State Fair with Mom Yesterday...

Yesterday was Senior day at the State Fair so Tim and I took mom so that we could see the exhibits.  I got to get my Corn on the Cob.  It's my favorite thing to get at the fair.  I probably met all my move goals for the month walking around that place.  It's a lot bigger than it used to be.  Tim went kicking and screaming because it's just not his thing but I wanted him there to help be a buffer for my mom so she didn't get bumped around or hurt in the crowds.

Virus Weighlifting Finals Daytona Beach, Florida...

Tim qualified for this Meet earlier this year at The Arnold/Virus Weightlifting Series 1 Meet.  He is all signed up for the Virus Weightlifting Finals Meet in Daytona.  He's excited to be getting to do this Meet.  Being in a "new" weight division 71kg he won't bring home any medals like he did at the Series 1 Meet because these guys are lifting much heavier than he currently is.  He was in the 61kg division at the Series 1 Meet.  He really wants to go to this Final in order to gain more experience and get PR's at a National level event.  Gaining experience and getting PR's is the Goal!  He needs the experience since he'll be moving up to Juniors in 2026.  

I tell you, this year has just flown by.  This will be Tim's last Meet as a last year Youth.  It would be really great to go out with a bang but he's up against the best of the best and he knows it's a tall order to medal in a "new" weight division with guys lifting much heavier than he currently is.  He's no stranger to having to have an adjustment period in a "new" division because that's how it was in the other sport he did too.

Please be keeping him in your prayers as he trains to get ready for this event.  His body coach is working to help keep him strong and healthy while he and his coach work to get his numbers more consistent.  He has a meal plan so that he's getting enough protein, carbs, fiber, and, believe it or not, fat.  He's just glad that he gets to really eat in this sport...LOL!  It takes a village all working together to help Elite Athletes get to where they wanna go, for them to be able to meet their goals.  Getting consistent PR's as he works his way up the ladder to being competitive with the guys in his division is the goal.  PR's show his growth in the sport and that is huge!

We appreciate you all so very much.  God Bless!

2025 Carolina WSO Championships Results...

The results are in!

They give medals at the end of competition in this sport. Lots leave early and their coaches receive their medals for them because of time constraints and other commitments like school the next morning. Tim had a great performance even though it wasn’t the performance he was after. He was gunning for higher numbers and they just weren’t coming today but they are coming. He’s on the verge of getting the numbers he’s after.

Tim finished the day with 96kg PR in the Snatch + 112kg Clean & Jerk = 208kg PR in Total. Two Meet PR’s ain’t a bad way to have a hard day when you didn’t get what you were after.

We are so proud of his success. He never ceases to amaze us with all he’s doing in this sport in the short time he’s been doing it.

71kg Youth GoldMedalist. It’s his 3rd year receiving Gold in Youth. Other medalist went home early.

71kg Jr GoldMedalist. It’s the second year he’s taken Gold in Juniors being a Youth lifter. Other medalist left early.

71kg Open Silver Medalist.

2nd  overall in Youth. They gave goodie bags with thumb tape in it for this achievement.

2nd  overall in Junior. They gave 1Kilo wrist wraps for this achievement.

We are so very proud of all Tim's accomplishing. He has set hard fast goals and he didn't meet those goals at this Meet like he wanted to so he walked away with a competitive anger that every Elite Athlete I've ever met has when they don't meet their goals. He will get back to work, get more consistent, and meet his goals at a Meet soon. At least that's the mindset he has anyhow. Elite Athletes have a drive like nothing I've ever seen. It thrusts them forward to do the amazing things that they do in sports. In this sport the Lasha Talakhadze's (not from our country) or Olivia Reeves (US Olympic Gold Medalist) don't do what they have done without it. In other sports it's Michael Phelps, Michael Jordon, Wayne Gretzky, Lewis Hamilton/Michael Schumacher, and the list could go on and on. Elite Athletes are cut from a very different cloth. Their minds have a totally different mindset. They work tirelessly to get where they want to go. Few make it to the Big Show (the Olympics) though. In my book they are all worthy because they put so much time into what they do. Having watched it first hand with our son I know what parents of Olympians have lived through with their kids. It's not an easy road. It's one of the toughest things these kids do - being an Elite Athlete - in their perspective sports. They are all great athletes! And even though Tim didn't do what he wanted to do at this Meet he still walked away a winner yet again. His drive to do what he does makes my head spin though. Thanks for all your prayers 🙏 as we traveled and as Tim competed.

This is the teams trophy's that they earned!

Two More Days...

