SNOW In OcTober?!

Yes our first snow started Monday, October 29th and continued off and on through yesterday!!!  It is definitely my FIRST October snow.  Is this a sign for a really rough winter?  I am thinking it could be!  All I know is everyone is giddy around here and the snow boots are already out. 

Fall, did you depart from us already?  We shall see!

Oh & Happy Halloween & Happy Birthday to my sweet cousin Abigail!

A WeeKeNd at HOME!

Last weekend was an incredible weekend of NO traveling and being at home!  We were so thankful to be home to enjoy probably one of the last, if not the last peak weekend of fall in the mountains.

The weekend started with a date night with my husband! 



we LOVE Stecoah Diner - less than a mile from our house!



ESTATIC to have a Friday night at home together!

Can you feel the excitement?!?!  It had been a while since we jumped in a picture!  it brought back a LOT of laughs!

Saturday was absolutely gorgeous and we had our very own Harvest Festival in Stecoah which was literally walking distance from our house.  I had no idea what to expect but let me be the one to tell you - it was like a mini fair right next to home.  Lots of home-made crafts, singing, dancing, clogging, candy apples, funnel cakes, corn on the cob, apple cider, food, food & more food! 

The festival started with an 8am 5k that Rance and a few of his cross country runners ran in which was sponsored by the Stecoah Harvest Festival. 



Lil Frank won the 5k!



Coach in 2nd!

Shawnda is a beast!

Dad Frank blew me away at his race time!

Harvest Festival here we come!

Sweet Rachel selling her hand-made scarves and other fun items.  She is so talented!

Corn Mill in the making!!!

 

Molasses in the making!  Where are grandma's biscuits?!

Molasses made straight out of Stecoah, NC ;)

Yes we purchased corn mill & molasses!

Enjoying the best candy apple I have ever eat!

Saturday evening we had a couple of FAVORITE visitors drive in!  My mom and Rita! :)  We talked for hours on Saturday night and Sunday after church we enjoyed some nice time OUTSIDE adoring Daddy & His creation!  We visited Fontana Dam and just soaked in a special afternoon of bonding! 



FaMiLy




*Best Friends*



Majestic

 

No words can describe!

My mommy & I (with sunglasses)!

My mommy & I (without sunglasses)! HA!

Me and Boo Bear!

Frank, Charlena & the kids were there taking family pictures so I snapped one of Frank, Cody & Rachel!

Best for last :) 
We missed doing this!  That's 2 jumping pics in 1 weekend!

Sunday evening Rance was ordained as a deacon at our church along with another awesome man of God named Shaun.  It was a super special time and I am so thankful to serve alongside and be the help meet to Rance Haven Shuler :)


Rance & Shaun



Deacons at First Baptist

Rance & his daddy!

Thankful!

Rance & Aunt Shirley

Rance, Mammaw & I!

What a blessing of a weekend spent at home!

A day marked down in history...

Rance and I have been to a lot of cross country races since we have been married!  Last week marks one that I will never forget.  It was the high school conference race held in Cherokee, NC.  Skipping right along to the high school girls race, I am going to give you a play by play! 

Shawnda Martin is a freshman and a super special teenage girl.  She is an incredible runner but the fun part has been watching her improve SO much since I've known her and it's due to the fact that she is SO disciplined in her workouts, the way she eats, the time she sleeps, and simply being coachable!  More than that, I love to hear and see her change spiritually.   

This cross country season, Shawnda has been the #1 runner in the conference.  As the race began last Wednesday, Shawnda was in the lead with Hayesville runner closely following behind her (which is usually the case).  After the first mile, I was waiting patiently to see Shawnda coming around the corner and suddenly she took a wrong turn on the course right before my eyes.  What was astonishing is - so many people were watching and literally gasped for breath but noone said anything except me being the CRAZY coaches wife.  I yelled at the top of my lungs "SHAWNDA TURN AROUND."  I had 100 thoughts going through my head at the same time but knowing if I didn't scream, she had no idea she had cut a corner off the course and that she would finish the race disqualified.  Katie on the other hand (the girl following closely behind her) went the correct way.  Shawnda heard me and turned around to see me jumping and screaming for her to turn around and go back.  By this point you could see the panic upon her face because she had no idea what she had done.  It was an easy mistake.  She runs back down and takes the correct turn and she is obviously 15 seconds or so behind the Katie at this point. 

