Well, Sam entered the fleet as a US Marine yesterday. He was very apprehensive about starting his new job, but ended up being pleasantly surprised at how accommodating the officers and NCOs were and how thoroughly they explained everything. He now has just one roommate instead of 2 or 30 or 80 as he's had, well, his whole life. I think he'll like 29 Palms. The desert seems to suit Samuel.

I watched Sawyer yesterday. Brian worked from home so we could put out fires, so to speak, around here. So many parenting issues to deal with! Margaret was having a breakdown because she's had too much on her plate and school has been neglected leading to a full on panic attack last week on her way to class. She wanted us to whip her back into shape and help her reorder her life. William was struggling emotionally and making statements that greatly concerned us and friends and that needed addressing ASAP. John is still struggling with anxiety and is missing classes. Sam was stressed about his transition to 29 Palms and needed lots of reassurance. It was a lesson in dependence on the Lord. We spent a lot of time in prayer and God graciously answered! By the end of the day everyone was in a better state, except maybe John, who we never got around to talking to.

I have Bible study this morning. We're studying 1 Thessalonians. It's been good to get together to look into God's word, but I've been a little disappointed with the amount of time spent chit-chatting and wish we'd spend more time digging in. Tasha is attending and we're in the same group. So fun to see her weekly! Even though we're besties and live about a mile from each other, we rarely see each other because of our busy lives. The Bible study group is meeting for lunch at Galaxy Cafe afterwards but I think I'll pass. Since I work Tuesdays-Thursdays-Fridays, I really need Wednesday afternoons to run errands before I get the girls at school.

I ordered a new bed for Brian and I, a mid-century style platform bed. It is supposed to arrive today.

I've grown a little lazy with my running lately. I've been getting in a lot of walking though. I walk the girls to and from school every day and then get in extra walking or running after I drop them off. On the days I watch Sawyer I also take him walking, so I'm averaging about 27,000 steps a day. I'd really like to get back to running so I don't lose my stamina and have to start all over once it's time to start marathon training again. We're planning to run the Vern's 5K next weekend.

Brian and I still struggle with whether we should continue to worship at Hill Country Bible or find another church. There are several things we find disturbing about the way they do things, but we aren't sure if they're grounds for leaving and either returning to Redeemer or finding another body of believers to worship with. Hill Country has been a blessing and it is the only church that meets within our neighborhood, and they do preach the gospel, even if we may disagree on whether or not they rightly divide the Word of Truth. William is going to start attending Austin Stone with Margaret. He much prefers it to HCBC.

I'm off to make lunches for all these people.