Journeys

Sitting by the campground pool, feeling heavy of heart. This is the time to start counting blessings. This is a long journey, with many questions, and some answers. How do I have hope for the future when I'm not sure what I'm aiming for? 

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." -Romans 8:28

I'm sure I'm too wrapped up in temporary things right now.  I know The Lord is after His glory in me.  He is working out the details of my life so I may see His goodness. Contentment. A feeling of calm satisfaction. But more. Satisfaction in the unseen work of the Holy Spirit. Okay with the here and now because I know the One who holds me. 

So the house contract is dissolved and our RV must remain our primary home. We're continuing our search in this area but we are looking in the next county north as well. The boys have adjusted well to their schools, so starting over in new ones isn't our preference, but houses don't appraise well in Palm Coast. People are more apt to purchase a foreclosure. The town is growing on me, though. So the thought of leaving is sad too. 

So today I sit in the shade and ocean breezes by a comfy pool and try to see the good. It's here, all around me. 

Boys close. 

Sunshine. 

Sunday gatherings. 

New beginnings. 

No water bills. 

And so on. 

But mostly 

Secure.  -Psalm 16

Purge, Purge, Purge

It is funny how writing takes on rituals.  As I have been embarking on a new creative venture, distractions abound.  I find that as I am preparing to write that, all of a sudden, menial tasks demand my attention.  Emptying the dishwasher becomes imperative.  The inescapable urge to run the vacuum captures me and I succumb to the pressure.  But then again, this season is also different than most.  Part of the defragging of brain busyness is productive work, too.

The Campagna household has been dialoging about some serious decisions on the table.  This home has been a huge blessing to our family.  It has housed multiple families at multiple times.  It has stayed open all night for friends, and has kept visiting pets.  It has hosted foreign students and transplant couples.  But with the necessary retirement of my husband, this house is becoming too much to handle.   We don’t want the 4700 square feet of family bliss to turn into burden.  So before we find ourselves in a desperate place, we are prepping for change.  

This prepping has created the medium by which I warm up to writing each day. I evaluate possessions.  I find myself thinking about a 1200 square foot home.  If I had to choose, what would I take with me?  Downsizing and eliminating clutter around me and in my mind is good for the soul.  Space is opening up.  The huddled home and muddled mind is beginning to respire.  Oxygen enters.  Those sets of fine china, used what, six times?  They were a fantasy, not practical, not necessary, not even fashionable- four cubic feet of space.  The books that are not pretty or practical enough to be out on display and I won’t read in the next 10 years- 10 cubic feet.  The heart shaped quilt rack- yea.  You get the idea.  This is beginning to hook me.  It’s rewarding.  A stack of boxes is filling up a back room and in a matter of time, it will vanish. It’s freeing to let go…and exciting to know I’ll be ready for whatever decision we make regarding our future. The horizon is foreshadowing a new dawn, a new day, and a new chapter.    

These boys

  Soaked through several layers of clothing, these boys know how to play.  When we get a day to just goof off at home, I get a moment to take a look at them, and I realize they are growing fast!  There's no turning back,  these middle school kids are only getting older.  Love 'em.

Snowside at the Campagnas

 When it snows in Georgia, everyone stops.  There is not nearly enough equipment to clear roads and make them safe, so the run on the grocery store is real.  Today, we managed to get up the driveway, but couldn't get out of our neighborhood, so we made a day of it on our own street.

A morning hike with Joseph and Nico

Ice, ice, ice

Home, note the white dots across the 2nd floor... that would be snowball bombs.

We decided to teach our Korean boys how to skitch.  I think we went through most of their (and our) clothes!

Updates on the crazy clan!

School Year 2013-2014... It really does fly.  There are days that my children even say how fast it's gone.  Well, I usually start with the oldest when I tell events, but I think I'll change it up a bit.

This year, as we sent one off to college, we decided to bring a new student in.  I am officially the only female in this house - not sure about the frogs, but we'll just assume they are male, too.  So now I have 5 man-children, 1 man, and a male dog to contend with.  Our exchange student joined us in August, slept a ton as he traveled half way around the world, and started school one week later.   He's right in the middle of our boys, coming in at 12 and a 7th grader.

Since we had to be out commuting with our student each morning (Nick usually does the carpool duty), we decided to take advantage of GA Pre-K and put Joseph in at a local daycare.  The only cost to us is the lunches.  It has been great for him.  He's becoming much more independent, taking on chores, and doing fabulous with his numbers.  I'll be pulling out the reader this week so we can begin our lessons over the break.  Not sure what we'll do next year.  If I pursue a Masters degree, we may just transition him into Kindergarten.

Anthony joined his brother in tackle football.  The season just ended a couple weeks back, and we are so glad for the break.  Having two middle schoolers in football really kept us running.  Since they were two grades apart, games were always the same day (thankfully) but hours apart.  I actually wish for slow Saturdays, but with a large family, there is no hope of that soon!  I think that is why my quiet mornings at home are becoming a prize possession!

Nicholas did his 2nd year in football as an 8th grader.  He has been dedicated to the team, and so far, wants to continue in high school.  He joined the yearbook club this year and just this morning, he  presented a holiday excerpt in front of the entire school.  Only one boy and one girl in the 8th grade were asked to present, so this was a huge honor (especially considering there are over 500 students in his grade). Needless to say,  I'm one proud momma.  He was reviewing last night and I know he did great.  He's a good student and the teachers (even one's that are not his), tell me frequently what a gentleman he is!