I began to pray.  Not for Shawnda to win - that's not how I choose to pray.  How will she handle this?  Will she let one wrong turn defeat her?  Will she allow a mistake to overcome her and just give up?  Will she tell herself there is NO WAY she can win now because she messed up?  Lord, help her to focus on YOU.  Lord, help her to see she runs for an AUDIENCE OF ONE!  Lord, please protect her thoughts in this moment.  Lord, help her to be an OVERCOMER and not just give up because she made a mistake!  Lord, help her to perfect her weakness!  I know YOUR power is made perfect in our weaknesses. 

I called Rance who was on the other side of the course to let him know what happened.  You see, you have to know Shawnda but let's just say this was a time she could overcome her weakness in racing.  Did God ordain Shawnda to make a wrong turn?  ABSOLUTELY.  We are down to the last mile and Shawnda is around 7 seconds behind Katie at this point.  Both girls are killing it. 

It came down to the last stretch which is literally the length of a football field.  My heart was beating out of my chest.  I want more than anything for this to be a learning moment for Shawnda spiritually.  Every spectator at that race was zoned in to what was taking place.  All of a sudden, it was as if a light switch turned on in Shawnda.  Holy Spirit are you speaking?!?  Did she decide a wrong turn would not overcome her?  I had no idea what was going on in Shawnda's head & heart but I watched her increase her speed and give it her all like NEVER before and in the last SECOND before the finish line she passed Katie and won the conference title!

Without going into too much detail, this was a life changing race for Shawnda and a race I will never forget.  It wasn't about her winning the race but how often do we allow things to control our mind and thoughts and we end up defeating ourselves instead of being an overcomer when things do not go as we planned?!  I love what the Lord does behind the scenes to perfect our weaknesses.  

At the start of the race!
Shawnda in the lead with Katie following right behind her.

Victory picture after the race!





Rance and I re-acting the excitement!

yea, we are crazy I know!

Do you/I choose to live a defeated life (being controlled by everything on the outside) or do you/I live life as an overcomer for the Lord Jesus (being completely controlled by Him)?!   

Thank you Lord that Shawnda made a wrong turn!

Race Adventures Continued...

Following up on the last blog, I am sharing just a few snapshots from the XC Weekend trip to the BIG high school pre-state race which our middle schoolers raced in & a crazy, fun Saturday evening at Scarowinds!





Eastern bound on the good ole activity bus!



lots of pit stops to eat!  we had 27 kids to feed :)

Suuuubway!

REST AREA bathroom break!

Boys will be boys!

Middle schoolers first time practicing on the STATE course they will race on in high school!  Only this time, the Lord allowed them to run against high schoolers instead
(see previous post)

Here we go!

I love to watch him coach!
Demonstrating correct arm movement...

Now legs...

Friday night dinner & mall trip!

Jessie is known for hopping in pictures and who wouldn't love that sweet face?!

Maybe one day I'll get use to these type of hats?  Yikes!
I love you lil Frank! :)

The guys!

Yep, Freeeeeeeeezing Saturday morning of race!

Assisting Irvin with his running chip!

The start of the boys race!

Warming up together!

Love coaching moments!

Shawnda's race is about to begin...

It all starts with prayer!  We strive to live for an AUDIENCE OF ONE!

I feel like a proud parent here!

Team bible study on Hebrews 12!

It's almost race time for these precious ones!

I still cannot believe these middle school girls ran against the high school girls!  Noone even knew!

Yes, I am a PROUD wife of Coach Shuler!

One last talk before we headed into SCAROWINDS. 
Only the Lord knows the amount of times I counted kids in a 6 hour period.

A TON OF FUN & BONDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  One last picture before our 12:30am ride on the Intimidator!

What an incredible weekend thanks to the Lord for working out every single detail for GOOD!  After driving the bus through the night on Saturday night - we arrived back to Robbinsville around 7am - slightly exhausted ;)