Hikes. Pools. Rain. & Spikeball.

At the beginning of the year Jay and I sat down to set some goals for our family. We have honestly never done anything like that so we decided that this year one of our goals would be to have more fun with our family. To be honest, ever since we made the move to be obedient to this church planting call, things have been more stressful than ever in our house. Our kids have seen a lot more about the inside of a church with it's highs and lows and the good and ugly of how people within the church can be.  We have seen the older two become a little embittered with how people can be and we are praying mightily against that being what they remember and what they think of the church. 

Knowing that our time with them in our home is fleeting, we have been more intentional than ever to talk about God's love for them and their responsibility in responding to that love and how we can't let people be our focus on what God is really like.  So we have tried desperately to create more fun and more family time into our crazy schedules.

Today was a day where the only thing on our calendar was 7am prayer for our church which meant the rest of the day was ours to play. Thankfully Jay was able to prepare for Sunday worship earlier in the week and both our older boys are inbetween jobs, and no one had any sports to attend today.  So we set out to explore Mingo Creek Park which is a local park that has a long creek that runs through it with trails and playgrounds and plenty of picnic and play areas.

Usually when we set out to do something grand, it doesn't always turn out as picture perfect as we plan. Today as we were leaving I felt the Lord nudging me to talk to the kids about what God's love looks like and how we as a family need to be intentional about loving one another with His love. We shared I Corinthians 13 with them and talked about how we didn't want anyone to become easily angered or to intentionally provoke anger in another family member today.  Secretly I had prayed for God to bless our day and He is so faithful because He did.

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We had the best day we have had in a long time as a family. Not one argument pursued. No one was mean spirited or impatient. We talked and laughed and played and God blessed. After a picnic and 2 mile creek walk, we decided to head home to swim in our generous neighbors pool. It was a very humid day in Pittsburgh so the pool sounded amazing. All 7 of us put on our bathing suits, gathered our pool bag and headed down the street to the pool. We splashed and played in the pool until the thunder appeared.

But even thunder couldn't damper our day. It was close to dinner and we were getting hungry. As we were walking back to our house, our oldest told us about a game called Spikeball that he wanted us to get to play in the backyard. All 4 boys were in agreement that this game would be fun to get. They even agreed to all pitch in to buy it. Spontaneously we agreed and the 4 of them set off to the local sports store to purchase it.

This was the first time we let all 4 boys go out together without us; just as the rain was beginning to come down.  I have to admit, I was a little nervous but I spoke to the Lord about providing them with safety and went on my way to prepare dinner. They came home safely, we ate dinner and then enjoyed an evening of playing and watching them play SpikeBall in the backyard.  They were laughing and enjoying each other so much that I can't tell you the joy I felt as a mom.

My prayer has been that they will grow to be best of friends because of their love for Christ and each other. Its a rare day when we see all of them loving and enjoying each other. As the rain came down and they continued to play. Then a rainbow appeared to remind us of God's presence yet again. Its almost like it was His seal on the day.  He is such a loving Father and I am so grateful for His many blessings, especially days like today where we see His hand of love and mercy throughout it all. This will definitely go down as one of my favorite days of the year so far. 

- amy

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Amy is an amazing mother of 5, 4 boys and 1 girl. Her passions lie in caring for her family, mentoring young moms, and speaking into the lives of women. She and Jay have been married for 19 years, and have been so blessed to be able to share in ministry to families together.