Graduation 2021 – You Are the Light of the World ✨

David Paul Adams 🎓 & Jonathan William Adams 🎓, Cum Laude

One last blast of the pirate ship, Pirate Proud!

Jonathan, 18 (Auburn University, aerospace engineering) & David, 21 (Gulf Coast Exceptional Foundation day program)… David & Jonathan: biblical best buds, always looking out for each other.

Extended childhood coma, not expected to live past age 4. God always has other plans!

One to Alabama, one to Auburn, one to USA and one to Coastal…scattered to the wind but forever bonded.

The best part of milestones is sharing it with a growing family!

Third milestone – youngest crosses over from 8 years of elementary school (Pre-K-6th), to middle school, having been diagnosed with high-functioning autism last fall and discovering the joys and challenges of his reality…as we all do.

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Linger No Longer

Harry Edenfield, a Christian author, offers a thought-provoking daily devotional for this season of Lent.

Today’s verse is from Genesis 19:16: “But Lot lingered. So the angels seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.”

Edenfield reflects, “Lord God, your servant Lot lingered in Sodom. Sometimes I love my chosen place too much. You urge me to leave my sin spot.

I linger.

I linger even if it may be injurious to my loved ones. Remember me: I, too, need an escort from the magnet of sin.

As we leave together, Holy Spirit, urge me to have no regret about the exit from sin. Urge me not to look back.”

Amen.

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Kudzu Season

Erm, what road are we on?

Reaching for Heaven

No stopping it!

Even the little signs

The kudzu growing over the fence blends in with the peanut field behind it.

Thanks, God, for unexpected and exponentiated growth. Let us cling to Your Vine and be unafraid of new heights.

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Wait

God whispers, “Wait!
I’m not done with you yet!”
Greet the sun’s rise
And wait for its set.

“The full day is Mine,”
So sayeth the Lord;
And rest in the night,
Not fearful or bored.

For night, like the winter,
Seeks not to destroy,
Darkness in valleys
Spawns splendor and joy…

Just when you think
You can’t take anymore,
God shows us the shutness
THEN opens the door.

Faith is an exercise
Not to achieve,
But trod as a journey,
Daily gift to receive.

Pause to see beauty 
Each step of the way,
And God will rain mercy
And grace on your day.

Where today’s poem was spawned…

Thanks, God, for faith, hope and love, the greatest of which is always love.

May we learn to be gracefully patient and guided by Love, each step of the way.

Lord, have Mercy, and thank You for unconditional love and the wisdom in Waiting.

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Southwind Revisited

Braving Hurricane Barry, I put in my 9 hours’ morning work yesterday and took off at 3pm to go see Jonathan and Southwind’s last performance in the state before they left at 11pm for the rest of their national tour.

The neighborhood was in the middle of flooding but I took advantage of sneaking out between storm bands (no pun intended) to get on the interstate..

It was at least a 3 hour drive upstate, pounding rain and – thank You God – for a friend recommending audio books, so it was me and Brené Brown and her recent book on “Braving the Wilderness” (how à propos!), white-knuckling it up to Millbrook, AL. I had a mission, to see my kid, his band, the competition with other bands, to make good on a promise to get there and to deliver two corn dogs and a large hot fudge milk shake into the hands of said kid.

He reinforced a couple of times (despite my texts to move things up) that it would have to be AFTER the show (which would be circa 10pm) lest he barf up Sonic on the pristine football field and cost his team points.

Because they had the “home state advantage,” Southwind went last. But preceding them were several truly awesome drum corps, competing for a title.

One was Southern Knights, an all-age drum corps (and I saw young as 10, old as 70s) which rocked the stadium kicking off the competition.

In the middle were bands from Atlanta, the Carolinas, Florida, Louisiana and Michigan.

I would like to point out that I was most impressed with the Louisiana Stars from Lafayette, LA – which happened to be from just a hair north of Barry’s landfall, so these kids were safe and sound inland but probably internally freaking out how their families, pets and homes were faring during the storm which made landfall while they practiced here.

Louisiana Stars – God bless those in the path of Hurricane Barry.

The band from Kalamazoo, MI won, Legends, with their extraordinary drill team posing as Sirens of the Sea en masse, along with a dramatic story line about life in the sea with the gods and goddesses.

The Sirens did a creative wave number to the sound of my beloved sea waves, their long hair sweeping to and fro, emulating the waves of the beckoning sea

This drill team evidently was taught to seduce and interact with the audience with their hair-flips, alluring smiles and seductive beckonings. a perfect opening that wowed and wooed the judges.

With Southwind hosting, their last-on-program/late performance was stellar, nonetheless – and, compared to last week’s dress rehearsal (see previous post), the musicians were phenomenally precise, more artistic, theatrical and in the groove. I am excited for the rest of their tour and am confident they will rock the rest of the country!

Southwind’s precision

They handled the “cages” more expertly tonight…intentional in trapping their prey and skillfully orchestrating the profound exhilaration of freedom

Packing up for the next destination

Drilling the Drill Team – they rocked!!

