Our newest version of the empty nest

In my last post, I mentioned the joy of being able to enjoy an occasional lunch with my son this summer. I realized it's about time I update the blog on this new chapter of his life. I think he appreciates me letting him live life quietly and out of any spotlight, but a little context on where he's settled may be helpful for my future posts. 

David graduated from Dallas Baptist University last May (2024) with a degree in Business Finance. He and his buddy had planned to look for jobs in the DFW area and get an apartment together right out of college, but God had other plans for them when neither one landed a job in time. So David made the hard decision to move to Indiana with us temporarily while he continued to look for a job in his field in the DFW area--at least before the grace period ended so he could settle somewhere before he had to start paying on his student loans. 

But he soon found out that a degree without experience is a tough spot to be in. He can't get hired for the jobs he's qualified for without the experience behind him, and he can't get hired for the entry level positions because his degree over-qualifies him. After hundreds of applications and several solid interviews that left him picked over in the end, he began to feel pretty defeated and discouraged. Thankfully he had a place to live and could work with his dad and uncle to make at least enough money to cover his student loans. A bit humbling, though, when those temporary months nearly turned into a year of life. He never stopped seeking God's guidance, and the wait really opened his heart to go wherever God decided to open a door. 

David's been on many mission trips with his youth group at Lakepointe Church in Texas, so when I looked into our church trip to the Dominican, he really wanted to go. I think he would have loved going and serving with me, but he just couldn't make the commitment with his life and future so up in the air. So in the end, Mike ended up going while David stayed behind to work with his uncle Matt, and Mark (Matt's father-in-law), and stay home with the cats. 

So while we were in the Dominican, David worked all week and went out to eat with Mark and his buddies after work one of the evenings. He opened up a little bit about his current situation and job search, and then they got to talking trucks for the rest of the evening. It "just so happened" that Mark's buddy owns a company that makes saws to cut steel, and he was looking to hire a new service tech guy. So he set up an interview for David two days later. 

Well, the interview didn't quite go as planned, and he said he totally messed up on the most simple of Math questions--stuff he said he should have been able to answer quickly and easily. So when we came home that weekend from the Dominican and he told us all about his week, he said, "Well, God's gonna really have to do His thing if this is where He wants me."

Monday morning they offered him the job! It pays him nicely, has good benefits, and he travels all over the United States throughout the week, guaranteed to be home every weekend. The traveling could be a drawback at any other time in his life, but currently, it's a great fit. He said that he would not have taken it if he couldn't be guaranteed to be home on the weekends because he wouldn't be able to get connected with church on a consistent basis. He can also request to stay local on certain weeks when he needs to take care of an appointment or anything like that. It comes with a lot of really great perks, like getting to eat out at his favorite restaurants when traveling, staying at nice hotels and earning points that he can use for personal use, and he even got his own truck for the business (a truck that he said he wanted to buy with his own money if he had landed a job in the finance field). It gives him his independence, and there's no need to rent an apartment when he's only home on the weekends. And it gives Mike and me a little bit more of that empty nest. It means my little house is going to stay full for longer than expected, but it's a really sweet spot to be in with my son. He's a nice companion to have around and a big help to Mike with any projects around the house, out on the trails, or with their variety of vehicles in the driveway. 

So he started working in late March and has now been there for about two months. He's getting settled into  a good routine, has been the tag-along guy in training up till now, and he looks forward to getting to go out on jobs on his own soon. That way he'll be free to do any kind of sight-seeing he wants to or stop to see any family and friends in nearby areas. They have customers in the Dallas area, so he's hoping he gets to take those jobs once he's fully trained. 

I'm so proud of that kid and the way that he leaned in to God's direction for his life. It's not the job he went to college for, but he knew without a doubt that it was God who dropped it in his life for this season of his life. We talked about how we can't put God in a box because we have no idea what His plans could be for us. 

First Days of Summer 2025

Teachers NEED summer. I'm so thankful for how God modeled and ordained rest. Since the first official day of summer was just a few days ago, I thought I'd take a few minutes to talk about my summer break so far. 

My first week of "summer break" I spent in Puerto Rico with five students and one amazing coworker. Though not restful and technically still working, it counted! However, it wasn't with family, and making memories apart from your family can be a bit awkward when you come home. 

Less than 48 hours after coming home, I walked out onto my front porch in my socks to make a phonemail and somehow got bit by little ants (or possibly chiggers?), leading to a swollen toe two days later and having to start antibiotics two days after that. I already know I'm allergic to chiggers, so if they weren't chiggers, I guess I'm allergic to whatever they were, too. 

