Hallie's Confirmation!

 Confirmation classes began on Wednesday in September.  Hallie hasn't talked to much about it but we hope she's learned some things she can cling onto!   

She wouldn't let us take any individual pics.

Jason and I have started to pray that the kids will realize that they need Jesus (which scares me a bit since you don't realize your need unless you struggle!).

Hallie was confirmed today, meaning she's accepted as a member of the church and makes a commitment to follow Christ.  I see it as a stepping stone in the faith journey.

Pastor Bob writes a personal prayer for each kid and this was hers:

“O God our Father, through Jesus Christ you have accepted this your servant, Hallie Virginia Holcomb, into your family.  Nourish her in the power of the Holy Spirit…using her creativity to grow and serve even when she doesn’t understand….that she may walk blamelessly before you  all the days of her life.”   Amen.

They choose a life verse and hers was John 13:7 

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

Honestly, a good verse for her and she chose on her own.

They write a "essay" about what their verse means to them. Here was hers.

God helps everybody, Jesus showed us who God is.

In v.b.s I learned the story of Joseph

where things go wrong and things get better because

God knows all things. 

I like building legos because it is fun. God likes building too because

after He created the world, He said it was good.

Someone has to create the earth and legos. 

When He created people He was happy because we are more like

him than other things in creation.

I like building and creating because God gave me that gift

from him.

Maybe in the future I can help others by using my gifts, like building

houses or creating art that can remind people of the love of God.

God is joyful because He made me and helps me stay safe

and warm.

He loves us because He gave up his son to take all of our sins.

Jesus chose to die on the cross so that we had a way

to be right with God. 

A time I felt God’s presence was when I had a real tornado last year

at school.

I didn't feel scared because God was with me.   

The verse I chose was John 13:7 Jesus replied, you don't

understand now what I am doing but someday you will. I don't understand

yet but I will soon. I will continue confirmation, sunday school, V.B.S and

devotions and prayers with my family.

We included some pictures of legos she created on her own!

Grandpa

 Grandpa has not been doing well for the past few months. We saw him on Saturday May 12th when we visited Grandma in the rehab facility since she broke her hip.

He had oxygen but still struggled to breathe and ate the least amount of food I've ever seen him eat before. Since he was starting to need  24-hour care, the plan was for Mike to stay with  during the week and Lee and Jason to take the weekend but he passed away during the night on Wednesday morning

Funeral with full military honors on May 20th.

Married 68 years to Grandma! And one of the bittersweet moments was when she first saw him in the casket. 

Jason and I got her as close as we could to the casket in the wheelchair, then asked if she wanted to stand up to see him.

She did very quietly, cried again, then very quickly leaned down to kiss him on the lips,  and said "I love you daddy"  (which is what she called him). 💔

His 80th birthday at Sagebrush.

Wedding April 30, 1955 (I think that's right)

The Ford red truck. The battery had to be taken out because he started it with a screwdriver!

Tank driver in the Korean War

(Early 1950s)

I asked Grandma where this was and she just remembered it was somewhere in the mountains

Proof that Jason and Justin look identical at certain moments in time!

Finishing soccer!

Hallie has now finished out her soccer season!

 It brought out of an assertive, confident side to her we haven't seen.

She learned not only about the sport, but about listening and respecting her coaches and teammates who know more about the game than she does.

We were excited to watch her improve and enjoy the playing!

Final game season celebration!

Throwing water balloons on her coach!

 

Justin's Field day

 

Justin had his field day on May 5th.

He enjoyed the tug of war,  rolling a tire, and "egg" toss. 

There was a baseball pitch.too also said a 50 yard dash! Pica taken by his teacher!

Easter, Justin's bday, Spring break

We spent Easter again at Linda & Gary's.  

The kids had a Easter Egg hunt (looking for eggs with money!) again

We did a quick celebration of Justin's 9th birthday!

The kids had a nice Spring Break week!

Monday was Justin's birthday-they went to Sweet Frogs and Barnes and Noble.

Tuesday they went to Glen Hilton park.

Wednesday they went to Defy.

Thursday they went to Biltmore with GG, Granddad, and Deda 

(and ate ice cream in memory of Liz's birthday).

Friday they saw the Super Mario Brothers movie with our 

old neighbors Emma, Olivia, and their grandmother Janette.

Easter thoughts

Maundy Thursday wasn’t the evening I expected.

I hoped to attend our church’s activities but Hallie had some homework she didn’t tell me about and didn’t understand, so we attempted to do the awful math problems, but I had no clue how to solve.

I felt frustrated, helpless, and stupid.

So after an hour, we gave up and watched a movie.

Good Friday wasn’t the evening I expected.

The wonderful math teacher sent some notes/examples that helped her do the work, but after 90 minutes, she still had a few things unfinished as we didn’t understand.

So, we watched a movie.

I went to bed feeling defeated.

The scripture came to me, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

And realized the disciples must have felt the same way the 72 hours before the resurrection.

They didn’t expect for that to be their last meal with Jesus, to see him betrayed by one of their own, arrested, put on trial, flogged, and executed.

They quickly became cowards, hiding in fear, denying, not believing anything he had told them about rising from the dead. They doubted the women who told them about the empty tomb, not believing until they saw Jesus himself.

“The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

My continuous need for God’s grace and forgiveness was exposed in a way I didn’t expect, reminding me why Jesus died in the first place....