Summer of travel!

Take this world from me I don't need it any more, 

I am finally free my heart is spoken for... 

Mercy Me

No sooner had I gotten back from Jamaica then my wife packed up and moved out... well, maybe that's a little too dramatic... she went to see her sister in St. Louis. Lisa and Kyle just had their first baby (Jack) and they are such a cute family. Diane, like any good aunt, just had to go see the new baby. So I was without the bride of my youth for quite some time. But, that is okay, sharing is caring :). 

One of our favorite things to do as a family is go to the zoo. While I was in Jamaica my family went to the zoo and in the 'Lost' shirt back there is Joel Satre who is becoming an honorary member of the Robbins clan. It is wonderful having him around to help out with the kids and other things while Diane or I are off on one of our adventures. He is back from Cameroon and is staying with us while he figures out what the next phase of his life will be. Car, job, apartment and launched. I love it when God puts people together who need each other. I know we have been blessed by him and I'm sure he is by us :). 

Back from paradise and into the reality of being a youth pastor again. Step one, get the rest of the summer plans under way; service projects and outings all crammed into a 3 week period. One of our service projects was volunteering at the North Texas Food Bank; that was great, but it took its toll on my back. Then we went to Hawaiian Falls, which is a water park if you couldn't tell :), then we enjoyed a day at the ball park watching the Rangers make an epic come back against the Brewers, it was also $1 hot dog night ;). I don't enjoy baseball unless it's the playoffs or I'm there, and my wife in true Gebauer fashion brought a buffet fit for 9 innings of bliss. Yes it tastes as incredible as it sounds, each inning a new treat is revealed! Roxanne, you would be proud!

You can see the tarp on the field. The rain soaked us on our way there but it was so much better then having the sun beat down on us! It was a nice cool evening and we enjoyed having Mark with us freshly back and jet lagged from the Solomon Islands. This week we got him registered, phoned (not sure that makes sense... we got him a phone... but now the word phoned has been given meaning, feel free to use it), and shopped up for the start of school next week. 

Speaking of school starting, Creed has already been in school for a week. First grade, wow he is so cute and loves school. He has to read every day for 20 minutes. That is very cute... sometimes. I'm very proud of him. There he is with mom before heading off. Also, David my other brother in law, leaves for College today! Wow!

So the last month or so has been a whirlwind, but it's all been great. Including my friend Brandon visiting for a couple of days... even got an extra day with him due to a flight cancellation. I really had a great time seeing him again, he lives in Minnesota and is one of those cool long distance gaming relationships that I'm sure we all have :). 

Work is going great, I love getting to do so many fun things with the kids. We finished up our summer program and have gotten things all ready for Sky Ranch our big fall kick off weekend. I got the calendar up for all the fall events and a power point done for our parents meeting this coming Monday. Then off to Sky and our schedule get's back to normal? Or something like that. 

I'm looking forward to having my whole family with me at Sky for the first time. I'm doing the speaking this year and the topic is taken from Matthew 5-7. Those chapters seem to flow together like a nice sermon... any body else ever notice that? Any way I'm looking forward to it. 

Pray! 

For my back, this relapse is discouraging. 

For my messages that God uses them to his glory! 

For Sky Ranch to be amazing for the MK's! 

For Joel that he can find a job and car and place to stay. 

For Mark and David as they start school on Monday. 

Praise! 

Mark returned safely! 

Our family is reunited! 

For you who make all these things possible as you so generously offer your prayers and tithes to the Lord on my behalf! You are very dear to me! 

I am so blessed to have the opportunity to love the people in my life and I'm looking forward to a great fall. I hope the Cowboys win lots of games... so glad that football is back! I couldn't help myself I had to mention that in this blog. 

I hope that you all feel the deep love that our precious Lord and Savior has for each of you. 

Surrender and obedience... let's never stop living in his love! 

Blessings, 

Caleb

If you want to support what I do a little or a lot, on a one time basis or a recurring basis, click on the tab "Supporting the Work" at the top of the page and search for Caleb and Diane Robbins. Diane is my beautiful wife and the mother of my three precious children Creed 6, Asher 4, and Liam 1.