Anna's in Kindergarten!!!
How in the world did THAT happen so fast?

Anna and Norah outside the new school:

Here's Anna finding her name on the class list...



Pumped about new toys to play with in the classroom!!



We’re Leaving

Well, we did it. We made it through the first day of Kindergarten… Anna strapped up her backpack, grabbed her lunchbox and waltzed right into her elementary school with her brand new pink New Balance shoes on her feet and a smile on her face. When I asked her about it later she said that she was a bit nervous but mainly just excited. She loves her class, she loves her teacher and she has already made a new best friend. I can’t believe it! I can’t believe we’re already here and that my little girl is going to school. I know everybody says this kind of cheesy stuff, but I can totally remember holding her right after she was born. I can remember her first tooth, her first steps, all of that stuff, and now she’s school age… oh man. I said to Christy, “Do you realize that you were sixteen when we met and fell in love and now we’ve got a kindergartener with two other kids at home?!” I mean, I still remember standing outside my school on the first day of kindergarten!!! Ahhh!! Doesn’t this train seem to be going faster than it used to?!

For weeks I’ve been praying for Christy because we both knew this would be a rough day for her. We have tiptoed around the whole ‘kindergarten’ subject so that she would be able to just slowly prepare herself. The joke was on me though. Christy did great that day! I, on the other hand… I mean, to be honest, in the weeks leading up to this thing, I was pretty excited. On Monday morning Christy pulled up to church with the van so I could accompany them to school. I was pumped for Anna and she looked great. Then we got there, parked the car and something unexpected happened. As the kids were getting out of the van, Anna said, “Daddy, will you hold me?”

It was all I could do to keep it together. I may never forget that moment… I didn’t speak a whole lot as we took her to the classroom and met with her excellent teacher. I somehow made it back to the van and as we drove away I just lost it… my baby’s growing up. I can’t stop it…

In 2 Corinthians 5 Paul says, “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

What he means is that this life on earth is merely a camping trip. We’re in a tent and soon we’ll get to go home. In fact, the rest of this life is God Himself pulling up the tent stakes. The hard stuff, the tears, troubles, pains and tragedies are reminding us that we were made for a place with none of these. What is mortal is going to get swallowed up by real, vibrant, full and eternal life. Your troubles are your teachers and one of the biggest lessons they have for you is this: We aren’t staying here, we’re leaving. Dad told me on Monday that I’ll turn around three times and Anna will be graduating high school… whoa. That’s gonna be rough; but go ahead, Lord, pull that stake. I’m ready to go.