory got behind the camera, and managed {again, after MANY tries} to get this one.

Mother's Day was three days before my last day of teaching Challenge I for the year.  It was a grueling day of final exams.  These poor kids had to sit for FIVE final exams in the subjects of algebra, Latin, physical science, government, and philosophy. Their brains were fried by 3pm. Good thing a couple of their moms planned a hike at the end of the day complete with ice cream sundaes waiting at the top of the mountain!  I managed to catch half the class on the way up.  These are really wonderful, bright, kind kids who know how to make me laugh and have tons of fun.  I so enjoyed having them in class and am very thankful that Cooper was surrounded by such incredible peers this year.

Then, the very next day, quite early in the morning, we packed him a couple of breakfast sandwiches, and sent Kory off to Cooperstown, NY with his team to play baseball at Doubleday Field at The Baseball Hall of Fame.  We followed a couple of hours later, to watch Amherst play rival team Northampton on this historic field in the birthplace of baseball ~ a very special opportunity for everyone!

 Baseball, baseball, everywhere!  Loved it!

We walked around town and got coffee before making the three hour trek home.  Kory and his team were treated to dinner on their way home at a place called Red Neck BBQ.  In upstate New York. MmmmHmmm. Yep.  His only comment was "It wasn't Rudy's."  ☺

A couple of weeks later it was "Senior Night" at a home game.  Seniors were introduced and given engraved commemorative Doubleday Field bats, the college they would be attending was announced, moms got a hug and a rose, and then we won the game.  Great night except for the frigid temps. 40 degrees and windy.  I wore wool socks, a scarf, mittens, and wrapped up in a blanket. Football weather.  Not baseball weather.  Brrrrrr.....

 And somewhere in the middle of all of that, Robert took a team of 17 folks from our church to the Dominican Republic for a week long mission trip. He says it was the best, most successful, meaningful mission trip he's ever been on. They went mainly to begin construction on a cistern and water system for a village and community outside of Santo Domingo.

You can only see a small fraction of it, but they dug a huge hole that is now being lined with cement and used to collect water that will soon be used, via a new pump system, to take water to about 100 families in the community.  They also participated in a couple of church services where Robert preached through an interpreter {one of the guys from our church!} and a few from our church group shared testimonies of God's work in their lives. They did find a bit of time to hang out at a nearby resort, and he tortured me by posting photos of himself on a white sand beach with crystal clear blue water.  Cold and grey here the whole time he was gone. He came home very tired, but very encouraged by all that the Lord had accomplished in the time there.

I'm still reading through the Bible from cover to cover for the first time, and I've made it to Isaiah, which I really can't read without a commentary nearby, but still, I love it.  Two days ago I landed on chapter 40 which you probably know with its many often-quoted verses.  These are the ones that struck me this time...

Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the Lord, and the justice due me escapes the notice of my God."? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired.  His understanding is inscrutable.

Isaiah 40: 27-28

As I said before, this blog is often-times a shiny, glowing facade of the nitty-gritty real life that truly goes on around here.  Truth be told, there was conflict over going to Cooperstown, there was conflict over the trip to the D.R., there were lots of tears, revealed fears, deep disappointments, and weeks of relational strain both in and out of this house, and financial struggle was just the icing on the cake of stress and tension and misunderstandings around here.

For one of the first times in a very long time, I wondered if God even cared.  If He could even see my obvious need for justice {in my favor and on my behalf, of course}, my faithfulness, my obedient kindness, and my generosity which rightly and obviously deserved reward.

I hope you can hear the sarcasm.

Unfortunately, those were real, non-sarcastic thoughts before I read those words in Isaiah.

The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired.  His understanding is inscrutable.

Not only does He see.  Not only does He care.  He understands me and the goings-on of my seemingly impossibly-paced life better than I do.  His understanding is inscrutable.  It is deep and purposeful and mysterious and good and can not always be understood by me. As hard as I might try and scrutinize it, study it, figure it out, pin it down...it simply can not be fully scrutinized here.

But it can be trusted.

I'm praying that He will strengthen me to entrust myself to that truth, and in the mean time I'll keep posting and writing about the many gifts and joys that He so graciously and generously allows in my undeserving life.

Gluten Free Friday ~ Popsicles, finally!

