New Beginnings All Around

God, in His faithful grace, offers us a new beginning in His Son.  I accepted that grace over 28 years ago.  Strangely -- WONDERFULLY -- it isn't a one time offer.  Over and over again, I've turned to Messiah to confess my independant waywardness and longing for the "new" beginning that only He can give.  That's the FRESHEST kind of beginning there is!  Acts 3:19 - "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord."

Today, I'm celebrating a different new beginning.  The beginning of Summer Vacation!  It's my first week.  While there will still be fun, Cassie & Jaycie have enrolled in a Spanish II summer school course, so these are not our typical "freestyle" lazy & wild days.  Nevertheless, not setting the alarm clock this morning was marvelous!  The Engineer was actually the first one up and out the door (usually he's the last). 

We said good-bye to Victoria Rose last weekend.  After spending 11 months with our family, she flew home to Germany.  We had a marvelous year being a family of 6 (five girls!!), but new adventures await us all, and that helped temper our sadness.  This blog has been focused primarily on Victoria's time here so her mom & dad could be more involved in the details from afar, but today even my blog gets a new beginning. 

The girls' "godfather", La Mesa's Fire Captain, our neighbor & friend, Howard treated us and some friends to a hands on, private VIP tour of the La Mesa Fire Department last week. 

There didn't seem a particularly fitting way to introduce my WinterCreek blog to summer.  Then again, cleaning two ceiling fans didn't seem a particularly fitting way to spend my first morning of summer either, but we've now officially begun!  Happy vacationing to you ALL!