Daniel winning his first match.  (in the blue)

Daniel has found a new passion, and if you follow him on instagram or facebook, you'll immediately guess what it is- Body Building.  He joined the wrestling team at school this year, and has added a few really neat guys to his circle of friends.  He's about 50/50 on his wins/loses, but for a first year wrestler, this is pretty amazing.  I got the chance to watch him make his first pin and it was incredible!  He's decided to drop JROTC, and we're still secretly hoping he'll pick music back up.  But, he's not ready to commit to any one discipline yet.

 

Joanna (just like her mother) got to college and never wants to come home!  She's had a tough semester with sickness, a heavy writing load, and the challenges of managing her own time and money.  She's one day away from being done with her first term and I think she is super ready to sleep for a month or so.  She's headed to Savannah for Christmas break, so it will be our first holiday apart.  Makes me think back to the early holidays I didn't come home.  My mom must have been devastated.  But I think to the strong women in our family, and it makes sense.  I'm already missing her like crazy but she's gonna have a blast.  I'm so excited to see what God's got in store for her.  Oglethorpe, watch out!

Nick and I have been waiting and praying for direction for our next chapter in life.  I say "next chapter" not because we have an empty nest (cause we don't!), but because a new career is in order for at least one of us!  Since Nick's retirement, he's continued to battle with constant pain.  Either kidney pain, or nerve pain, or muscle pain.  When we asked the doctor if there was anything else he would consider, he said, "there's nothing we can do to fix the pain from damaged kidneys, we can't go in and massage them back to health, we can only pray for healing."  Amen.  This we pray.

This past weekend, some of the boy's asked Nick to take them to an ALS Christmas party.  So he did.  Turns out (unlike previous years), the only attendees were older and alone.  My three boys that went were the only children there.  But they loved on those older people like angels.  They were in various stages of ALS, but my boys came home with stories to tell, and Nicholas' said, "I'm glad we went."  For Anthony, I think it hit home a bit as we discussed Dad's story with ALS.  His eyes grew wide as I sat with him that night and told of God's kindness to his daddy, and that each day is a gift.

For now, Nick's been building furniture.  He's been working on custom pieces through a friend's creative business called "Them Two Birds."  But here you see a piece he made for me!  Another larger locker is in the works out of re-purposed wood.  Ready to have some foyer organization for all those backpacks and shoes. 

Shouldn't you be writing?

My son asked me the other day, “why haven’t you been writing?”  Really, I can’t give a good reason.  Maybe it has something to do with my season of life.  I should be writing, but I’ve found it difficult.  It’s been my dream to write, but I find within myself a barrier to pursuing my own dreams.  Maybe it’s some lie I’ve believed.   That I don’t have what it takes, or I should be placing my energy into something more practical.  Yet, why do I write?  Alan Ziegler says that some people write because there are stories we must tell, or because we must tell stories.  We write to remember; we write to forget.  We write to create something new, or to re-create something.  We write for sheer pleasure- or for healing.  We write to move the reader, or to change the reader, or to change ourselves.  I think for me, and most, it's a little bit of all those reasons.

The truth is, I love creating.  Whether it is a hand crafted ornament, or a faux finished wall, or a combination of well-ordered words, creating is a reward in itself.  But chewing my thoughts out on paper is the best time I’ve spent.  For me, writing is thinking- thinking right.  Typing or scribbling words helps me to measure my thoughts.  It’s taking pieces of a scattered, fragmented reality and putting it together to make sense.  It’s a search of the soul that brings about truth.  It’s revelation that leads to gratification. 

Through writing, I question faith, and then find it again.  I seek for divine intervention and find remedy.   It’s not that truth is subjective, or can be found by musing alone, it’s that I have sown truth, hidden it in my heart over time, trusted the God of the Bible to make it efficacious, and when I begin to pour out words in pen, reflections of the truth find their way out, all over the page. Writing is self discovery and God imparting.   Maybe it’s just for me, but I think those little nuggets of encouragement from a child shouldn't be missed.

Summer. Let it begin.

As my daughter so aptly says, "Summer, let it begin."  Joanna just graduated two weeks ago.  She auditions for a music scholarship today, and registers for classes tomorrow at Oglethorpe.  We leave for a family trip tomorrow and we are busy pulling all of our loose ends together.  Daniel is taking Latin on line this summer, so even though the work comes with, we plan to do a ton of hiking and biking, lots of picture taking and sun soaking.

In Georgia, the summers are short.  I don't mean that we have short bursts of heat, we have plenty of that.  I mean we have very little time off from classes.  School begins in the beginning of August so June and July are our only months to build memories and spend unconstrained time with one another.

Once July hits?  Football, JROTC, and wrestling.  August?  Packing and sending a daughter off to college.  And the madness continues.  But then again, "a little insanity never hurt anyone."

Anthony's First Team Sport

I don't know what it is about me, but by the time my fourth child was old enough to begin his own sporting ventures, we were so deep in theater, football, and basketball, that Anthony was the child who tagged along.  For the first time this year, we began letting him stay after class for "running club."  I am so very thankful, though, for his cousins love for soccer.  Because of this, Anthony begged me to play, and when his Uncle decided to coach, it became a no brainer.  Uncle Greg arranged for the cousins to be on the same team under his care.  So I don't even have to drive!  Thank you, Uncle Greg.  Here's pictures of the day of his first game!  Go England!