Up until this past week, most of my work days have hovered around 12-14 hours. That's WONDERFUL news for the Team Rojas bank account, but not as good of news for the Team Rojas Time Spent account. We did what we could to find some time together though, which was a lot of fun!
Two weekends ago, we spent the weekend serving at Camp Victory for the Sr. high/college weekend. I've always loved being a part of camp and thought that nothing could've made that experience better, but, brace yourselves because this doesn't happen much, I was wrong! Serving at CV with my wife made the time so much better!
If you don't know Jess, her idea of a great weekend of camping involves a bed and breakfast, but she did amazing! I'm pretty sure the biggest blessing of the weekend was watching her bless much of the staff by taking over jobs that they were assigned so that they could get a little and much needed break. I certainly married up!
After another full week of helping clients and coaching the Eagles, I got to attend the North Central Regional National Strength and Conditioning Association clinic. WOW! It was a blast! Maybe I'm a geek, but going over the physics of impulse and strain during plymetrics is a lot of fun to me! For eight hours on Friday, I was subjected to some of the top minds in strength conditioning, sports nutrition, and athlete development! The information and contacts that I received are invaluable, and I was there for free! The following Saturday was a fun filled four hours of implementing all we learned the day before. This means I got to enjoy four hours of training like an athlete again! Now, if you know me, you know that I can be a little sarcastic at times, but this is not one of those times. I really enjoyed it! It brought back a lot of memories from my competing days and also showed me that I'm still pretty athletic, which helps me feel not as old!
After running and jumping and lifting for four hours, you'd think it was time for a break, but you'd be wrong! Team Rojas loaded up Mel (our Chili Pepper Red Saturn Vue that we bought because it's Chili Pepper Red) and headed back to Rochester to take advantage of an opportunity to preach at Journey Church for our good friend and pre-marriage counselor, Rich.
Journey Church has certainly come a long way over the past couple of years! They now have their own building and two services. Not too bad for a small church plant that started in a movie theater and is shooting for a demographic that in the typically upper middle class Rochester is small. It's also a miracle that Journey is funded so well by a congregation of young, new believers, former addicts, and the previously turned off to church of any kind.
After church, we had the opportunity to catch up with Julian. Julian was one of the ushers in our wedding and a former camper, athlete and youth group kid of mine. It was a HUGE blessing to see how much he has grown up over his freshman year of college! Jess and I are very proud of him and are looking forward to more chances to spend time with him over the school year.
This past week, Jess has had a few late nights hangin' with the girls. I'm all for this! I'm glad that she gets time to spend with her friends on a regular basis as this was a difficult thing for us in North Dakota. But, it also made it difficult for us to spend time together this past week. Thankfully, we have a standing rule for Sunday as Date Day! Today, Team Rojas is having a low key, restful day enjoying some iced coffee and vanilla lattes (decaf. of course!)! We're also very much looking forward to church tonight! The first time in a few weeks where we get to sit back and learn and worship and have our part of the ministry be helping stack chairs at the end rather than running the entire program or even speaking.
All in all, a great past month! I am eternally grateful that my job helps people live healthier, happier and longer lives! I'm always blessed with the "thank you"s I receive when a client realizes the changes they've made in their lives go way beyond outward appearance.
The fact that my job allows me a schedule in which I have the opportunity to coach is not lost on me either. Seeing the caliber of young men that are going to be sent into the world from New Life Academy and St. Croix Prep gives me hope for the future of our world.
So, over the past month, Team Rojas has put in long hours apart from each other. But, when we thing about what those hours have gone to, Jess blessing and being blessed by two and three year olds and her friends and me blessing and being blessed by the success of clients and athletes, we see the benefit. It also makes Date Day all the better!
