Last night at Training....

Last night at training Tim did an 81kg Snatch.  That's 3kgs above what he did on Saturday.  He was so excited to nail it.  He is so locked in right now and we couldn't be more excited for him.

Mock Meet at ALWC...

Saturday, the 12th, Tim did a Mock Meet in order to get ready for WSO this Sunday, the 20th.  It's the State Meet for both North and South Carolina.  Tim did a 179kg total and we were thrilled.  Now this weekend he goes to States to repeat what he did at the Mock Meet.  This will set him up to be able to sign up in the first wave for the North American Open Series 1 at the end of February beginning of March 2025.  He's so looking forward to being able to compete in the Meet.  It's one of the biggest Meets of the year outside of Nationals which happens in June in Colorado Springs, CO.   His goal come Nationals is to do a 215kg or better total because that will set him up to be able to represent USA at Pan Ams in November of 2025 in Mexico.  Looking forward to having a spectacular year with our boy.  He has lots of goals for himself that he wants to achieve as you have read but no matter what we are just so very proud of all that he's accomplished/accomplishing since transferring to Olympic Weightlifting.  He is so driven and focused and we couldn't be more proud of the man that he is becoming.  Here's a video of his 78kg Snatch and 101kg PR Clean & Jerk from Saturday's Mock Meet:

Homeschool Bowling Outing...

Friday, the 11th, we went bowling with the high school kids from our homeschool group.  Tim had a blast and got to know some more guys from our homeschool group.

 

Aurora's Thursday Night....

The second time in a year that we've had the pleasure of seeing the Northern Lights and get pictures of them.  The first time they were visible with the naked eye.  We had to use our cameras to take long exposure pictures to see them.  This time we could see the glow in the sky but still need long exposure pictures to see all the differing colors of them.  So so beautiful.  

Gorgeous Sunset (no filter)...

Wednesday the 9th as we were leaving the gym after Tim's training session we saw this beautiful sunset.  It was so breathtaking I couldn't help but take a photo of it.

Tim has done new PR's...

This is an older pic but Tim has done two new PR's.  In the Snatch he's done an 80kg at the gym.  In the Clean & Jerk he's done an 100kg at the gym.  This boy is driven and determined to get at it and hit the goals that he wants to attain in this sport.  So glad that he has such an incredible coach to help him every step of the way.

 

USAW Nationals 2025...

 

Nationals will be in Colorado Springs, CO in June of 2025.  We are so excited to be getting the chance to go there.  Tim and I have never been to Colorado and it will be so much fun for us.  We will get to visit the Olympic Museum while there as well.  That's going to be so much fun to tour.  

My Mom and Me as babies...

My mom and me were about 1 year old in these pictures.  The first one is my mom and the second one is me.  My cousin had these pictures and I'd never seen them before they were texted to me.

 

My Boy Wearing Virus Performance...

Tim loves wearing his new Virus Performance clothes.  We are hoping to be able to order him some more in the near future.  It's his new favorite gear because it's the one thing that fits him the way it should as an Olympic weightlifter.

Preserving Distinctions - Dueteronomy 22:5 (NIV Life App Foot Notes/Version & CSB Version )

Sexual orientation is a hot topic in 2024 and it got even hotter after what happened at the Olympics with the distasteful Lord's supper depiction.  From the 80's to today there has been such a huge shift in us as a people group/nation and not in a good way. 

I came across this verse in the Bible.  You always need to read the verses prior to and after the verse for context but the context was very clear in the verse, before and after as well.  

I love my life application NIV Bible.  It's been one of my faves to study and read from.  The verse is pretty straight forward no matter what version you read it from.  It's a very clear message to the world at large of God's intentions with us as well.  

This was in my life apps footnotes on this particular verse as well:

    "This verse commands men and women not to reverse their sexual role....It's not the clothing style that offends God, but using the style to act out a different sex role.  God had a purpose in making us uniquely male and female."

Further down in verses 13-30 in my footnotes it goes into why God included all these laws about sexual sins:  "Instructions about sexual behavior would have been vital for 3 million people on a 40 year camping trip.  But they would be equally important when they entered the promised land and settled as a nation....sexaul sins have the power to disrupt and destroy the church.  Sins involving sex are not innocent dabblings in forbidden pleasures, as is so often portrayed, but powerful destroyers of relationships.  They confuse and tear down the climate of respect, trust, and credibility so essential for solid marriages and secure children." 

