Eden, the Crush and MEPS

This week started off last Sunday with Father's Day. The whole family came over to our house for a cookout. Lots of fun honoring all the Dads among us. Beginning on Monday, the three girls spent the week at Camp Eden, the church camp our church went to this summer. They had a great time and were eager to share with me what they had learned from God's Word during the week of hearing good preaching and making new friends. From all the stories swirling in the car on the way down the mountain, they had a blast! That means Noel and Monk stayed home with me all week. I surprised Monk with a trip to watch the Colorado Crush play the Chicago Rush at an Arena Football Game. Pretty impressive introduction; too bad the Crush played less than impressive. I also endured the first phase of my MEPS physical in the process of becoming a Chaplain in the Colorado Air National Guard. I passed most of the tests but have to go back for a final "weigh in" on July 23rd as well as some more blood work. When you enter the military after the age of 40, it is considerably more difficult to get in. And while there is a shortage on Chaplains, they don't seem to be too interested in "bending" the rules in my situation. So...we shall see whether or not it eventually happens. God knows!

Hope you all had a great week. Don't forget to look at the pictures at the bottom of the age from last week's activities.

For Christ's sake,

MJD,Sr.

Dennae goes down, Jami stays down and Mom and Dad head back down

This week was a general "family week" for us in many ways. It started off with a victorious time of celebration: Dennae was baptized as a believer along with Amy Schrecengost, one of the youth sponsors whom Dennae has grown to love very much. That was a blessing! On Monday, Mom and Dad Dickson headed back down South for home in South Carolina. It is always great to have them visit. Each week, I take one of the 4 children on a "Dad Date"; this week it was Jami's turn. She has longed to learn how to SCUBA dive for quite some time; at this point she wants to major in Marine Biology when she goes to college (that's good since there aren't a ton of places to SCUBA in Colorado!). So we found an introductory course to SCUBA at a local dive shop, and she had an absolute blast. The teacher was very impressed with her water skills; maybe this is in her future? We had a few opportunities to have the cousins over; they all get along really well.

All in all, it was a good week of growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ as a family. Hope you had a great week too for Jesus' sake! Dont' forget to check out the pictures at the bottom of the blog.

MJD,Sr.

A visit from the In-Laws

This past week, Noel's parents came into town from South Carolina for a week long visit. For Noel, that meant lots of time shopping, buying and selling antiques. She and her Mom have been in the antique business for two decades now and enjoy doing that very much. For me, that means a couple of games of golf with Dad DeVries and Dad Dickson. The two Dads are "golfaholics" and go each weekday. I get to get away a couple of times during the week. We actually got to take Michael one day; he did pretty good. Hitting the ball straight and fairly far by the end of the round.

The kids finished their school year, all of them ending on a fairly strong note. While there is always room for improvement, we are very thankful for their growth and for the privilege of being parents of what we believe to be the "best kids in the world" (we would hope that all parents would like to argue with us on that one!). Next year, Dennae will be a Sophomore, Jami a Freshman, Ivy in 7th and Michael in 5th grade. They are growing up fast. The three girls went to the Denver Zoo for a youth activity for our church's teens as well.

This past week, Noel passed her tests to become a licensed real estate agent in the state of Colorado. Congrats!! She passed it on her first attempt; that doesn't happen too often evidently. Ivy tried out and made the "Premier" soccer team again for the Colorado Youth Soccer Association team in our area. And Jami graduated from 8th grade! Yeehaaw!

Another highlight is that Mikah Mae Sickau was born to Mark and Steph (DeVries) Sickau this past week. She is named after Mike and Matt, her two older brothers. We are honored and trust that our namesake will turn out OK in spite of her two Uncles!!!

Hope you had a great week for Christ's sake,

MJD,Sr.

A week of memory and preparation

This week started off with a great series of meetings during the church services of Northern Ridge Baptist Church. Sunday morning's text was Galatians 2:20 - "I am crucified with Christ..." It was a blessing to be in God's house! It was a blessing to be with God's people on Monday, Memorial Day. My Mom and Dad hosted a Memorial Day brunch for our church family. You can see pictures of Dongjoon, Minsook and Olivia as well as some members of the Broadworth family in the pictures below. Memorial Day is a special day for me, Mike, because my Grandpa Norden was a veteran of WWII. I have his army jacket framed and hanging in my study at home. I also received good news about my application to become a chaplain with the Colorado Air National Guard. I will be going down to MEPS in a couple of weeks for a physical to see if my 42-year old body will stand up to the rigors of the military reserves. Please pray for that appointment.

This week, Ivy's soccer team played a "playoff game" to advance to next year's "competitive" level of competition. They won the game, 2-1. Ivy scored the game winning goal; she recieved a beautiful cross from a teammate and slid to kick the ball in at the opposite post. It was really exciting! She is in tryouts now for next year's team. Michael also had tryouts for his little league baseball. Michael is a very big 10-year old. His fielding and throwing skills are average, but he can absolutely crush the ball. He hit the ball at leats twice as long as the longest hit by any other boy trying out. It will be fun to watch him play this summer.

Noel has spent the last several weeks holed up and studying to become a licensed real estate agent. She passed all the preliminary tests and is now, as I write, down in Denver taking the state exam. We all hope she passes so we can get our Wife/Mom back. She is excited about a new career as a real estate agent; we are excited for her!

Trust you have had a great week for Christ's sake,

MJD,Sr.