My second week, I pretty much slept, nursed my swollen toe, and soaked up the much needed solitude, other than a quick meet-up for coffee with lady friends from my discipleship group. 

My third week, I attended trainings, took care of annual check-ups, enjoyed a game night with our community group, and had a little reunion with our Dominican team while having a baby shower for a missionary couple we met there from our church. 

This week, I had a FREE calendar without a single appointment scheduled.  Summer has finally arrived for me. I can breathe, think, reflect, and look ahead. I'm not in a rush. I'm not hurrying to finish something. I'm not pulled in a million directions at once. I have margin in my life again where I can say yes to spontaneous coffee with a friend, a mid-afternoon meet up with my discipleship group, hang out with friends to play card games, or be available to pick up a friend who needed to leave her car at the mechanic. I can run to town with my son and share lunch together. I can go for a long walk (until my heel spur says that's enough), try new and longer workouts in the mornings, make healthy breakfasts and lunches, dig into a Bible study I've had tucked away on the shelf, read a lot of books, write on my blog, and hang out on my porch with the hummingbirds--and my cat. I can play around with new digital tools I acquired in my trainings without the overwhelm adding one more thing to my plate. 

Teaching is a hard job. I can't see myself doing anything else, and I chose to challenge myself with a new grade level last year that stretched me in so many ways. That choice gave me something to work on and many new growth areas to focus on, but it's a choice I'm so glad I made. But it's also a choice that left me exhausted and stretched thin, making summer a necessity. Sometimes you get so busy that you don't realize how much you truly need rest. 

When I met up with a friend for coffee last week, I told her how it felt to be able to breathe and think again. I let her know that it was my commitment to stay "unbooked" during summer months, and I was reminded of God teaching me that lesson many years ago as a teacher. Sometimes it's hard to relax and not be productive every minute--but it's okay to just sit outside in the sunshine and listen to the birds and do nothing sometimes. 

Avocado toast for lunch

A morning at the farmer's market with David

Fresh, yummy salads for lunch

Almost getting to go up in a hot air balloon

Random coffee dates with friends

Tostadas with black beans and fresh veggies

Lots of hummingbirds visiting

An evening of Euchre with church friends 

(What a genius to create these dice!)

Well, looks like I'm out of fresh veggies, so I'm off to get groceries and enjoy another summer day. 

Puerto Rico 2025- Day 5

 

4:30 a.m. came way too quickly, but somehow we all made it out of bed in time to quickly change, brush our teeth, and pack the rest of our stuff in time to be in the lobby for our 4:30 pick up time. I even had time to make a cup of coffee to help me wake up, but I didn't have enough time to drink it. 

We headed straight for the airport, which was about 20 minutes away. We made it through security pretty quickly, and then we stopped at two stores to buy the souvenirs we didn't have much of a chance to buy during our stay. (We'll definitely make sure that more time to shop gets put into the schedule for next year.) 

After we shopped, we went to our gate to leave our luggage and go in shifts to find breakfast. I ended up staying with the luggage while all the kids went with Greicy to find something to eat. As they were looking for a place, a big keychain rack full of keychains fell and knocked them all off. Our kids jumped in to help the poor guy pick them all up. When they finished, he offered them each a keychain for free. Greicy said they all just helped out of the kindness of their hearts, but he insisted. I was happy to hear about their experience of helping someone and then also having something tangible to remember it. 

They finally came back with food, and then I walked to a coffee shop to get a good cup of coffee and a ham and cheese croissant breakfast sandwich. My last taste of Puerto Rico. 

We soon boarded the plane, got seats all together, and I gladly welcomed the window seat where I could just stare out the window and "disconnect" for awhile. I'm always mesmerized by looking down from high places and seeing how small life really is. 

I especially love flying over the ocean and seeing the islands below us. It's so neat to see how the water color looks so different around them. 

I also love watching the flight tracker to know exactly where we are. 

Our first flight went quite smoothly, and they made the announcement that we were arriving in Orlando and would be landing soon, ahead of schedule. I almost texted the parents to say we were about to land in Orlando, but then we seemed to go higher, not lower. We circled around Orlando for quite some time before the pilot said that Mother Nature had other plans for us and we couldn't land during the thunderstorm. So we took a detour and flew south to West Palm Beach to land, refuel, and wait out the storm in Orlando. We got to West Palm Beach within about 20 minutes and sat there for probably another 20-30 minutes more to wait our turn on the runway. The weather in Orlando cleared, so we finally took off and landed in the right place about two hours off schedule. Thankfully we had a long layover, anyway, so it didn't affect our connecting flight.  We got to Atlanta and had plenty of time to eat a good lunch, shop a little more, and board our plane. (The earlier storms did affect the entire schedule for the day, so that plane was slightly delayed for take-off.)  So now I guess I can say that I've also been to West Palm Beach!

