Kaelin Day

Today is Kaelin's 12th birthday in Korea and tomorrow is her 12th birthday here.  Of course, in Korean age she's already 13.  We have a birthday party for cousins tomorrow, so we decided to do her stuff tonight since it's still her birthday somewhere in the world.  She wanted pizza, so we went grocery shopping and brought home some pizza and watched God's Not Dead.  Very interesting movie.  Anyway, Princess Kaelin wanted white cupcakes, so I found some with rainbows on them and bought some animal print candles for her.  She's moving on and I told her only one year until she's officially a teenager, though in a lot of ways age doesn't matter to teenagers.  You get a teenager based on biology not age....I've got 3.  I told her she needs to think enough of herself to do what's best for herself no matter what.  Basically, value herself.  I think she'll do well.  I have worries....always, but she's a good girl at heart and does try.  I see her as the child that will do what she needs to to succeed.  I see her going to college and providing for herself and finding  herself before she moves into a permanent relationship.  This is important for my girl.  We love her to Korea and back.

Last night, we took the 3 little kids up with us to the complex for the high school's first football game of the season.  It was close to 100 degrees, but we brought water and sweated through it.  The boys on the field had it much worse, obviously.  Chase was not going to get to play for sure.  He's a freshman and it was a varsity game and a hard and big one.  But, I just wanted to at least go to the game to see him step onto the field for his first varsity game.  We got to make a parent tunnel and cheer them on.  The lights went out in the stadium for awhile, there were tons of flags and just an all out long game.  It was moved to 8pm due to the heat and we left the stadium after 11pm with Chase in tow.  Chelsi and Jaemin fell asleep close to an hour before it was over.  Jaemin slept on me....HOT!  Chelsi slept on the bleacher on the blanket beside me.  That shower never felt so good.

Through all our tough times I hope for things to get better.  This is where the movie God's Not Dead is correct.  He is our hope.  The devil's advocate in the movie says we believe in God to make things better in bad situations.  But, the truth is that's when it's hardest, but that's what sometimes defines us and our real belief.  When you are going through hell and you still find the strength to believe in God, it does help you.  Free will will always exist.  Because of that sin will always exist.  We may not always understand why things are the way they are.  They don't seem right sometimes.  I try to believe and sometimes it's a struggle that there is some greater plan.  We just may not know or understand.....at the moment or ever.  I'm not the most devote to some by a long shot.  I'm not an avid church goer.  I don't profess my belief in God at every turn.  But, I'm not a closet Christian either.  I do believe.  My relationship with God is personal.  It's private.  I don't believe human man needs to be a part of it.  And I don't get all of my prayers answered and definitely not as quickly as I need or believe they should sometimes.  But I still try to believe that like my parents God only wants what's best for me and I can't know or understand that all of the time and that's where blind faith comes in.

Back to Kaelin and her birthday.  Some birthday pics and a pic from a couple of weeks ago of a 5K she did with her friends.  I was supposed to to, but I left to do mine at the track so I could watch Chase at football.  She decided she'd rather stay with her friends, so I let her enjoy!