The way I process life and all it’s happenings is through writing. I also talk Andy’s ear off which is helpful for me. He’s incredibly patient.

So as I process and now talk your ear off (Thank you to those who choose to read this.), I’m realizing that last week was a week full of milestones for our family. Some big. Some small. All significant.

It was Friday night. I was beyond the point of being tired or even exhausted. I was running on fumes. The weekend was packed and had barely begun. But my body demanded I stop and rest.

The previous week we had gone camping with friends. It was such a fun trip; but let’s be real. Camping is not relaxing. It’s fun; but it’s a lot of work. And it’s dirty. And I got 19 mosquito bites.

The day we got home I got a terrible migraine, followed by another one. It was not a restful weekend. Somehow I managed to get Lily packed for Jr. High Camp (Milestone #1).

Mamas, chime in on this one. Sending your first born off for FIVE DAYS without you and probably not showering is a BIG DEAL!!! Right??? And as I’ve been saying for months, Jr. High should start in 7th grade, not 6th. Ok, that’s another issue.

But we did it. Andy and I packed her up, dropped her off and drove away. Granted she was in a cabin with best friends and her counselor was one of my former students. (Thank you, Lord!)

Just a mere two days later my almost 8 year old FINALLY learned to swim. If you didn’t read my post about it, you can read it here. (Milestone #2)

Four days later my baby turned 8. Even though I’ve specifically forbade him to do such a thing, even begged him, he defied me and turned a year older anyway. (Milestone #3)

So on the eve of H’s birthday, I lay next to Andy, just letting my weary bones be. I took time to sort my thoughts a bit. My muscles were sore from painting Lily’s room that week. I wanted to surprise her while at camp. It took much longer than I thought, though. I did it completely by myself and was pretty much over it by Wednesday. ( Though I was still painting Friday morning.) I swore I’d never paint another room again.

Me: “So much has happened this week. Lily going to camp, Henry swimming, getting ready for his birthday party, family coming in for your dad’s big day, and painting that stupid room.” (Lily loved her “stupid”, new painted room by the way, so it was worth it.)

At this point we both drifted off to sleep. Andy had worked the night before and was operating on about two hours of sleep. I was hosting an 8 years old’s birthday party the next day and needed my wits about me.

The weekend entailed a jumpy house, 8 little jumpers, baseball cupcakes, a family birthday bbq and a big baseball cake. There were presents, laughing, eating and lot of happy memories.

I have an eight year old now.

The biggest milestone (#4) was my father- in-law retiring (sort of) from 30 years of ministry at SRBC, 26 as our Senior Pastor. He’ll be on staff part-time; but he won’t be the head guy anymore.

Faithful. I’ve been pondering that word all week. That is my Father in Law. Faithful to preach God’s Word. Faithful to his wife and family. Faithfully serving others. 30 years of doing anything these days is almost unheard of, let alone serving in the same church, preaching week after week and doing it compassionately. It’s such a rare blessing.

What a week, right? Some of these milestones were big and some were small; yet they were all significant moments. They tell a story about who we are as a family and where we’ve been. Most importantly, it tells about where we are going. Some roads ahead are clear and some, not so much. As I look back at our week one thing is clear. God was faithful so I know he will be faithful on the journey ahead, in the next milestone.

God’s faithfulness and his hand are so evident in all the events of that week and I would be missing so much if I didn’t recognize it.

If it were up to me, I would have spaced out all the happenings of the week. You know, to make life a little less crazy. He’s writing the story, though, not me. And what a beautiful story it is.