Trying Times

I'm not gong to lie. This season has been a little rough. The pressure is from within and without: school, schooling, parenting, marriage, building, working, big kids, little kids - Oh My!! There have been so many times that we have felt we were drowning...But God. He showed up. Not necessarily in the ways we wanted or even prayed for, but He showed up. He keeps showing up. He'll continue to show up. Learning to trust in Him isn't as tangible as I once thought it was. I look forward to the time when we can look back and see how God has orchestrated all these events to make us better followers. It seems that it takes time to truly gain perspective. My vision seems cloudy because I am too close to the fire. Learning to take a step back, look beyond the current momentary trials is harder than I thought. Someday, hopefully, prayerfully I/we'll come through this refiner's fire more Christlike than I/we started.

Anyway...here's the latest in the Cutlip household in Fall of 2022:

School is progressing for Tom. So far he has all A's! He has spent many a late, late night studying, writing, researching, and ...trying to keep his eyes open.

I've been trying all sorts of new things for school. Some we've kept. Some we've scrapped and started something else new. The good thing is that the newest seems to be working much better. It's a little defeating at first, but we're getting it done.

For science we had fun learning about food webs and food chains with the "littles".

                                                               

My Lego robotics team at our scrimmage. We didn't do well at the qualifier. It was very humbling and discouraging, but I hope to do better next year.

We've also been learning about different countries and cultures, continent by continent. We made it through North and South America. It's always interesting to me all the different and unique peoples God made. Thsi is Zac's Moai from Easter Island.

Back in October, Tom's mom fell and broke her hip. She was at Skilled Nursing Facility getting her strength and mobility back for about 6 weeks. She came home the Sunday before Thanksgiving. She was home for one week before she passed away. She is happy, healthy, and whole now in the arms of Jesus her savior.

Livvy made the chocolate covered
strawberries for us. We enjoyed them
after coming back from a movie
- Sam gave us a $20 gift card to the
theater. Pretty great kids!

Also in October Tom and I celebrated our 20th anniversary! We celebrated by flying Livvy to start her DTS (Discipleship Training School) with YWAM in Mazatlán, MX at the beginning of January (more on that in another post). 

We've had two fender benders (one with the postal truck no less - Not my fault). 2022 and 2023 have not been good for our van (more on that also in a future post).

Sam turned 16 and got his driver's license! He's been busy working for a local contractor three days a week. He plays soccer and basketball for NPA. Because his ankle hasn't healed 100%, his sports' season hasn't been the best. But, we're still super proud of him!

The house is progressing. Slowly. Very. Slowly. It's hard for much to happen when the main dude in charge is trying to work, take care of his mom and dad, go to school, and spend time with the family. Thankfully we have family and friends that have stepped in to help. Hopefully once this semester is over and the snow has melted, Tom will have more time to work with the boys and really get things rolling. 

My dad came up and helped Tom take down a 2x4 wall and replace it with a 2x6 bearing wall. Oh the joys of remodeling!

Sam and Ben got drawn for archery bull elk. Even though they were skunked (one very close call), they had fun and learned a lot! Ben thoroughly enjoyed calling in the bull. 

Danner turned 9. He celebrated with some friends at the ice rink.

Christmas was tons of fun. Michaela (Sam's girlfriend) joined us for our traditional gingerbread houses (or trains for some) decorating time. She came back to help decorate cookies and make challah bread.

We went down to Phoenix to have a family Christmas with Oma, Opa, Rob, Beth and the cousins. There was good food, a polar-plunge, ping pong, presents, and a who-has-the-biggest --lungs-challenge. Livvy won by blowing the most candles out - I think all of the singing gave her an advantage.

And lastly, we ended the year by throwing a New Year's Eve - Going Away party! Our house was filled to over-flowing with some of the most amazing teenagers, kids, and their parents. Even though it was beyond cold outside, the teens spent most of the evening outside playing basketball or dancing in the pergola. It was the perfect end to a not-so-perfect year.