That semi holds a place for each instrument, supply and uniform

The cages waiting to be loaded. What cage are you captive in?

Each member gets a medallion at the end of their home-state show, depending on how many years they’ve participated. This is Jonathan’s second year.

A competition well-performed

Southwind Mom’s Truck

Thank You, God, for children and their pursuits, for infusing them with talents, skills and interests that contribute to our world’s arts, sciences and teaching them all manner of What Life’s About.

God, please bless Southwind and all the kids this summer who are devoting themselves to greater purposes which ultimately make us better people and make the world a better place. May they go on to serve You in whatever capacity You deem appropriate.

(Here, Jonathan’s brother with Down syndrome pipes up, “Mama, you tired of Southwind?” Mama answers, “No, David, I’m tired FROM Southwind last night, not tired OF Southwind!”) David says, “We’re tired from rains and storms,” to which mama says, “Yes, David, and why we’re going to bed early tonight….”

Night night co-musers!

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A Photo A Week: On the Horizon

I had every intention of posting more along our journey to the West Coast (which ended yesterday)…but our trek took us into treacherous and remote places along the way daily, with internet service ranging from spotty-at-best to nonexistent.

But I’m glad to have waited, particularly seeing this week’s challenge topic, since there are now many “on the horizon” shots to choose from. Here are a few of my favorites:

Fog rolling into San Francisco Bay, two nights ago

Crescent City, California

Central Oregon Coast near Newport

Columbia River Gorge, looking towards Washington state

Orchards near Mount Adams

Mt. Hood eclipsing the sun

Between cloud banks on the flight home yesterday

Thank You, God, for the privilege of travel, for affording us new world views, for reuniting with old friends and for rekindling family ties. Your artwork is amazing, Lord, the way You paint each horizon with unique beauty and passion.

Most of all, thank You for the many blessings which continually abound on each new horizon of our lives.

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W.O.W. (Windows Open Wide)

It’s been that kind of week where I had to snatch bits and pieces of self-nurturing wherever possible in order to stay both energized and relaxed, simultaneously.

One of those bits means commuting with the windows down, flying top speed across the waters and giving action to my favorite songs, at top volume. I will take you for another ride –

I could give a rat’s arse if I wind up with a rat’s nest after this commute.

I love watching the progress of the construction of our military’s next Littoral combat ship. They always leave their barn door open so we can see how she’s coming along:

This baby takes a LONG time to build…nice to see it looking almost ship-like at this point.

The tunnel, like being in my darkest state of mind…trapped, confined, constricted, hard to breathe, stuck, riddled with despair – even though I’m snug and comfy inside my familiar vehicle of choice; railroaded into moving forward, no end in sight (trust I must):

Flying through the wormhole

The coolest cloud formations happen this time of year:

I could watch these all day!

And, yes, the clouds yield plenty of sub-tropical downpour, too:

Get the hazards on for the low-speed interstate crawl!

A glimpse of that distant ship is always comfort – and just a quick gander, lest I lose all control and my car decides, against my better judgment, to jump in and swim after that elusive ship anyway-

Personally, I think the askance horizon lends itself to the sensory experience one has at sea, all lined-up-horizon photography tips aside.

I think I’ll sleep with the windows open tonight and fall asleep to distant thunder in between the waves.

Thanks, God,  for windows of all sorts – windows of escape, windows of opportunity, windows to the soul. And for the thrill of flying hair and Your freedom through all of them.

(And readers, please forgive this hot mess o’ blurry, grainy pictures – it’s the theme, really. Besides, aren’t commutes kind of a grainy blur?)

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Hope Will Find You…

…in the most unlikely of places, just when you’re feeling buried. When safe shielding turns into suffocating sequestering, a kaleidoscope of hope will ALWAYS come.

There is always a crack where Hope can shine through.

Always, friend.

(For the record, this is the makeshift sunshield over a new shark tank soon to be open to the public…even sharks need protection…and hope!)

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Tuesday’s Conclusion

I am humbly reminded that no matter what storms threaten, no matter what waves force me to swallow salty water, the sun still steadfastly sets…different, every single time,

Never in vain and never the same….

(And I just couldn’t resist the rest of the periphery, life doing its thing as the universe does its thing: )

These images were only possibly by a complete whim, upon resisting my better judgment to stay within the lines of my schedule today, as I hit the pause button on the demands of daily life.

They came from a guttural force, a sharp turn of the steering wheel and will, and by following my soul toward the Glory.

And look – just look! what was there waiting, there, literally around the corner, to be enjoyed!

What will YOU discover if you pause to break from YOUR routine?

Is it safer (“easier”) to stay your course, or will diverting yield even greater returns, risk that it may seem?

Will you steer straight on the course you believe He has for you, or take a chance that big ol’ God may be outside the box you created, on a totally different course than l’il ol’ you ever envisioned?

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Silhouette

Someone else’s creativity by day brought great contemplative joy by sundown…

Thanks, God, for cycles of inspiration that all lead back to You,

and for the dear friends You bring here to share the beach.

May you, my friend, be also inspired!

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