Lauren Sparks

The Sparks Notes

All Over the Place in August

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All over the place.  That describes my emotions this month.  It hasn’t taken much to bring tears.  Happy tears, sad tears, frustrated ones and wistful ones.  But it’s all good.  It’s only because we moved my baby to college.  She is officially a Baylor Bear – the 3rd generation.  And I think it’s safe to say the whole family is excited…and a little nervous about that.  But let me back it up a bit.

 

The first week of August was the 2nd week of grandparent camp (Camp LolliPop if you will).  I am Lolli and the hubs is Pop.  We had the first two of our four the week before.  And this week we hosted the younger two.  We went to Fossil Rim – a wildlife drive through park in Glen Rose, Texas with my mom and dad, we went swimming at our REC swimming pool a lot, had a water balloon fight, played Chicken Foot and had pizza and movie night.  To top it off, Chuck’s parents traveled up to see them and provide much additional entertainment while I worked a couple of days.  Allie went back to Camp Blessing to work one more week.  I think it’s safe to say that an exhausting time was had by all.

Preparing for What’s Next

 

Upon coming home, Allie spent most of the next week soaking up as much time with hometown friends as possible before they all started going their separate ways for the next life chapter.  We went wherever she lead worship to get our fill for a while.  We sure will miss that, but pray she finds a church home in her new city that will utilize her many gifts.

 

In our time with her we cooked her favorite meals, let her pick favorite restaurants and played Spicy Uno with her and friends.  If you don’t know this version of the popular card game, you can google the rules using the regular Uno deck.  We also bought her a pair of cowboy boots and worked with her on popular dances to get her ready for the country two-step scene in Waco.  We basically acted like we were never going to see her again even though she’s an hour and a half away and we bought season football tickets.  She will be wishing she missed us!

 

Movin’ On Up

 

Move2BU (as they call it) was very hot and tiring, but Baylor does right by their new freshmen.  When we pulled up in front of her dorm, a swarm of upperclassmen grabbed all of her things from our two cars and hauled it up to her room.  It was a gone in 60 seconds situation.  Being spared that part, we could go straight up to her room and start putting it all together.  And the room turned out so cute – thanks to the creativity and thoroughness of her roommate’s mom!  The day ended with a family picnic outside in 109 degrees.  Suffice it to say, we didn’t stay long and said our goodbyes outside in public.  Too hot to hug for too long, so I only teared up for a minute and then we were gone!  A great way to remove some of the emotion and send this Momma Bear off without a scene.

 

To reward ourselves for making it through all that, Chuck and I took ourselves to see Petra!  Anyone else grow up listening to them?  They are touring for their 50th anniversary and it was so fun.  Even more fun was watching the people in their 70’s rocking out as well as a father and son duo in front of us who were all in!

All Over the Place with Entertainment

 

I bought into the Barbenhiemer hype and went to the Barbie movie with my girl.  She even made me change into pink clothes!  It is fun and clean and deeper than you originally think.  I kind of want to see it again.  Chuck and I went to Oppenheimer on a date night and it did not disappoint.  I can’t call it clean since there is a sex scene and way too much of Florence Pugh’s skin, but the psychological drama kept me interested for the entire 3 hours.  It didn’t feel that long at all.

 

On TV, we got the most out of a free month of Apple TV+ by watching Still:  A Michael J. Fox Movie.  I loved him growing up and love documentaries so this hit a sweet spot.  Little Voice also delighted us on Apple with the story of a young singer/songwriter trying to make it in NYC.  The main character had a special needs brother that we so related with.  Untold:  Johnny Football on Netflix was so interesting, but in the end showed the lack of character of all involved.  Especially when there was a chance to make some money.  And we enjoyed binging So Help Me Todd.  I’m hoping there is a second season this fall.

 

New Chapter

 

When our grandkids were here, we dusted out the old Wii for some entertainment and the hubs and I decided to keep it out for ourselves.  Playing some active games together has been fun and kept us from turning into total couch potatoes in the evening.  As well as taking Shelby swimming or walking to get her some exercise too.  In my spare time I read Lynn Austin’s Chasing Shadows.  Not my favorite of her books. 

