This year has brought challenges of all sorts and finding ways to "recharge" and really looking at self care has been something that I've needed. Even though it's been a while, blogging is very much "self care" for me. I've always seen blogging as an outlet and my own little space to make my own and make my happy place. So here I am, working on that (imperfectly as it may be) and I am just delighted to be back in this space again. 

As we have continued to navigate this crazy year as a family, the time has continued to pass, which means babies have continued to grow, adventures continue to be had and the Lord continues to lead us towards new things.

Thankfully, as a family we have continued to stay in good health and no one in our family has gotten the Corona Virus. Even as we have phased back into our public activities, I am so thankful that we have stayed well so far. 

At the beginning of September, the kids started back to school remotely. We got devices from the kids schools and all of their schoolwork has been completed online. I have been really impressed with how the schools and teachers have handled it, all things considered. But if I'm being honest I had such mixed feelings about the whole concept. I wanted to keep my kids safe and help protect our teachers and admins, but we I also know the importance of the classroom setting and face-to-face teaching. I never dreamed Archer would start Kindergarten online. And all of my kids act crazy after being in front of a screen all day. Also? It's just hard managing four different school grades and keep them on task. Regardless, I have tried really hard to keep our attitudes positive and encouraging, know we havn't had a choice and that a good attitude will help go farther than a bad attitude well. 

That being said, I am SO proud of my kids and how well they have done. We are so excited that our district has made the decision to start back with an in-person option in the next weeks. Archer will start back this next week, and the other 3 will the week after that. 

Laura Kate is in 7th grade this year. Yeah, 7th grade. We are right dab smack in the middle of middle school and it is every bit as terrible and awkward and hard and wonderful (?) as "they" said it would be. Jesus take the wheel. Parenting pre-teen Laura Kate involves so much mental fortitude and more PRAYER than I ever imagined. She LOVES listening to music, talking to her friends, writing stories, reading, and more reading. 

Shepherd is in 4th grade and he is very much loving anything that has to do with football, sports and of course his daddy. He is working really hard at school and doing a good job of staying on task (for the most part!) Sometimes he tries to rush through his work so he can try and play video games or watch Pokemon but, he continues to work hard.

Fischer is in 3rd grade this year, and this sweet boy is really giving it his all in school. It's really important to him to doing things the right way and I've really seen a new sense of responsibility in him. That being said he can be so sensitive when he misses a question or a problem and it really bothers him when he is not perfect. He is tender to the people around him and I love how he is so gracious with almost everything he does. 

And then our little Archer is loving Kindergarten, in spite of it being online. Some if it is fairly boring for him, but he keeps at it and loves his teacher! Archer is all about Daddy and he loves that he gets to go to Kids Worship with the bros now at church. He is quite the social butterfly and has many friends. Like his older brothers, he has fallen head into the Pokemon world and has his own notebook to trade cards and "battle". 

Another big change we have seen this year in our family, is that Kyle has started coaching football at one of the local high schools in town. Specifically, he is coaching inside linebackers. So Friday nights, you can find the Wileys at the football field watching high school football!!

In the world of children's ministry, we have been slowly working our way back to some semblance of normal. We re-gathered for in-person church at the beginning of August, and quickly followed by opening Worship Care ministries and Kids Worship. In September we started back our Wednesday mid-week services and then in another week, we plan to re-open our LIFEgroups completely. While this has been the most challenging season I've ever walked through in ministry, I'm constantly reminded that the Lord has not abandoned us, and that our hope is safe in Him. Even in the challenging days, I love my job and am just SO GLAD that this is where the Lord has me. 

In short, though we have had to me more flexible than ever before, we are doing well in the midst of the 2020 craziness. I'm thankful for how the Lord sustains us and leads us and provides for us.