Somebody PLEASE stop this train…

…so I can at least take a nap or something! OH MY GOODNESS, the past six weeks have been CRAZY busy. (Do you like my incessant use of caps?). I am so sorry I haven’t blogged. Thank you, oh faithful ones, who have continued to check up on here, though all you’ve been finding is the same blog about rain. Boring, I know.

I figured I’ll recap at least, so you won’t think I’m just slacking and making all this “busy” hosh posh up. Buckle up and please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times.

I’ll go backward which, for my little mind, is much easier!

As I type this, I’m sitting in the music room of Community Christian Fellowship (CCF) in Lowell, Massachusetts which is our home for the next week. We’re beginning week three of our summer missions tour. We’ve done a Chain Reaction (CR) week at CCF Lowell for the last two years, though this is fifth year of doing a CR week in this area – we did two years in Haverhill, MA previously. This time, CCF has taken it upon themselves to do the event and we were invited to come and be a part of it. They’re calling it Caleb’s Dream, which is also an honor. Matt was the first speaker last night and was able to share about Caleb’s life. It’s all another step in the healing process. We’re looking forward to being a part of this week.

We kicked off in Baltimore this year which is actually quite monumental. We’ve attempted to do a week in Baltimore for the last two years and have run against obstacles that have stopped the event both years. We had a great group from Howard County. There were about 20 of them and they already came with a servant attitude. They embraced the CR concept quickly and whole-heartedly and were a joy with which to work. We were also thrilled to be joined by Lee and Debra, Jeremy DelRio and Ramon – all good friends and fellow ministers. Our fun day was Wednesday which happened to be the 4th of July. We went downtown in the afternoon and attempted to see the fireworks. However, God thought it would be really funny to see us all soaking wet before the night was over. About 15 minutes before the fireworks were scheduled to start and after managing to stay dry through intermittent sprinkles throughout the day, the day completely opened up on us and we got SOAKED! I mean, we’re talking all the way down to the underwear soaked. We still managed to have fun, though. My BFF Jess and her roomie Ali came with us and they are the very definition of fun.

CR Baltimore actually ended being more tiring than I thought it would be. Micah, Jacob and I stayed at the house so it was early out the door, come home late every day and we even had a family from Ohio that came staying with us two of those nights. I did crowdbreakers/scripture songs each morning and worship with our intern/staff dude, Jesse, each evening. By then end of the week, I had NO voice left. It’s all good, but was exhausting all the same! (Click on Jeremy's link in the right column. He has lots of pics on his blog... and his blog is cool to boot. You really should be reading it anyway)

We have three interns this year; Josh, Jesse who is a young man that we’ve known for awhile and our nephew, Zak. They stayed at our house all last week training and preparing for the next month of ministry. OK. Come a little closer. I have to tell you a secret… the most awesome thing about the past week was that I didn’t have to grocery shop OR cook! Matt decided that part of their process included meal planning, preparation, etc. so Katy did NOT have to cook at all this week! Yea! Happy me.

OK. Before that, I flew to Ohio for a weekend. My mom and sister have been involved in an a capella (that means no instrumental accompaniment for my non-musical friends out there) women’s barbershop singing organization called Sweet Adelines for years – seriously, my mom has been singing with them like all my life. Anyway, Sweet Adelines has competitions for quartets (that’s four women for you math whizzes) and my mom and sister have competed in various quartets over the years. Well, we’ve always wanted to sing in a quartet together and have decided, with many factors under consideration, that with the addition of my mom’s friend, Pat, now is the time for us to do a quartet. Now the challenge comes with the fact that we have one in Baltimore, one in Nashville and two in Ohio. So we’re practicing hard on our own and getting together quarterly (roughly). I’ll keep you informed…

Before that, it was the last week of school. The boys were very glad to be done. They all did well this year. Actually, just a few days ago, we got Josh’s final report card. He did very well, especially for his first year back in public school after three years of being homeschooled and one year or Christian school. He got all A’s and B’s as his final grades. We are very proud!



This takes us back to the weekend of June 15-17. I like to refer to this weekend as my “Kamikazee” weekend! Thursday, my parents came in for a visit. My mom and I both had had birthdays leading up to that and wanted to celebrate, along with an overdue party for Jacob’s birthday on Saturday. What my mom didn’t know was that my sister was flying in Friday night to surprise her (and we pulled it off, too which is HUGE because my mom is suspicious and hard to surprise!). Saturday, we had Jacob’s party and then took Mom and Dad out to a nice dinner for her birthday and Father’s Day, respectively. The next day (Sunday), we went to church and then, since I didn’t have anything ELSE going on that weekend, I had a recital for 13 of my 29 students! It actually went very well and my sister was able to stick around and be featured as a guest artist. We even sang a duet together. How fun.



My birthday weekend was before that. We had our friend, Lee, who Matt was in DOC with many years ago, and his wife, Debra, and their two boys here. They did a concert Friday evening at Moravia Assembly of God (incidentally, where we had the Baltimore CR) and ministered at New Covenant Tabernacle on Sunday morning. In between, we did Ft. McHenry and Annapolis. The day of my birthday (Friday the 8th), my friend Lynn picked Debra and Jess and I up early and we went out to breakfast and then on to see Joyce Meyer. It was really wonderful and the perfect way to spend my 35th birthday (I know, I’m old).

Whew.

Well, I think that catches me up. If you read all of this, I’ll buy you a coffee or something sometime! I hope my blogging can get regular once we’re done with the next three weeks; this one in Lowell, next week in New York City and then back to Massachusetts to Haverhill for one more week. We are looking forward to company in August, along with returning to teaching piano part-time, football for Josh and of course, one more month before we return to the routine of school and full-time work.

I’ll get back to my Happiness is… Fridays and actually want to do the Thursday Thirteen as inspired my my dear friend, Ami.

Hope you’re all having a great summer so far. God is good.

(Thanks for reading. It means a lot to me ☺ )