National Son's Day Monday....(3/4/2024)

To say we are proud of Tim is an understatement.  He's had so much to deal with in his young life.  Twice the devil tried to kill him but God!  He's a 3rd Dan Black Belt in Taekwondo.  He's an A/B student.  Mostly A's though.  He's gotten back into playing the guitar again.  He does Olympic Weightlifting.  He helps out his dad whenever he can with our family business.  Plus he loves his family with all his heart.  He's such a great young man with such a great heart.  We couldn't have asked for better son.  So Happy National Son's Day Tim.  Keep going hard after your dreams keeping God first and foremost in your life!  Your dad and I love you so so much!

Kentucky Trip Last Weekend...

We went up to Kentucky last weekend to see Pop and Nan, especially Pop though.  He has had medical challenges recently and we just wanted to spend time with him.  Some days are good and others aren't.  It's understandable at his age though.  His body can't do what it used to and I'm sure its extremely frustrating for him.  It would be for anyone in his shoes.  We all love him so much.  He and Nan are the center of the Neal family.  

Tim drove 2 1/2 hours of the trip in the rain.  He did so good driving in the rain.  I was glad that he had the chance to drive in adverse weather conditions before he goes for his level 2 license in May. 

While up in Kentucky Tim's cousins, my niece, and her family got a new puppy that they have named Deano.  He is the cutest little thing but he won't stay little for long.  He's a golden retriever.  

We've been trying our best to make it to Kentucky at least once a month and sometimes twice a month if we can.  It's been a lot of traveling for us but we don't want to have any regrets about not having spent time with Scot's parents when their time comes to go be with Jesus.  Here are some pictures that I took on our trip this time:

Tim driving in the rain.

Pilot Mountain in the rain.

Tim with Deano.

Scot, Elaine & Jeff

Scot, Jeff, Pop & Elaine

Nan, Scot, Jeff, Pop & Elaine

Tim saying bye to Pop.

Scot saying bye to Pop.

The sunset as we were driving home.

Playing His Guitar...

Tim has been playing his guitar again recently.  I love that he has picked it back up.  He said now that he has the time to be able to play that he wants to play more and get better at playing his guitar.  It's been so long since I've heard him play and I'm so glad that he's been able to pick up right where he left off.  Tucker and I have been enjoying listening to him play and I got a picture of him playing the other day.

He told his dad and I recently that he wants an electric guitar.  His birthday is coming up in May and we are hoping that we will be able to afford an electric guitar and amp for him for his birthday.  That would so totally rock his world.  I love that he is finding the joy in playing again.  Tim's such an amazing young man.  I love how great his attitude and demeanor is these days.  His happiness means the world to his father and I.  It has warmed our hearts so very much to see him so incredibly happy and really enjoying all that he is doing in his life currently.  Life really is good!!!  

Tim's Lifts from last nights Training...

Here are the videos of Tim's lifts last night.  The first one is a Snatch + Hang Snatch Above Knee with 60kg/132#.  The second one is a 110kg/242# Back Squat.  Enjoy!

Muscles Oh My....

Tim has gained so much muscle since August 2023 when he started doing weightlifting.  He's looking more and more like a man instead of my boy.  It's amazing how much he's grown since August.  He's matured a lot more since then too.  He is completely addicted to this sport though.  He loves how it makes him feel and he really enjoys doing it.  He charts his gains so that he can see how far he's come since he started with weightlifting.  He's so much more into this sport than he ever was with TaeKwonDo Sparring.  His dad and I thought he loved sparring but boy were we wrong.  Seeing Tim now doing weightlifting has shown us a completely different side of our boy.  Seeing him with such an immense passion for what he is doing has really WOWed us more than words could ever express.  Each month he has more muscle gain too.  It's freaky how fast and how much he's gained in a short time doing this sport.  

Jeremiah 29:11.....

 

We look at and watch a ton of weightlifting stuff on our social media accounts.  There was a young man, from the USA Olympic Team, with this tatoo on the inside of his upper arm as he was lifting weights in either a snatch or clean & jerk lift.  Whether you are a fan of tattoos or not this testifies to all the onlookers watching him lift who is most important in his life.  When he lifts he makes no bones about the fact that he is God's and that God has a plan for his life and that he's going to live it!  

We Stand With Texas....

 

Texas has been making a stand to close their border.  I don't know all the details but I know enough to know that our current government system wants to allow everyone to come over the border into Texas and Texas has been having to deal with the mess of it all and they are tired of it and I don't blame them one bit.   Don't you just love that crazy long sentence that I just wrote...LOL! But that's basically it in a nut shell.  Folks are getting fed up.  Things have to change.  If we don't start making a stand now against the nonsense then we never will because the next generation coming up are a bunch of followers.  As for us, WE STAND WITH TEXAS!   

The Lord Stands With Us....

As a family we have been through a ton.  We've had many ups and downs through the years but the Lord has stood with us through it all.  He stood by us and protected Tim when he was hospitalized for complications due to strep throat of all things.  It caused him all kinds of stomach issues that backed him up and if we had taken him home when the ER doctor said it was just a virus he would have been dead in two days.  I insisted he be admitted and they find out what was wrong with him because it had been going on for almost a month an half at the point of hospitalization.  The doctor on the floor found the issue and treated him immediately.  The Lord stood by us and protected Tim when he lost all the salt in his body from exercising a ton to lose weight for a competition not realizing that he had been going without salt.  He went into a seizing comatose state which put him in PICU.  We were blessed that they caught it quick enough and saved his life.  The right doctors, at the right time, were in the right place for that to happen.  Everyone else in PICU were there because of Covid but not our kid.  We are so very thankful for the Lords hand in everything.  

