When I agreed to take on an additional role of working through the process of admissions with international students, I wasn't sure what to expect...but I knew it may be complicated.  There are a lot of things to learn about VISA regulations and making sure everything is reported correctly to Homeland Security.  Plus, there is sometimes a language barrier or challenge in communicating essential requirements and expectations for admission to these students.  However, there are days like today when I get to meet a student....tour them around campus....talk to them and ask them to tell me their story...that make my job so fulfilling.  Today, I met a foreign exchange student from Thailand.  She has been in the States for a couple years and came to accept Christ while she has been here.  Coming out of a Buddhist family tradition, it doesn't sound like she will have overwhelming support from home....but, she has a burning desire to become educated in Business and Ministry and her passion is to go back, start a business in Thailand and use it to advance the Gospel of Christ.  It is such a privilege to meet these REAL people....she has already seen struggle and has experienced what it means to GO somewhere unfamiliar to her...I love that she already has such a strong sense of purpose in knowing Christ...and she is intentionally going after it!

Sunshine, On My Shoulders Makes Me.....

....have my personal best FARMER'S TAN ever!  OUCH!  

Usually, I am not one to soak up that much sun, so I am wondering if some of the medication I have been taking for my head cold made me sun sensitive.....haha!  I made fun of Brad after he came home from Cedar Point for his Farmer's Tan....now we match and I may be worse....I am getting redder and redder as the day progresses....that should teach me to pick on him :P

We had a great day at the Memorial Day Parade in Spring Arbor, MI.  Savannah marched with the Western High School Band's Color Guard....she just found out she will be a captain next year :)  AND, Kassi, Danielle, and Karly got to walk with their gymnastics classmates.  I think it was a LONG walk for them, but they enjoyed doing it.  We also had fun hanging out with family and friends for a cookout and games.  The Memorial Day Parade is always a time for Brad to catch up with a bunch of his friends from years ago.

Danielle, sort-of waving at us over there...not sure she wants to acknowledge the crazy people yelling her name.

Vannah, with the Western High School Color Guard.

Kassi was excited to pull the wagon.

Karly, handing out candy....she did one front walkover for us :)

McKenna was the only one who didn't march this year and the girls were trying to make her collect candy for them....you know she's a teenager now, right.....and she didn't want to run out multiple times into the road to get the candy, so she told them no and they whined.  I laughed so much because we were toward the end of the parade route on M-60 so all these people that had leftover candy were just walking over to her and dumping handfuls of the candy in her lap...she didn't even get up and we took a big bag of candy home.

Here's a funny picture....my friend Chrissy, who we spent time with yesterday, made a poster of me playing Kan Jam with the HULK gloves on...

"Better than honor and glory and history's iron pen, was the thought of duty done and the love of his fellow-men."  

~Richard Watson Gilder~

A Smashing Good Time!

The girls grilled!!!  Well, actually it was Chrissy, but we helped baste the ribs with sauce and clean up when pieces of tender meat would accidentally fall off the bones while she was flipping them....it was the least we could do :P Savannah may have some rib meat in her mouth in this picture.  That looks like an "I have been sneaking rib meat" smile!

Chrissy is a true GRILL MASTER....

Savannah is Chrissy's apprentice....she is learning to grill with her eyes closed....interesting training!

We had some fun playing Poison Croquet and then got ready for KAN JAM against Chrissy and Jeff....I love this game, but I always get injured...seriously, it is weird that hitting the fisbee can bruise all my blood vessels in my hands and fingers and make them swell up so much.  Chrissy said it was fine because we were only minutes away from an E.R.....LET THE GAME BEGIN! The way Karly was wearing the can made me want to say, "NI"

The kids made up an Xtreme Corn Hole game using the trampoline :)

See what happens to my hands when I play Kan Jam?  HAHA!  I wasn't lying about my hands getting swollen and injured so they brought these HULK fists out for me to wear to protect my hands.  I thought that was hilarious....HOWEVER, I actually played really well with them on....Brad and I won!