 Finally!  Finally I'm taking a few moments to post on my blog, which I just realized has lost it's free template graphics I installed years ago.  Goodbye cute scroll-y flowers in the left side bar. Hello, "Sorry. This person moved or deleted this image." Didn't that Photobucket member realize that her free blog template design offered many years ago would become my forever blog design??? Gonna have to finally do a makeover around here, I guess! Finally {tomorrow, maybe?} I hope to post again about all that's been going on around here from mother's day half-marathons, to trips to the Cooperstown, NY, to mission trips to the Dominican Republic, and more.

And FINALLY it has hit 90 degrees in these parts. We've had a couple of spurts of 70-80 degree sunny days, but for the most part it's been clouds, and grey skies, and rain, and thunderstorms, and that was only  after what seemed like THE longest winter on the books.  Tomorrow is June for goodness' sake.  I don't know if I'll ever get over the length of winter and the brevity of the sunshine and heat around here, but we're trying to enjoy it to the fullest while it lasts, and popsicles are a necessary component of the complete summer experience, of course.  Everyone knows that.

 Exactly one week ago today, I was sitting in the bleachers under a blanket, wearing a thermal fleece jacket, gloves, and a scarf while still shivering through one of Kory's last baseball games of the season. 40 degrees and whipping winds blew the thought of popsicles into the seeming distant future, but today we're making and enjoying them in 94 degree heat.  It's wonderful.  Now, if only I could get in an inner tube and float down the Guadelupe or Frio river... ☺

I've already posted a few "pop" recipes, but these are new.  They both use coconut milk, and don't require much extra sweetener due to the bananas.  They are super-healthy, fresh-fruity and delicious.  Here are the recipes inspired by a couple of different smoothies I came across in a Whole Living magazine.

Strawberry Coconut Popsicles

2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries
1 banana
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tsp lemon juice
1 cup water
dash of stevia or 1 Tbsp honey to sweeten

Blend all ingredients in food processor or blender.  Pour into molds and freeze.  Remove from molds, wrap in wax paper, and store in large Ziploc bags in freezer.

Creamy Mango Popsicles

4 cups fresh or frozen mango
1 cup coconut milk
1 banana
1/2 cup orange juice
dash of stevia or 1 Tbsp honey to sweeten

Follow same blending/freezing/storing directions as above

Hope you are finally able to enjoy some summer fun this weekend wherever you are.  I'm headed out to my picnic table to soak in the sunshine and finally make up for my vitamin D deficiency!

Sweet & Spicy Quinoa Porridge {& Running power}

It's going to be 80 degrees and sunny here today!  Robert and I went for a run this morning, and then had our tea and breakfast out on the picnic table.  I could smell the lilacs blooming in my neighbor's yard. Hoping the vitamin D would give me a little burst of health and strength, I lay down on the bench to more fully soak up the beaming sunshine for a while.  I have been feeling pretty terrible this week.  It's not a cold or a stomach virus, thankfully.  I think it's just stress and fatigue, but I've been in denial about that.  There's been so much to do and no breaks in between.  All good stuff, too ~ Protocol Night, shopping for groceries and supplies, final small group meetings, baptisms, the senior/graduation church dinner, a class debate and presentations, preparation to teach, assorted appointments, and on top of all of that I thought it would be a good idea to run a local Mother's Day Half Marathon this Sunday with my friend Betsy.  This meant that I needed to start running more than the usual six miles three times a week.  So, on Wednesday, after a CRAZY Tuesday, I ran 10 miles to get in one last long run.  I think it really did me in.

Usually, running has the opposite effect.  It makes me feel great.  So much so that I don't like missing my usual running days, but this week I'm pretty sure I overdid it.  There were just too many other high energy activities leading up to that run, and I got pretty depleted, I guess. So, I've been trying to take it easy the last couple of days. We're still planning to run the half-marathon on Sunday at 8am, so pray for strength and stamina if your think of it!

Speaking of the need for strength and running power, this breakfast cereal would be a great pre-race {if you are able to eat before you run, which I am not!}, or post race recovery meal with it's protein and fruit.  It's also delicious and healthy any day of the week.  I've fallen in love with cardamom in the last couple of years ever since I had the cardamom coffee at The Hampton Chutney Co. in New York City.  Then I discovered that the flagship Whole Foods in Austin, TX can serve cardamom coffee with coconut milk for creamer, which is truly amazing!  Anyway, this porridge has some of my favorite flavors in it, and is adapted from a recipe I found in a Whole Living magazine a while back.

Sweet & Spicy Quinoa Porridge

1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk {or almond milk}
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp cinnamon
more coconut milk to pour over
honey or stevia to sweeten
fresh fruit to layer
chopped, roasted almonds to top

Bring the quinoa, coconut milk, water, vanilla, salt, and spices to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer covered for 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.  Let rest for a few minutes and then fluff with a fork. Layer quinoa, fruit, nuts, more coconut milk, and honey in a mug or bowl and enjoy!

Catchin' Up {but not really...}

Don't know how I ever found time to blog for 40 plus days during Lent, but it was such a good and healing experience for me. Today I'm sitting down catch up here when I really have a million other obligations awaiting. But I can hardly move this morning after the activity level of the past few weeks, so at least I can sit here at the dining room table and tell you what's been going on around here...

Cooper turned 16! Can hardly believe this.

We celebrated a bit early with friends and a cookout and ice cream cake and basketball. He's blessed to have such a great group of friends.

The reason we celebrated early was because we had to leave the day after his birthday and drive to Cape Cod for the wedding of Lamar and Tamara. Lamar is a long time member of our church, and Tamara will join him here when they get back from honeymooning. Incredible testimonies of God's grace in each of their lives made the celebration extra-special.  Robert and I stayed with a DELIGHTFUL retired couple in their beautiful Cape home for the night which was also such a highlight of our time away. We even got in a morning run to the beach, and returned to one of the most amazing homemade breakfasts either of us have ever had!

We made a stop in Providence, RI on our way back to home to have dinner with my old friend from MIDDLE SCHOOL ~ Mike and his wife Leslie.  It is just guaranteed laughter and good times with these two.  Mike will soon be a Colonel in the Air Force, and we were thankful to catch them in our neck of the woods before they head to Colorado Springs for their next assignment.

And then there's baseball.  Everyday, baseball.  It's either a baseball practice or a baseball game or washing baseball uniforms {WHITE ONES WITH MAROON EMBELLISHMENTS} or packing lunches or driving to away games or deciding who will use what vehicle to go where, etc.  But, I do love baseball and have been trying to be at as many games as possible.  I will really miss sitting out at a spring baseball games after Kory graduates.  Cooper doesn't even acknowledge baseball as a sport, so no chance of future games for me after this season!  It will be cross country and basketball from here on out!

Classical Conversations days and weeks have been especially full, too.  We've had presentations, and quizzes, and debates...

Noah and Ryan are debating whether or not gun control legislation reduces crime and violence here.

 ...and more presentations and End of Year Celebrations.

This is Kayla presenting on the things her class does in Challenge B to a gathering of about 200 Classical Conversations parents and children at our church.

 And though we still have two weeks left of class, our end-of-year Protocol Night was last night.  We've been reading bits of Protocol Matters in class and discussing the hows and whys of protocol and etiquette.

Even practiced proper table settings in class...

...and then got dressed up last night to practice all of our appropriate attire and good manners in semi-formal settings.  Coop shopped for some new clothes, got a lesson in ironing, and then got to pose for photos with mom.  He didn't even mind it that much. ☺

 I have loved tutoring these kids every Tuesday this year!

 With students and parents we had a party of 23 last night for dinner at a historic New England Inn in Essex, CT ~ The Griswold Inn, and then attended a musical at the historic Goodspeed Opera House nearby.

 This is a gorgeous and quintessential New England area ~ near where Long Island Sound and the Connecticut river come together, and I can hardly wait to go back and soak in more of it than we were able to yesterday.  We saw the musical "Good News" which takes place in the 1920's on a college campus.  So funny and highly entertaining!

Got home about 12:30am last night and am feeling pretty worn out this morning.  Looking at a very full weekend of birthday parties, church meetings, final small group gatherings, baptisms on Sunday afternoon, and a senior dinner at my house on Sunday evening.  Tuesday holds another debate on childhood vaccinations, philosophy presentations, science research papers due, more baseball...

Seems like each day brings more opportunities to be completely dependent on the Lord for strength and sustaining. "Catching up," I'm learning, is not something I'm going to be able to accomplish at all, really, and certainly not without grace and power from Christ.  Life feels very out of control lately, but it's really only out of my control.  I'm learning to trust that His control is much better than mine anyway.

Hope to be back here soon!  I even have a couple of recipes I want to post.  We'll see...

