We started the month in Hilton Head and I’ll remind myself again of how the Lord used this precious time by reposting the Instagram post I posted on July 4 when we returned home:
GRATEFUL Special week away with the most precious people in my life. At dinner last night, @clintstrange32 and I agreed that this was one of the most unrushed and laid back vacations we can remember. We needed that!
Long walks. Alternating between the pool and beach. Bike rides. Morning walks. Evening walks. Ice cream everyday. Reading. Sunshine. Meeting new friends. Lots of great food. Most importantly, time together.
Thank you Lord for this time away to rest, reflect, and remember your goodness to our family. #7000days
We returned from Hilton Head just in time to celebrate the 4th with some sweet friends around the table. We enjoyed awesome burgers, played Nerts, caught up on conversation, and watched some great neighborhood fireworks. Don’t forget…Corona cancelled all the large gatherings including 4th of July celebrations. But, since we live in the south…people love blowing stuff up, so there were probably more fireworks than ever!
July 6th Emma headed to Woodlands Camp for Junior High Camp. She was just about to bust when I dropped her off…she was so excited to return to one of her favorite places on the planet. The Lord really taught Emma some unique things last summer when she was at camp and she was so excited to be back there. For quite a while, we thought camp wouldn’t happen this summer due to COVID-19. Praise the Lord things opened up and thousands of kids were able to go to Woodlands to hear about Jesus! Emma had an incredible week and was surprised to find her best friend from camp last summer was in her cabin this summer! What a precious way that God orchestrated all of that!
Once I dropped Ems off at camp, it became one of the busiest weeks ever. In the midst of all the COVID-19 craziness, we had to push off all our end of the school year festivities for our seniors. That meant that Baccalaureate/Senior Awards was held on July 8th and Graduation finally went down on July 10th. It was so sweet to celebrate the NCCS Class of 2020. What a crew! I love these guys and girls and we had so much fun celebrating them at the official events and several graduation parties. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for all of them!
In the midst of all the fun, I had to get my arm xrayed and it still hurts a few weeks later! The cause? I fell out of the car! Yep, straight up fell out of the car. I stepped on the running board and slipped and hit the side of the car with my elbow. Craziest thing…but par for the course in 2020. My precious Eli went with me for the X-ray. Good news…seems that it was mostly a bruise and possibly a tiny fracture. Nothing that will ruin my ability to play the violin, since I’ve never tried that before!
Eli was super excited to attend Vacation Bible School at Burnt Hickory Baptist again this summer. They did a great job with health and safety stuff and kept the kids as socially distanced as you can keep kids. Clint decided it was time for our family to have a new car and we agree with his wise discernment on those financial matters. We upgraded the Strange party bus to a newer Expedition and we are all enjoying it so far! Yep, that’s the one I fell out of actually!
We took a Saturday and headed down towards Newnan to spend the day with Clint’s best friend from college and his family. Here was my instagram post on that one…what a precious day!
SABBATH So grateful for these precious friends! They said, “come and plan to spend the whole day.” And I’m so glad they did! I didn’t realize how much my heart just needed a day with friends and a chance to talk about all the things swirling around us in the world. God is so faithful. What a gift to know that the Lord brought @clintstrange32 and @vmstrick together as best friends 25 years ago at @georgiatech…while Makisha and I were still just kids…and nurtured a friendship built on loving Jesus and a commitment to leading their families well. Vernon was the best man in our wedding. Their oldest was born the day after ours. So much laughter today. So much good food too! Kindred spirits. Today was a cup filler for sure! #7000days #StricklandStrangePoolCoversations #EngineersAndTheWayTheyTellStories
Things are starting to crank back up for the school year. Emma has officially returned for softball practice at school with her teammates. Church has reopened and we’ve been back in person for a few weeks. It’s a little weird wearing a mask, but it’s worth it to be together and to make sure we are keeping each other safe. I wondered how things would go when we started taking steps towards “normal” and I am happy to report that we are still eating LOTS of ice cream, playing in the driveway, and enjoying each other’s company. Eli still plays beyblades super loud when people are trying to relax…but to mention it to him only makes it more fun for him! We celebrated a precious friend’s graduation party last weekend and saw a rainbow when we went up to school to play tennis after dinner one night.
I got a precious text from a friend several days ago. Her daughter graduated from NCCS in 2013 and was one of my favorite students. In fact, Emma gets her nickname “Crash” from this girl. They both have a tendency to stumble over, into, and through things on occasion. If Emma grows up to be just like this young lady, I’ll be super excited! This young lady got married a few weekends ago and the wedding looked beautiful in the pictures. Her mom sent me one picture in particular that was so encouraging. I taught this young lady in 8th grade in a course designed to help students focus on God’s plan for their lives as it related to identity and purity. As a closing part of the lesson, I had each of those 8th graders write a letter to their future spouse. Her mom sent me a picture of this young lady giving that letter to her new husband. How cool is that? What a powerful reminder that the Lord never misses a detail!
We spent the last day of July celebrating the one we all have as our favorite in this family…Clint Strange! July 31 is his birthday and we had a blast celebrating! The kids took him out for breakfast at Waffle House and we all had dinner together at Pablano’s. His parents joined us the next day for lunch at Henry’s. So…if you are keeping score, we are doing our best to support local businesses and no longer can fit into our own clothes! I also celebrated Clint’s birthday by spending the day on the river rafting with our seniors from the NCCS Class of 2021. I wonder a lot what their school year will look like, but I don’t have any concern about whether or not God has a plan. He has gone before us into every nook and cranny of this school year and I couldn’t be more excited to see what HE has in store for us all. Let’s get this party started!
