if God is love

In an effort to keep Jesus at the center of our Christmas season, we set up an advent wreath at our kitchen counter.  I usually download an advent devotional from a well-known Christian publisher and we read the devotional together each night at dinner.

A few nights ago, as I read the devotional, I had to stop and revise the words to reflect what I believe, and what I desire for our kids to believe, to be true.  The devotional described Jesus as a mediator between God and us.  It said God "separated himself from us" as a result of our sin.  I think the devotional has it the wrong way.  What I believe at the very core of my faith is that God is love. (1 John 4:8)  Anything that contradicts this truth is likely a misinterpretation or misrepresentation of the gospel.  When we choose sin, we reject God and separate ourselves from God.  On the surface this may seem  to be a small nuance.  But it's not.  If God is love, God never gives up on us.  We know what love is from 1 Corinthians 13:4-13 (in part):

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails... And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

This advent season, I've been reflecting more on Christ's death than his birth. How he was rejected by the very people he came to rescue from sin. How even when he was rejected, he never stopped loving, he never turned away...

And because Jesus is Emmanuel - "God with us" - we can know with all certainty that God when faced with the rejection of the cross - does not separate himself from us but rather continues to pursue us in the midst of our sin. Now that's good news!

Happy 11th Birthday, Brett!

It’s so hard to believe that Brett is already 11!  He wanted to go to a local hotel with a waterpark for his birthday.  I convinced Lydia she wanted to celebrate her birthday there too, so we could get more bang for our buck. 😜 The waterpark was a lot of fun, and it also had an adventure park (arcade, rock climbing wall, etc.)  We bought him a special birthday gift, too: his first mountain bike with speeds!  Unfortunately, he won’t get to enjoy it much until spring!

Brett continues to do shared-time school between the local elementary school and homeschool. This option has been a very good fit for him.  He is much happier.  He enjoys his time with his peers and teachers at school, and I am able to individualize his reading, writing, and math instruction at home to progress at his own pace.  Last week, he went on a field trip with the 5th grade and it was his first full day at the school since 3rd grade. I didn't get any phone calls!

Brett is takes swimming lessons to keep himself busy between football season and basketball season (which starts in February).  He is looking forward to us declaring the pond frozen so they can go sledding and skating.

(Nice photobomb, Lydia)

Ropes course

The kids were so scared to try to spinny log on the ropes course, but Brett finally overcame his fear and made it across!  This is 3 stories high!

Lydia would have been completely fine skipping it until her brother crossed, and then she was not going to be outdone.  It was so sweet how Brett encouraged her and cheered her on as she tackled her fear!  Sometimes I think they are each others' biggest cheerleaders!

Lydia's 4th Grade Volleyball Highlights

Happy 10th Birthday, Lydia!

I'm accomplishing two posts in one by including Lydia's volleyball highlights in with her birthday post.

Lydia had a lot of fun in volleyball this fall.  In 3rd grade, her team was mostly 4th graders who had played before.  This year, her team was mostly 3rd graders, so she was one of the more experienced players.  The volleyball league is a little different as many east metro suburbs come together to compete.  Oakdale had three 3/4 grade teams, so this makes it more fun.  There were fifteen 3/4 grade teams and Lydia's was competing in the middle of the pack. In the tournament at the end of the season, her team was the top seeded team in the lower bracket, earning them a bye in the first round.  Each game has up to 3 matches (the first two are played to 25, if a third match is necessary to determine a winner, it is played to 15). In the second round, Lydia was up to serve towards the end of both matches and scored the winning points!  Unfortunately, in the game for the championship, they lost both matches, taking 2nd in the tournament.  As you watch the highlight video, pay attention to how her serve changes from the beginning to the end.  I love to see how she grew in her level of confidence!

(Technical difficulties.  Video in a separate post.)

In other Lydia news, she continues to love and excel in school.  She has a nice group of girlfriends and has managed to steer clear of any girl drama thus far. She continues to enjoy taking piano lessons, and I don't have to nag her to practice.  In her free time, she loves to do art, puzzles, read, and paint her nails.  She really loves it when she has a costumer at her nail salon!  Although she prefers the more feminine, indoor activities, she is completely comfortable throwing a football around with her brothers or fishing with her dad. And of course she likes to play video games. ; )

Lunch at the Mall of America before going to Great Wolf Lodge to celebrate birthdays! Lydia's favorite place to eat!

I would expect any therapist would have a lot to work with with this snapshot!

Being Lydia's mom is so much fun.

Brett's flag football highlights

I promised you I'd be back with more football, so here it is!

This was the first year we have allowed Brett to do flag football.  Risk of head trauma is concerning, and especially when you have a neurodivergent brain.  But, together with the fact that Brett has more self-preservation skills than some boys I know 😉, we expected that the unified Special Olympics would provide a safe(r) and fun option for Brett.  A unified sport through the Special Olympics is a sport where nondisabled athletes play alongside athletes with disabilities.  The unified athletes participate to empower all athletes to develop skill, compete, and have fun!  In flag football, a team has five players on the field - three athletes and two unified athletes.

In reference to my previous post about having competitive enthusiasm, I must say that all of our experiences thus far with the Special Olympics have delivered.  It is clear everyone at the competitions wants to win. And everyone wants athletes to have a great experience.  The motto for the Special Olympics is "Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt."  It is a competitive and uplifting atmosphere.

So, here is Brett's highlight video.  He helped me put it together and he is very proud of it! 

Notice that Brett got to be #4 for his namesake!  He is by far the youngest and least experienced player on the team, and his team embraced his youth and energy.  At the area competition, his team finished 2nd, and at the state competition, they finished 4th.  Brett caught a pass to make a touchdown and I will eternally regret that I missed capturing it.  Brett really enjoyed flag football!

With the boys' football seasons all wrapped up, we have one more fall sport to go: volleyball!

not a football post

We interrupt this football season to bring you something other than football highlights!  How about some Halloween highlights (and some other fall fun)?

First a throwback to circa 2012?

 and 2018

We went to a Dia de los Muertos celebration and two of the kids like to get face paint.  The other one likes to photobomb.

 We played with some goats.

 Checked out a new park on the west side

 Went to meet to new baby giraffe at the zoo

Went to the Neville Museum is Green Bay.  The stadium replica is built with Legos!

 And hung out by the hotel pool with Uncle Adam and Courtney.

 Watched A LOT of baseball

Oh - and then there was this

Brett got to use a knife

The kids won the costume contest at school (again!) and Brett's costume provided about 3 days worth of homeschool curriculum.

We ran into some friends and had a fun and productive candy collection! (Brett won at 6 pounds, Lydia came in 2nd at 5.5 pounds and Reggie was 3rd at 5.25 pounds.)  I wonder who was sneaking treats while he was running from door to door?

 What a fun October! We will return to football posting shortly.