This first week I decided to complete my service project. The first Saturday of my sabbatical, Alvino Sanchez and I along with several other volunteers helped prepare tennis courts for the Grand Slam tennis tournament here in Abilene. I was glad to be able to give back to youth sports; I was a part of them growing up and they made a huge impact on me. There are many kids blessed by these tournaments but a lot goes into them. I am appreciative that we have so many volunteers that give their time in order for this to happen. Thanks Nadene for asking us to be a part of it! I also served with Alvino to help some of our FD family with lawn and landscaping work. I enjoyed being able to serve some of our FD family and was humbled by the experience but I’m so glad to have my cushy desk job the rest of the time. Despite what Alvino tells ya’ll, I actually did most of the work. (HAHA!) All jokes aside, Alvino really is a hard worker and I really enjoyed serving some of our FD family with him.
Since the yard work finished up in the afternoon, I could go pick up my daughter Emery from daycare every day last week. – I usually don’t get to do this. This is such a little thing but it meant a lot. When I would walk into her classroom her eyes would light up and she would walk, as best as she can at this point, over to me squealing with joy (loudly) and gave me a huge hug. I loved making these sweet memories with her and it became something I really looked forward to in my day.
One of the best parts of sabbatical thus far has been getting to just spend more time with Emery and play. I’ve had more time to play with princesses, have tea parties, and build block castles with her. (She doesn’t play right though because she always comes to knock my castle over and laugh at me). In the prophetic words of Ferris Buehler, “life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop to look around once in a while, you could miss it.” With this being said, I’m enjoying every precious moment with her that I can.
These next three weeks, I’m going to be focusing even more time on my wife, Emery, and our families. I’ve been blessed during this first week and I look forward to what is to come during the rest of my sabbatical. Stayed tuned………