What a season...

Well to say the least, this Fall has been crazy! I have so much to write about, but so little time to do it. But here is a snippet...

It has been soccer season for the last few months! I love soccer! My kids have been on the same team for a few seasons now. Caroline's team a few season ago were taking their lumps. They were lucky to sneak in a win. You find that with time, kids grow and improve. This season, they went 10-0 and won the tournament. Caroline had a great season. She scored a few goals and played some great defense! She was so much fun to watch this year. Very proud.

Maddie's Select team has been together for 3 seasons now. They are a solid team. Maddie has been planted in the Goal Keeper position this season.. she hates it. She takes every goal she allows so personally. So she basically came to the conclusion..if I have to play this position, i might as well play it well. Maddie has become a really good keeper this season. She has really stepped up her play. Her defense in front of her is great, which is always a big help. She allowed 4 goals for the entire tournament, which was the least amount for any keeper in the division. I only know this because our division made for a fantastic tournament. U12 Girls Red! Highly competitive! Very evenly matched teams. The fact that we had 3 ties this weekend in 4 games, sort of describes the parity. The girls tied the Tournament Champions in the final match 1-1. We finished 2nd in the league and in the tournament! We lost the first game of the season 6-0 and never lost again. 10-1-3 to finish up. Great season for the Capitals! Maddie has an opportunity to be a stifling keeper is she continues to learn the position, work hard and love to play keeper with a deep passion for the game of Soccer! I love soccer, but I really love my girls!

life is so busy...

Ok, I have fallen off the blog bandwagon this year. I can make a ton of excuses about why I am not updating but I have only one that I will share here... I am tired.

I will say that I love to blog. I like putting my thoughts down, so I can go back later and reflect on where I was at that moment in my life. I have just ran out of time to blog. I don't work in a job where I have time to take breaks and dispel the thoughts in my head, most of the time my head is spinning.

I have had a few things happen recently that are worthy of some blog posts. I am reluctant to wait any longer before the thoughts leave my head, so here is a summary and maybe I will get time to go into greater detail.

Cool things this summer:

We took a trip to Nashville. We enjoyed a leisure walk to the Parthenon. It almost ended with divorce and 2 kids hoping for Dad to get a taken out by a drive by shooting... thank you Nashville Transit Authority for the ride back to the hotel. All in all, a nice little getaway.

The band had an opportunity to open up for Big Daddy Weave. This was big for us. We had a great time, and i feel we did our best to represent for our friends, families and our community. The Paramount Theater was amazing! The crowd of people who came out to support us was very exciting and a bit humbling to say the least. The Jason Lovins Band were fantastic and really went out of their way to accommodate the band. We felt very welcome on the stage of the Paramount...2 songs later and a Standing O...i am sure can thank "the mfer's" for that one! (Note to self: from this day forward NEVER refer to the fans and friends of "the mfe" as "mfer's" :) )

A few weeks ago, Jen took a trip to NYC! A girls weekend away from the family. I got to spend a ton of time with my kids. Just the three of us...sort of. In the life of Marty, you often have "other" family members that tend to frequent our presence when Jen is away. Maddie, Caroline and I had a great weekend... with Luke, Trent, Jordan, Carter, Val, and Jon Mark. What can I say, I tend to travel with an entourage. We spent the better half of Saturday cleaning out the new Band Van...code name Vanzilla! We played at Firefest which spent most of the day trying to recover from all of the rain. We nicknamed it Smolderfest, due to all of the rain. We finally played around 6:30 before Day of Fire took the stage. We grabbed dinner with the gang and then crashed at my house to organize the van. Kids only 2 hours late for bedtime...CHECK.

Sunday was a day to ourselves. Swimming all afternoon. Good times. The storms came again. So we camped out on the screened porch and watch the rain. it was dark. No lights on so we could watch the lighting. I started telling stories about doing the same thing with my Grandparents as a kid. I watched many a storm from my Grandparents porch. For the next hour or so, I told Maddie and Caroline story after story about their Great Grandparents. They sat and listened so closely. It was dark, we could not see each others faces. I think I cried through most of the stories. The girls cried too. They wanted to know all about them. Every detail. This moment was so precious to me. I will never forget what Maddie said, "Dad, I didn't even know them, but I love them so much. I can't wait to see them in heaven." Caroline chimed in, "I love them too. I miss Grandma Perky." It took me a minute or two to recover from those words. I too, miss Papaw Lewis, Grandma Rosemary, Pap and Grandma Perky. I have faith that one day, Maddie, we will get to see them in heaven, too.

brought the light...

It is a dark and lonely road, I travel out here all alone.
Facing fears and battles deep within my soul in need of great relief.
But You came into my world, still you came into our world.

The narrow path seems impossible, to many demons the truth fore told.
Blinded my my every sin, my anger rages deep within my soul.
But You came into my world, still you came into our world.

But in the distance a light shines, overtaking the darkness in my mind
To know that Jesus you are near conquering all my tears, all my fears.

You brought the light, shine it bright in me.
Raged a fight, for my soul to set me free.
Bore the pain, the nails and the night.
You stepped into my world and brought the light.

- Marty Ford

I find myself in this place as much as the next person. It comes from the heart and a moment of worship that I had with my God that may have been the most intimate moment ever. He reminded me how powerful His light is and that light can not be overtaken by darkness. We hide in the dark place, but still the light shines. Shining hope, mercy, love and grace. We often forget that those things... hope, mercy, love and grace are still available to us. I have friends going through some real crap in their lives, and because they are... so am I. It is part of being in community and we share in this thing called life. I am blessed. Jesus brought the light, may we reflect it.

Caroline turns 7 years old today.

I can't believe that my baby is now 7 years old! It is amazing how fast she is growing up. Caroline is such a cool kid. Her smile is infectious and has this terrific giggle. I am so proud that she has her own mind, and defends herself with her sister. I love the fact that she still runs to me when I get home from work and she gives me great hugs. I know that she is growing older so fast, but I am in no hurry for you to grow up. I hope you have a wonderful day, Caroline! Happy Birthday!

Love,

Dad