Paxton has been playing baseball for a month now, and I don't think I've ever seen him more excited about something. He loves everything about it - loves the game, loves the practices, loves getting into his gear. He's happy. They've had one game so far, and he played both second and third base. He was proud of his successes, undeterred by his mistakes, and can't wait for the next game. It was a big adjustment for the family for him to start the sport, since it meant saying goodbye to family dinners three nights a week, more juggling with Spencer and scouts, and an overall busier week. But I think we'd all have to admit it's been well worth it.
In other news...
We've been going to a new church for a month now. I realize that going to church for four Sundays in a row is not remarkable, but it's remarkable for *us*. I honestly can't remember the last time we were going to church regularly as a family. I know it wasn't in Everett's lifetime, possibly not in Paxton's either. Yeah, it's been a long time. It's always difficult to make a long story short - or at least readable - because it is a long story. We left the church we'd been attending because we were burnt out with intolerance, judgement, and hypocrisy. A lot of people view leaving a church as "falling away', and I'm sure at times it is. But we left church to FIND God, not walk away from Him. Our faith was strengthened over the last several years. It was a process, and like everything else in life, a journey. That journey eventually led us to Phoenix. While we tried various churches over the last few years, we never found the "one", and the timing was never right. So we waited. And then a month ago, we tried Christ's Church of the Valley.
Mike and I loved it from the first day we visited. But since this was to be a family decision, our feelings were just a small part of the equation. The kids had to love it too. And love it they did! They can't wait to go back every week. *I* can't wait to go back either, and despite having grown up going to church (or maybe because of it), I don't think I've felt that way about a church ever. I think people should be excited to go to church. I think they should go because they want to, not because it's what they think they're supposed to do. After our last negative experiences with church, I always said I'd only go back when 1) it was the right church and 2) it was for the right reasons. It only took 34 years.
