I have thought about the faithfulness of God recently. I wish I would think of it more often. But, sometimes life grabs hold of me and I forget. This weekend was an incredible one and one in which it would be hard to not remember God's faithfulness. We have prayed for months about BBC and Emily attending it. Neither Mark nor I had seen it nor had we known anything about it before Emily had her heart set on it. So all we could do is pray. I also had been praying about the transition for Em; that us leaving her there would not be too hard on her. God went far beyond anything I had ever dreamed of asking.

I was sharing with a good friend about my emotions and thoughts of our moment of having to say goodbye; knowing that I would be leaving my little girl at a place 7 1/2 hours away... not knowing when I would see her next. I imagined that Emily and I would both be sobbing and that I would be in tears quite often and probably at times I least expected it. But God had given us such an incredible peace that Emily was where He wanted her to be that the last emotion I felt was sadness. I am so excited for her! It is time for Emily to have the focus on her instead of her focusing on helping out around here. I want her to experience life to it's fullest. I want her to have time without 2 little ones at her feet and without constantly trying to make my life easier. I want her to have this time for HER! And she is just bubbling. I think that she had no idea the burden that she felt at home, trying to make my life easier. She took the eldest role very seriously. She felt responsibility to fill in the gaps in my life. I love her for that, but I want the focus on her and for her to grow without the burdens of younger children. Oh how I am excited for my little girl! I can't wait to watch God's plan unfold.

As for the rest of our life, we are experiencing lots of challenges; but I am reminded of God's faithfulness. When we arrived home, we faced the challenge of our well. We have NO water and haven't had any since we left. We run out of water nearly daily, though until Friday morning when we left, it had been a few weeks since we had run out. We were rather surprised that it ran out so quickly that morning but we never thought about it because we loaded up into the van and left. On Sunday, I was a tad bit irritable. Mark gave me a look that lovingly made me realize how irritable I was being. I smiled and gave him a hug saying "This weekend has been tough, I didn't need to come home to no water". He smiled and held me and simply said "yes you did". I knew what he meant. It made me laugh. I told him "Ok, but I didn't want it".

He is right, you know. Romans 8:28 says And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. So I know that I must need this and that God will work it out for my good. I am choosing to rejoice even though at times I really, really want my water back and I know that we are facing the high possibility of having to dig a deeper well and replace a pump.

Erin has received some good news from one of the colleges that her heart has been set on. She is in a situation of having 3 different colleges offer her a scholarship. It is a nice problem to have. She needs to spend time in prayer so that she can choose the right college (not necessarily the dream college, but the one that God would have her to be). It is difficult not to make decisions based on finances; especially during this day and age. But having left Emily at BBC, I am even more convinced that finances are not the determining factor!

She was selected as one of the captains of her soccer team. She and one of her best friends are co-captains. It is neat to see them as the leaders. They both deserve that honor. I think I have mentioned this before, but I felt compelled to mention it again. As school begins, she has some tough responsibilities. She is taking 2 (maybe 3) AP classes (college level) with no study hall. She is a section leader in the marching band, captain of the varsity soccer team, President of the Senior class, President of student council, vice-president of the National Honor Society, Senior Mentor, Dare ambassador, Big Buddy, a member of the debate team, and a member of FCA. I think I hit it all, but who knows with Erin. She is hoping that these accomplishments will help her gain some scholarships for college. Despite receiving very nice soccer scholarships, there is still a nice balance; especially if she were to choose a christian school.

Sam has an incredibly hard schedule as well. He is taking a block class of chemistry and biology. It is very tough to do. He is also taking honors geometry and honors English and Spanish III. He has no study halls. He is playing on the JV soccer team and in the marching band. He is also still guarding at our pool (until Sept 7). With soccer and Marching band, neither Sam nor Erin will be able to get home until 9:00 or later at night. It is very crazy!

Jacob is very excited about homeschool. We will begin some today. He is very intersted in the stock market right now, so we are planning to do some "mock investing". He was very intrigued by some abstract art work at the fair this year. So he has scupted a man out of chicken wire. It really is amazing. He is now paper macheing it. Once it is completed, he will put news articles/ magazine ads/ etc on it to represent that what we read shapes us. It is an amazing concept. I am really excited about it.

Well, I am planning on breaking down today and purchasing more space on the web. I just have to actually do it. Hopefully we will be posting pictures by tonight.

Emily - I love you, baby! Have a great day at school. Enjoy your last "free" day. I will be praying for an incredible beginning of classes.