Gotta wait for the perfect moment to smash it into the KAN...thanks Chrissy and Jeff for thinking of this creative solution....I think Brad is planning to buy these for me for my birthday so we can play more Kan Jam now....this will definitely catch on...I am sure of it!

I try to throw very accurately to protect Brad's delicate hands :P  

He is so focused!  Look at that form!

Later Savannah put on the Hulk fists....see...I told you this would catch on!  

A text I got from Chrissy later:

Just imagine how many people are saying this today!

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. ~Philippians 1:21~

When I saw this picture, I wanted to ask someone what it is like when you are handed a flag in honor of a loved one who has served their country....it must be an amazingly meaningful moment.

There is great honor in dying for a noble cause!  I think when we think of the verse....to me to live is Christ and to die is gain....we often skip over the first part of the verse and think on how wonderful Heaven will be...all of our troubles vanish...no more pain....or sorrow....plus the perk of flying (without the fear of heights) :P  BUT, the GOOD fight is LIVING AS CHRIST....every aim at being like HIM, sharing the Good News of HIM, knowing HIM, experiencing HIS forgiveness, mercy, grace and endless love to the fullest, and understanding His sacrifice.

To Live Is Christ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXL0dTzK5mc

Looking For A Great Dairy Free Dessert....

S'mores Brownies are DAIRY FREE? YAHOO!!

Wait for it...wait for it.....GOLDEN BROWN!

I hope these are delish because I bought enough ingredients to make a second batch :P

Fun Times At Danielle's Official Birthday Party!

She already said she wants to go back to Allskate for her next party :)

She's getting the hang of it....and I surprised myself and didn't fall.  The first time around was ROUGH (in all caps :)  but, after that, I got my groove on...ha!

The cash cube chaos when all your friends are yelling at you to grab "THAT ONE....NO, THAT ONE!!!"....

She was pretty happy with her take...and during the party Karly WON a party...haha!  Looks like we are really going to be making friends with the skate staff :P

Kenna was my assistant helper on the rink....just in case the girls needed extra attention because some of them had never skated....it was a lot of fun and I am thrilled that Danielle had a great time!

Brad Says It's My Turn

Looking forward to Danielle's roller skating party tonight :P  I know I will be called upon to help the girls skate....hope I can stay up for that challenge. 

Scars And Stripes Forever

I was thinking about the facials we did last night and the makeup that Queen Amidala wears...I am happy the girls still think it is funny to dress up....after being princesses, they all dressed in crazy mismatched clothes and called themselves the three dork-kateers :P I had so much fun with that as a kid and, even now, love the opportunities where I can justify it for myself.  But, Queen Amidala's lip makeup is called the scar of remembrance...it marks a time of war before there was peace in the story.  Kassi was talking about the character of Anakin last night and lamenting his fate...wishing it would have been different for him and then she said, "Mom, I sort-of think Star Wars helps us to understand the Bible and how we need God" ....are any analogies perfect?  No, maybe not, but I like when I see evidence of critical thinking and depth pertaining to spiritual matters...so we talked about the correlations a bit.

This morning my head cold is preventing me from the luxury of oversleeping....so I was thinking about the Amidala scar of remembrance and what we celebrate this weekend....it is marked to help us remember and honor our fallen...to think about the devastation of war....which, I think should make us long all the more for peace.

A day is intentional....but, scars are daily reminders...scars are pretty cool when you think about them.  I mean, God wanted the mark to remain...to remind, right?  Otherwise, He could have made the healing process cover over the wound like nothing ever happened....but, He wanted it to look different so we would take note and maybe learn from our mistake or remember the event which brought us the mark....they also give us stories to tell if we are willing.

