Weekend Overload

 As crazy as last week and this weekend were I just keep reminding myself that "these are the days" and I will miss this craziness one day.  One day there will be no one to take to a tournament or a game and I will be sad (maybe). :)  So my philosophy now with one in high school, one in middle and our sweet girl still in elementary school is to soak up every second.

  Kyle and I took  a road trip this weekend for him to play with his Xplosion team in Greensboro.  Greensboro you were great but hot!  We were in this beautiful private school gym Friday night and there was no AC.  I was so hot cheering and watching I dropped my phone due to my sweaty hands!  Ha!

 Kyle's team won 3/5 of their games in a Phenom Hoops tourney.  It was a treat to have him to myself for the weekend even if I drive him nuts!  Ha!  Kids are always so different one-on-one and we had a great time even if we are both worn out.

 These tournaments are no joke with unbelieveable talent.  It is really fun to watch such high level basketball but I may or may not have yelled at a ref or two:)

 Kyle was thrilled to take this picture post-game Friday night!  Ha!  He does not always appreciate my pictures but he does enjoy reading the blog :)

 This little dude had a great weekend.  Pops and GG hosted David for a sleepover Friday night and then Pops took Dave to his own AAU tournament in Blacksburg.  David loves his cyclone teammates and loves being on the team:)  It is so precious to watch him.

 Most of my pictures are from my iphone as I try to take pics of these fast players while I cheer! Ha! One of the Xplosion parents is a great photographer and I always enjoy his pictures!  Thanks Michael Thomas!  There was high drama at the tourney with one of our players getting choked and hit and sadly when he defended himself he too got ejected.  I learned some valuable lessons this past weekend traveling ... 1) Google maps is my new BFF.  For real.  2) Humility is important and not practiced enough with high level hoops players.  3) basketball laundry is gross.  4) Point differential is real and though it is sad to run up the score on teams, our coaches attempting to be classy did not and it resulted in us being dropped down to bronze divison.  Sad that cut throat is valued more than classy sportsmanship.  

 Saturday morning the 10th grade team played at the Coliseum.  There were 8 temporary courts set up within the coliseum and there were designated areas for college coaches to watch players.  Kyle's team only being freshman did not play at the Coliseum because they are not quite ready for this, but it was crazy to see how many colleges were there recruiting.

 While I was cheering for Kyle Mike stayed home and held down the fort which meant getting this little lady ready for her spring piano recital.  It was a duet recital with her amazing teacher and Mike not only got her piano ready he also rocked her hairdo!

 This weekend also made me say a prayer of thanksgiving for all the great coaches that God has put into Kyle's life.  God is using basketball to teach Kyle some life lessons and great coaches are gems.  Here is Kyle getting a mid-game lesson on a certain play.  Don't let the smile fool you, Coach Kevin is hard core but he shows his love by how hard he pushes them.  He helped Kyle have a late night epiphany one night and I am so thankful for his investment in kids.

 I love spending time with all of these sweaty, stinky but hilarious boys!

 For their recital Mrs. Melody presented each girl with this precious shirt for their duet recital.  It says plays well with others:)  Soo creative and cute!  Check out Pops in the background.  He and GG were actually able to come to town and attend the recital.  With GG's knee therapy and my grandmothers medical drama they have been pretty tied up lately.

We may have lost in double Overtime in the championship, but here is Coach Kevin sharing some wisdom with the guys before leaving.  It was a dramatic tourney with a fist fight, player ejections, psycho opposing coaches, referees beginning the game before our coach arrived, and hot gyms to the point that the floors were slick due to sweat.  But despite the drama I had a blast.

I am also thankful for technology because I got to enjoy my girls duet for the recital.  The weekend was overloaded but Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Being Content

This past week has been full and heavy around here.   After much thought and prayer it was decided that Hope and I would stay back this weekend to attend a funeral for her friends momma that is gone way too soon.  My thought is that when a child asks to go to a funeral you take them. We stayed here while the boys headed to Richmond for Kyle's first Big Shot tournament with his Xplosion team.

It pained me to miss the basketball action but this weekend was just what this girl needed.  Extended time at home to clean, organize and do some therapeutic cooking with my best girl.  We watched a movie snuggled in bed and we just rested our souls.  The funeral was beautiful yet heart-wrenching, but it made me thankful for Jesus.  Hard times such as this can be consoled with the idea that those little twin girls will see thir Momma again in heaven.  Only Jesus can give us hope in our darkest times.

Thankfully one of the parents on the Xplosion team is an amazing photographer and I got to see my boy in action through his lens.  (Thank you Michael Thomas for your pictures).

I love seeing him do what he loves to do through the lens of the camera.

I am thankful that he has basketball in his life.  It can teach so many great life lessons and I think this weekend was full of learning.

I have a new toy in my house and I am obsessed with it.  I have never had a food processor until recently and it has changed my life.  I have made homemade salsa, pizza dough, and this weekend we made homemade Cheez-It crackers.  They are way better for you and they taste like cheese straws.