We are finally home. We left without a tear shed. I think that is amazing. Emily absolutely loves BBC. I got a text last night at 12:20 am. It read like this: I LOVE IT HERE! tHIS IS BEYOND AMAZING! :) Both Mark and I were at peace by the time we had left her that night. We knew that she was where she needed to be. The college is equipping the kids with far more then an education; there is an eternal focus. But getting that message in the middle of the night was more then I could have asked for. It made leaving her today much easier. As soon as I can, I will post pictuers of her dorm room, she and her roommate, and the campus.

Elizabeth and Ri did a wonderful job staying with Mamaw. Not a tear was shed on that end either. In fact, when I called them this morning, neither wanted to talk. I was thrilled to know how much they didn't miss me. It would have been just too emotional for me to be leaving Emily and to have 2 little ones screaming for me 8 hours away.

It was a hard trip home. We hit probably 10 spots of construction. It caused us to add an extra hour or more onto the trip. When we pulled in, we discovered that we are out of water. THis time, I think it is a permanent thing. We don't know if the pump is gone or the well is dry or what.... but it isn't good and it won't be cheap.

It has been a hard weekend. We praise God for Emily's roommate, dorm parents, and the girls in her dorm. We were so comfortable with everyone we met. She is in for an incredible experience; I just know it. And I am trying very hard to praise God for the lack of water and the bill that we are facing to get water. God has not forgotten us. He is so faithful. I will praise Him for the good and the bad. Both are in His control and both are for my good.

We are here! Emily is all moved in. The trip was an adventure, only because we traveled through many miles of an intense downpour. Pennsylvania highways are under much construction (to the dismay of my husband). But we made it safely. We pulled in with the rain pouring, only to be greeted by at least 6 people. They all stood with arms open to unload us. It was incredible. A very nice gentleman came with an umbrella and welcomed us to campus. We realized later that it was the president of the college. Amazing! Mark and I are so at peace. There is not a doubt in our mind that this is where Emily belongs.

Emily has informed me that I have update on a day to day basis while she is away. Evidently, The Miller's Adventures is her home page. SHe wants to wake up every day and see what's going on at home. So... beginning next week, for my 1000's of followers (but mainly for my little girl), I will be updating daily. AND... I will break down and buy more storage for my pictures.

WE leave in 2 days. It is very hard to believe. I am sitting in a room filled with the color green (bright lime green). There is a corner piled with things for us to take. It is a constant reminder to me that my baby is grown up and moving on. I'm very excited for her thoguh. And... she is actually excited as well. We ordered books the other night. She could only get 4 of the 7 that we know of; and that is for only 3 classes. The grand total, for 4 books, was $233.00. Yikes. I knew books were expensive, but it was very hard to stomach that cost. Seeing a book for $104.00 (used) sort of blew my mind.

Jacob will not be attending public school this year. We are homeschooling him. There are lots of reasons as to why, none of which I really need to post. But one of his pet peeves is my posting. I don't take the time to check the spelling and often I am typing faster then I should. Sometimes I catch it and just don't correct it. Sometimes I just don't catch it, but most of the time, I honestly do know the correct spelling. Spelling is one of my stronger suits (though Jacob would argue intensely). So, I might make one of his assignments to correct my post everyday. :)

Erin and Sam are in full swing soccer mode (and band). The have had a very buys summer with very little down time. It is hard to believe they go back to school Friday. Both have very intense classes on top of a very hard season of marching band and soccer.

Yesterday, I received a very funny email. It said this:

You have several (probably 1,000s) people out here who can't get by without an update. With that in mind, I think you should institute a subscription plan. All you need is a PayPal account and your off and running.

I laughed when I read it. I laughed for 2 reasons... first, I knew who was sending it and I love him dearly... but knowing who it was just cracked me up. And second.... the "probably 1,000's" made me laugh out loud; not just a little smile or giggle :)

So... I will be doing something soon to make sure I update more regularly. I am not sure when I will do something about the pictures. I will and Mark tells me I don't have much choice...but I will wait just a little bit until I break down and open an actual account. It isn't expensive at all; especially considering all the pictures I post and knowing that I will never actually "lose" these pictures even if my computer crashes. But for now, until I actually push that silly button stating that I will pay for the service, you are stuck with a wordy post. Sorry.