 Two more days & we will be in Chapin, SC for the 2025 Carolina WSO Championships watching Tim lift.  We are so excited to be doing this Meet for the 3rd time.  We are praying that Tim gets the numbers that he's shooting for.  He has had a little tweak that his body guy worked on with him & we are crossing our fingers 🤞 & praying 🙏 that it doesn't effect him this weekend.  Pray with us that he is able to make the lifts that he's shooting for without a hinderance from the tweak he had earlier this week.  We are so thankful it wasn't an injury.  He's worked entirely too hard for too long to get where he is not to be able to lift the numbers he's worked so hard toward.  Keep us all in your prayers as we travel there & back & pray that Tim's body is strong & that he lifts strong with no issues.  Thank you & God Bless!

Happy International Weightlifting Day!

Tim is so proud to be a part of the Olympic Weightlifting family. Doing Olympic Weightlifting has been so huge for him. He’s had a love for this sport since he was 10 years old watching Meets via YouTube. Had we switched him back then from the sport he was doing to this sport there’s no telling where he’d be in this sport today. He’s made great strides since moving to this sport a little over 2 years ago & loves it tremendously. Happy International Weightlifting Day weightlifters!!! 

Coming Out of The Homeschooling Fog...

I'm coming out of the Homeschool Fog that I've been in for 14 years now.  I've been an MIA Friend to many of the friends that I was extremely close to prior to marriage and having Tim.  I want to go on record and apologize for having been MIA for so many years.  I was just starting out in marriage and having a baby when most of you had been married and in the throws of raising kids for quite some time.  We were in two different times in our lives.  I was in M.O.P.S when you were doing middle school, if not, high school with your kids.  Not excusing not having stayed in touched better just pointing out that the roads we were traveling on were very different at the time.  

Now, all these years later, my journey of being a homeschool mom is coming to an end.  As Tim graduates I'm hoping and praying that these old friendships that I've held near and dear to my heart all these years will meet me on a new journey in life where we can reconnect. A journey that will allow us to grow together as we navigate these later years in our lives.  Where we can share our lives and all we've learned on the journey that we've been on while apart.  Where God can enrich our lives even more deeply as we spend time together.   

I've been more intentional recently about making connections again.  I'm sure some have been scratching their heads & wondering why now and the change in my journey in life is the why now.  

It's actually weird to be on this side of things now.  It seems wild to me that Tim will be 18 in May and just 5 short days later a High School Graduate.  

I take solace in the knowledge that even though Scot & I missed the mark at times, all parents do, while raising Tim that we have taken our job as parents and his teachers seriously.  We've poured into him to overflowing.  And now we pray as we release him fully into God's hands who gave him to us to raise.  We pray that God will be 1st in Tim's life above everything and everyone else as he goes out into this world and lives his life.   

I pray as a mom that Tim lives a life worthy of God.  That his is a life that represents the Kingdom of God well.  

I pray as I seek to reconnect with friends that God opens doors and that our reconnection will be even better than our initial connection years ago.

Above all I pray that God is Glorified in all of our lives in a Mighty way!!! 

God Bless!!!  

Charlie Kirk Day!

Today we celebrate and remember the life of Charlie Kirk!  When you click on his name it will take you to a link so that you can learn about who he was but you'll need to click on his name/picture.  The most important thing you should know is that he was a child of God!  He loved the Lord with all his heart, mind and soul!  His Savior came 1st in his life!  He was a man making a massive impact for God with the Gen Z'ers.  His message was strong and firm and he never wavered in his stance or faith.  Sharing Jesus with these young people was his most important calling over everything else that he did.  

Christian nationalism asserts that the United States is a country founded by and for Christians.  Christian nationalists in the United States advocate "a fusion of identitarian Christian identity and cultural conservatism with American civic belonging.

If you really study history you will see that the majority of the signers of our Declaration of Independence were in fact Christians.  If you go further back you will see that the first settlers in our country were also Christians.  Christians are why we are a nation.  If not for them there would be no USA.  It was their faith that led and guided the early days of our government.  It was their faith that grew our nation.  It is how it should be today instead of the torn up/apart mess that it is.  God's intent and mans intent are only the same if one is totally committed to God in every aspect of their lives.  Without that kind of committed and dedication to God our society crumbles as it has been doing for so long now.  

May the memory of Charlie Kirk be more about his faith than his politics.  May his legacy grow so large that he will live on forever.  May we never forget that he gave the ultimate sacrifice one can give because he died while making the absolute best effort that he could to change lives for Christ!  

We need to remember that as lives are changed for Christ they are also changed politically as well.  Those on the other side of the fence hated that he was making real change and that he was reaching our youth with his message and they wanted it stopped.  What they didn't bargain for was the uprising that it would cause.  TPUSA is larger today than it has ever been because of his assassination.  What others meant for evil God is changing for our good and His Glory!  

