Hope Continually -- Psalm 71:14: My Week: July 9-14

Sunday, July 9th - We attended our small group classes at 9:15am. The teacher was out so we had a fill-in and it was a good class with lots of engagement. For the service at 10:45am, a choir from First Baptist Church of Cleveland sang along with our worship team and choir.

It was too much. Too much like a concert and not congregational singing for a church service.

This is my blog and well, I'm going to say this. Worship time at church needs to be corporate. It is not a time for those on stage to perform. If those on stage are singing in a manner that we as the audience can't sing along, then don't sing it that way. We are there to worship as a BODY and a body does everything TOGETHER. Believe me, I have been to worse worship times where it was just a concert. Pastors and worship leaders, don't make it a production. Make it real and make it for the people, not the "performers". We truly enjoyed the preaching though. Pastor David always preaches the Bible and we are grateful for that.

After the service, we visited the chiropractor and made a stop at Aldi. I made taco pasta salad for lunch. Eric then mowed the lawn and I went to Home Depot to get hardware. The previous owners took off some blinds, a closet shelf, and closet doors. I couldn't find the hardware though for Eric to hang it back up so I had to buy new hardware. I also did some office-type catch-up work - bills, emails, etc.

Just loving these flowers. :)

Storm blew in at the chiropractor.

Good meal for summer. :)

Monday, July 10th - Mondays are my day to grocery shop for the week. Summer came with me. We went to Wal-Mart and got our things. While there, it downpoured and we had several more showers that day. We also stopped at Sherwin-Williams for paint and they were out of what I needed. Ugh.

For dinner, Summer made the whole meal. I will share this recipe because it is simple and everyone, even our tomato-hating kid, loved this dish! She made baked feta pasta, breadsticks, and broccoli. It was nice to have a night off of cooking. Eric had a late day at work meeting with his boss. He got home around 8:30pm.

I'll share the recipe this week. A meatless meal and very tasty!

Tuesday, July 11 - Eric worked from home this day since he had to fly out later that day for the Aspire event this week in LA. I took Addie and Sierra to the DMV to get their Florida driver's license and permit. Another task was done. After the DMV, we went to Speedway and got free slurpees for 7-11 day. It has been a tradition for us to get Slurpees on 7-11. :) I'm glad they still want to do things like this. It is simple yet a tradition and memory. Isn't that what life is - little memories. Then Eric reinstalled the blind, closet door, and shelf for Summer's room.

I took Eric to the airport for his flight. When traffic is good, it is only 37 minutes from our house to the airport which is not bad at all. Especially during rush hour! And the Jacksonville airport, even though it serves a huge city, does not seem busy. Much, much better than Portland! With Eric traveling so much for work events, I am glad for this since I take and pick him up from the airport for his trips.

For dinner, I made gumbo joes. I have this recipe on my old blog but will share it here as well. Summer made loaded potato salad which she did a good job of. :) We had a late dinner and it took me a while to get the kitchen cleaned up.

Sunrise.

Finally got two of these for our vehicles. We live close to a toll road that we use sometimes. This gives you a discounted toll rate plus it works for E-ZPass roads as well. Another to-do checked off. :)

Silly cat!

My "helper".

I'm glad my kids still want to go get free Slurpees on 7-11. Back when they were little, we would always go to a couple 7-11's to get free Slurpees. Times were tight so this was a fun treat. I always looked for freebies for us. Little joys. I never want to forget that feeling. And here we are, keeping the little joys alive.

My college kiddo hanging out in the office with me.

Big summer storm - lots of rain!

Do not be fooled. These do NOT taste like elotes. :/

DON'T be that neighbor that blows your cut grass on the street. :/

Gumbo joes (old recipe that I will share) and loaded potato salad. Summer made the potato salad and she did a great job.

Our house at sunset.

Wednesday, July 12 - Eric is in Los Angeles for his Aspire event. Autumn is still in Hungary. I decided to take the Cruze to get an oil change and tire rotation. Another check mark on the list.

I think it is funny how Jackson sits right by Max. I think he does it on purpose. Ha!

Love to see my kids reading their Bibles.

Hoping my plants still do ok in these planters.

He's working hard, isn't he?

Finished up the painting in the office. I hate painting ceilings!

The pink is gone - hallelujah.

Thursday, July 13th - Now to clean this up and organize.

The girls and I took an outing to the Jacksonville Arboretum and Gardens. I will share those photos in a separate post. On the way home, we stopped at Walmart for ice cream. An employee pointed out these fruit bars for only $1 so we got those too!