Lots going on these days. I’ve been silent on radamdavidson.com. I’ve been silent on RadCast. Nary a day goes by where I neglect to put something on Insta (gram). I’m one of over one billion active TikTok users AND I still have MySpace for some reason.

I mentioned to Brittany that I regretted not writing more in the past few months. Writing helps me process and your reading keeps me engaged because I try to encourage people to trust Jesus while I tell the true story of His ongoing faithfulness. Of course, Britt pointed out that we can’t put everything on social media, especially things related to our kids. I can’t tiptoe around the facts and say “A person I know who happens to live in our basement and gets up after midnight to eat all the Doritos was recently adopted” without the risk of someone at church asking our sons which one of them loves Doritos the most.

I can tell you that Lexi is doing really well and will be 20 this summer, and I can’t help but wonder if she’ll start to go grey as her Grandma did around age 25 (I did, too).

I can tell you that Mac and Carter are on their way to study at Indiana Wesleyan University this Fall. Will they room together? Nobody’s sure. What is sure is that the campus tour we took was my first glimpse of IWU and I’m very glad they’ll be there.

I can tell you that Zac plays drums and is gigging with a local brass band that plays Steely Dan, Chicago, and the Beach Boys. This does his old soul good, which combines nicely with the youth of fast arms and feet to cover complex beats.

I can tell you that Cam discovered my old He Man and the Masters of the Universe toys, which prompted me to stream an episode and watch it with him while we battle the action figures in front of Castle Grayskull.

As for Brittany, I couldn’t have a better teammate for this journey. She’s the mama bear with an ingenious plan to get every kid whatever they require to be safe, healthy, set up for the future, and generally happy. I say generally happy because nobody really wants to do chores or homework, yet we hold the standard. They’ll appreciate it more when they’re older. She’s the logistics queen, the brains behind the operation, and my absolute favorite. Her ability to tackle seemingly impossible tasks and make it happen amazes me. It scares me a little, too. Fierce and beautiful, this one.

Of course, now that things have slowed down (from 10 to 9.3), Brittany is thinking of going back to work this fall. She spent many years in the academic counseling world. When her husband suddenly passed, that stopped. Besides flipping a few houses, she’s been doing the full time and keenly vital work of running our home, which coincidentally also requires a Master’s degree in counseling.

We’re on our way to our two year anniversary. At our current rate of family activity, we cram a week into a day, a month into a week. and a year into a month. Does it feel like 24 years? No. It feels like 24 days. Ours has been a mysterious elasticity of time, unnoticed because of the adventure, the tyranny of the urgent, and the great times we have along the way. They say time flies when you’re having fun.

Time has flown.

I love Jesus and I love my family, the family he’s given me. I’m grateful to continue on in Pastoral Ministry and be in process of transferring my ordination from the Free Methodist to the Wesleyan Church, which is where I find my current vocation. The difference between the two is far more subtle than the growing difference between Free Methodist and United Methodist.

We took our boys to Europe, fulfilling a promise Shawn and Brittany made to Carter that, upon his graduation, he could go wherever he wanted to go in the entire world. Sadly, Shawn passed before Carter started High School. Brittany kept the promise, and, being a blended family, we expanded it to Mac and ended up taking the whole crew. No, our homebody Lexi didn’t go. She doesn’t even like going to Meijer.

We saw London. We saw France. We saw… vivid paintings at the Louvre.

Best of all, we spent two weeks together unintentionally reenacting scenes from the movie National Lampoon’s European Vacation. It was a delight and, I’m sure, entertaining for some.

Anyway, we almost had an international incident when a border agent asked Cam what is full name is. Like clockwork, young Cam told them his old name, pre-adoption. This got their attention because his birth certificate (and his passport, mind you) are different now that I’ve adopted him. So Brittany had to go into the whole story, which prompted Cam to eventually remember his new name. Lots of questions, an extra guard or two, but it worked out, which means I’m writing this from my home rather than an undisclosed box somewhere in the European Union.

I’m thankful and blessed indeed. Hear me when I say this: things can be both good and bad at the same time. A day can have victories and defeats. You will take two steps forward and one or two or more back. Don’t let a bad day, a tough season, a defeat, cause you to wonder where God is or if He still loves you. He does. More than that, He is able and will get it done without any help from you. Worry not, grow and enjoy the peace that passes understanding. If you’re praying “grow my faith!” and also groaning because it’s hard to trust God, guess what:

He’s answering your prayer.