Uncomfortable Church...

Hello, friends! 

Last week, I had the pleasure of preaching at church again. Our series right now is Uncomfortable Church. The question I tackled is, "what do we do when things go wrong?" 

Friends, this was a tough sermon to prep, not because of the topic but because of all the stuff going on in life. Jonah was sick and had to stay home from daycare for a few days, which means less time to work on the sermon. We've been walking with a friend who's mother was battling COVID and eventually passed. There was also a lot of spiritual warfare that I ALWAYS seem to forget comes when I'm preaching. Still, God did his thing and I hope the sermon was a blessing to the church. 

Have an excellent day! 

Back to School!

Hello, friends!

After 10 weeks of summer fun, it's time for the school year to start again! Here's Ezra on his first day of the First Grade. For the past few years, we've asked the kids about some of their favorite things on the first day of school. My favorite thing is that Ezra was able to write all the answers himself! 

We are definitely excited for Ezra to be back in school. We had a fun summer full of family visits, fishing trips, and travel, but I think we're all glad that the rhythm of school is going to be back in our lives. It also won't hurt to only have 2 kids instead of 3 kids to watch on our off days. Nor will it hurt to have to only pay for 2 kids instead of 3 for daycare on the days Megan works. 

Ezra isn't the only one starting school. In just a few weeks. Thaliea will be starting preschool. She'll be at the same preschool where we sent Ezra pre-COVID, so she's excited about that for sure. She has a little social anxiety, so we'll see how it goes. At least for now, she's excited. 

Of course, our kids aren't the only students starting school. All over the Region, students and staff are getting ready to start New Student Outreach (NSO). This year's NSO will be unlike any other. Not only will we have a brand new crop of Freshmen coming to college for the first time, but many of our Sophomores will also be having their first experiences on campus since last year was a pandemic year. 

So, friends, we'd appreciate your prayers. Please pray for Ezra as he adjusts to a new schedule. Pray for the rest of our family as we adjust to life without Ezra's energy in the house for most of the day. Pray for Thaliea as she prepares her heart and mind for preschool. Pray for our staff as they prepare to welcome students to campus after a year away. Pray for those new students that they will be connected to community, find a home at college, and that God will show up to change lives, just like he always done. 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

A New, Old, One Car Life

Hello, friends! 

Below, you'll find a photo of me saying goodbye to Shmeevus the Prius. After 173,000 miles of work, we had a water pump blow, 2 belts snap, and a mass O2 censor go kaput. The cost to repair was more than the car was worth, so we sold it and now we're down to being a single car family. 

We've been a single car household before but it was when Megan and I were in CoMO, sans children. After The Rolla died (after over 300,000 miles, mind you!) we decided that we could live a single car life for a bit. We traded in Meg's car and actually bought Shmeevus at that point. We stayed single car up until we found out Megan was pregnant with Thaliea. That's when we went for the minivan (a choice I definitely don't regret). 

Our first foray into being a single car family was relatively easier that it will be this time around. For one, there are more of us. For two, Omaha is a bigger city than CoMO, so everything is further away. For three, the hills in Omaha suck, so biking around, even to closer places, is a beast. 

So, you may be asking yourself, "why not just get another car then?" Great question. There are a few reasons. First, because of the pandemic, car prices are through the roof. We know we'll (probably) need a second car at some point but we want to wait it out to see if prices go down. Second, there are environmental factors to consider as well. Cars are one of the big reasons climate change has gotten as bad as it has. If there's a way for us to limit our gas consumption and exhaust output, I'm all for it. 

Honestly, moving back to the single car life was something we were considering anyway. Just a few months ago, I'd started a spreadsheet, logging all the times we actually drove Shmeevus or needed 2 cars. At least through the Spring and early summer, we really didn't use both cars at the same time all that much. The times we did have both cars out often were times when I could have biked but it was more convenient to drive. 

The next few months are going to be interesting. I bought an electric bike prior to Shmeevus dying but now I'm really getting some use out of it. The weather should be mostly dry for the next few months, so that will give us time to save up and more time for me to ride. My hope is that I'll be able to leverage public transportation in tandem with the electric bike once it gets colder (and wetter) but we'll see. For now, it's back to that one car life. I'm pretty stoked. 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Olympic Fever!!!

Hello, friends! 

Friends, I'll be absolutely honest. For the past few weeks, I've been really tired. I've also had my heart rate go up at various times and have had bouts of uncontrolled yelling to go along with mood swings. I've done some research, and it's pretty clear what I have...

Olympic Fever. =0). 

If you know anything about our family, you know that we LOVE the Olympics here at La Casa Leong. We love the pageantry. We love the athleticism. Megan doesn't really care much about sports but she LOVES the competitive nature of the Olympics. The time difference has been a bit of a bummer for us (thus the lack of sleep) but we've been hanging out with Rebecca Lowe every afternoon and Mike Tirico every evening for the past 2 weeks and it's been pretty spectacular. Here are a few highlights. 

- To commemorate the opening ceremonies in Tokyo, we had a sushi party! We invited over a few friends, made sushi roles, and enjoyed watching the parade of nations together. The biggest cheers came for USA (of course), and Nigeria (one of our friends at the party is visiting from Nigeria). The best part of the party is that our friends' kids and our kids were pretty self contained playing with each other. 

-  Watching Bobby Finke come from behind to win the 800m freestyle was absolutely breathtaking. Megan doesn't watch as much sports as I do, so she doesn't know how to quiet scream when something amazing happens. She may or may not have woken up the kids celebrating... =0). 

- USA Triathlon really showed out and the timing of the races was such that I actually got to watch them. Kevin McDowell was in it right until the end. Katie Zaferes took bronze in the women's triathlon, and the USA earned silver in the mixed relay, which may be my new favorite Summer Olympic competition. 

- Suni Lee is not only my new hero, but also Thaliea's new hero too. When she won overall gold, we were so proud of her. The next time we were watching women's gymnastics, Thaliea asked, "when is the pretty one going to go again?" "Thaliea, which one is the pretty one?" "Right there! (points to Suni Lee)" It was pretty great. 

There are other moments that I could name. There have been moments of heartbreak (USWNT) and frustration (I'm looking at you, USA Men's 4 x 100). But overall, it's been such a joy to have the Olympics back. 

Closing ceremonies start Sunday. Then, it'll be back to getting to bed at a reasonable hour, not having the TV on constantly, and being able to check the news without fear of spoilers. It's going to kind of suck... at least until Beijing in 2022. =0). 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam