A life-in-abundance kind of day

Our friend Greg Varner pointed out that it is “Abundant Life Day” today (10/10), based on John 10:10. For us this celebration must have started early. Last night I was reflecting on the day we had had yesterday, and all I could think of as a summary was that it was a life-in-abundance kind of day.

Yesterday was packed full of cheers, of tears, and of community. It was a day in which we lived deeper and fuller.

Starting off the morning, Pete went out and ran in a 5K race. Since the course was all in our neighborhood, and the runners came right past our street, the kids and I were pretty much able to just roll out of bed and go out to watch – and that’s pretty much exactly what we did!

I got so flustered when Pete ran by that I forgot to get a good picture! So here are some of the back of his head.

He ended up placing 13th! Yay Daddy!!

Then the kids and I were off to our neighborhood Fall Festival – a highlight every year. Once again the giant slide was a big attraction…

as was the bouncy house (including the outside of it)
and painting pumpkins.

I didn’t get many pictures of Strider because this year he went off with his friends for the morning, doing all the “bigger kid” things – rock climbing, bungee-trampolining, boxing-thing, etc.

But I did get pictures of him an hour later, because we went for his Taekwondo testing. And he was promoted to a “high white belt!” Yay Strider!!

And this is where the pictures of the day end, but for us the most meaningful part was still to come.

We attended the memorial service (and for Pete, the burial as well) of a good friend and beloved man from our church. What an inspiring and amazing service it was! For the second time this year, a memorial service has been a life-changing experience for me. Celebrating Kofi’s abundant life challenged us all to more passionately follow, and celebrate Christ. What a blessing it was to be in that building, sad as it was, but so full of hope and thankfulness. (Thank you Aunt Amy for babysitting Cole and Milo all afternoon.)

The stuff of this life can be so good and sweet… but the stuff that points us to the next life is (to borrow a Homer Price word) eversomuchmoreso. How thankful we are to be living this precious gift of Abundant Life our Lord has given us.