Here we are 2 weeks into school and for some 3 weeks

WOW we got a lot of things going on with the Funks!

We school a bit through the summer but we are in full swing as of last week.

Abraham is 3rd grade 

This is the start of his books for September.

He will have 62 to read throughout the year..say a prayer now because he doesn't like reading!

He is playing tackle football for Sheboygan, flag football for Plymouth and soccer for Kiel

Gabriel is in 6th grade

his books to start

He will have 55 books..dont tell Abe.

He is playing soccer all year for Lakeshore Academy in Sheboygan 

Miah is in 11th grade studying lots and lots of US History this year

Football as always and loving it

Working at the Osthoff when he can

Olivia is in the Criminal Justice program at LTC and coaching the freshman girls at Manitowoc Lincoln 🏐 and loving every minute of it.

She's got a great schedule going on and when she can she's working at Mill Home once or twice a week

Jonah is studying Sports Management and Biblical Studies at The Masters University in Santa Clarita CA

He's doing great and we hear from him daily..It's extremely hot there!

I have no pictures of the boy either...

Odin and Emilie are doing great.  

Odin is working full time plus some and taking online Biblical classes and Em is working part time and taking classes at UW Green Bay Sheboygan. They are both very active at Word of Grace with the youth.

They have a cute little upper apartment right by the lake in Sheboygan.

garage god

what a wonderful graduation party for Liv we had

it was great catching up with old friends and family

seeing new ones and making new ones

sharing laughter, old stories, grace, forgiveness, 

hard times, tough decisions to make, health concerns life in general

parties sometimes do that 

bringing out all sorts of things

i'm so thankful liv has all these people to love on her

never thought God would show up in the many big ways he did that night

so thankful for the tears shared with others and truth being told and God moving mountains to be glorified

Weekend fun...

4 soccer games, 1 baseball game and a beautiful wedding

We're a game family..love everything about them

especially the memories

                                        

Got lost somewhere these past few weeks but I think it's what my soul needed.

Between a bad infection (had a bad reaction to not only 1 of the drugs they gave me but all 3) and having to go to the ER late one night with my awesome husband ..we're seeing a light at the end of the tunnel hopefully. Of course it had to be a day we were at a volleyball tournament all day too..up at 3am😀

I'm never sick or feeling yucky so when I do it sucks...emotionally too when you take weird drugs.

Prescription drugs don't jive with me at all.

kids were busy

I was in my quiet spot

Dave and I check in all day on each other

thanks to me pestering him all day while he works😒

my soul felt kind of ugly and more emotional (throw in all the odd drugs) these last few weeks

my soul needed some nourishment and probably 102 years of rest or just some really good hiking

sometimes I want to wait for the ugliness to come out

maybe when I have more energy to clean up the mess after it comes out 

all these years of friendship and marriage has made my silver fox into a special agent husband

I'm the captain of my ship and I was going down right there with it.

sometimes that happens and 

sometimes we shrug it off

sometimes we choose to shrug off love and care to avoid the pain of vulnerability and transparency.

we can lose our souls a little at a time by exchanging honesty and truth for the ease of dysfunction. 

i never have a problem spilling my guts on a nice new fancy floor or sofa

I seem to leak ugliness out a little at a time so whoever's listening can slowly take it in

no need to drown anyone

i try to avoid the landmines of despair and guilt

Jesus is the miracle worker here

The longer we love each other the more amazed I am at the importance of the quiet moments when storms rage from within our hearts 

they help me become more comfortable with living in the middle of unanswerable questions

or mourning over broken ways of life, failed efforts and the eternal balancing act of hope and fear

Vulnerability is the lesson from Job over and over again.  

There are answers I may never get from God 

What I(we) need most of all is for someone to see my(our) heart(s) and love me(us)💚

We are all human with scars and brokenness 

We all need each other desperately

kindness, vulnerability, sacrificial love, mercy believing the best.

these traits make it safe to own the ugliness and love bravely 

shut off or tune out whatever's playing around you

in order to be the closet thing to Jesus someone has seen today

a life lived like that will save our souls and change our families and communities.  

I hope we can be brave enough to live it

Parenting these last 20 years I have always taught the kids to let others be touched by you in ways the world forgets about.

Let them see your joy that is contagious, compassion that others feel in your words and deeds. 

It would be found in the empathy of a stranger.  

The kind word you said for no reason, the intentional way of listening (and put down your phone), the hand to give and to receive, the voice of encouragement, the touch of comfort, the openness to share.  

And always pursuing brokenness with Love.

forgiveness

What does it look like to love people and a place that have failed you?  

How do we give them a second or third chance or fourteenth chance? 

 Is it possible for us to do for others what Jesus Himself did for us?

Do not withhold good....when it is in your power to do it

the kitchen

The kitchen in most homes, has always been the gathering place for my family.  Some credit it to the smells of the food wafting through the air.  Others say the kitchen is essential to the family because it's where the most time is spent preparing to formally (that is not the Funkhousers) sit and enjoy one another.

Why wait to sit at the dining room table when you can sit on the kitchen counter, sneak samples of the food, talk until everyone is trying to be just a shade louder than others, lick a bowl, dip your finger in a sauce, or pull up a stool.

The hustle and bustle and unending commotion ...

I love.

We can easily tune out the world at the Funkhouser house and the world continues on.  Water would boil over, sauces would explode, lasagna gets burnt, the phone would ring, doors are wide open.

When life seems overwhelming or uncertain, and that sense of security feels just beyond my reach,, I can close my eyes and smell the smells in my kitchen and rest comfortably.  

In the midst of chaos, in the midst of fear, in the midst of uncertainty, in the midst of love, laugh, cry or dance.