Five for Friday

Since each week is filled with so much, I have chosen five things worthy of mention...

One:  Lil was blessed to take photos of the Clark family again. 
Last year, she took photos of this precious family.  It was a joy
to see them again and watch their little girl in action.

Grace Jo has grown a lot since last year.  She is now quite the swimming girl!
It was fun to catch her loving the water.
 Lil is getting lots of practice with her editing.  I really like this photo!



Two:  Finally getting serious about giving the triplets chores. 
They have TONS of energy and it's about time that is used to get things done
around our place.  I have no idea why I hadn't thought of it earlier?!!
Camie scrubbed the floor while Emma was getting her hair rebraided today.



Clay is becoming very good at vacuuming. 
Cleaning out the vacuum container is his favorite part of the job.



Three:  This week Dee has truly walked in faith.  What a blessing it has been to see God at work in her life!
By the time she boarded the plane for Indiana University for the Summer Music Clinic at 5:45 AM on Sunday, she had convinced herself that this wasn't going to go well...she wasn't good enough of a violinist, her audition would go badly, she wouldn't make friends, it was a lot of money just to "torture" herself, etc.  Her Dad and I had told her we would cover her expenses and she could stay home but she felt that going was God's plan for her, regardless of how she felt.  I cried. She cried. And I cried some more.  All the while, many prayers were said on her behalf! 

We had scheduled her flights so she could arrive in plenty of time to make her audition.  She was to switch planes in Chicago and then catch a shuttle to IU once arriving in Indianapolis.  God had other plans. When she got to Chicago she was told that they had over booked her flight and she would not be leaving as scheduled.  At first, the airlines were going to put her on a flight that would cause her to arrive six hours late!  But God had intended to use this for good.  Once the airline figured out they had just bumped a minor off a plane, things started to get better FAST!  They moved folks around on an already over booked flight and worked things out that she would arrive only two hours late.  Then they gave her a check to compensate her for all the trouble they had caused...a check for $901.56! (We had her send us a photo of the check just to be clear that this is what they had done!)  God did the impossible and paid Dee back for all she had spent to go to IU!  A HUGE blessing and a confirmation that attending music clinic was indeed in His plan!  Praise the Lord!

After a few phone calls and some intervention by Dee's fabulous violin professor, Dee was able to get another audition scheduled.  She arrived tried, stressed and worn out after traveling for 13 hours on only one hour of sleep.  God cover that too and her audition went better than she expected! All praise goes to God for his mercy upon our precious girl.



Dee is having a wonderful time and is making many new friends!



And what blessing that God is using this clinic to remind her that He has given her
 the skills to be a good violinist.  Out of 26 violinists, Dee is humbled to be allowed
to play in the Violin 1 section, fifth chair.  Dee is so grateful for ALL the work
her professor, Dr. Beth Sievers, has done to prepare her for this clinic.
We are looking forward to her returning home late Saturday night.



Four:  With great joy to the Thunder fans in our family,
we are able to watch the NBA Finals from home.  Yeah!
Our little state is very proud of our only professional team.



Five: In fifteen days, our sweet Susanna will be moving home.
Her Dad has been very busy with the remodel downstairs so
she can have her own room.  Today, she sent me this text.
What a blessing to my heart to have my daughter write to me such kind words!

Many Blessings to you and your precious family...
Tamy on behalf of the Elliott crew!