Ruby Elyse Freeman was born on August 31st at 10:06 pm. She is absolutely precious and I just love her so much. She has such a sweet spirit, very much like her mama. It was evident from the first time that I held her, only hours old, that Ruby is going to be a strong, beautiful woman. Both Carley and baby are doing really well as they adjust to life together. Matt is a very proud daddy and its fun to watch them interact. You can already tell that she just adores Carley and Matt. Here I am with her, she's two and half weeks old in this pic.
It's been so much fun to hang out with Ruby during the last couple of weeks. Babies do some very funny stuff that they don't even realize is funny. I know she doesn't have control over her expression yet, but in this picture she's showing one of her already famous facial expressions... the "o". So cute!!!
September has proved to be just as busy as the rest of my summer has been, but mostly this busyness has been my choice. I've recently decided that I want to get my motorcycle license. Not for any reason in particular, really just because it's fun. So in order to work up to that, one of my youth kids offered to let me try it out on one of his dirt bikes. So one Sunday afternoon, a crowd of youth kids gathered to watch me attempt to ride a dirt bike in the church parking lot. Of course I was really excited... and then I saw the crowd. As my nerves took over I knew there was no way to back out of it and live it down so I got on the bike, received a brief tutorial, and took off. After stalling twice, I wheelied and was off around the parking lot. I only rode for maybe 20 or 30 minutes that day, but in that short time it seemed like every pastor and other prominent member of the church passed through the parking lot. All in all it was a success and I didn't wipe out once... until the next weekend.
Tom and Ian Howard (father and son, owners of the bikes) invited me to go out to the trails with them and practice some more on the bike. They assured me that I wouldn't be slowing them down and that they had brought many newbies with them, so I quickly agreed to go. The 45 minute drive south to Marseilles, IL where the Cliffs Insane Terrain (www.thecliffsinsaneterrain.com) is located should have been a peaceful drive through the country. Instead, I could only focus on not throwing up because I was so nervous that I was going to be the one person who they take out that gets seriously injured. I mean, then name "Insane Terrain" doesn't have a comforting ring to it. We arrived around the same time and I watched as they unloaded the 3 dirt bikes. The parking lot was full of different off-road vehicles, from dirt bikes and ATVs, to dune buggies and tricked-out mud covered Jeeps. Some of these Jeeps had tires that were nearly as tall as I am. So sweet! Anyway, as I was watching these awesome vehicles climb the Hill that leads to the trails I thought, "there's absolutely no way that I'm going to be able to get the dirt bike up that gravel and rut covered hill."
We went up to the office, paid, signed waivers, and got our bracelets. Tom gassed the bikes up and we were ready to go. Well, they were. I felt sick. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I was going to die. Well obviously I didn't die, but half way up the first hill I ended up in the trees. After a few rounds on the motocross track and lots of wipe outs, we went to a flat area for me to practice the basics. So I practiced shifting gears, using the foot brake, and not stalling because I tend to drop the clutch. After we practiced for a while, Tom convinced me to ride my bike down the hill back to the parking lot for some lunch. Getting down the hill was easier than I thought it would be, riding first gear and tapping the back brake. We got some lunch and then ventured back up the dreaded hill to the flat area where we had spent the morning. I made it up the hill without any problems this time, much more in control of the bike than I had been in the morning. I practiced shifting gears for a little while longer and then we (they) decided it was time to hit the trails. Judging by the amount of mud coming off Ian and Tom as they traded off watching me practice and exploring trails, I knew I was in for a slippery ride.
Leaving the flat (safe) area, around the first turn was a huge mud pit with standing water. The ruts from the Jeeps and ATVs were deep. I watched Tom and Ian successfully fly through the mud, keeping their feet out for balance. I froze. In my mind I decided that I was just going to head back down to the parking lot. There was no way I could have enough control of the bike, focus on the clutch, throttle, and brake and still make it through standing up. I had already taken my fair share of spills too... flown over the handle bars, bike falling on me as a rut stole my balance, ending up in the trees and bushes because I panicked and gave it too much gas. If I went out on the muddy trails I would surely die. Well Tom rode back over to where I stood frozen on my bike, and somehow convinced me to follow him, showing me exactly how to do it again. I reluctantly followed and successfully made it through that first mud pit without a fall. Can I just say that that was the easy part?!
The trails proved to be riddled with large rocks, trees branches, creeks, ruts, jumps, and other ridiculous obstacles. Through all that I took it slow, only wiping out once and having Tom take my bike down a hill he knew would be too challenging. I inadvertently took a jump that came out of no where and landed it. I have never felt my adrenaline course through my veins as much as I did that day. There were times when my heart was racing, my palms were sweaty (thankful for gloves!), and I was panicking, but I decided to keep going. After making it through that we reconvened in the parking lot and I suggested that the boys go out without me so they didn't have to go slow anymore. They explored for another 20 minutes or so and then we packed up. At the end of it all, I was still smiling, so it couldn't have been that bad, right?
After I got home and showered all the mud off of me, I assessed the damages. Lots of large bruises, but nothing horrible until the next day. It was a challenge to lift my arms... it felt like I had spent a day at the gym pumping some serious iron. It's been two and half weeks since we were on the trails and the bruising is almost completely gone now. At first I decided I would never go again, but today it doesn't sound so bad. :)
The next weekend I decided to go up to East Lansing to Michigan State to visit with some of the youth kids. 4 of my girls go to college within an hour of each other so the other 3 made their way to MSU for a visit. I brought Jacob (another college freshman) with me since he's going to school locally and it was nice to have a friend with me in the car to keep me entertained. We had a fun filled weekend of eating food, walking around campus, eating more food, walking more, eating ice cream, and walking some more. It was really just a sweet time with kids that I love dearly. I enjoyed getting to see where Jodi is these days and how life at a state school works. The campus is absolutely beautiful. We had a blast simply being together. The Lord has really opened doors and enabled me to be someone that these kids really trust and depend on. It's a total blessing to have such awesome relationships with them. I think it was a nice break for all of them too. Nice for Jacob to get out of Naperville, for Jodi to have familiar faces, and for KP, Morgan, and Alex to get away from school for a while. Praise the Lord for good friends.
I am still in the process of figuring out what's next for me here in America. I have some really tough choices to make for the next few months, but I know I'm ready for a change. I've been looking for jobs and housing in Indy, so that's a good possibility. Please join me in praying for clarity and the right decisions for both me and the kids I minister to. Also please pray for my dad as he's scheduled to undergo major surgery this Thursday if he's healthy enough. I'm hoping to post again soon after his surgery to update you all on how it went. Thanks ahead of time for the prayer.
I am still planning on a January departure back to Uganda. Please continue to lift up the ministries there. Pray for the people and their hearts. Rest in the promises of Pslam 37 today. Thanks friends!
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