Where I've been the last two months (long post with photos!)
The greatest challenge in life is fitting everything you have AND want to do inside the few minutes we get each a day. It is just not possible to do everything. So this little blog suffers from time to time. This is one of those stretches in time where the blog suffers for many good reasons.
This past month we've had a few challenges at the house. First it was crunch time for the Darebots, the Regina Caeli First Lego League team. Four seventh graders and one fifth grader (my boy Kalen) make up the team. I'm an assistant coach. I don't know much about the whole process, I just take my cues from my good friend and head coach, Les Levergood. My job is to back him up. He did a great job with the kids by mentoring them along the way. They won the programming award at the qualifier round. This got us invited to super regionals on January 17th in Athens, GA. You are invited to see their blog (which I administer for the kids who provide most of the entries using this link: Regina Caeli Darebots
So what do they do at practices? Build a robot, program the robot and then prepare what amount to basically sales presentations to judges on a special project they had to research. In their briefings they must demonstrate cooperation, teamwork, workflows, cost estimates, and a dozen other items. There is also a wildcard game the kids must work on, to which they must demonstrate their teamwork to solve a complex problem under some sort of constraint (Like giving directions with your back to your partner!) Practices run two to three hours each, and the kids will tell you we still need more time!
But that is not all! I continue to help with youth and parent evangelization at church. So we continue on with Blue Knights, when I am the lead parent for right now. I handle the scheduling and planning. Other Dad's pitch in to get the work done. Since I am working, very little time for photographs there!
Then there is the matter of chaperoning my daughter's first upper class dance at school....oh talk about a heart attack moment! Yep after I swapped out with a family friend as chaperone...three boys asked her to dance. I had to hear about it after the fact.
13 and beautiful! Hanging with the upper schoolers at a sock hop!
Then there was the other work I did, like photograph our first mass in the new St Michael the Archangel Chapel at our school...
The Choir
And of course finishing the Shelby Cobra Project!
Throw in a few family moments at Thanksgiving and Christmas, taking two weeks to clear the flu bug from the family, fixing computers, learning new lessons to get software working right for you in this ever changing world and I am whooped! You heard me right! I said I am whooped!
Some would think that I should slow down...well I will in some ways in the coming year. In other ways I need to keep living and enjoying the moments I get. Life is precious. Caring for others through coaching, evangelization, praying for them, expanding your personal relationship with Christ, defending the country, and being a better Dad/Husband all make life worth living. I still have a long way to go in all those areas. When I get all those things figured out, I think it will be time to rest with the Lord. Until then...I'll try keeping Proverbs and the Sermon on the Mount in my actions a little better everyday.
An one personal request from me to you (if you made it this far). Please keep both the unborn and those wanting children but not so blessed in your prayers. In our journey through the year we had two miscarriages. We met families enduring three, four, five miscarriages on the road to making their family and understood their pain and joys. When you are done praying for those two groups...please pray for people to embrace their role as parents to raise their children in the light of the Word made Man Jesus Christ.
This is a little personal because see we are praying hard that we get to meet a little someone in about 30 weeks...and this is one of the award winning photos of the year right here that I did not even take!
God Bless and Happy New Year!
-ehw
