New Beginnings

For new beginnings some things must end. The 2019 sticker-calendar came to an end. Our family getaway ended.  

I was going to title this blog post "The End" and questioned whether it was time to discontinue this habitual blogging--chronicle of our lives. However, the need to process and tell the story of our family adventure, led to not one but four posts. And here I go again, at the start of a new year. 

My desire, is expressed in Hebrews 12:1: "Let us put every thing out of our lives that keeps us from doing what we should." Is this blog one of the works God has prepared for me to do, or is it a distraction from what I should be doing?

Meanwhile, I will keep on keeping on with what I know until God redirects. Reader, He may use you to give me advice.

Life is a daily keeping on, often tedious. Michael jumped right back into the work of sorting and settling into the Matthews shop after our trip without much of a break, still so much to do to prepare for Kick-Off.

I was happy to see the art that had graced the walls of the Muncie shop now had a place in the new team headquarters.

Meanwhile, I kept busy unpacking and finding a place for the new gifts as well as taking down Christmas decor.

The pour painting Leah gave me found its home. This technique allows colors to flow with little control. Imaginative minds can see into the fascinating patterns and sometimes add their own touch to bring out a theme or image.

In this piece I can see a cat, a couple birds, a dog, and many eyes. How about you?

Leah, and other members of her family, came down with a bad cold, had no voice, and still recovering from the accident, and more bruises popping up. She badly needed some Jewish Mother's antibiotic--chicken soup. Instead I took over some of  "Dad's turkey soup." It worked just as well.

Vestiges of Christmas outside Leah's door

Kayla, also under the weather, needed a Grandma-visit. Can you see four faces in this silly pic?

We had a fun New Year's Eve get together with a small group of friends. Each brought a gift, but not to give away,that was different. The idea was for each to pick an unmarked present, guess who brought it, and then hear the story behind the item. We learned a lot about one another.

I spent a lot of time preparing food to add to the varied and abundant options for the Kick-Off. Surprisingly, or maybe not, there was not that much food left.

Two other area teams joined us, so it was a very full house. There was the anticipation for the long-awaited reveal of the 2020 challenge, after the usual long speeches and introductions. Finally, the game animation, Infinite Recharge, followed by a lively discussion of the new rules, strategies, and initial ideas for building this year's robot.

So, here we are, off and running. And again Hebrews 12 has timely advice: "Let us keep running in the race that God has planned for us.  Let us keep looking to Jesus."