Joel Graduates, again~by Beth

Here he is in cap and gown. Joel graduated from Edison State College last night with high honors. He spent three years in high school taking classes, and then this year was a full time student. He now has his AA degree and will be moving on to the University of Florida in August and we become Gator fans. Great job Joel!!

The Dead Sea~by Beth

Here is Mom by the Dead Sea. She looks so beautiful! The water was very comfortable and we were able to photograph the people from our group that decided to take a swim. It was really fun! The other photo is the one of a group of ladies that did not swim, including mom and me. I just loved that day!

On the shore of Galilee~by Beth

Time seems to fly. I just returned from my trip with my mom to Israel. It was great!!! We had a great time, saw some amazing places and met some really wonderful people. Every day we had some sort of devotion and singing, and everywhere we went we had a meditation lead by a pastor. It makes the places in the Bible come alive. I also learned a lot of new Hebrew phrases. I plan to try to practice them so I won't forget them. The first three days were spent in the Galilee area. Near St Peter's Church we went down to walk along the Lake of Galilee (that was after an amazing boat ride and worship time earlier that day). I showed the children the rocks and shells that I collected there. Doesn't this photo just make you want to splash your feet? I have other photos that I hope to post at some point.

You know you’re getting older when…

Last week I was shopping with our three youngest children, Johanna, Abigail, and Stephen. Abigail and Stephen were in a shopping cart while we were going through check-out. The woman behind me noticed Stephen's foot was caught in the cart. "His foot is caught," she said. So I went over to free his foot from the cart, and after doing so she stated, "That's okay, I have grandchildren too."

Now, how would you respond to that? J I told her that these were my children. I guess I look old enough to be their grandpa. The Lord willing, that is coming some day in the future, but for now, we're contented to still be called "Dad."

Soccer Season for Players and Referees

Just when basketball season was completed, soccer season was upon us. This spring we are part of LCHS' soccer teams. We compete in a middle school league, and are playing games from the middle of March through the first week of May. Four of our children are involved in playing, and two more in refereeing. Zachary and David are on the boys' team, Christiana and Charity on the girls' team, and Joel and Caleb are referees for the league. When I say that they are referees for the league I mean it. They are doing all of our games, plus games for three other schools. It's been a blessing for them. They have been refereeing games for the Cape Coral Soccer Association and other competitive soccer, but this gives them more exposure. For example, I'm writing this post on a day when we have both boys' and girls' games which Caleb will ref. Meanwhile, Joel will be at another school doing two games. Then each of them has two other games to ref after that. So while their soccer-playing siblings will each have one game, Joel and Caleb each have four.
 

When I was younger soccer really wasn't that big in the U.S. It was just catching on, and so you couldn't find too many leagues outside of those played by schools. But with soccer being so popular now, our children have been able to participate, and also make some money through refereeing. We're glad for the opportunity for our four soccer players to participate this spring. It is a great P.E. class for them. We're equally grateful that our two referees can work in this position and make some money while doing it.

The state basketball championship~by Beth

We returned late Friday night from Haines City, Fl from our basketball state finals. Our boys took home 4th place with a trophy. We won our first game and played so well. Unfortunately we did not play that way the next day and lost our second game, putting us in the game for third. All in all, it was a good tournament and we enjoyed the fellowship with all the other families. Our girls took first place and they were pretty excited. They had an amazing team and were so fun to watch. Here is a photo of the boys at the tournament.

Basketball 2010~by Beth

The Ambassadors won again last night despite the scrappy play of our opponents. The coaches never encourage retaliation but want the boys and the girls to play for the glory of God. I have so much respect for the players who don't show their frustration amidst body checks, pushing, intentional tripping, and the like. Above are photos of Caleb and Zachary in the game. Caleb is a starter, and Zach comes in as the game begins to wane and we have a good lead. This is Zach's first year on varsity after playing two years of jv and is already showing some promise of being a very good player. In our game last week he shot a three pointer on the buzzer. That made his day! The weeks are busy with 3 and 4 games but they are so fun to go to, chat with friends, and have the children hang out with their friends. I love basketball season.