We also had to deal with aging parents and all their medical issues for the last almost 10 years now but God!  His hand has been on us protecting us and standing with us every step of the way.  When people say there is no God I say yes there is because if not for Him Tim would not be with us today.  Satan sought to kill and destroy Tim but God said not today because that child is mine!  

If not for God Tim wouldn't even be here because I'd have died along time ago and never met and married the amazing man of God that I'm married to today.  He's a great husband and dad.  I couldn't have asked or imagined anything better.  

Ours lives are crazy busy with all that we have to juggle most of the time but we wouldn't have it any other way and we know that God stands with us in it all and that gives us comfort and confidence to keep moving forward no matter what comes our way.  God has been so faithful to us and we are so thankful for that.   

So, as a child of God, remember that He stands with us and strengthens us!  His Word tells us that so we do well not to doubt but stand by it!

A Parent's Heart...

All of Tim's sparring friends are bragging about cutting weight for a major tournament coming up soon and they will be having to fight weak with all the cutting they are having to do. Tim's over here going from 51kg when he was still fighting to 58.4kg now that he's doing weightlifting and he is absolutely loving being strong and not cutting anymore...LOL!! 

While he's still supportive of his friends who are still fighting he now knows just how weak he really was now that he's at a healthy weight and doing weightlifting training and Meets.

Being an athlete is hard but it's even harder in sports where you are forced to cut weight drastically just so you can be more competitive with athletes who are closer to your body size to make it more fair for you as an athlete.  Being in it to win it is the end game after all.

After all that Tim has been through since he was 8 years old as an athlete my heart goes out to all athletes having to cut weight just to be more competitive in their sport. There are so many sports where cutting happens a ton just so it gives the athlete a fighting chance at bringing home a medal in their sport. It sucks but it's what is having to be done in some sports.

I'm so glad Tim isn't in that boat anymore. With weightlifting he's found the freedom to grow and be strong and he absolutely loves it. Our son is a totally different person now that he isn't having to cut so much. He is enjoying every part of his life, even school, because he's not doing things hungry and miserable. Man what a difference being able to eat has made in him!!! Having a happy kid is so HUGE!!! I can't express enough how HUGE that having him happy, really happy, means in the grand scheme of things. Make no mistake about it...Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is worth the cost of your kid(s) happiness!!!

The picture below is from Tim's last Meet PR that he did in January. It is almost double the weight of what most of his old teammates from sparring weighs. He's lifting in the 61kg and under youth division in USA Weightlifting. He was having to stay in the 51kg weight division when he was fighting.  Look up the conversion to pounds on google and you can see how unhealthy that weight is for a growing kid.  

There are senior fighters (18 year old) weighing 48kg at 5'4" tall or taller. There are charts online that will show you just how unhealthy that really is. Don't believe me do the research for yourself like I did. It will shock you just as much as it did me.  

Tim's health and happiness is what is most important to his dad and I. We won't be sacrificing his health and happiness on the alter of sports ever again. That I can promise you. Every parent should feel this way but way too many of them are uneducated and just don't realize the harm they are doing to their child's body by allowing them to drastically cut in order to be competitive in their sport. The coaches know though but most don't say anything to the child or parents about it. I can say that because I know from first hand experience with many many coaches that Tim had while doing sparring.

Weightlifting has been a HUGE WIN for Tim! It's made all the difference in his young life in the short time that he's been doing the sport. He is still able to chase his dreams as an athlete but in a much happier and healthier way. It doesn't have to be all or nothing in the sport your child is doing. If you see that it is not healthy for them find another sport they can do to go after their dreams that will keep them healthy.  Tim spent from the age of 8 until 15 sparring and sacrificing his health and happiness on the alter of his dreams as an athlete but he found out quickly that it doesn't have to be that way when he switched to weightlifting in August 2023 at age 15.  Your dream doesn't have to die just because you have switched sports.  He has also found out quickly that he can get scholarships for college, if he chooses to go, and also be able to continue weightlifting for the college he chooses to attend.  With sparring there was never going to be a scholarship because most colleges don't have a sparring program.  

If there was any advice that I would give to a parent after all that we have been through is make time to do the extra research if you have a kid that's an athlete.  Make sure that what they are wanting to do in their sport won't be harmful to their bodies down the road or cause long term health issues down the road.  My husband and I wish we had done our research a whole lot sooner than we did.  We would have helped our son make a change back when he was 8-9 years old if we had.  

A child's growing years are very important and it's important that they grow in a healthy/happy way that allows them to continue to grow.  Doing the yo-yo act of up and down drops with weight to meet a weight division is not healthy for a growing kid!!!  It can cause a host of health issues that can end up being long term health issues if not addressed early.  Don't take my word for it though.  Do your own research and find the truth for yourself as we did.  

We love our healthy/happy kid so very much.  He has turned into an amazing young man.  He has found his voice and it's not his dad's or my voice but it's his, all his!!!  He knows exactly what he wants and he's going after it in a healthy/happy way and his dad and I are supporting him 100%!!!  After all, it's his life and he's the one that has got to live it and not us living it for him.  I can't wait to see all that God has in store for him as he continues to grow into a man!!!

Those Who Honor Me I Will Honor...

 

When we honor the Lord He will honor us!!! This was our conversation tonight as we were driving Tim to weightlifting training. We never want to forget, or for him to forget, that it’s God who has given him his talent and drive as an athlete. It’s God who goes before him/us directing his/our path. We always want to remain humble and thankful for all that God has given us and does for us as a family and for Tim as he travels this weightlifting journey that he’s on. Giving God Glory & Honor & Praise Always & Forever!!!