This past week has been hard. My (Jen's) Nana passed away. It was SO hard to be away from my family during this time, and it was made harder still by the fact that Steve was gone on a 2 week trip. We were doing ok, but let's just say that a LOT of tears have been shed this past week. Here is a picture of Nana (my mom's mom) and Mikayla with baby Zach right after he was born. Zachary Kenneth was named after Nana's husband who went to be with the Lord just before Steve & I were married. We will miss Nana so much but are so glad that she is no longer suffering on this earth but is instead singing hymns of praise in the heavenly throneroom.
Like I said, this past week has been really tough, and I was honestly dreading the kids' soccer tournament on Saturday. While they enjoy playing soccer with their teammates, the organization is not what I am used to for an event like this, and it is always confusing and stressful trying to figure out where to be when...and when you are trying to do that for THREE kids on FIVE teams, all in the same tournament, and trying to keep them all hydrated in this tropical heat... anyway, I was not looking forward to trying to handle all that without Steve. Not to mention, I have been asked to coach teams in tournaments like this before just because I am there. When you don't know the players' names, positions, or skill levels, this is a bit of a challenge and very stressful. ANYWAY... Steve showed up just as the tournament started and surprised us!!! We were SO incredibly thrilled to see him. He had driven through the night from up north to Manila, arrived just in time to catch the early flight to our area, then took a taxi straight from the airport. He got some huge hugs and massive smiles for his effort. :)The kids played really well. I love the look of intensity on Zach's face here.
Mikayla has been doing great too. She currently plays on a boys' team, but yesterday she competed on that team as well as 2 different girls teams (1 for under 13 girls, the other for under 17 girls, but she was one of the few on either of those teams with any experience - one of the other best players on her team was only 7!). She was one tired girl by the end of the day, but we were so proud of her!
Since Steve had missed a whole night's sleep AFTER almost 2 wks of traveling through the mountains and not sleeping much, he was just a little sleepy through the day. He got his hammock out of his backpack and slept in between games.
It was STINKING hot all day, and since it was organized differently than what we would expect, we ended up with more than 3 hours at one stretch of just sitting and waiting. The kids did great, but the heat had just zapped all of our energy by the time the quarter finals and semi finals started up.
Mikayla's team lost in the semi finals, but they played well against a much more talented team that gets a lot more practice together.
Zach's team ended up winning their division! He played great defense, and we are so thankful for this opportunity for them to make friends and learn the life lessons that can be learned through sports. Ben's foot (which he hurt earlier this week) wasn't feeling well enough for him to be very involved this time, but there are lessons to learn from that as well. :)
Steve's trip up north went amazingly well, and we are VERY encouraged by what God is doing up there. I will do another post in a couple days to share it with you and hopefully encourage you as well!
Mikayla has been doing great too. She currently plays on a boys' team, but yesterday she competed on that team as well as 2 different girls teams (1 for under 13 girls, the other for under 17 girls, but she was one of the few on either of those teams with any experience - one of the other best players on her team was only 7!). She was one tired girl by the end of the day, but we were so proud of her!
Since Steve had missed a whole night's sleep AFTER almost 2 wks of traveling through the mountains and not sleeping much, he was just a little sleepy through the day. He got his hammock out of his backpack and slept in between games. It was STINKING hot all day, and since it was organized differently than what we would expect, we ended up with more than 3 hours at one stretch of just sitting and waiting. The kids did great, but the heat had just zapped all of our energy by the time the quarter finals and semi finals started up.
Mikayla's team lost in the semi finals, but they played well against a much more talented team that gets a lot more practice together.
Zach's team ended up winning their division! He played great defense, and we are so thankful for this opportunity for them to make friends and learn the life lessons that can be learned through sports. Ben's foot (which he hurt earlier this week) wasn't feeling well enough for him to be very involved this time, but there are lessons to learn from that as well. :)
Steve's trip up north went amazingly well, and we are VERY encouraged by what God is doing up there. I will do another post in a couple days to share it with you and hopefully encourage you as well!
1 comment:
Thanks so much for sharing the stories and pics and be being such a flexible Mom! Glad Steve made it back!
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