wow, it’s been awhile… 

um, the small group leader’s conference was wonderful.  by the end of the weekend i was physically drained and emotionally raw.  but it was good.  tons of great teaching, passionate times of worship, good fellowship, conviction and provocation…  yes, very good.

monday afternoon i took 1/2 day off  work and drove up to kingman with my dear friend bethany lewis.  she was speaking to a group of homeschooling parents on the Center for AZ Policy (where she works) and Homeschooling Through High School.  it was really great – first of all b/c she and i got 4 hours of exclusive time with each other on the drive up and 4 hours of exclusive time with each other on the way down!  that was fabulous and we did not lack for things to talk about either.  God and boys are two topics that rarely can be exhausted.    the conclusion we came to: boys are evil.  throw rocks at them.  (just kidding – i like boys)  second, the talk went super well, and these parents were SO encouraged to meet two young people who had done it all the way and loved it and come out okay.  seriously, it was just etched on their faces the encouragement they received.  praise be to God!  i joined bethany for the Q&A part at the end and then talked with some parents afterwards, and it was amazing.  God totally gave me the words to say to these people.  it was great.  we stayed the night at a family’s home and then drove back yesterday morning.  i was able to take the morning off of work as well, so i got back to work around 1.  i could seriously get used to this half-day thing. 

it’s rainy today.  it’s very nice, actually.  i don’t usually like the rain, but today is nice.  except it did make it particularly difficult to get out of bed. 

raigan and i went and had pictures taken together!  she’s going to visit a friend of hers in el paso today, so as soon as she gets back she’s going to scan them, so hopefully i can post them sometime next week.  they turned out pretty cute! 

can we please fast forward to the christmas season?