{ welcome fall, officially }

We've been acting like it's fall around here for a couple of weeks already.

But this past week, it officially became fall.

Brian and I went to a conference in Minnesota over the weekend,
and the trees along the way were already starting to change.  

A little preview of things to come here in the upcoming weeks.

 

The conference was one we'd been looking forward to all year:  Desiring God National Conference.

It's John Piper's organization, but he has several speakers join him each year.

This year, we were particularly excited to hear David Platt.

The weekend did not disappoint.  We were challenged, convicted, encouraged, and ultimately changed.

The theme was titled "Finish the Mission" and it was about bringing the gospel to unreached people groups.

It's hard to transition back into "normal" life after thinking on things like taking Christ to unreached tribes in Papua New Guinea or to militant cells in North Africa.
I think that's good, though.
We shouldn't be so disengaged that we can flip a switch and pretend we don't know.
I would encourage you to go and listen to any or all of the messages given this weekend.

 

Hannah stayed behind at home with my mom and dad, who were very gracious to come up for the weekend.  It was nice to have a weekend away, and we enjoyed being in Minneapolis.

Two nights away from my girl is a stretch for me, though,
so when we got home late on Sunday night I was very happy to see her.
~+~+~+~+~

Monday night began a new women's volleyball league for me.

I haven't played too much in the last couple of years, so I'm looking forward to getting back into it.

Hannah came to watch my game and sat with Aunt Kristi.

Afterwards, Kristi asked Hannah if she liked watching her mommy play volleyball.

Hannah said, "Yeah, but she still lost."

Which is true.  We did lose.  But it was still good to be on the court.

 

Today was Hannah's preschool field trip to the local pumpkin patch.

That place keeps getting better every year.

We had a good time, despite the dreary day.

I would love to go back when it's not rainy and 50 degrees.

And thus concludes my randomly constructed blog post.
Sorry for the choppy narrative.  It's getting late.
 Have a great week!

Happy Fall!