Last Weekend of Summer of '25 Review

 This was a weekend pack full!

On Thursday night, we met our "out-to-eat" supper club at Seasons 52. Our group was very small this time, but the conversation was good. My shrimp skewer over a salad was yummy. We met early and didn't "dawdle" (good southern word), because we had to drive 30 more minutes to the 4th Grade Homecoming football game where our oldest granddaughter would be cheering.

There is not a photo of this, but as those sweet little football players ran through the sign, one of the boys fell down. There was a collective sigh from stands. Bless his heart!

At half-time the dads walked on the field with their daughters, who served as the Homecoming court. I love that young man so much!! Just FYI - he has a broken ankle and will see an ortho doc tomorrrrow. While on the field with our girl, you could not tell he was in pain.

What is it about a son and a granddaughter - seeing this picture makes my heart swell!

Gran and Pops were able to grab a photo with the cheerleader of the hour!

Chelsea Hornets won the game - yay!

Friday morning, I hit the ground running. I had a practice quiz and then a mid-term. I just barely made an A on the mid-term . . .technically, according to the university's grading system, I made an A-. I'll take it.

I also ordered groceries and washed our sheets and completed the other assignments due over the weekend.

And then I packed an overnight bag . . .

because I was headed to Camp Sumatanga for our 5th Annual Women's Retreat. I've been on the team every year, but this year . . . there was no way to be on the team along with working full-time and taking a full load of classes. I went as a participant.

As always, the weekend opened with a silly skit. The team was playing mah jong and fighting over the rules.

Laura Russell is our Pastor of Children and Families (and Women, technically). She is a person who I became really close friends with on our trip to Israel in 2020 . . .right before the world shut down. She actually heard the call to ministry while in Israel and began seminary during covid. We've been roommates every year on this retreat (except the first year - because we wore masks and stayed in individual rooms that year!). 

This is Laura #2 giving the opening talk of the weekend. She and I were a tight team back when we first became staff members at Trinity. We worked together for years and she is one of my favorite people. The theme for the weekend was Encounters and each speaker shared their life story and their encounters with God.

On Saturday night, we had an experiential time of prayer. There were prayer stations set up all around Hutto Auditorium and the overhead lights were off. You could go to any prayer station at any time, but the goal was to pray at all of the stations. There was a giant fabric labyrinth in the middle for us to walk.

Another station was at the foot of the cross - you were given a mirror and a marker and you were to write a lie you believe about yourself on the mirror. You then turned that lie over to God and wiped the mirror clean.

I don't think I've every shown a photo of one of the rooms. We stay in the Retreat Center of the camp and I always say, "It is sort of like a Motel 6." haha!

The weekend was amazing and Laura and I stayed up late talking. I spent some time in the room working on homework, which was ok!

The retreat concluded with one last talk on Sunday morning and communion. Pastor Amy (Pastor of Discipleship) asked if I would help serve communion, which was so meaningful to me. We finished up by 10:00 a.m., packed up, and headed home. We grabbed this photo on Sunday morning.

I got home right before Mark walked through the door from church and Sunday School. I fixed a light lunch and we took a nap . . . because we had tickets to a matinee at the Homewood Theater. This was one of their "after dark" plays, which means the use of language and talk of things not usually mentioned in the plays performed at the theater. It was the story of five bridesmaids wearing tacky dresses. 

After the show, we headed home and I ironed a couple of dresses for work and together, we made the one pot spaghetti for Tuesday night. We finally sat down and watched a couple of shows.

Whew - the end! I have to go back to work to rest haha!

I love reading about everyone's weekend. Hope you had a good one!!