Tates Creek Volleyball

Tates Creek Volleyball has had some very unique challenges:

1. Coming back from loss of key senior players
2. Expectations associated with being first Lexington team to reach KHSAA final four
3. New head coach ( building an entirely new staff [not an easy thing to do] )
4. Young varsity squad ( three freshman and an eighth grader )

Since so many freshman have been playing varsity, there were only 6 left to play on the freshman team and they are doing very well. They have not lost a single game (they have won every match in 2 games) and really haven't been challenged yet. That will change when they play the freshman from Lafayette, Paul Dunbar and Henry Clay. The competition at the freshman level so far is very disappointing. That must be a huge advantage for the Louisville schools. The interest there allows them to field deep teams that get to play competitively at Freshman, JV and Varsity levels.

If you want to follow their season, you can track the team at www.tatescreekvolleyball.com

I have taken pictures at a few of their games as well:
Madison Southern (Freshman)
Madison Central Game (JV/V)
Bourbon County Game (F/JV/V)

Church Campout

Last weekend was the church campout at Aldersgate. Adam ran around with a pack of kids that were catching crawdads and cooking them during free time. Carmen and Jackie got there a day late so Carmen could attend volleyball conditioning. Becca followed goats around the campground.

Josh introduced his "Eagle Song" to us. We all played too much ultimate frisbee. Eva wore Scott and I out on a fast paced bike ride. Emily did a great job hosting the talent show. Most of all, we just spent time together in the heat (and sometimes rain).

Thanks Matt & Kim for all the hard work that went into this.

Here are all the pictures that I took:
Aldersgate 2006

Southeastern Baseball

Adam has already moved on to football, but some of his fellow Southeastern Baseball players are still playing in the Cal Ripken World Series.

Adam played rookie baseball with two of the players and played football with one from the Tide. He will also be playing football this year with another player when he gets done slugging in Maryland. They are doing very well.

For those of you that would like to follow along, here are the links:

Cal Ripken League World Series Stat Center

• Team Standings
• Individual Hitting Statistics

First Day of School

This year will be Jackie's most difficult school year. As a "hands on" parent that volunteers in order to be involved with the education of her children, the challenge of having three children in three different schools seems danting. Becca is at Veteran's Elementary, Adam is at Southern Middle and Carmen is at Tates Creek High.

Life is a Journey...

If you are looking for fellowship with children of the King.... watch this video.

Need a Ride?

Personally, this might be a little risky. I'm not sure Josh is qualified to drive and capture video at the same time.

Finishing Well

This weekend, we got to hear from Peter Lord. He spoke to us five times and encouraged us each time to dig deeper for fellowship with God through the discipline of listening in prayer.

During the weekend, he mentioned that he is reading a book call Finishing Well. I've looked up the book and see that it is by Bob Buford and he has interviewed some of my favorite people like Jim Collins and Roger Staubach. I bet he tried to interview John Wooden. The forward is by Ken Blanchard.

He didn't interview the following people that have inspired me to finish well.

Peter Lord - This weekend at 76, he demonstrated a desire to learn, grow and change through some of the most difficult times of his life. "God's working harder on me now than He ever has"

C.S. Lewis - came to Christ via long, hard reasoned road. Married late in life. Lost his wife not long after marriage. Journaled
A Grief Observed for many to read later.

Charles Victor Eby - waited until he was 88 years old to accept Christ. Walked with the Lord four years before he died. Evidence of change was difficult to distinguish when you have 88 years of habits... but the internal change helped him eternally.

Bud Etsinger - in this last month, I heard a young boy describe his 79 year old grandfather as the "greatest husband ever". I personally watched a transform in his life shortly after halftime (in his 50's) and saw another step up again this month as father to his girls.

What Cancer Cannot Do

While cleaning up around the house this morning, Bud and Jackie found one more clipping from Ruby. This was one that she asked Jackie to get at the house and place in her purse while she was in the hospital at the beginning of July....

What Cancer cannot do

Cancer is so limited.

It cannot cripple love.

It cannot shatter hope.

It cannot corrode faith.

It cannot eat away peace.

It cannot destroy confidence.

It cannot kill friendship.

It cannot shut out memories.

It cannot silence courage.

It cannot invade the soul.

It cannot reduce eternal life.

It cannot quench the Spirit.

Maybe Ruby's fight to the bitter end for life was because of the charge that Paul gave to Timothy in I Timothy 6:12 "Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses."

Or maybe it was to mentor her loved ones just one last time to never give up.

Or maybe it was to let cancer and Satan know for sure, that they were limited and ineffective.

I hope that one day you will be able to ask her yourself.

Ribbon of Hope

In Ruby's last month here with us, her feet were rarely soiled with the dust of the earth, so Jesus probably would not have chosen to wash her feet.

Jesus would have sat at her side and held her hand, and prayed with her and for her. He would have prayed with the family, talked with the family, loved the family and prayed to the Father for her family.

Jesus would have been the greatest husband to her like Bud was in sickness and in health.

Jesus also would have read scripture like Larry did, pastored like Ruth, Ott, Mike and Mike did, praised God with song as the family did, loved like the residents and families of Miller's Merry Manor, visited like their Sunday School class at Union Center Church of the Brethren, prepared food for the family like the neighbors of all denominations surrounding them, given gifts and letters like Kenzi did, fed her like Kim did, drove long routes like Robin, turned her and washed her and comforted her in numerous ways like the staff at Miller's Merry Manor and Elkhart General Hospital did, and wept like Ruby's sisters and daughters did.

Oh, yes, and there would be laughter and children.

Ruby always wanted what Jesus wanted, and even moreso as the end of her life approached. In early July, Ruby met with a lady in charge of Ribbon of Hope. A neighbor of Cheryl's had lived through a battle with cancer and started a support group to help others make it through the battle whatever the result. This lady had taken the baton from Cheryl's neighbor and was moving forward with ministering to more and more families.

It was not difficult for Ruby to choose a memorial foundation for donations at her funeral yesterday.

For those that were not able to make it to the viewing or the funeral, you can find out more about the foundation at the following link:

Ribbon of Hope