Fall is coming

Time moves quickly on the ol' blogstead when you only post once every month or so! We made it through August, the wedding, and Joel and Halle's first month at their new school. The wedding was beautiful and went off without a hitch. We were so blessed that the extremely hot weather we'd been having decided to take a break that weekend. I don't think it got hotter than the low 80s during the ceremony, and by the time we headed outside for dancing, it was a very comfortable 70s. Such a relaxing day (except for the mad rush to get to the church, wherein I backed my car down the drive... something I rarely do, since I usually back out of the garage and head nose-first down the driveway... and into the fire hydrant at the end of the drive. Felt the thud and it took me a minute to figure out what had happened. Then I said, "Oh, well," and kept on going.)  Here's one of my favorite guest/family-snapped photos of the day:

Things are cooling off around here, which means we may soon get to turn off the A/C and open the windows. This morning was very fall-like. I had forgotten what it feels like! Will be good to see cooler temps and save a little $$ on the electricity bill. Keeping 2 floors of an almost 5000 sq. ft. house comfortable can be a bit draining on the bank account.

Appears that our plates will be as full as ever this fall. I think it's a good kind of full, though... I guess time will tell. The kids seem really happy with their new school. They're both doing very well. The school and their teachers are great about communicating. They embrace technology (email, school website, online assignment and grade reporting) so it really makes it easy to keep up with what's going on.

Tomorrow the kids will be checking out of school early to attend a funeral with me.  A couple from our church (who both teach at the school) lost their 9-day-old daughter this past weekend. It is the worst kind of tragedy, the kind that can totally shake someone's faith. Thankfully, all who are touched by this are choosing to trust God's promises and know that healing will come in its time. We don't have to understand, we don't have to utter empty platitudes that we don't really "feel." We can be honest with our pain and our questions. God can handle that and he accepts it. As long as we can still say, "You are God; I am not.  I will trust what I don't understand. I will hope when I don't feel hopeful. I will still stand with you when I feel shaken," He will sustain us.