The days of Summer...

I have been quite busy this summer as many of you know.  Our summer started on June 10, the last day of school.  That morning, I was asked to attend an assembly at the Middle School to see Zach presented with an award called "be an 11"  (higher than a 10).  I attended by myself that morning in my workout clothes having no idea what an honor this award was.  Only 6 8th graders are chosen each semester for this award and they find out in the assembly in front of the whole school.  I was overwhelmed with pride but also had this sense of sadness for Zach as the other families seemed whole and put together with both parents attending.  My sadness was intensified that day as I received a call that night at 10pm that my sister had passed away at Hospice.  The last post summarizes this time of grief so I won't revisit that as it is still so hard.  Our family has waves of grief continually over her exit to heaven.  I miss her so much!  I miss Eric so much.  Another good friend just went to heaven this week  leaving her cancer filled body in exchange for a new one and I have her funeral today.  I hate sickness and know God does too as it isn't part of his plan.  None the less, we are faced with grief. 
But this post is about some good things happening in my life this summer so I will start now.  I had my 2nd annual week away at the house I rented in Grand Haven this summer at the end of June which I just love!  The house is small but cozy and we spent days at the beach with beautiful weather, eating out for dinner at some great restaurants, mornings at farmers market or getting our free slice of bread at Great Harvest, walking the pier, even jogged it a few times this year.  My kids attended Camp Anew while I was there so I had three of those nights with no kids and some widows and other friends were able to join me for some free mom time.  We got home from Grand Haven, unpacked and six days later were headed to Colorado for 9 days with our youth group.  I was one of 8 adults who chaperoned this amazing trip out West.  We had 16 kids ages 11-15 attending.  All ten of our youth group were able to go plus a few siblings and cousins including my beloved niece Ashley just one month after losing her mom.  God knew she was supposed to be on this trip so a spot opened up last minute just for her to go.  I was one of the drivers and the drive flew by as we enjoyed every minute of our time even through the flat, boring states like Iowa and Nebraska :)  Maddie stayed with family and friends this trip as she was too young for the adventures that lied ahead of us.  This was camping to it's core and I am not a camper.  We slept in tents on mountains with ice and snow, we climbed a 14,000 ft mountain to the top, we white water rafted on a high, fast and cold river, we ate the same food for days (food is fuel), we went to the bathroom in BIFF's (bathroom in forest floor), we rock climbed with only a rope attached and our hands and feet and repelled back down.  This trip was the epitome of "do hard things" and I loved every minute of it.  We spent time daily in God's word and reflecting on our days and being quiet before Him so we could hear from Him.  These moments, though hard for the kids to always be still were some of my favorite times, sitting with mountains all around us reflecting on who God is and how amazing He is.  I came back exhausted, yet refreshed.  By this time our summer was half way over.  It is now almost the end of August and we have mostly been around Michigan doing beach days, hanging out with friends and family and  a trip to Michigan's adventure, and Camp Geneva for the kids.  We are doing remarkably well, all things considered.  It will be a year and four months tomorrow since Eric passed away, but this 21st will be celebrated with Zach getting baptized as well as my nephew Carlos birthday.  I know Eric would be so proud to see Zach making this decision and hoping he is getting a glimpse of this from heaven.  Hebrews 12:1 says "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us"  I like to think that Eric is part of that great cloud of witnesses along with Kristi and others who have left this earth.  Check out Heb 12:2 and 3 as well if you like that verse.  (Use the link at the top of my blog to search it online)  Here is a link to the video I made of Colorado if you're interested.  Colorado Video 
I woke up again in the middle of the night, the time I usually write and was planning to write about my latest adventure in Chicago where I had an awesome opportunity to be part of a video series for widow connection, but I realized that I had some catching up to do before that so stay tuned for that. 
I met a widow there who has a phrase on her email signature that says "Enjoy life, this is not a dress rehearsal... this is it!" so I am closing with that. 
Blessings,
Lori
some of my favorite pics from our trip to CO below: