{"id":14970,"date":"2022-06-01T19:15:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-02T00:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=14970"},"modified":"2022-09-10T19:17:56","modified_gmt":"2022-09-11T00:17:56","slug":"strange-family-adventures-may-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=14970","title":{"rendered":"Strange Family Adventures | May 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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May 2 FAB FOUR | Grateful for these friends for so many reasons! The Lord blessed us with them at just the right time 3 years ago. Thankful for their gospel accountability and encouragement!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So thankful we got to spend the day playing golf together to support @NCCSEagles<\/a>. #Strangemetz<\/a> #NameThatTune<\/a> #MemphisForever<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 5 CLASS OF 2022 | These @NCCSEagles<\/a> Seniors have my heart! Today was Senior Chapel which includes the annual tradition of announcing your college choice by wearing a shirt from your new school. Our seniors led us in worship, shared some helpful\u2026and laughable\u2026advice, pointed us to Jesus through a variety of speakers, and reminded us of God\u2019s faithfulness through the years. Gosh\u2026it goes fast. The seniors also prayed over the junior class and their leadership of our Upper School next year. I\u2019m very grateful for each of these amazing young men and women. First picture looks great and second picture shows what we really love about them! #GoEagles<\/a> #WeAreNCCS<\/a> #NCCSFamily<\/a> #ClassOf2022<\/a> \ud83d\udcf7 @instaclarks<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 6 8 YEARS AGO | We woke up early Tuesday morning and were all super excited about going to pick up Eli. Tuesday, May 6, 2014 was Eli\u2019s official GOTCHA DAY! When we arrived at the Hilawe Children\u2019s home, you could definitely tell that it was a big day. There was a film crew and a photographer taking pictures of us exiting the van and they continued videoing and shooting photos the entire time we were there. The farewell ceremony at the children\u2019s home was truly a treasure. The people at Hilawe were so happy for Eli and they pulled out all the stops for the celebration. One of the social workers was so thoughtful to video the whole thing with our camera so we will be able to show Eli what a special ceremony this was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They started by having a time of prayer over all of us. The director of the children\u2019s home prayed in Amaric and then Clint prayed in English. They put some fingerpaint on Eli\u2019s right hand to make a handprint so that people at the children\u2019s home could remember him and pray for him. After that, they presented us a huge loaf of bread for us to cut together. It was similar to cutting a wedding cake and everyone was served a piece. The next item was a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony complete with popcorn. They also served us cokes and brought little chocolates\u2026which totally thrilled Emma! Emma was wonderful throughout the ceremony as she realized this was a very special time for her brother. She kept herself busy giving Eli kisses and making sure he was having a good time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the Embassy that afternoon we headed back to the hotel and got ready for naps. Emma insisted on climbing in the crib to sleep by Eli so he wouldn\u2019t be scared. We got some precious pictures of the two of them snuggling together. We pray that they will always be very close and that Emma will always look out for her baby brother. Once naps were over, we played on the playground at the hotel and then ate dinner at the gazebo restaurant by the pool. Eli ate a ton of rice and some chicken. He is a great eater and did a great job at dinner! Emma could hardly eat anything she was so excited to finally have her brother!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more: https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=8273<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 7 BUB\u2019S RUN | We had a great time celebrating the life and impact of Kelson Loveland @NCCSEagles<\/a> this morning. His sweet family started this race last year and it was such a blessing to see the way the race has grown! It\u2019s become a way to remember a precious son and to raise funds for a great cause. We had tons of volunteers, awesome music from the Academy Singers, and an extra surprise of a rainbow over the start line for the last race. The 5K, 1K, and Tot Trot all brought lots of smiles and we hope to see everyone back next year! #GoEagles<\/a> #WeAreNCCS<\/a> #NCCSFamily<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 7 ACWORTH BASEBALL | Grateful for another wonderful season of @acworthbaseball<\/a>! The playoffs wrapped up today for the Acworth Dodgers and my favorite #2<\/a> learned a lot and had so much fun this season. I\u2019m grateful for a great baseball organization in our town. We love cheering on our Eli and his teammates. Thankful for great coaches who have good perspective on coaching 9 and 10 year olds \ud83d\ude02\ud83d\udcaa\ud83c\udffd. #7000days<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 8 HAPPY MOTHER\u2019S DAY | Single momming is not for the faint of heart\u2026and particularly when you are talking about raising the Abel three! \ud83d\ude02 Let\u2019s just say that we often went out of our way to make things more adventurous than they probably had to be! There was no shortage of laughter and fun\u2026or wooden spoons as appropriately needed. In each season of life, we\u2019ve always been able to count on Mom to be there with encouragement and support. She somehow found a way to be present at everything for all three of us. That\u2019s no easy feat when all three of us played multiple sports at different schools and had a variety of interests and commitments outside of school. She worked hard to make ends meet to ensure we had everything we needed as well as most of what we wanted\u2026at great sacrifice to herself. Mom gave some of the best years of her life to us completely and we are all better for it. Happy Mother\u2019s Day to the best of the best! #Grateful<\/a> #MomsAreTheBest<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 9 POWDER PUFF FOOTBALL | No bones were broken. We defended the honor of the seniors by beating the juniors. We are in need of at least 12 subs tomorrow because the purple team is down for the count \ud83d\ude02 Lots of laughter and a great time was had by all! Thank you @NCCSEagles<\/a> Upper School Student Government for putting on a great event and special thanks to our awesome refs: Coach Parker, Coach Bitner, Mr. Arnold, and Jack. #TheseAreTheDays<\/a> #WheresTheAdvil<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

#GoEagles<\/a> #WeAreNCCS<\/a> #NCCSFamily<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 15 WE LOVE ACWORTH | Sights and Sounds from my evening walk through our city. Walking sets my heart and my mind on things above (Colossians 3:2). The sights this evening included a really fun group at the park and the lake enjoying each other\u2019s company in the midst of God\u2019s creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grateful for the privilege of walking and dreaming big dreams. It\u2019s graduation week and the Lord has been so good to share the Class of 2022 with us at @NCCSEagles<\/a>. They are easy to celebrate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#WeLoveAcworth<\/a> #FlyHighEagles<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 16 TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eagles Win! Eagles Win! Eagles Win!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

@NCCSEagles<\/a> @NCCSAthletics<\/a> #NobodyBetter<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 18 MY EAGLE | A lot of my posts are about other people\u2019s kids and it is a joy to cheer them on! Today I got to cheer on my favorite 7th grade Eagle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few years ago, Emma came to me to let me know she wanted to try to do everything she can to support @NCCSEagles<\/a> sports during middle school. Our family loves sports and how the Lord can use those experiences to help mold and shape hearts and minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She set a goal for herself to play softball each fall, tennis in between fall and winter sports, basketball in the winter, and soccer in the spring. Rather than the traditional Tri-Letter award, she has played four sports each year for the first three years of middle school. She LOVES being an Eagle and we are so grateful for @NCCSAthletics<\/a> and the way our Coaches pour into her life. We pray she is always a great teammate, has great sportsmanship, and uses her gifts to honor the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#GoEagles<\/a> #WeAreNCCS<\/a> #NCCSFamily<\/a> #7000days<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 21 GRADUATION | The Lord is so gracious to give us even the tiniest glimpses of where He is working. I\u2019m so grateful for the goodness of God recognized in and through the @NCCSEagles<\/a> Class of 2022. These guys and girls have my heart! \ud83e\udd0d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe world is starving for a yearning love, a love that remembers instead of forsakes. A love that isn\u2019t tied to our loveliness. A love that gets down under our messiness. A love that is bigger than the enveloping darkness we might be walking through even today. A love of which even the very best human romances is the faintest of whispers.\u201d – @daneortlund<\/a>, Gentle and Lowly<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 21 SUMMERTIME | Burgers on the grill. Walking to get ice cream. Seeing friends on the way there and the way home. Reading on the porch. A slow night at home for the first time in a while. Savoring the moments. Summertime is here! #7000days<\/a> #WelcomeToAcworth<\/a> \ud83d\ude0e<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 22 ENGINEER | My handsome husband is tired of raking up magnolia tree leaves. So\u2026he got out the blower and is attempting to blow off the rest of the loose leaves. #ThatsMyEngineer<\/a> \ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02 #HesTheBest<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 24 SO PROUD | I love these guys. I\u2019m so proud of our @NCCSEagles<\/a> Baseball team. We came up short in the State Championship tonight, but we will be back. It\u2019s been quite the ride this season cheering these guys on. I\u2019m thankful for their coaches and the way they\u2019ve invested to build godly men who will be amazing husbands and fathers one day. This was a special season. #ProudToBeAnEagle<\/a> #GoEagles<\/a> #WeAreNCCS<\/a> #NCCSFamily<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 25 GRATEFUL | First Day > Last Day<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emma 7th grade<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eli 3rd grade<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lord is gracious and kind. We are so grateful for the incredible partnership our family enjoys with @NCCSEagles<\/a>! So many teachers, coaches, arts directors, staff members, older students, and alums have invested in our kids this year and the Lord has used each of them in so many ways to point our kids to Jesus!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy!\u201d Psalm 126:3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, Emma happens to be wearing the same pair of tennis shoes. Eli has gone through 37 pairs of shoes this year. \ud83d\ude02<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 28 WALK IN TRUTH | It\u2019s crazy to think it\u2019s already been a week since the graduation of the @NCCSEagles<\/a> Class of 2022. Also hard to comprehend that Emma has one more year of middle school and Eli has one more year of lower school. Having the joy of watching our two grow and 17 years of NCCS Graduations reminds me that there is really only one prayer for all of these kids that God has loaned to me. I pray that they will walk in truth. That means following Christ and seeking Him first above all things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God is faithful. He is working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#MCheyeneReadingPlan<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 29 WE REMEMBER | Grateful for the opportunity worship with @nsckennesaw<\/a> as we hang out with friends in the mountains this weekend. Luke 22 is the story of the Passover meal. \u201cWe remember so we don\u2019t forget.\u201d – @mikelinch<\/a> #TheLordsSupper<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 30 SUMMERTIME | I love the moment that the tires hit the gravel. Time to unwind. Great food. Lots of laughs. Nowhere to be. Strolling around town. Naps on the porch. Games. More laughs. Lots of reminders that God created us to \u201cBE\u201d (Psalm 46:10), not to always \u201cDO\u201d. Uninterrupted conversations. Campfires. Movie night. Church on the big screen. Nine year old pool sharks. Reading. More laughs. Dreaming of the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God is faithful. So grateful for precious time with family and friends who have become family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 30 WOODLANDS | Over 20 years ago, I visited @woodlandscamp<\/a> for the first time. I was in student ministry and we took our youth group for a weekend retreat. @clintstrange32<\/a> and I were dating and he joined us to help on the retreat. All these years later, we are so grateful our own kids have the privilege of going to Woodlands to learn more about Jesus and to spend a week worshipping and playing hard with camp friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we dropped off Eli today (Emma goes later in the summer), we found ourselves so excited about what God has in store for our little guy this week. We will miss him terribly, but love catching pics on the camp website. Thank you @bigjonestes<\/a> for keeping your YES on the table for investing in kids for the sake of the gospel! Praying for another UNFORGETTABLE week at camp! #7000days<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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May 2 FAB FOUR | Grateful for these friends for so many reasons! The Lord blessed us with them at just the right time 3 years ago. Thankful for their gospel accountability and encouragement! So thankful we got to spend the day playing golf together to support @NCCSEagles. #Strangemetz #NameThatTune #MemphisForever May 5 CLASS OF […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,14,37,12,16,23,28,17,32,18,40,33,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-study","category-book-review","category-eli","category-emma","category-family","category-generosity","category-integrity","category-leadership","category-marriage","category-north-cobb-christian","category-northstar-church","category-restaurants","category-travel"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14970\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}