 

And now Allie is finishing up her first week of college classes and she is sending positive reports.  Getting texts about how much she loves her classes and the university in general make my day.  As well as an occasional “I love you” text.  Not bragging, just saying.  😉  Tonight we are having friends over for game night.  Going to teach them spicy uno.  And as always, I love you, I thank you and I hope September treats you well!

 

And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!

 

I love the thought of turning “why” questions into “what” questions with God as Linda Stoll does in Porch #105 Please Answer at Least One Question.

 

The Link Up

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

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MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
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LAUREN SPARKS
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LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
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TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
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Joy: A Lesson Learned From My Teenaged Daugher

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Immaturity, selfishness, thoughtlessness and carelessness.  These are the fairly universal traits of an American teenager.  This all seems to come built into the undeveloped prefrontal cortex and raging hormones of the emerging adult.  Now, I will 100% believe you if you tell me your pubescent angel is amazing.  And I believe you without sarcasm.  But I also know that, at times, the aforementioned character traits come out to play.  And they play so hard that it can get easy to focus on those things and the failings of the younger generation.  But I’d like to tell you about a lesson learned in my life, and the credit goes to my 18 year old daughter. 

 

 “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” John 15:11-12 NIV

 

A few weeks ago, a staff member at our church asked me to consider a challenging ministry opportunity.  For the sake of privacy and the dignity of others, I won’t get much more descriptive than that.  I didn’t even have to think about it.  With my Allie moving out and moving on to college I needed a new challenge and something to throw my extra emotional energy into.  But after dipping my first toe in, I immediately started to regret this commitment.

 

All the doubts I carry about myself crept back in.  Am I strong enough?  Do I know enough?  Will I be effective?  Can I handle it?  And to be honest, my selfishness came to the table as well (it’s not just for teenagers!).  It felt hard and I didn’t want to be bothered or sacrifice my time.  Really Christ-like thoughts.  But then I saw more pictures on social media from Camp Blessing.a lesson learned

 

My daughter Allie served on staff at Camp Blessing, a sleep-away camp for children and adults with special needs, for the first 6 weeks of the summer.  She did wheelchair transfers and changed adult diapers and bathed those who couldn’t shower themselves.  Allie (camp name Birdie) dealt with severe behavior issues and stayed up countless hours at night tending her flock of campers.  She oversaw hygiene routines and feeding challenges of the mildly to severely physically and mentally handicapped.  And she pushed wheelchairs all over campground terrain in the 100+ degree Texas heat.

 

 

A Lesson Learned From a Joy Observed

 

I have one at home with severe impairment.  And it’s tough.  Allie served 100’s during her tenure at camp.  And that is how my teen daughter challenged and motivated me.  I found myself thinking, if she can do all of that, I can certainly do this thing that won’t be nearly as physically and emotionally draining.  I could sacrifice my time and love others well, just as my girl was doing.  And do you know what?  She did it with such joy.a lesson learned

 

Birdie radiated a God given joy and Christ-like love in every picture posted.  In our weekend conversations she would tell me about some of the issues she faced and times she was pushed to her limit.  My response was, “I’m sorry it wasn’t a good week.”  Her response, “I didn’t say that.  It was hard, but every week is a good week.”  And she meant it.  This is what it means to have true joy in serving the Lord.  Even when the times or tasks are really tough.  And I’m so grateful for a lesson learned through this extraordinary girl.  God is so good, and when I grow up (spiritually) I want to be just like her.a lesson learned

 

And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!  There was a lesson learned for me here, too!

 

Grace and Truth’s own Tammy Kennington gave me the scriptural basis to handle a troubling circumstance right now.  Maybe you could use it too.  How to Find Peace in Troubled Times.  Thank you, Tammy.

 

The Link Up

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

Grace and Truth_Meet Hosts

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

 Now Let’s Link Up!

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

If you liked this post, do me the huge honor of using the buttons below to share it to your favorite social media accounts. And if you want to get these essays emailed to you once a week, subscribe!  Lastly, my posts may contain affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases. If you buy anything from one of these links, I will receive a few pennies to help offset the cost of this website at no additional charge to you. Thank you in advance for your help.

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