"Sin has a way of leaving its scar behind as a reminder of it's cruel effect upon the lives of everyone it touches.  It left Adam and Eve it's reminder everyday as they labored for their existence. It left it's reminder with every woman who has born a child.  Some scars are so pronounced that others are reminded of how we were touched by it.  Some scars are left as a badge of disgrace that some will never let us put behind us.  And there are those that can be seen in the Savior's hands, feet and side where He was pierced for our transgressions.  May the scars of your life be a remembrance to you that someone loved you far beyond the undeserved scars that were given to Him because of us"

~By The Grace Of God Devotional~

Beautiful Scars - Steven Curtis Chapman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPcyUS9_ljk

Back By Popular Demand

Well, first they chose Mac n Cheese.....Star Wars Mac n Cheese.....

with a veggie stir-fry...of course....gotta boost the antioxidant levels and immune system :)

AND then.......Queen Amidala facials

This is just such a great idea when someone in the family is sick and nobody is going anywhere...

These girls were such good helpers for me tonight as we were trying to get the house cleaned for Danielle's birthday gathering tomorrow!

I'll Get Right To The Point

CEDAR POINT!

Kenna and Vannah...with Brad as a chaperone...got to go to Cedar Point today with the 

Western Middle School band.

Vannah is helping to lead the Middle School Color Guard....that's her on the left looking very concerned about their hand positions...her flag is invisible!!...(it's the Nyquil...really. :)

There's Kenner....the second one with the flag on the right side...Brad said the march through Cedar Point took a whole 7 minutes....well, if you compare that to the time you are on a COASTER...that's a super long parade....it's all relative!

Kenna and her gang...

Vanner with her other high school friends who help with the middle school band.

:)  SELFIES....gotta love 'em

Summer head cold...right on time :P  

Maybe I can get it out of the way and breathe easy for the rest of the summer.

I finally captured freedom

I held it in my hands

It crashed against each finger

escape became it's impassioned plan

now my knuckles clench tighter daily

to keep freedom secure

and all my efforts and toil in life

have gradually fallen under one rule...

I cannot set freedom free

If I release freedom and let it fly, to life, away

will I ever return to that sweetest place

where freedom feels at peace to land--

to rest upon my open hands?

Release...Let go....if you are like me that is so hard...I want certain outcomes and I think I can make them happen.  I know there are so many decisions in my life where my actions do influence my outcomes, but I have a hard time admitting when something is totally beyond me and letting go of my frustration, anxiety or my own stubbornness in trying to change these things...it's the whole "and the wisdom to know the difference" part of the serenity prayer that trips me up.  I used to think so highly of my abilities to solve problems....but I'm learning that most things (if not all things) can't be held...all things are at the liberty of GOD's omniscience to give and take away.  Open hands are the sign of a mature Christian who learns that GOD is in control...a person who is in a stance always willing to give away and to receive whatever God wills....trusting.

Kenna's Last Choir Concert

We enjoyed Kenna's last choir concert for the year tonight...the theme was "Homelands" so they sang some fun folk and patriotic songs as well as some songs from other countries.

One of the songs they sang was "Flanders Field" and their director had decided to honor veterans with that song so she emailed all parents earlier in the week for names of some veterans in our families.  I sent in the names of both of my grandpas.  They chose one of my grandpas to honor, so Kenna got to hold up part of a uniform and they made this...

The girls never knew my grandpas because they both passed away during the same year while I was in college, but they enjoy hearing stories about them and it makes me extremely happy that they are still very proud to honor them.

There is just something about that kind of pride..knowing someone you love very much put his entire life on the line for his country....I just want to live in a country that is worthy of that kind of sacrifice...I want to be a citizen that is worthy of all the sacrifices from these brave men and women....remembering fondly my Grandpa Billington and Grandpa Brinker.

Gerald Brinker

MILITARY | STAFF SERGEANT | TAIL GUNNER | 388TH BOMB GROUP
Shot down by fighters on mission to Brunswick on 11 Jan 1944 in B-17G #42-37867 'Berlin Ambassador. ' Prisoner of War (POW). Am w/ Oak Leaf Cluster/ ETO w/ 2 battle stars/ PH/ POW

I hear the Savior say, "Thy strength indeed is small....child of weakness watch and pray....find in me thine all in all."

Look Up Here...Look Up Here :)