Summer vacation with my youngest stepson recently came to an end. For months, I've prayed that God would show up for both his brother and him. I prayed that they would encounter God in a real and personal way. I prayed that, when he came to visit, Alan and I would point him to Christ and align us with God's will in his life.

Parents have such a great (read: huge and fantastic) responsibility when it comes to teaching their children about God. Who God is. Who we are in relation to God. What Christ did. How we respond to all of that.

I didn't realize that until recently. How amazing (read: fearful and awesome) would it be to have that responsibility every day for 18 (or more) years! And on that note, parents, I pray over you ever more fervently, that you would seek God first and allow His will to work in your families.

I found myself questioning where we spent our time. How we spent our time. What movies we watched. What we talked about. I began to realize on a deeply personal level that every single moment is an opportunity to share the Gospel. Every single moment is an opportunity to display Christ.

This is real. This is impactful.

We spent the first week of vacation at Camp Eagle. I got teary when one of the youth leaders told me that she could see that God was working on my youngest stepson. When we returned from camp, we introduced him to family devotionals and explained why we read the Bible.

He asked us about baptism; we explained it and he said he wanted to baptized. Alan told him that he had been baptized a few years ago. He said that he didn't understand it, then. But he understood it now and he wanted to be baptized. So one of our friends, a chaplain, talked to him about baptism.

We had a picnic at a nearby lake with some friends and the chaplain baptized him in living waters.

He started asking me not to open the car door for a few extra minutes when a song that he liked played on K-Love and we were already parked.

The daily things pointed the way to bigger, inside things. May I never overlook the daily for the epic. May I never ask for signs and miracles and ignore the rabbi in front of me, ministering in ways that don't fit neatly meet my expectations.

Saying see-you-later was bittersweet. Because, first of all, I just don't like saying see-you-later to loved ones. But, I also worried if he had a "good enough" foundation. (I don't actually know how to quantify what a "good enough" foundation would be, now that I think of it.) And I was also proud to see how he had begun turning toward God and I knew, deep down inside, that God didn't need either Alan or me in order to accomplish his work in this young man.

He's halfway across the country again. The house is quiet. The dogs are bored. There are well over a thousand miles between us now, but we both know a God who is greater than any distance.

I recently looked up verses about God being close and texted this one to him: The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing. -Zephaniah 3:17

summer vacation with the boys

Recently, the boys flew in to Dallas for two weeks. Less than 15 minutes after they arrived, a Nerf gun was on the loveseat (I know this because I sat down and hit my head on it). My first thought was that I love the fact that we pick up where we left off--there was no awkwardness and the boys settled in pretty quickly, even though this is only the second time they've been here.

I think one of the best comments came from T--he turned on the tap for a glass of water after spending some time outside and said, "It was so much better when you lived with [Elizabeth's dad]."

True. Story.

C caught up on some the hugs he's missed out on for the past several months and immediately took to seeing how long he could balance on my stability ball (we timed him last summer). C also ate two dinners in a row, which has got to be a record--I made vegan pasta (with spicy shrimp on the side) the first night and vegan pizzas the second night (C's even had Jarlsberg cheese on it).

In the short span that they visited ...

• all three of the guys washed the vehicles;
• they cleaned the garage;
• we explored Hobby Lobby;
• C mowed the backyard;
• C proudly earned $30 washing windows for a local business;
• the boys went fossil hunting;
• we played Cranium, Made for Trade, and countless games of "Liar" and "James Bond";
• we visited Inner Space Caverns near Georgetown;
• we threw Frisbee;
• we took the dogs for walks;
• we ventured around the mall;
• we went to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area to camp for a night;
• we experienced a trip to an emergency vet that resulted in C's prayers being answered;
• we played hide-and-seek in the dark;
• we shared several bowls of popcorn;
• we introduced the boys to Mr. Bean;
• we scheduled an appointment with a marriage and family life counselor (MFLC);
• and we spent time enjoying one another's company.

One of the hardest parts, for me, was adjusting to the fact that the four of us haven't shared a living space for an extended period of time in about a year. Over the first few days, I couldn't understand their behavior and why it had changed so much (after all, some difficulty to adjustment would be expected). The negativity in the house was stifling; it seemed that they never had a kind word to say to one another and any time they were upset, they refused to talk about it.

It wasn't until the counselor shed new light on the situation and explained that they had grown in a different way that I started to look at the situation as potentially positive. We emphasized the fact that we didn't expect them to be best friends, but they were at least to behave civilly with each other, and I explained that if they are upset, I will ask what is wrong and the situation will be resolved when they are ready because otherwise, the same mistake has a higher chance of recurring.

Overall, the days flew by entirely too quickly but we're grateful for the time that we were able to spend together.