What's Up With Us? Soccer Season!

Here it is our 5th season playing soccer as the Penguins! Every year is a little bit different but always a blast. I really enjoy coaching the kids in soccer. Last year Hannah had to move up so she was on an older team called the Pythons. I was very excited to have both Hannah and Jacob back together on the same team. We are a pretty good looking group if you ask me.

We have played 4 games so far and it has been fun. Jacob plays goalie alot and offensive center. Hannah is an awesome defensive player so she plays in the fullback position. I have tried her in the goal a few times and she always gives me mean looks but does pretty good. I am very proud of both of them and know if they keep it up they could both play high school soccer.

Hear are a few action shots that my wonderful wife took during our last game. Also she is the one who took our team picture I posted above. She is sooo talented! We have a game on Saturday so pray for us to do well. We would love another win!

Another O'Donnell Christmas!

We had a great time celebrating Christmas together. We did miss David's family and Ann due to they all live in VA and couldn't make it this year. We spent hours opening presents and eating of course. It is always fun to get everyone together to catch up.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

My New Fire Pit!

Last year I made a Bon Fire location for all the limbs, sticks and junk I collected in our yard. It worked very nicely until Robin wanted to invite the Sunday school class over for a Bon Fire Party. She didn't like the location and said it was hard to sit around because it was on a slope. So reluctantly, I dug a hole in the middle of my wonderful grassy yard to make a fire pit. As most of you know Robin posted the fire pit on her blog and suddenly several of you were inspired to do the same (build a fire pit that is). Well over the year my pit has kind of fell apart and did not stand up to the weather. After visiting Eric and Melissa as well as Josh and Emily, I have found that their inspired fire pits turned out wonderfully. So now I was inspired to redo mine. The pictures above show Hannah, who worked about 5 minutes, and me digging out the new pit. As I was digging, suddenly I found a friend....a very ugly friend! I have no idea how he was living 1 foot underground but there he was in all his ugliness. Anyway I worked on it for around 2 hours and the picture below is the end result. I hope it can stand all the weather and stays strong for many nights of roasting marshmallows and keeping warm by the fire!

Go Seminoles!

Way to Go Seminoles!!!!

I'LL FIX IT....Somehow...Someway...

How many times has something happen to you or a situation arises and your first instinct is to take it on and fix it yourself? I struggle with this all the time. My wife comes to me to tell me she has a problem and what do I want to do... fix it! My kids come to me with a problem and I want to fix it. Why is our first reaction to fix things? I can think back to many situations that I spent countless hours thinking of ways I could fix or take care of a problem. Whether it's a bill that needs to be paid and the money isn't there to pay it or something bad has happened and I don't know what to do. My mind races from idea to idea, plan to plan...How can I solve the problem?

Well this week is no different. Last Thursday morning I went out to start my truck and it's a no go! I get some funky error in my odometer screen reading "No BUS". What's Up With That? I check the internet and find that the computer in my truck is malfunctioning. The internet searches say it's the PCM (main computer). Not only does it run the whole truck but the dealership will have to fix it. How can I fix it? That’s my first thought. What can I do? Why me? What am I going to do? My mind starts to race...my heart starts to sink once I see the estimated cost posted in the internet searches...how will we pay for this....how do I get to work...what am I going to do... This goes on and on and on and on. So here it is 5 days later and I am
still thinking of all the ways I can fix this....I can do this and get some money...I can sell that to get some more.. on and on it goes.

I know your saying "Michael what about God!" Well that’s were it gets difficult. In my head, I know He has a plan for me...He is the one who allowed this to happen to me...there is a reason for all this...I need to trust HIM! At the same time my mind races with all the ways I think I can fix this problem. It is a battle between the flesh of the mind and trusting in God. Do you ever have that problem? Do you battle with trusting Him? All the things I have learned and experienced in my Christian walk tell me everything is going to be fine. He will take care of it all. Do not worry. Trust in Me! I can hear God telling me these things. My head knows this and so does my heart. But I still struggle with wanting to solve it on my own and within my own power. All it takes is to just give it to Him and let Him deal with it! I can sit back and not worry, relax in Him and know all will be fine. I am always reminded of this song we use to sing in youth group "cast all your cares upon Him, lay all of your burdens down at His feet, anytime I don't know what to do, I will cast all my cares upon you!" I am pretty good about not worrying. Most of the time I think I am just blocking it out or I pretend it doesn’t exists. I can go through the day and not worry... sometimes I don't even think about it. I think it is because we don’t want to face the fact that we have a hard time trusting God. I mean fully trusting Him in every situation...100%. I know deep down He will take care of me. How and When? I don't have a clue...but I do know He loves me and cares for me...that is all that matters. I think I will always struggle with the ability to fully trust in Him...there is a piece of me that always wants to do the fixing. Do you struggle with trusting God? What keeps you from trusting in Him?

