More Summer and The Sequel

Once Mikayla and Nate started working this summer, we were out straight, and I began to seriously reconsider our choice to wait on having our teenagers take Driver's Ed because I became a taxi driver. We had to fit in Mikayla's music lessons this summer, too, so that she could prepare for auditions at college. The audition thing surprised me, since I don't remember them requiring that before, but I guess things do change over a span of nineteen years. We were glad that her teacher could do it on Tuesdays before she headed up to camp. Then, she wanted to take CLEP exams to test out of certain freshman classes( Have I mentioned before that she is a driven kid, and that I can't figure out how I got a kid like her? Because this is so NOT me! or Terry!). We scheduled one for any Monday that they would take her, and she was successful in passing the English Composition test. Which means she won't have to take freshman English. BIG YAHOOOOO! She wanted to do the World History one, but we just could not get that scheduled.  Besides the exams, we needed to get her in to have a complete physical, and a complete dental check. So, every Monday and Tuesday, we were running to appointments, tests, odd jobs with Nate,or music lessons, and teaching piano lessons. Then, she would go up to camp to nanny the rest of the week. Also, Terry has been trying to pick up extra hours at Sears, while I prepared for VBS.
Speaking of VBS...

 Our old parachute is still alive and well and a huge favorite with the kids. They ask for it at every event we have for them. I think it's older than me. :)

 The stage was decorated with old west things and an old mine.

 This game was an interesting spin on an old favorite...Tag.

 Well, howdy there, Cowboy.

 Miner Mike helped us find a nugget from scripture every night.

 It rained candy every time the penny offering went over a set amount.

This game was called Balloon Ring Toss.

The storytellers had the kids come up and help by acting out the stories.

We had lots of fun games.

Mom told an exciting, continuing story every night.
The week of VBS was tiring, but well worth the hard work as we were able to lead three children to Christ. That's why we do what we do. We are praying that we will have opportunities to reach the families of these kids, as well.
Which brings us to this week just beginning. I purposely left off planning anything this week. I knew I would be exhausted. So, tomorrow we are taking Mikayla to the Wild's of New England and on the way back, Terry and I plan to celebrate our nineteenth anniversary. I insisted that we get away this year, because last year I didn't get my yearly lobster. Unacceptable!! haha. The other two Upcotts will spend some time with Grandma out at Madagasgal Pond, where we will join them and where I will not be pried away from for the rest of the week. I plan on a main course of swimming, laying in the hammock, and reading with a side of loving on my family.
The sequel to yesterday's story begins the day after the phone counseling session with our daughter. I went about my usual school day with my other two, after just quickly mentioning to Terry that there may be a scholarship to check on just to see if we could get it the next year. I was NOT thinking that maybe if we could get it this year, she could go. He decided to check it out and made a phone call to ask a question or two. A few minutes later, the phone began to ring with news of scholarship after scholarship after forgotten funds. I had no time to process what was happening. Terry and I just looked at each other throughout the day, after talking on the phone with BJU people, and just shrugged. We were confused at what God seemed to be doing. He seemed to be taking it all out of our hands, and we just couldn't understand it. I remember actually saying, "Sweetie, what in the world?" I finally was able to pray a little prayer. I just said," God, I guess you have a reason for allowing all this to come about in the way that it has. Please, we want to make wise choices, and we thought You were directing us in the opposite direction." Terry, at one point, said that he thought that the Lord must be at work on our daughter. OK. So,  I watched the clock, because I knew that Mikayla had to work in the snack shop right after school and would probably hit Facebook during a lull. Sure enough, she got online and posted a note. Not just a status. She gave testimony about how the Lord had really worked in her heart the night before and all that day, and though she felt hugely disappointed at not being able to go to college as she had meticulously planned out, she gave it over to Him, and even mentioned being thankful for many things, one of which was parents who were put there to make these kinds of hard decisions. I cried happy tears. And then fought back the sad tears. I wasn't very successful at that, but I think we were still answering emails, faxing paperwork, and talking on the phone, so I didn't really have the time to go bawl my eyes out. You see, I had begun to plan for another year with my daughter. I felt I had been given more time with her before she left me for good. I felt just a wee bit jipped, what with boarding school taking her away and all. So another year sounded great to me. She could work, take correspondence courses, learn to cook... Because, I knew that once they hit college, even though they come home now and then and for the summer, for the most part, they have begun to live independently of their parents. I just wasn't ready for this. God's plan did not jive with mine. My sweet husband and I spent some time in prayer and decided that the decision had been taken from us, and so we did what we have learned to do. We accepted these miraculous happenings as straight from God. This was God telling us to let her go. But we were still questioning why? We decided that we should talk right to Mikayla before reversing our decision, to see if our thoughts about the reason this all came about as it did, were indeed true. Why would He allow it to come about this way after we had made what we felt was a wise, prayed over, carefully considered decision, unless He was working on her? She had indeed tearfully given it over to Him. And so, we feel that He just wanted her to let her plans for her life go and let Him work His plan for her. When she did, the blessings flooded in, over and above all that we could ever ask or think. There's a scripture verse like that.
The story continues from this point, but this post is already massive. To be continued.