Decisions, Intercessions, Accusations

Decisions:

I'm so relieved, but now I'm having trouble sleeping!  Last night I kept having crazy college dreams and obsessive thoughts about the logistics of getting Kory to Texas for all of the necessary college activities this summer now that he knows where he will attend. {Lord willing, of course...}

Kory was in complete agony all last week trying to make a wise decision about what college to attend.  I think I only made it worse for him by sending him to Texas over the Easter weekend and through the next week to visit two of the schools he had been accepted to, but had never visited.  My sister, Melinda, graciously and generously offered to register him for official visits and them take him to the two schools ~ one of which is her alma mater ~ Abilene Christian University. {She also made VERY late and VERY early drives to the Austin airport to transport him.  Thank you, sis!}

He was treated like a KING at ACU!  Reserved parking spot with his name on it, personal tours, free t-shirts, amazing gluten free foods in the dining hall {he texted me a photo of his GF hot dog, hamburger and cupcake!}, lots of personal attention, and the added perk of many personal connections because of Melinda's friendships with the faculty and staff there.  He came away loving it.  He also found out that the son of dear friends of ours in Texas ~ actually Robert's best friend and college roommate ~ was planning to attend ACU and that made the draw to ACU even stronger.

He was really leaning toward ACU and had even switched his Baylor key chain to an ACU one.  He told several people that's where he would most likely attend.  I was ready to put down his deposit and register him for orientation so that we could get our summer schedule finalized!

Intercessions:

To say that I've been on my knees in prayer constantly about this would only be a slight exaggeration. And then in my interceding for Kory, the Lord seemed to not only be reassuring me that He was going to provide for Kory's education, but that the best place for him would be Baylor.  Robert seemed to be getting the same message.  We checked in with Kory every day, and he would respond with an agonizing "I don't know."  At the end of the week I asked him if it would help him if we told him what school we thought was the best choice, and his response was "No." Ha!  I kept praying and praying that the Lord would confirm it to ALL of us.  {Cooper and Kayla have always been certain of Baylor!}  You should see my journal.  The persistent widow was, and am I about this whole college thing!  Every page has pleadings for clear discernment and abundant financial provision.

Then on Saturday morning, he was up early and began talking with Robert at the kitchen table.  As they talked about pros and cons, Robert suggested that Baylor was the best choice for majoring in business.  It actually has the same accreditation as ACU, but is still valued more highly in the business world.  Baylor also has at least a couple of perks for pastor's kids in the way of yearly scholarships. Kory agreed and decided on Baylor ~ which had always been his top choice until his mother sent him to Texas to experience two more schools! Now that we've put down the deposit, and it's official, I keep asking him if he's happy.  He assures me that he is.  "Any regrets?" I inquire.  Nope.  He's just excited now.  And glad the decision making process is over!

Accusations:

And this is a bit unrelated {or maybe not?} but many intercessions have been made on behalf of Kayla this morning.  I wondered why she was in such a quiet funk this morning.  As she came to tell me goodbye ~ off to do schoolwork with her Daddy at their favorite coffee shop ~ she told me that she had a bad dream last night ~ really bad.  God, Jesus, Mom, and Dad were all standing before her and telling her that she was ugly and worthless and reminding her of "all the bad things she's ever done."  Satan is so low.  Accusing a little girl and filling her heart and mind with his lies.  We've taught her how to stand firm in Jesus and throw off the lies of the enemy many times, but it still affects her, of course.  As she cried, I prayed for her protection and for strength in Jesus to believe the truth that He loves her and has chosen her to be His daughter ~ thinking her lovely and beautiful in Christ. I told her that the enemy hates it when she fills communion cups at church and helps take care of babies in the nursery so that others can worship.  He despises it when she reads her Bible and prays.  He also hates it when Daddy teaches and proclaims the truth, and he may just be taking all of that out on her.  He is such a coward and a liar who lives to accuse those who trust in Jesus ~ even my little girl ~ who you can bet I will continue to be praying for.

Sigh.  Parenting requires full engagement and yet complete dependence on the Lord for all things.  I really had no idea when I started this journey.  Asking that He continue to strengthen and sustain us in the battle.

Meanwhile....so incredibly thankful that my son will be at such a wonderful school.  So amazed at how the Lord has already provided for the financial obligations required this week.  Continuing to trust Him for the rest of this new adventure.