Busy

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Randy Frazee, author of Making Room for Life and our pastor at Irving Bible Church, would not approve. I just filled in October and November and December on our little wall calendar, and they are FULL! Not only are they full, but there are multiple places where Craig and I will have to struggle to find someone to watch the kids, much less have dinner together. There will be many days of hand-offs and tag team parenting.

We've known from day one that we didn't want to live like this. That is was important to have a schedule that allowed for intentional time as a family and for spontaneous time with our neighbors. I'm not saying that the next three months will be completely void of those things, but they will be few.

The weird thing, then, is how excited I am about the next three months, and their busy-ness. My mom always said that I do best under pressure, and I think she might be right. Jonas has choir Tuesday and Thursdays after school, theatre on Tuesdays after school, and cub scouts Tuesday evenings. I have theatre on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Carleigh has ballet on Tuesdays and girl scouts on Thursdays. Craig works late Mondays and does marketing work most Saturdays. Sundays have worship and Table Group. This means that Fridays are our only non-scheduled days and we will need to keep them sacred, to an extent. I couldn't be much happier!

I don't want our lives to continue at this pace for long, but I see no harm in the next 3 months. And if you look at it, the time is more like 2 months, since everything wraps up mid-December. So, that's even better!

I wonder if the fall is like this for most families with kids. What about yours? Have you kept this pace up for longer than a season? How does your family handle it? Do you make intentional time to be together, or are you happy with what you can get when you get it?

Retreat

Our family is currently facing some big decisions. But what's new? It seems we are in a state of limbo every 3-4 years. And we've been in the Houston area exactly 4 years on October 31st. Yeah, that was the day I walked with Sara through her neighborhood, all 5 of our kids decked out in their trick-or-treat best. Little M was in a wagon, the middle girls looked perfect as Alice in Wonderland and Raggedy Anne, and the boys were sweaty messes before we rounded the first bend. That wagon was FULL of candy by the time we made it back to their house, and Sara and I had downed a mojito or two.

And I said the words "I can't imagine EVER moving to Houston."

Ha. God said "Ha!"

Fast forward almost 4 years later, and we have made a life in Houston. The kids have both started school here, and we've hit important milestones. Jonas lost his first tooth in that apartment in Friendswood. Carleigh learned to ride a bike in our cul-de-sac. Jonas was baptized in the pool at Magnolia Creek. The kids started dance, scouts, and theater. I rediscovered my love for the theater. I ran in my first half-marathon. Craig and I have shed lots of debt, and made some very good friends. Craig has learned a LOT about the business of chiropractic.

In short, Houston, and our life here, has been good.

But it's time to make some decisions. Some of which may very well take us away from Houston. And I can't imagine leaving Houston.

So next week, Craig is going to take some time and he will leave. He is going to go away to think, and pray, and ride his bike. As we talked about him doing this, we realized that he has never done this. In his almost 40 years, he has never gone away from LIFE for any extended period of time to focus on God. We agree that it is time. And I am glad to send him off. He says he feels selfish by doing so, but I say it is in the best interest of the whole family. (I also said he'll owe me, but that's not the point! HA!)

Can you please pray for our little family? Especially that Craig will be recharged by his time away, and we will all benefit.