End of Summer

Well, the summer has officially come to an end in our household...and it came quicker than we expected, but before I get to that I want to give a brief account of what has taken place this summer.

It has been a hot summer, but could have been hotter. :) It seems this summer has gone pretty fast, but then again, don't they all when you get older?
I turned 34 on the 16th of June...wow, I can't believe I am that old. LOL It's just another year closer to 40...YIKES!

We traveled to Sperry, Oklahoma (just north of Tulsa) to celebrate the 4th of July with Michele's parents and brother and his wife. Her step dad Jim cooked some delicious hamburgers on his grill and we had many other side items to fill our plates; including an awesome bean salsa that my wife made. As always when family and food are combined...I tend to eat too much. LOL
Later that evening we ventured over to her brother's house in mid-town Tulsa to see their new home. We got a tour of the house and then Raymond fixed us some awesome coffee drinks. We were able to enjoy these beverages on their back patio and prepared to watch the fireworks. It just so happened that there were thunderstorms looming in the horizon threatening to cancel the show just like many other's were in the state; so they started early. After about 15 minutes into the show as it was just starting to get good...it stopped. We were like, what the heck? why are they done? They didn't do a grand finale. So we just started to talk on the patio and watched the kids chase lightning bugs. We soon left their house and ventured back to Sperry to stay the night with Michele's parents. We later learned that the fireworks show had been cancelled due to a building that held the fireworks had caught on fire due to a malfunctioning mortar.

Prior to the 4th of July, I met with the staff at a local christian college about a position I had been praying about. I really had felt the Lord leading me there in a more full-time role after I lost my job of 2 years on May 18th. I taught PE, Basketball and Track for their christian secondary school last year and was also going to return to do this for next year. They offered me the position and I accepted. While I knew the money was very little, I was believing that the Lord would provide a different avenue that would supplement this income or would increase the offer they provided. When I saw little...I mean less than $18,000 a year and probably more like $15,000 a year. Maybe if I was a single male with no car payment, etc. but not with a family of 4...soon to be family of 5.

So I went ahead and agreed to do this job, but it was conditional waiting for them to write up a contract for me...more on this later.

I then departed the USA on July 7 for Jerusalem, Israel. That was a trip that I will never forget...including a plane ride I will never forget. :) I was in Israel for 2 weeks and received a lot from the Lord that confirmed things I am going to be doing in the future...very awesome. I will be blogging on this trip soon, so I won't be going into details in this blog...stay tuned.

The day I returned from Israel..July 20th..we found out that we were having a baby boy...what a wonderful welcome home present/anniversary present. My wife and I celebrated our 10th anniversary on the 24th of July. What a way to end the week. :) My wife and I went and ate at Zio's Italian Kitchen in Bricktown and then went and watched G-Force in 3D...it was opening night and awesome. We had a lot of fun. We then exchanged gifts and boy was I happy with mine...Michele bought me a really cool OU picture displaying all of the uniforms that the school has had in their football history.

For the next 2 weeks I preceded to go up to the college and train for my new position. I averaged about 4 hours a day in training and learning a lot of what I considered useless information that the Department of Education wants you to know. I had stated prior to my departure to Israel that I would consider my official start date at the college as August 1st. This gave them 3 1/2 weeks to prepare all paperwork and have it ready when I returned. Over the course of the next 2 weeks, the Lord was revealing to me that this was not the position for me.

I did not enjoy doing this job and knew it wasn't for me. I informed the college that I had still not received a contract as of the 8th of August....and they still did not have one ready even after requesting one. I felt in my spirit that I was not committed by anything else since they had not held up their end of the deal and I had more than done mine. In honesty, I was never paid for the 2 weeks of training I gave them at the college nor was I ever offered any pay because the college has no money and neither did the school. Most of the employees are paid whenever they have money available. For example, the school didn't have enough money the last month of school and teachers did not receive a paycheck until the middle of June. This was really an eye opening thing for me that the Lord was revealing to me.