I stole this off of one of Kyle's coaches' Instagram pages, but here is a team picture after the tournament was over.  They won three out of four games against some tough competition.  Kyle has a lot of learning and growing to do (gotta work on those chicken arms) but he is loving this and loving this team of guys.

Our two youngest have added snapchat to their lives and it is cracking me up!  They can only have "friends" that I approve of but they love these filters for different pictures.  Dave sent this one to Hope and it made me belly laugh.  This strong -willed turkey is hilarious!!  He refused to allow me to be one of his "friends" on snapchat because I was not young or cool, but he finally relented.  He just refuses to send me messages back or message me at all!  I cannot be angry because it is hilarious!

This weekend I was reminded that life can change on a dime.   When my girl (dressed in our funeral clothes) wants to take pictures with me I say yes.  Very soon she will never want to take a bunch of pictures with me and so I am embracing this baby of ours and enjoying the fact that she wants to be under my feet at. all. times.  Very soon her friends and life will be way cooler than Mom.  I pray this beautiful girl reminds pretty inside and out by making God the priority in her life and living in a way to bring Him honor.

Today Hope and I overslept for church.  It would have been so easy to stay in on this cold and crazy rainy weekend (flooding going on around these parts this weekend) but God comes first so off we rushed to church.  I got so tickled when we slumped into the pew right before the opening song began and I realized that Hope's hair was wet.  Like very wet!  I got so tickled because my mother would have croaked if she would have seen how we showed up to church today (GG is a very prim and proper church goer who is always looking like a fashion model going to church).  I did not get that gene apparently! Ha!

Anyway, we made it to church in the monsoon and the opening song was an oldie but a goodie for our church-Victor's Crown.  God knew my soul needed to be in His house today singing His praises.  I love this song so much!!

At the Cross the work was finished

You were buried in the ground

But that grave 

Could not contain you

For you wear the Victor's crown!!! 

It was such a wonderful morning of worship to be reminded the week after Easter that Jesus is still alive and He wears the Victor's Crown!  The pastor also preached a part of his sermon on Philipians 4:11-13 where Paul writes from PRISON about being content whatever the circumstances.   Life can be really hard and feel out of control sometimes but this sermon this morning blessed me.  No matter what, we serve a living God who wears the Victor's Crown.  Because of Him we can be content in our circumstances knowing he is on the Throne.  Amen. So thankful these hot mess Robinson girls made it to church wet hair and all to be reminded to be content and to rest in the one who wears the victor's crown.

Digging Deep

Tonight I am writing with a heavy heart.  It seems that in our little corner of the world life has been heavy and hard lately.  Sadly teenagers do get diagnosed with cancer, sadly a young mother of twins goes home to be with Jesus after a shocking medical crisis, and sadly mental health issues are so real and pervasive that folks feel suicide is a viable option.

Cancer taught me that even though on this side of heaven tragedy and heartache do not make sense, but through it all our God is working always.  On this side of heaven we are not allowed to see the full picture of His "puzzle" we are only allowed to see individual pieces one at a time.

Hard times such as these remind me to dig deep.  To dig deep and remember this Earth is not our home.  Hebrews 13:14 reminds me that For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. It is so easy to get cozy and comfy here in this Earth and this World, but we are only temporarily here and things that we collect and store up here  are nothing compared to what awaits us in heaven.

Hard times remind me to dig deep and to remember my purpose here.  My purpose according to Philippians 3:14 is to press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.   I choose to take hard days like today and remember who I am in Christ and that my purpose here is to run my race well.  I want to use these heartaches to remind myself of the importance of God's Kingdom work and that our ultimate goal is to reach hearts and lives for Him.

So today I am sad.  I am really really sad.  I am heartbroken but I am using this sadness to remind me that God's kingdom work of loving my neighbor, serving the least and the lost, trying with all of my might to point our youth to Christ, and modeling a solid walk with God in my home for my own kids is more important than anything else on my to do list.  That is what I feel called to do and today reminded me that life is short and can change on a dime and I need to sharpen my focus on what God has called me to do.

This gal can tend to get sidetracked on silly stuff like social media and netflix.  I am going to take these tragedies to remind me that to run my race strong I need to push aside distractions and silliness and focus on God, my neighbors, my family, and our youth.

I know I have shared this song a million times but it is my life song.  I want my youth and my own kiddos to know that God is everything to me.  He has changed my life and changed my heart and I want the peace that I have for them too.  That peace that passes understanding holds true when you stand over a puke bucket with your sick cancer kid.  That peace holds true when at his birth you were told he would have a lifelong cognitive disability.  His peace holds true when young mothers die and teenagers are diagnosed with cancer. His peace is what makes this troubled world bearable.  Enjoy this song, say a prayer for those who are hurting and remember that our most important work is followng and serving the one True God!