We all finally boarded the plane, just in time for another storm to pass through, so we couldn't take off for about an hour until it stopped lightning. Once we eventually got in the air, we pulled out the cards to entertain us. 

This flight I sat with two of the kids for one last Phase 10 tournament. I love how a deck of cards can be so much fun and make the time pass so much more quickly. We played a whole game of Phase 10, then a game of Skipbo, and still had a little bit of time left to just talk. 

The other girls fell asleep and slept for most of the flight. 

The pilot came on saying that we'd be landing in about 15 minutes, and then they all woke up and acted super giddy. Everyone was more than ready to see their families, and their families were anxiously awaiting them at the airport after all the delays from the day. 

When we got off the plane and met up with their families, they all gave big hugs to both me and Greicy, as well, thanking us for all we did to take care of their children. 

Though only a five day trip, I watched each child grow and mature in different ways. I think the independence gave them a new confidence, they tried new things, they learned a new kind of flexibility, and they learned the importance of being a team. With all of the rushing, packing and repacking, and then waiting through unexpected delays, they never once complained. I couldn't have asked for a better group of troopers, just going with the flow and cooperating at every turn. It was a life-changing opportunity that will impact them forever. I'm so thankful I got to be part of the original 7. They will always have a very special place in my heart, and traveling with them gave me a better glimpse into their world outside the classroom, which can only help me better connect with future students. 

But I'm also super thankful to be home and settled for the summer. This girl is ready to put on the brakes and stay grounded for awhile. Boots and I have a few front porch dates on our agenda. 

Puerto Rico 2025--Day 4

 

We started out Day 4 saying goodbye to Fajardo Inn. These are two signs I saw that really stood out. 

Our driver and tour guide picked us up, while Adryanna brought us breakfast that we had to eat on the shuttle bus for our drive back to San Juan. 

This time we started Spanish class inside, then went for a walk outside to learn all about different native plants and their special uses, and then we went back inside to continue writing about what we learned. 

Inside or outside, it was always hands-on, tactile learning.  This particular class we learned all about tamarindo and actually got to taste and eat it while we worked. 

Delivering a thank-you note

I definitely got some good teaching ideas from her!

They gave us a menu and had us choose our lunch during class. Class ended right about the time the food arrived, so we went to a different room in the same building to eat our lunch. We all ordered roasted chicken, but I got it with a quinoa salad and pickled plantains. The quinoa salad had a really good flavor that mixed well with the pickled plantains. 

After class, we went to a big park in San Juan to meet Claudia, our salsa dance instructor. She was amazing and found so much joy in what she does. She never stopped smiling! We all really enjoyed every minute with her and had a lot of fun dancing. Once again, my lack of coordination and rhythm really tripped me up, but I am determined to practice what I learned and master at least these few steps. I will make my Latin son proud. :)

Then the long-awaited, highly anticipated activity finally arrived. The beach! 

It wasn't a very sunny day, but we did see the sun peek out of the clouds at least a few times!

After our two hours at the beach, the kids showered off and then we walked a few blocks to a famous hamburger hub, the very first hamburger hub in Puerto Rico called "El Hamburguer". Interestingly, one of the kids mentioned that it was National Hamburger Day that morning. 

The kids sure were happy with their ice cream for dessert!

After dinner, we headed back to our first hotel, but to different rooms on a different floor. Everyone showered for the night and changed into new clothes to wear to the cinema that evening. With a 4:30 a.m. pick up the next day, we made sure everyone had their suitcases packed and ready to go for the morning (with the exception of their wet clothes that we would have to stay up and dry after the movie). Then we waited outside for Cristian to meet us and walk with us to the cinema for our evening activity. 

The famous Puerto Rican parrot that you see on many buildings

The cinema was great, reminding me of Strike and Reel back in Garland, Texas. We watched Lilo and Stitch, each with a large drink and a big bag of popcorn. 

After the movie, Cristian walked us by the I 💗PR sign so we could take pictures. 

We got back, stayed up a little bit to dry and pack clothes, and then I think we ended up in bed by 11:45, leaving us about four hours to sleep. I really don't know how I made it through the week with such late nights and early mornings, but somehow I did. I guess the Mom in me kicked in and made sure all my "babies" were okay. What a full, busy week we had together!