Priorities?

One of the exercises in CBS (community bible study) was to identify your priorities by looking at your checkbook and your calendar.  This one, was eye opening.  We spend an inordinate amount of time at soccer, playing it or coaching it.  It is interesting to see where we give of most of our time and money.  Are these areas really our priority?

That being said, fall is underway.  Both boys play on two teams.  Andrew's high school team is doing well.  More importantly he has stayed healthy.  We are only half way through the season, so prayers would be greatly appreciated.   He had a serious concussion spring of '07 and an avulsion hip fracture fall '09.  I take nothing for granted.  I pray during the games - for all of the boys.  Zach is also doing well.  That boy can not get enough of soccer.  Eliza is doing crew and riding (her passion).  Jason is coaching two teams and playing soccer, as well.  Soccer, soccer,  and more soccer.  (The only thing I can say in defense of how much time we spend with soccer is that we do it as a family.)

Andrew is driving.  In MA you get your learner's permit at 16 and 6 months later your license.  I hate it.  The first night he was driving home from school (highway driving) I thought that I would be sick to my stomach.  It has gotten easier (a bit), but I miss when I had to strap him into the stroller.

As for me, I am loving my classes.  CBS has been great.  I love history.  I love the Ethiopian connection.  I love the lessons.  I am excited to learn more about the book that is central to my beliefs.  Anatomy and Physiology, too, has been great.  the professor is very nice but not a great teacher.  I love the material, though, so I don't mind reading the text.  The only downside to all the learning is sometimes, I am exhausted at the end of the day.  I am trying to be mindful of that, to save some energy for Jason. Last night, we played backgammon while we talked, and the older kids finished homework.  We use to play backgammon all the time in college.

On the adoption front, I fed-exed our notarized home study to CIS and to KSB, yesterday.  That should complete our 1600a (we completed our fingerprints this summer).  I will wait for the 171. While we are waiting for the paperwork phase to be closed out, I went to a workshop on  Building your family through Birth and Adoption.  Great food for thought.  How do you building a cohesive unit and celebrating differences?  Today, I am participating in a workshop/webinar on how/when to share the difficult story with the adopted child (Ethiopia specific).  While waiting on the paperwork, I love the classes as a way to stay connected to the process.  

My goal is to get our calendar in balance with our true priorities.