Emery's turn.

Isaiah 40:28-31

²⁸ Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is inscrutable.
²⁹ He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
³⁰ Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
³¹ Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.

Ephesians 4:26

Words to live by...

²⁶ Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

Colossians 3:1-3

Even though I haven't been posting about it, the boys and girl have been faithfully memorizing verses. So I'm going to do my best to catch up on those posts. Here's the first:

3 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. ³ For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Gymnastics

Unfortunately, Emery's gymnastics career has hit a roadblock. She competed last year with Excel Silver and had gotten promoted to Excel Gold for this year. But due to some feet issues, she's got to take a break from competing for at least this year. She's pretty bummed about it, but I'm proud of her for trusting in God's sovereignty and goodness through it all.

However, last year, she received the award for Hardest Worker at her gym. I also very proud of that award! Great job Emery!

Trick or Treat

Matt and Emery still dress up for Halloween. Andrew still isn't interested in it though I suspect in a few years, he'll get into it again.

Matt was inspired by our good friend Mr. Bradley to be Clark Kent. Although he looks a tad like a crazy Clark.

Emery was inspired by our trip to Colonial Williamsburg to be a colonial young lady. She and Sandy made this outfit!

It's fun to dress up for these two! And it's fun to get candy...

CA Capital Air Show

 

I took my resident, hopeful Air Force Academy cadet and airplane pilot Matt, to the CA Capital Air Show again in Sacramento.

We got to see the USAF Thunderbirds in action.

They were very, very precise. It was amazing.

We also got to see the Royal Canadien Snowbirds.

I was impressed by how many of them could fly in formation.

Lots of fire is also impressive.

And the F/A-18 Superhornet was one fast plane. Apparently, it can go up to 1,190 MPH. It sure felt fast up close.

It was quite the inspiring and patriotic day. I truly respect and am inspired by the US military.

This clearly wasn't my best selfie, but Matt and I had a great time.

Lee Family Retreat

After 3 years off, I finally managed to re-institute the Lee Family Retreat this past August. It was a time of much soul searching and some difficult self-evaluation of the past 3 years. But God showed Himself faithful as always to not only comfort and encourage but also to show Himself glorious and mighty. I was most struck by the immensity of God and how that puts all of my problems in proper perspective.

This retreat was somewhat of a milestone in that we took Andrew for the first time. He spent several hours in prayer, reading God's Word and self-evaluation too. I was very proud of the thoughtful answers he shared with us as we all reflected on who God is and what He has done for us in the past year especially.

We have been starting to solidify some Lee Family Core Values. It's been encouraging to keep repeating these themes over the years and to now sometimes hear them repeated back to me from the boys and girl. Hopefully, this will become part of the fabric of who they are as people.

Lee Family Core Values:

1. Honor your mother
2. Always tell the truth / no secrets
3. Brothers and sister will be best friends
4. Do your best
5. Be a hard worker / work first then play
6. Value others
7. Love God’s Word
8. Have a happy heart / Be joyful in God alone
9. Be faithful / responsible
10. Do things the right way
11. Speak with kindness

We managed to memorize a lot of God's Word this year.
2015 Memory Verses:

• 1 John 1:8-9
• Psalm 141:3-4
• John 14:2-3
• John 15:5
• Proverbs 19:11
• Proverbs 3:5-7
• Isaiah 46:9-11
• Titus 3:4-6
• 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
• 2 Corinthians 9:6-8
• James 1:12
• Psalm 20:6-8
• Matthew 11:28-30
• Romans 1:16-17
• Matthew 10:28
• Philippians 1:6
• Ephesians 6:10-18
• 1 Peter 1:3-5
• 1 Timothy 2:5
• Psalm 86:5-7
• Isaiah 40:28-31
• Ephesians 4:26
• Colossians 3:1-3

And we also spent time in God's Word as usual in our family Bible times. We didn't read as much together as I had hoped with the busyness of the schedule picking up with basketball, track, gymnastics, soccer and church events. But hopefully, I will do a better job of guarding this family time next year.
2015 Bible Books Read:

• Luke
• Joshua
• Judges
• Ruth
• 1 Samuel

Healing has been a slow process, but I am starting to look forward to the future with some hope for what God will do and for what God has been doing.