SOMETIMES PLANS CHANGE

As most of of you know, Silas has been planning on a career as a firefighter for the last three years. Blessed with an awesome opportunity to regularly spend time with one of the shifts at our local fire station, he's learned a lot and enjoyed every minute he's had there. Our family is choosing to use senior years for zeroing in on course work that will directly benefit whatever post-graduation goals are, so the plan has been that he'd start working on his paramedic degree this summer and continue through his last year of high school. He'd then work part-time as a paramedic while earning his firefighting degree. (Disclaimer: I'm sure my terminology is wrong for both of those degrees, but you know what I mean and I can't be bothered to look the correct terms up right now.)

People frequently ask me what I think about him being a firefighter, as it can be a risky profession, and my response is always the same. I think he'd absolutely love the job and be really good at it. It's something I could see him making a lifetime career out of. He's had nothing but positive feedback from the fire department, which just confirms that it would be a good fit.

I've also said he's both a teacher and a leader, traits I've seen in him since he was very young, and I can't imagine him not being in that type of role. Perhaps as a fire chief several years from now, or maybe in some capacity outside of his job, but it would be impossible for him to not teach and lead throughout adulthood. That's something else that's regularly confirmed by people outside of our family.

And I've talked about how I can't imagine him not being in some type of ministry, vocationally or as a volunteer, as he loves the Bible and enjoys serving in a myriad of ways at our church. Again, we consistently get confirmation about that from various sources.

How those three things - firefighting, teaching/leading, and ministry - will all play out is something only time will tell.

Well, time has told us a little something and plans have changed.

Silas recently became the Children's Church Coordinator at our church. It's a job he's well-suited for, was honored to be offered, and is absolutely thrilled to take on. It's a permanent, full-time position, which means his school plan has changed. Or is changing, as the case may be.

He obviously still needs to wrap up high school, but he's setting his firefighting goal aside for the moment. The courses will still be there if and when he decides the timing is right to pursue it again. His new job will take up too much time this summer for him to enroll in summer courses, so we'll be coming up with a new plan for a senior year that starts in the fall. A plan that includes a major shift in direction, but a shift that couldn't possibly feel more natural.

As is the case with every person and circumstance on the planet, we don't what the future has in store. That being said, we're confident he's moving in the right direction for this particular point in time and are excited to see the personal growth that comes from this change of plans.

Photo credit: Athey Creek Christian Fellowship

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for good things happening in a friend's life. What's one thing that you're thankful for?

THE RUBBER BAND

Two Sundays ago five Ws (Silas missed because of work) and some friends loaded up in a van and went to hear The Rubber Band perform in Concert School of Music's XLR Showdown at Mississippi Studios in Portland. The band was comprised of four kids we're friends with, as well as another girl and the band's instructor. 

It was so fun to listen to them play! Bonus points for the fact they won the competition. As I said on FB that day, this group of kids rocks. Literally and figuratively. 

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for people who are willing to share about their personal experiences in order to help others in similar situations. What's one thing that you're thankful for?

HANGING OUT AT HAYWARD

The little Ws, Natie, and I went to Hayward Field today to visit Tim on his lunch break. We couldn't enter the work site, but we stood outside the fence with him while he pointed out various things and explained what was going on. It was a lot of driving for a short visit with a limited view of what's going on with the renovation, but I'm still glad we went. The road trip was a chance for people to read, listen to music, chat, and nap, and I think it's important for kids to see where their parents go when they head off to work each day.

QUICK ROAD TRIP

Last Wednesday Tim suggested I go on a day trip to see Sonja and I woke up on Thursday to a message from her suggesting I make it an overnight trip. So, on Friday morning I left for 36 hours. It was wonderful!

I spent the first part of my trip chatting with a friend on the phone, then cranked some tunes for the next two hours. I finally made it to her place and we ran some errands together in the afternoon. 

We took her kids to a park for quite a while once errands were done, then I got to goof off with them in the evening. Hence the bagel hats we're all sporting.

Sonja tucked the kids in, then she and I stayed up late talking about all sorts of things and eating cookies that brought back memories from about 25 years ago. Saturday we eased into out day, ran some more errands, then picked up her mom to go with us to an event for the kids. I loved having time to catch up on life with Susan!

I also got to see Sonja's brother, sister-in-law, nephews, and dad for the first time in ages while I was there, but don't have any pictures to prove it.

Back to the kids. Are these two cute or what?!

Our last stop was a Papa Murphy's right next to the world's last Blockbuster, so I did what any tourist would do and took a picture of myself in front of it.

I joined the crew for dinner, then hit the road for a peaceful drive home. No phone calls. No music. Just quiet.

Time with old friends is always special and the short break from my own routine was nice. I'm so glad Tim suggested the visit and that the logistics worked out for it to be a spontaneous overnight trip!

MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK

In anticipation of having a wood stove next winter, we've gathered wood recently. Lots and lots and lots of wood. Some had already been moved to our back yard, but a significant portion of our driveway was still covered in a huge pile of wood in various sizes. 

The kids and I always have a late start on Thursdays, sleeping until our bodies naturally wake up. So I figured five well-rested Ws with nowhere to go and a gray day without rain was the perfect combination for getting a decent amount of wood moved out of the driveway. We put in about an hour carrying manageable pieces of wood and loading big ones on the dolly. 

We worked hard, but there was also laughter and goofing off. Like when my endcap kids decided to play logger games. Silas and Tyler faced off on their respective logs.

Then they tried to knock each other off. The victory was swift. Tyler, with a big grin, responded immediately with, "Well, that didn't go well!"

Then reinforcements showed up in the form of our neighbors, Tino and Gabi. Awesome!

They helped out for our second hour of work and we ended up getting all the wood moved. All of it!! Folks, there were some gigantic rounds in that pile. Naomi, Gabi, Tyler, and I finished off the last of the wood we could lift, then the little boys and I went inside to set up a sandwich bar for everyone. Tino, Silas, and Devon joined efforts to take care of the last giant pieces, while Naomi took care of little random tasks to finish off the project. Teamwork for the win!

We debated whether or not to send Tim a picture of the empty driveway, but opted not to. Instead, I sent him a text asking if we could make wood a priority in the evening since the weekend will be busy and all 6 Ws were home. He confirmed that was the plan and we let him think he'd have to put in some manual labor after work. It wasn't until he pulled into the driveway hours later that he discovered we'd already finished the job before I ever sent the text.

It wasn't exactly light work, but it definitely went quickly with seven people working together!