As I had been working at the school I was feeling discomfort. I realized this was not the place for me and I had to break loose. Before my trip to Israel, I felt peace and a release about it...after my trip...I didnt have the peace and didn't feel a release. I knew in my spirit that it wasn't right and so I informed them that I would not be returning to the school. They didn't take to kindly to this and felt I wasn't trusting in the Lord enough and believing for our income. While I have faith, I am not going to abuse it and am not going to go into a job with a family of 5 trusting God for a paycheck every month. I don't have a peace about this kind of behavior. The Lord gave me wisdom and I am going to use it. I am the head of my home and must take care of my family, first and foremost.

Later that week, my wife and I began to talk about where our daughter would go to school for the next year. One of the biggest deciding factors is that I am out of work currently and we do not have $200/month for tuition at the christian school. Aside from the money, we are not completely on board with the "Faith" movement and do not agree with everything they are teaching out there at the school. Thirdly, I know that Alexis would be treated differently with the whole situation of me not being out there. It tends to become a "if you aren't a church member here, then you aren't anyone we want to be around" attitude. Not everyone is that way, but that does happen. I saw this behavior first hand while working out there. You feel like an outcast and not apart of the same team.

We began discussing the school piece on Tuesday and we prayed about where she needed to go to school in the fall and we asked the Lord if it was His will to place her somewhere else, then to please open something up for her. The next morning I called the school we had been talking about and it just so happened that there was a student who had moved and opened a spot up. They placed Alexis in their school and she has thoroughly enjoyed it already. She really likes her new teacher and we love the school....it is a win-win! Also, we have friends whose daughters attend this school and our pastor's wife teaches 4th grade at this school...so it is a good situation and is only 5 minutes from the house! Thank you Lord for answering this prayer!

2 weeks ago, Alexis wrecked a bike she was riding and skinned her knee and elbow. They looked bad, but soon were getting better. Some time last week, Alexis hit her knee on something and re-aggravated it. Last Tuesday morning we noticed lots of red bumps with white heads all over her body and her knee looked bad. I drove her to the doctor where we waited for 2 hours to see the doctor where they confirmed my first thought...Staph infection. Great! They gave her two kinds of antibiotics and sent us on our way...well things have not gotten better, they have gotten worse; except her knee. Alexis' knee is finally looking good and almost healed. The little bumps she had on her body began to grow and become red and swollen and finally one of them popped and oozed blood all over her leg this morning. I knew I would have to get her back to the doctor.

I got her in to the ER at the Indian Hospital and they got her taken care of. They confirmed the Staph infection and gave Alexis an additional antibiotic shot in her hip to help things out. Tonight her wounds look much better and we are praying for complete healing and restoration! We have a follow up appointment on Tuesday. Can't wait for this to be over and done with. Our kitchen has been a war room of sorts...band-aids, antibiotic cream, gauze, q-tips and more. I have played doctor more times this past week than I ever pretended in all the years growing up at home as a child. LOL

Tonight, Alexis had her Missionettes Ball at church. The girls attend Missionettes on Wednesday night. The Ball is a time for them to dress up real pretty and primp themselves. It is a time of recognition for them and to let them shine for a night. The dad's are responsible for escorting their daughters down the aisle and they read information on each girl during the walk to the front. It is a beautiful night and a lot of fun...everyone loves it and the girls look precious!
Afterwards we always have cake and punch to celebrate. We ended up taking more cake home with us...Oh yeah! I can't wait to eat it...and neither can my kids. ;)

While Alexis was getting ready for her evening shower, I went to check on Micah who had disappeared into the kitchen. When I walked around the corner...what I saw was simply precious and I wish I had a video camera rolling. I see Micah walking towards me with the plate of cake in his hands and he had just licked a large section of icing off the top. I was shocked and thought it was funny and said something to him about not getting the cake off the cabinet. Well I must have scared him because he thought he was in trouble and began to cry. He came and sat in my lap and I comforted him. It was so sweet. I couldn't help but laugh about it. My sweet boy just wanted a piece of cake. :) It was so innocent and I know that is how the Lord wants us to be. Innocent and more like a child. Thank you Lord for a child-like innocence and faith.

I know I haven't written anything in a while and my break is over. The Lord is restoring my desire to write and I know it will begin to flow again. My goal is not to write overly, spiritual blogs, but just write whatever is happening and going on in our lives so that I don't forget the small details of life. I am learning to stop and smell the roses and love my family in the process.

Blessings!