Emotions are becoming quite high around here. Emily called me last night on her way home in a moment of panic about leaving next week. I answered the phone and all I heard was sobs on the other end. My first thought was that she had been in an accident and someone was hurt very badly (that's a mom thing, I think). Then I heard a little tiny voice saying "Mommy, I don't want to go". My heart broke for my little girl. It is suddenly hitting her. She sobbed for a long time and I listened with a hole in my heart. I know this is all normal; especially for a little girl who is more a "mama's girl" and a homebody. But hearing her fears and knowing the feelings she was having made this mama heartsick. After a long period of tears and talking, she was fine. She will be fine. She will be homesick and she will have nights of tears, but she is ready and she wants to go.

I melted down a few nights ago; actually, melted down is not really the word I should use. I think the better word is that I became a lunatic and realized that my responses to my daughter were so crazy simply because I am feeling the sadness of my little girl moving on.


Sam just asked Ri to tell him a joke. Ri responded with "Banana pants, that's a funny joke". Elizabeth loves to tell jokes too. Today she asked me "How many TV buttons does a raccoon eat?" the answer? 12

Ri: "how many pickles does a horse eat?" the answer? 10

Elizabeth: "how many cows does a pig eat? the answer? 13

Elizabeth: "I have a joke that is the funniest thing ever" "BANANA COOKIES!" then she breaks out with a huge smile and begins laughing out loud.

And thus you have experienced the comedy of a 4 year old. I hope you thought they were just as funny as Daddy and I.

Well, I have to go. I will post more later.

I just received an email from a dear friend who was concerned about Erin. She sweetly reminded me that I have not updated the blog for some time now. One reasons is that it seems we have reached our maximum use of uploading pictures. I now have to decide what to do. I just haven't figured out my next step. Blogging without pictures just doesn't seem like a good option for me!

As for Erin, she did fine at the camp. She never got sick (which, in my opinion, is certainly a God thing). She is so run down that I thought for sure she would come home very sick. She didn't, she just came home exhausted. She was awarded the highest award at camp. It was an honor. I wish I could tell you the name of it, but I just can't remember.

Last week, Sam and Erin both had grueling weeks. They had band camp from 7:00am - 3:00 everyday and then Senior Lead soccer from 5-8:00pm. Then on Friday, the entire girls soccer team spent the night at our house (beginning at 10:30pm.). It has been long time since I have pulled an all-nighter... but Friday was one of those times. Actually, I managed to be able to close my eyes on the couch for 1/2 hour.

I have promised Elizabeth that I would snuggle with her, so I must sign off. I will fill everyone in more later.

We are certainly enjoying some routine in our life. Erin is still at camp. I spoke with her last night. i have a prayer request. Her roommate was sent home from camp (she was one of the coaches and a team member) because she was sick; sore throat and high fever. The thing that concerns me some is that her room was quarantined and then disinfected. Due to the recent fear of swine flu, I can't help but wonder why they did this. I am hoping they are just being cautious. But, since I am here and Erin is there, it is a little harder for me. This week is very important for Erin. It is a week she has to show the coach her skills. Getting sick would make it very difficult for Erin to perform at her best. Right now, she is very run down and exhausted. She is probably at a higher risk of catching something just because her physical stamina is run down. So... please pray for our little girl! I will be anxious to hear from her this morning.

I thought I might share a little something Elizabeth said the other day. Emily had just bought a black hat and white skirt. She loves trying on her clothes and asking the little ones what they think. She did this with the hat and skirt. Elizabeth looked at her and said "You look very distinguished!" Emily cracked up (and when she shared it with me, I did the same). Where on earth did a 4 year old learn that word? Emily asked her and she very quickly responded "from your little head". Out of the mouth of babes. Too funny.

So... what's been happening this summer? It has flown by way too quickly. I think it is probably the first summer I can actually say that I really haven't enjoyed all that much. A little on the chaotic side. Oh, I enjoyed being with my brother's family, I enjoyed having my dear friends here, and I enjoyed having my husband off for a week... but the majority of the time, our family was split up and unable to really do much together. That is always a little hard on me. I realize that is part of life and part of my kids growing up... but I don't relaly like it. It has been difficult on Ri and Elizabeth as well. Everything has been turned upside down. And our poor little pup has had very little consistency. As much as I loved having Mark home, I am glad he is back to work simply so we can begin settling down a bit.

Emily leaves in 4 weeks (well, nearly 3), It is a strange time of life, watching your little ones grow up and begin to leave the nest. I am thrilled for her and can't wait to see all that God is bringing into her life. She will blossom. She is more then ready to go forward and begin a new stage. We take her on August 20th.

