July was a zoo. I wish I could find time to tell it all! Alas, I am back with mostly pics and a disjointed list of the goodness and the hardship. Court in late June did not protect Lasa from Josh transferring her to a new school and new school district where he works and now lives. That broke my heart and boggled my mind yet again, but I recovered faster this time. I had to right away. We had to totally overhaul our 50/50 custody schedule and it was every bit as hurtful and hard as it sounds. And as a result of that, I shifted gears based on how this effects my logistics and schedule and accepted the fact that I would need to go ahead and start working full time this year after all since I can no longer be a part of Lasa's school life. The school Josh moved her to is 50 minutes from my house! Don't get me started. I have handed it over to the Lord again and again and am still watchful and hopeful to see what He is unfolding. Big exhale.
Now all the goodness - I found a new job (while crying about having to leave my interventionist job I loved), or rather the new job found me! Two of them actually. I got to pick after I was offered both jobs at both interviews. The Lord allowed that I would know without a doubt which of the two was right for me. I am now a Title 1 Reading Specialist at Vena Stuart Elementary and I am so impressed with and thankful for the kind and helpful community that has brought me in there. July held a lot of trainings and onboarding and classroom set up that went with all that. I had to buy a whole new calendar because so much has changed in terms of work and custody and paydays and events and such since the one I just got in January. Hanging on for dear life with all the change coming at us! Anna, Noah, and Lasa all went to camp and all three had incredible times. Anna and Noah attended Centrifuge. Lasa went to Centrikid. Noah, specifically, had a real big experience with the Lord and came home a different guy. We all still have our jaws on the floor over what the Lord did in him that week, and by "we" I mean our church, his friends, my friends, his sister, me, him, the chaperones, his youth pastor and wife, counselors, the parents who heard their kids gushing afterwards over what happened in Noah. Prayers were answered and it has grown ALLLLLL of our faith. Thank you, Lord! It's been amazing to behold and hear all about. I hosted Bunco for the first time in four years and it was funny how all 12 of us crammed in my little living room for dinner and dice. We enjoyed the 4th of July with church family. Lasa turned NINE. We took a quick trip to AL to celebrate her birthday. I went a coptic bookbinding class that was harder than I thought it would be, but I did it! I spent more precious time with Becky and Adrian and Cathy. We checked things off our summer bucket list like painting pottery, trying a new ice cream place, playing in the rain, hitting up a trampoline park, finally going through a carwash, and finishing some more 80's/90's flicks that were new to Anna and Lasa. Anna tried out a Discover Lacrosse event and decided to join, so that's a fun new thing on the horizon. I read some more books and we adored our cat especially. Lasa's new hamster, Zebedee, proved to be a lot of fun too! We are glad we did that. Warning - a messload of camp pics in no particular order among other July highlights in pics coming right up.
Summer flew by wayyyyyy too fast. Splitting Lasa week to week is to blame for that warp speed. And court. And sudden job hunting. I am tired! The Lord has held me fast through it all. I will never get over His goodness ... no matter how crappy circumstances can be. His goodness is MORE! He makes me ok and I can go on because of His comfort and provision and nearness. Thank you, Lord!