It starts. . . .

One of my favorite scenes in the "Lion King" is where Simba starts to figure out who he is as (the future) King. As he's talking with Timon and Pumbaa, there's an exchange between the characters, and at the end of the exchange, Timon (voice of Nathan Lane) looks down, shaking his head in anguished disgust, and says, with this beautiful New York/Long Island accent: "It starts."

I would do anything to find that clip -- but it's late, I'm tired, and to be honest, it's not that crucial to the post. But, it has begun. Edison's 16th year on the planet. Like many other things, it began with a whimper, not a bang.

He's tired. He's had a busy weekend.

Friday afternoon, two of his friends came home from school with him, in anticipation of our youth group's lock-in on Friday night. Just after Mark got home from work, another friend (church friend) joined the three teenagers here at the house, and the enthusiasm increased even more.

After feeding them two full-size (homemade) pizzas, and a gallon of lemonade, they were off. My word, can four teenage boys eat, or what?!?!? (Julaine, you have my lifelong admiration!)

We dropped them off at the church at 7 p.m., and promised that we'd pick them (or an assortment of them) up at 7 a.m., when the lock-in ended. And, we did. Only this time, we brought a different friend home -- and off-loaded the other three boys to their parents.

This time, I made biscuits, sausage gravy, and scrambled eggs for Edison, Kyle, and the rest of our family. They were definitely NOT the best biscuits I've ever made -- but I was pretty sleepy. And, the gravy was good -- a little spicy -- and it needed to be thinned out a bit. Oh well. The boys ate.

Then, a sensible mom would make her kid sleep, after being up all night, right? Yeah. But, who has EVER accused me of being sensible? (awkward silence)

So, a mere hour after they finished eating, they were back down to the church to help a local missionary film a training video. I have no idea what the actual quality of these videos are -- but I keep reminding myself that once they've been translated into three or four other languages, the bleary-eyed condition of Kyle and Edison won't matter. (Here's hoping)

Finally, around noon, Edison was home, and headed for bed. We let him sleep until about 4:30, and then it was time to head out to my parent's house for a campfire birthday celebration. With his birthday in November, and the weather in TN usually cooperating, we've had campfires for his birthday for a number of years.

Now, mind you -- Caroline and Mark are still recuperating from their various illnesses. So, we kind of went about this birthday party thing on a low-key setting. And Luke, one of Edison's friends from the lock-in, was our invited guest. And, as you might imagine, he fell asleep during the opening of the presents. (Turns out, he hadn't yet gone to bed since coming home)

After the birthday hoo-lolly was done, we headed to the house -- it was just 8 p.m. With the time change, it felt like midnight, but we still had lots of time. Edison and I ran down to the church to make some last-minute arrangements for our Thank Offering Celebration (details to follow) and run to the grocery store for apple juice for Caroline.

We finally got him home, and into bed around 10 p.m. He slept. And slept. And slept.

Around 8 this morning (when I am typically arriving at church) I was able to leisurely get out of bed, take my shower, and head down to church at 8:45. Our church services normally occur at 9 and 10:30 a.m., but today, we just had one BIG service. It was a lot of fun -- it ran a bit long -- but it was amazing. My worship team outdid themselves -- twelve songs! That's right, TWELVE. But, it was good.

And, for the record, I only fell apart and started crying twice -- once was for Beth, as we sang "Mighty to Save" and the other was during the song, "When I Think About the Lord," and again, I think I had Beth on my heart. The rest of the morning, I was good.

The focus of the morning was our "Thank Offering Sunday" and we took a special offering -- just to thank God for his blessings. Last year was the first time we did one of these -- and we gave over $160,000 for last year's offering. This year, as a church we gave a thank offering of just over $90,000. Both of these offerings are going to be used to help pay down the debt on our building. We want to be free to do ministry -- and don't want to be tied down to a mortgage. It's really awesome -- and very exciting to see God moving in such a new and exciting way!

After church, we handed Caroline off to Grandma -- and headed downtown for the TKA Football Banquet at Calhoun's on the River. Now, if you're not from these parts, the name "Calhouns" doesn't mean anything. This, my friends, is the home of some of the best barbecue in these here parts. And, they served pulled pork, chicken fingers, two salads, baked beans (with the pork in it), corn muffins, biscuits. . .yeah, it was amazing.

We missed a Thanksgiving dinner at church -- but, it was worth it. And, it was worth it to celebrate a great football season with the team.

On our way home, you would think we were about at our "melting point," and you would be right. But, of course, what non-stop day would be complete without a trip to WalMart!?! So, we stopped, bought our birthday boy two new pairs of shoes, some new t-shirts, a dress shirt (he's outgrown everything he has!) and a 12-pack of Sierra Mist (free) with Cranberry. It's only available during the holidays--and I love this stuff.

After picking up Caroline at Grandma's -- and discovering that we'd forgotten to pack her tennis shoes. How did we know? She and Grandma were coming back from a hike in the forest -- in her good church shoes. Oh well. . .they're just shoes, right? We were finally headed home.

Mark spent a couple hours outside - blowing fallen leaves over the back fence. Edison worked on homework. And Caroline and me? We watched Dora the Explorer and ate popcorn and apples for supper. After that, Caroline and I called Beth to say "Hi" and "I love you" before going to bed.

After we got Caroline in bed, it was time to catch up on kids' notebooks for school, field trip permission slips, fund-raising order forms (due tomorrow, of course) and re-packing backpacks and tote bags.

A quick perusal of Facebook, that wonderful (brief) talk with Beth in Canada, and three loads of laundry later, I'm ready to call it a day. An exhausting, thrilling, emotional, wonderful day.


I promised an update on Beth. She's home from the hospital. Please continue to pray -- we are awaiting news from the biopsy. It was so much fun to hear her voice -- even though it sounds a little different from the surgery on her throat. It was thrilling to hear updates on all her kids -- and to know that Hannah, her youngest, was prancing around her until she told me "hi" over the phone. (Hannah, I know you'll eventually read or hear about this -- and that just made my heart feel so good!!! I love you, sweetie!)

God did amazing things here this weekend -- and he's doing amazing things in Canada. He's doing amazing things wherever you look. Seriously -- look around, even in the small, seemingly insignificant things-- HE'S THERE, and HE'S DOING A NEW THING!!

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."
Isaiah 43:19