Summer 2018

Wow.  Here we are in the year 2018.  With best laid plans, I walk over to the computer, determined to make progress in updating people on our goings on… and then… crying children, minor distractions (wait! I need to finish making my tea…), and general lack of motivation strike.  But not today! Today is a new day.  So, let me give you some quick updates about our summer.  I am going to start there, because if I started where I left off, we would be here all day.

In 2016 (Ok, I’ll start a little before our summer), Max started getting connected to some athletes at Portland State.  Then, Fall of 2017 I began to work with some athletes as well.  We began to see that ministry to these students is a different ball game (pun partly intended).  Their limited time but deep work ethic are both frustrating and refreshing.  I thought I was busy in college.  I was wrong.  Student athletes are busy.  Between classes, practice, tutoring, and travel for games, there aren’t too many minutes that can be spared for other activities.

that is designed specifically to reach athletes: Athletes in Action (AIA).  Seeing the unique lifestyle of college athletes, Max and I decided to spend our summer on an AIA summer mission.  So, we packed our bags and headed for Long Beach.  The summer missions with AIA are called The Ultimate Training Camp (UTC). Due to the athletes limited time, they are only there for one week.  It was fun to see how the teaching was immediately put into practice in the form of rigged volleyball games (you can imagine how well that went over with all of the competitors).  The final day was spent doing 20 straight hours of competition, designed to represent the 20 hour journey of Jesus from garden to cross.  As students completed the final challenge, sleep deprived and physically exhausted, the power of that moment was overwhelming.

We weren’t able to take any of our students with us, but now that I know what to expect, I’m excited to challenge students this upcoming year to give a week of their summer.

From the mom side of things, UTC was a good but exhausting experience.  Every day, sweet Braxton (2) would ask if we could go home.  The smog seemed to really affect us all and there was a lot of coughing and sneezing.  Staying at an amazing apartment off campus truly blessed us (Maizie has a lot of food sensitivities and so we needed our own kitchen) but unfortunately that meant that we were stranded away from the activities for much of it.  We were also on the 2nd floor, and so unfortunately I couldn’t have a stroller with me.  We made the best of it and watched a LOT of TV, which Braxton loved.

After UTC wrapped up, we decided we should take Braxton and Maizie to Disneyland.  It was the best decision we’ve made! They both did so well and had so much fun.  We can’t wait to go back!  We then went to Lake Tahoe for a family wedding, followed by visiting family in Northern California for a few days.  Then we were finally home! Thank you for your prayers as we journeyed and travelled.  We very much needed them.