the hope of heaven

it's been a hard week. a very hard week here at the mccord house.

one of justin's dear friends, bobby rhine, passed away suddenly of a heart attack on monday.

the call justin received monday night from bobby's wife has rocked our world.

you see, bobby was and still is the face and voice of fc dallas.

he was justin's running buddy and lunch date most days.

and he is the reason that soccer is more than just a means of a paycheck to us - he made the sport real to our family.

i am not going to lie - my heart is still aching 5 days later.

it aches for bevan, his wife, and their 2 little boys.

it aches for my husband who has to continue going to work each day and pass by bobby's desk.

my heart - my fleshly heart - aches.

but the thing that keeps me going - keeps this fleshly heart of mine ok - is the fact that bobby is heaven with jesus. bobby knew jesus as his savior and was therefore greeted by jesus on monday afternoon. bobby is getting to worship at the feet of jesus and run and play soccer without any heart issues. he is free.

death is not easy. ever.

but jesus's gift of eternal life makes it easier.

there is a real hope in heaven.

and jesus is there waiting for us.

so, please join me in praying for bevan, jake, miller, and the rest of bobby's family as they begin their new normal.

but please also join me in hoping for the day when we get to see jesus face to face.

and get to play soccer with bobby again.

¹ “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.”⁵ Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:1-6)

never still.

these 2 little ones are never still. it's either crawling all over the place and getting anything/everything on the floor or running around like a mad man. i am however thankful for their sweet spirits and their high energy level. sometimes i just wish i could have some of that energy.

a little baylor spirit

after spending a week at the beach next to a serious LSU fan, Lyle Style, and his LSU flag, i convinced justin that we needed our very own baylor flag. my sweet husband ordered the flag and had it shipped to our house as a football kickoff surprise. we hung our flag up on friday night and then proceeded to watch our baylor bears beat the tcu horned frogs!!

a special dessert

working outside.

just the 4 of us.

just the 4 of us + a surprise get-away planned by daddy + the gaylord texan = the best 24 hours in a long time.

justin planned a little get away for our little family for this weekend. and it was the most perfect surprise. we headed to grapevine for a night away with some playtime at the new resort water park. pierce and stella loved the water and loved the trolley ride to get there. we enjoyed a relaxing (sitting on couches - perfect for pierce) dinner and some quality family time in the hotel room. thank you justin for planning a little something for us. it was much needed and very much appreciated! i love you.

these next few pics show pierce's personality perfectly. we were trying to get a pic of him and stella and he was doing all sorts of silly things....

we had to make a quick trip to the first aid because pierce stepped on a bee and the stinger got stuck in his foot.

little miss stella got a quick bath while the rest of us just put on dry clothes before we headed out to explore the hotel and get some dinner.

what a fun fun fun night. and we walked out of the hotel this morning to much cooler temps. welcome fall!! we are so ready to see/feel you!