Erin just drove, by herself, to Houghton College in New York. That was a stretch of faith! It was hard to see her drive away. She has soccer camp this week. It will be a week where she will evaluate the team/coach/campus as well as the coach will be evaluating her. Houghton is one of the colleges she is very interested in. It is a 5 1/2 hour drive. It just didn't make much sense for Mark and I to drive her there, turn around and come home and then 5 days later, go pick her up. She arrived safely. It is interesting, already, how different she sounds compared to her visit to Alabama's soccer camp. I recieved a few text messages from her and could tell that the tone was much different then the messages that I had recieved while in Alabama. The I spoke to her and could "feel" the difference. One of the first things she said was how much she really liked her roommate. In Alabama, her roommate was another recruit. The recruits and some team members in Alabama seemed to judge Erin as "unworthy" because she had not played on any national or international team. All of the recruits from Alabama had played on that level of team and poor Erin had merely played on Central Ohio's MOSSL leagues and for a high school team that has never really seen much success. And when she stayed an extra day in Alabama, she was simply referred to as "the recruit" rather then her name. But at Houghton, the coach assigned her roommate to be one of the team members. And most of the night, she had been hanging out with the actual team. She was enjoying every minute. We do not know where God is planning for Erin to play. Alabama, Mount Vernon, New York... or somewhere else. She is leaving it in God's hands and trying to do her part.

Right now, I am learning much about God's grace. He is working on my heart about a few things. I am really struggling with a decision I need to make and have been trying to faithfully seek His direction. For now, there are 2 verses (granted - I think they are probably taken out of context), that have jumped off the pages as I read them. One is: I Corinthians 1:26Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him.

and Isaiah 6:5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

And I know that these verses are out of context, but as I prayed specifically for direction, these seemed to pop. Anyway... I am striving to "hear" God's voice. Feel free to lift me up in prayer as to what God might have me to do.

I will have to fill you in more later. Life is tugging at my legs right now, so I have to go. Sorry for no pictures. I have reached my maximum allowance of "free" postings. Now I have to decide what I would want to do from here.

Elizabeth and Ri surprised Uncle Paul on his birthday. Uncle Paul's church was holidng a VBS this past week. When Uncle Paul began to pray, he must have seen us just as he bowed his head. He looke dup to see who walked in. His face was priceless! He was overjoyed to see his neice and nephew walking towards him. They were only there one night, but Elizabeth caught on very quickly. Here is one of the songs she heard that night.

Finally, a little explanation to go along with all the pictures. My very precious friends, whom we met in China and whom live in California, made a trip to Ohio between their trip to Florida and Washington DC (wow - that sounded crazy, didn't it?). Evan and Christy adopted their daughter, Faith. Faith and Elizabeth were "sisters" for 10 1/2 months in the orphanage. We have kept in touch and have become very close friends. We hope that Faith and Elizabeth will always stay close. Our week has been very chaotic, but oh so precious. It was such a joy to be with Christy and just share the simple things of being a mother together. We were not able to see the sights of Ohio like we both wish we could have, but we were able to spend time together (which we NEVER get to do). I got to hold Luke for the very first time, that was pure joy! He is even more adorable in person then in pictures. We missed her husband dearly. He was unable to make the trip. He and Mark have a wonderful friendship as well. Both enjoy spending time together, which made it even more sad to not have him with us.

Today, my house is quiet. It is an odd sound; with having 11 kids underfoot for the past 3 days and 9 for the 3 days before that, quiet is something I didn't experience. Mark and I had to say goodbye to Christy and the kids earlier then we had hoped. We had a wedding to attend and Erin had a tournament that we needed to get to. It was not that we needed to see her play, but we realized that she needed to be put in a spotlight game. I tried to get the coach to take care of it, but he hadn't a clue how to help, so we needed to go in person. Unfortunately, we could not find the director of the tournament, so she was not able to be put in it. It was hard to say goodbye and very, very rushed. I think I am glad it was rushed simply because it made saying goodbye much easier. As usual, Emily took over and finished all that I would have done. She spent the rest of the day with them and then took them to the airport. She is an amazing young woman. I can't believe all that she does!

Between she and my mother-in-law, they have taken everyone away so that Mark and I could have some much needed alone time. I was gone for nearly 2 weeks with the kids and then 2 days later, our friends came.