Such great instructions in just those few words.  Instructions to live by and make a life worth living by.  When I look at the world today and the many ways that folks are "identifying" as sexually and I look at this scripture I see how we, as a people group, are getting it so incredibly wrong.  None of what goes on and has become the norm today was ever God's intention for us.  When we read God's Word we see that he had a purpose of procreation in mind with everything that he created because he uniquely created male and female in all that he created so that we could have babies so that we could grow a nation after His own heart and so that we would have plenty of food to replenish our bodies by.  

In another footnote it stated:  "Don't think of God's laws as arbitrary restrictions.  Look for the reasons behind the laws.  They are not made just to teach or restrict, but also to protect."

God's protection over our lives and over our nation is so very important.  Without it the devil runs a muck like what we are seeing all across the world today and especially in our country.  

Just let this sit with you.  Chew on it and process it.  Allow God through His Holy Spirit to lead, guide and direct you when it comes to this dicy topic.  

I just want to be clear though that I will always side with God and His Word.  Folks can say or do what they want but His Word is His Word and He's the same yesterday, today and forever.  He doesn't change and I'm sticking with Him. 

Tim's Coach did this👇...

Tim's coach gave him this postcard at training last night.  It's the first coach he's ever had to do something like this for him.  He loves how encouraging the sport of weightlifting is.  He's needed an environment like this all along.  He's definitely motivated by encouragement.  This card made his day/week/month/year!!!  Tim loves this sport so much.  What a huge difference it's made in him in just a year's time.  He's completely changed and a much happier young man.  His dad and I love, love, love seeing him so happy.  

In hindsight his dad and I see how when he got any encouragement whatsoever that he soared in the sport he was doing.  Most times the encouragement came from coaches that weren't his personal coach.  They were coaches at a mixed training session.  We did try however to get his coaches to understand that he needed to be motivated differently but a leopard doesn't change their spots when it comes to how a coach does their coaching.  I'm just glad that Tim made the change he did when he did because it's made a world of difference in him both at home and at training. 

To everything in life there is a season.  What we thought would be a lifetime was only a season for our son in his last sport.  Where he is now is an amazing fit for him and we aren't calling it his lifetime sport because we just don't know what the future holds but he loves this sport way more than he loved the other sport he was doing.  That's huge in his world.  Right now we are enjoying this season that he's in with him.  He takes videos of some of his training and it's the first thing he shares with us when he comes out of the gym after his training session. Unlike his other sport there's not really a spot where we can watch him train.  He's so much more talkative about weightlifting and sharing with us all that he is learning too.  It's made our tight knit family even tighter and we love that.  We love supporting him in all that he does.  He's such a great young man who is looking/sounding like a full grown man daily.  So much changing going on with him.

This👇...

I saw this quote and had to use it as a caption with his weightlifting picture.  It serves as a great reminder that we should never ever give up but keep going and making forward progress.  Tim is all about doing that.  He knows when he fails that he also learns and that when one thing ends something else begins so his efforts never die and that when he's been told no about something that another opportunity is coming.  Tim has no quit in him and he never gives up but keeps pressing forward.  We love seeing the determined young man that he's becoming.  One thing is for certain and that is that he will never ever be a follower.  He will always be a leader.  Leading by example for others who want to be leaders as well.  He wants to be the kind of leader that he wishes some of the coaches he has had in the past had been for him.  Not all coaches are great coaches.  Tim's learned hard lessons from the bad coaches he's had through the years and he knows exactly what kind of coach he wants to be some day and he also knows what he doesn't want to be as well.  He really gets that everything that happens in life teaches us.  Life can be a good teacher or a hard teacher but either way it will teach you.  We are so thankful for the strong level head that Tim has.  God has an amazing plan for him and we can't wait to see it all unfold as he continues to grow into a full grown man.  

Getting After It...

We've been getting after it on projects recently.  So glad that Tim is at an age where he can be a tremendous help when we are doing big jobs.  Now that we can tackle jobs as a family they go so much faster.  

However, Tim has started school again.  It's great that he does all online schooling so that he can work at his own pace and we can help his dad run our business too.  Plus he has time to also do his Olympic Weightlifting workouts as well.  Prioritizing is the key.  Tim's learning all about that right now with all that he is doing.  

Here's a couple of shots from a recent commercial client that we've been doing all the carpet in their entire facility.  

Sophomore Year...

Tim is starting 10th grade this year.  He is growing up so fast that I'm still adjusting, even a year later, to him being a high school student.  He is such a driven young man.  His dad and I are so proud of all that he has accomplished so far in his young life.  We look forward to all this school year holds for him.  We know that God is looking over our boy because he is His and we only have him on loan from God.  We are so grateful to be entrusted to his care for the short time that we have him and pray that he allows God to continue to guide and direct his life as he grows into a man.  

Here is his first day of school picture.