Fresno, Fearless, Friends-- and Pizza

Spent the weekend in Fresno with the great people at College Church. It is such a blessing to be with them each year. I had forgotten what a powerful theme "Fearless" is-- it was good for me to listen again and think about the path I am on. Mike, Jeff, and Randy were amazing-- what teachers they are! I am so thankful to be a part of this ministry.

This is us with some members of College Church. They sang a couple of songs with us on Sunday and sounded great! :)

The Girls!-- Sheryl, Lindsey (Peter's wife), and I. It was fun to hang out and catch up on life.

So, today was my birthday! It is such a cliche to say-- time flies and I can't believe how old I am getting!-- but that is true. Tonight was also the birthday of one of Caroline's friends who is in our lifegroup-- Avery (in the pink dress). We all met up for pizza to share her special day and eat Tinkerbell cupcakes. This is a group shot of four of the girls in our group-- 3 others are weren't able to be there. As I watched them playing, I thought about time-- how one day Avery (and Caroline) will be at their own children's birthday parties and tonight will be a dim memory-- if they remember it at all!

Of course the kids were loud, played in the fountain, spilled drinks, made a mess-- and we all stayed at the restaurant about 30 minutes AFTER it closed.... We were THOSE people who drive everyone else in the restaurant crazy-- and we were feeling bad that we had lingered so long. But, Joey (the owner and chef) was so nice-- as we were leaving he advised all of us to treasure the time we had with our children, "One day they will be teenagers before you can blink your eyes." He gave the kids "high fives" and we all climbed into the mini-vans and SUVs and headed for home.

Yes, time marches on. Thank God for good friends, spiritual mentors, sweet children, and yummy pizza. Life is good tonight.