To God be the glory, great things that He has done,  so loved He the world that He gave us His Son, who yielded His life an atonement for sin, and opened the life-gate that all may go in.  

Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, let the earth hear His voice!  Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, let the people rejoice!  O come to the Father through Jesus the Son, and give Him the glory, great things He has done!

Check out this great message from Charlie Kirk on a podcast at this link:

Charlie Kirk on Dr. James Dobson

This Weekend...

This weekend is the weekend.  States is finally upon us.  Tim will be competing in the -71kg Youth Male Division on the 19th.  This past weekend he did a mock Meet and did a 224kg total.  Can't wait to see what numbers he pulls at States.  We're always so excited for this kid and love supporting him in all that he's been able to accomplish in his young life thus far.  He is such an amazing young man.

Twenty One Pilots Virginia Beach Amphitheater 10/7/2025...

Tim and I had so much fun at this concert.  I loved seeing my son so incredibly elated over getting to see his favorite band perform.  Here are some pictures:

That Smile!!!

B.R.A.K.E.S...

I wish a program like this was around when my husband and I were first driving at 16 years old.  This is a fantastic program and every teen should take part in it.  So much learning that could ultimately save lives.  Watching them drive the different driving scenarios and responding in the correct way as they were instructed by the instructors to do was so awesome to watch.  Scot and I got to take a little part in it as well on one of the driving courses (all the parents did).

Get your teen signed up by clicking the link below and do this with them.  You will be glad you did.  

www.PutOnTheBRAKES.org

1 John 3:16 (NKJV)...

Footnote from NIV Application Bible:

John uses the example of Jesus here in v.16 for two reasons.  First, Christ is a model for us to emulate.  Christ as God's Son possessed more than we can ever imagine; yet he did not keep what he had selfishly but gave of himself voluntarily for others.  Second, Jesus' death is also a revelation of God's work on our behalf:  "Christ laid down His life for us" (v.16).  Jesus' death is not merely an ethical model; it is a genuine offering and giving of his life.

Is.40:11 (NIV)...

Twenty-One Pilots...

Tim and I will be going to this concert.  It will be Tim's 2nd concert ever.  His first was 2 Cellos with his friend Blayden and his dad.  This concert means more though because it is his favorite band and he's been wanting to see them for a long long time now.  I will be taking ear plugs with me.  I'm getting too old for the concert scene but I don't want him going alone either.  Wish he had someone else to go with him that we know who likes this band as much as he does.  I'd have them go instead of having to go myself.  It will be huge fun for Tim and that's all that matters.  

Son...

This is always my hope because, Tim,

you do got this, no matter what,

You Got This!

I Love You To The Moon 

& Beyond!

Beautiful Change....

God's Not....

National Son's Day Yesterday...

I posted this on social.

Scot posted this on social.

Scot posted:
 
Happy National Son’s Day Tim. You have accomplished so much and have a bright future ahead. I'm proud of you. Keep up the hard work. I love you. I posted: Happy National Son's Day to the best son ever. You are becoming your own man and I'm so proud of the man that you are becoming. You have goals and you are going after them full throttle. I'm so thankful that I've taken the time to cherish all the moments with you along the way. Life's had it's ups and downs but you've met all your challenges head on and come out the better for it. Keep getting after it and your dad and I will be there to support you every step of the way. I love you to the moon and beyond!

God's plan for you...

"New" PR's...

Tim's "New" PR's:

100kg/220# Snatch PR!

125kg/275# Clean & Jerk PR!

150kg/330# Double Back Squat PR!  He did this 4x.

To say we are proud of Tim is and understatement.  He's been driving himself to training nowadays so when he does something note worthy he sends us a video so that we can see it and these are those videos.  We were so elated to see them.  These PR's have been a long time coming.  Tim's been doing a ton of building since Nationals and it's paying off.  

Ezekiel 36:26 (NIV)...

Footnote from NIV Application:

Israel's heart & spirit will be made new.  Unresponsive, unyielding stone will be replaced by warm, living, responsive flesh.

Daniel 12:3 (NIV)...

John 14:6 (NIV)...

Footnote from NIV Application Bible:

Jesus' answer in v.6 is the premier expression of the theology of this entire Gospel.  Access to the Father's presence in heaven will only be through Jesus and no other.

    Jesus is the truth.  He is the authoritative representative and revealer of God.  He discloses God exhaustively, unlike anyone else can, because he has seen God.  Those who follow Jesus, who come to the Father through his "way," will be the ones who gain eternal "life."

A Jesus Shaped Life Quotes...