I put all this out here so you can know.... God cares for you...more then you could ever imagine. In 1 Peter 5:7 it says "cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” Do you cast your cares upon him? Do you lay all your burdens at His feet? It is so easy to want to do it yourself...fix it on your own. Don't fall in to the evil ones trap...Trust in Him...rely on Him...He is the one who can sustain you in the worst of times. He loves you and does care for you!

One of my favorite verses in the bible is Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. How awesome is that! To know that our future is already planned out. Trust and follow Him and you will have Hope! Thank you Lord for planning my Future and giving me Hope!

What's Up With The O'Donnell's!

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What's Up With Mike!
Hello everyone! It has been a while and yet I have nothing really exciting to blog about. I am really tired and got a thousand things running through my head. Can you relate? I have spent most of the past 3 weeks in Microsoft Certification Training classes. Talk about information overload. My head hurts just trying to piece it all together. Basically we have gone through 5 Microsoft books that are 400+ pages each. Have you ever seen the Orlando phone book? That might give you an idea. I never thought I would say this but I am looking forward to going back to work.

At the beginning of the month I hurt my back moving some major office furniture at work. We were rebuilding the Server closet and had to tone out all the network jacks. Basically that means, test about 100 cables running from the server closet to all the offices. Of course, all the network jacks were behind the desks, shelves, or a filing cabinet. So I have spent the past 4 weeks going to and from the doctor for that. I had an MRI done on Tuesday and went to a physical therapist yesterday. So now I will go to therapy 3 times a week for 2 weeks and need to go back to the doctor to get MRI results. No fun!

What's Up With Jacob!
Jacob started fall ball this month too! He has had a couple practices and will have his first game on Saturday. It will be really interesting to see how they do. His team is mostly 8 year old's half his size. There is one other boy his size and age. Because this is not the regular baseball season, there were only enough kids to form 5 teams. Most coming out of the machine pitch level. So basically, they took the older kids and divided them up on all 5 teams. He and Chase will have to lead the team and set the example for the younger ones. Jacob will be the starting pitcher, play first base, and catcher. I think it will be good for him to have this time to practice his pitching and behind the plate catching skills. Coming up next spring he will be moving up to the majors and will be playing with the big boys again!

What's Up With Hannah!
Hannah is busy too with dancing, band, and youth group. She has been dancing for a couple years now and is really good at it. I enjoy watching her and the other girls perform. She plays the clarinet in the band. Her school had a football game last week that she had to attend. So, Jacob and I put on our band shirts and went to the game too! It was like going to a Seminole game. Players on the field, cheerleaders cheering, and the band in the stands playing their hearts out. Sadly the Griffin Tigers lost but I did enjoy hearing the band play. I am very proud of Hannah and all the hard work she puts into practicing. I know most of you read on Robin’s blog about Hannah’s prayer for us to get a van before youth group started up. Well we did and Hannah has been using it to full advantage. On that first youth meeting she invited 3 girls to go with her. I am so glad that we were able to accommodate everyone so she had that opportunity. I remember when I was in youth group I would drive around town in our huge suburban and pick up friend from all over to bring them to youth group. Anyway since that first night, 2 of Hannah’s friend have gone back every Sunday. How cool is that! God has opened up a door to allow my daughter to have an avenue to share Jesus with her friends. It can't get any better then that!

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What's Up With Robin!

Robin started working in the office 3 days a week. She has been working hard too. I am not sure what this will change in our day to day routine but we will see. To find out more on her you can check her blog and find out!

Wow! 13 Years!

Happy Anniversary!

Robin,

Thank you for the best 13 years of my life.

I love you! I love you! I love you!

Always and Forever,

Michael