Goose Creek

The Hubs and I recently returned from a trip to Goose Creek.  We went to visit the Emory family with five college students, Team Reams, and their seven month old, Baby E, in tow.  15 people sleeping under one roof, and it was awesome!

We had so much fun I don't even know where to start.  How about the beginning?  We arrived on Saturday evening to a wonderful meal cooked by the amazing Brett.  In fact, amazing might be an understatement.  Yall, she cooked all our meals for the whole week.  I know I said there were 15 people sleeping in the house, but very rarely were we the only ones eating in the house.  Brett rocked all the meals and even pre-made food for when she was going to be gone on vacation at the end of the week.  I think it's safe to say we were spoiled.  (Somehow I didn't manage to get any pictures of her.)

Sunday morning we rearranged the house and had church.  The Emorys have started Hub Church right in their home and have a wonderful group of people meeting in their home.  They were ordaining their first elder that morning, so it was special to be with them and get to pray over he and his wife.  We're continuing to pray for you, Marcus and Allisha!  We were also able to hear the heart behind Hub Church and the thing that continues to stick with me the most is this: standard of living is not equal to quality of living.  This is something we know and believe, but it's great to have a concise way to say it and help keep us in check.

We spent our afternoon at the beach, which I was admittedly skeptical about, but ended up loving every minute of it.  This will be hard for some of you to believe, but the weather was so nice I had goosebumps... on the last day of June.  Who knew?!  (Sadly, I also have no pictures of the beach because I left my camera in the car.)

Monday we cleaned up a park and then passed out flyers in the neighborhood that evening to let them know about a park party the next afternoon.  It was really rainy the whole time we were there, but on this particular day, the radar showed storms all around us that would divide as they came to Goose Creek and reconvene on the other side.  Our God is big.  Christin did a wonderful job setting up the project and is probably one of the hardest workers I've ever had the pleasure of sweating next to.

Pulling weeds

Power washing... who needs a ladder?

Painting

What's a park party without snow cones and cotton candy?

And a bounce house, of course!

Tuesday morning, most of the team worked at a home to remove the back porch to make room for a new one and got completely drenched in the process.  I told you it rained a lot.

We played lots and lots of games.  Nothing like some good, friendly competition to bring out the fun in the Emory house.  I absolutely loved so much quality time with so many people!

We also had group devotions every night.  Different people lead us each day and it was a great time to reflect on how the Lord is moving among His people.  One night in particular, Tim shared about our obedience to the Lord through foster care and all the unknowns that go along with it.  After group time was over, one of the Hub Church men sat with us and told us of his family's journey through foster care and adoption.  Then he offered Tim his number so they can stay connected and encouraged.  We went to bed that night with very full hearts!  We had been praying for a man that Tim could turn to in hard times.  Jason, you had been prayed for and we are so thankful for you!

Wednesday, after making a stop by the local food pantry and possible future home of Hub Church, we got to go see Charleston.  So much history!  It was lots of fun riding around town and experiencing a new place.  And, of course, we got rained on again... the adventures just kept coming.

Anyone know this reenactment?

I want a porch like that.

Did I mention it rained?

Thursday was the Forth of July and we had lots of time to relax and play.  The boys bought (too many) fireworks because there are no laws about where to shoot them off in Goose Creek.  Needless to say, I was slightly on edge that night, but everyone made it through... eyebrows and all!  It was a really fun night with lots of games, neighbors, food, and laughter.

There were so many small, sweet things that happened throughout the week.  It was such a joy to be with the Emorys again.  We have missed them!  It was good to just sit and catch up.  They are such a special family.  They love each other well and their home is filled with so much happiness and laughter.  I've never been in a more hospitable house.  One of our students observed that they have really great attitudes and don't let much get to them.  Like the way that Sid cracked jokes as he cleaned up the GALLON of blue paint that spilled in his trunk, or the way Stacy couldn't talk because she was laughing so hard after getting soaked by the rain, not to mention how eager Wes, Will, and Bonnie were to share their home (and even give up a bed!) with us.  Bon Bon and I even got to sneak off for a fro yo date.  :)  The Emorys live out their love for God and love for others like we have been learning about at our church.  What a great example of Matthew 22:37-39 they are!  I know it wasn't really a vacation, but this is the most time The Hubs and I have gotten to spend together in a while and we loved it.  Two years and counting!  It was wonderful, as well, to hear the students talk about what they took away from our week in Goose Creek.  I'm so thankful they were obedient in the call to go and that they were listening while they were there. 

Speaking of two years, that's the span of time between the last two pictures I have with Bonnie.  Check this out:

Two years ago

Two days ago

We returned home on Friday and after all the students were picked up from the church we headed home.  As we drove I said, "Oh no!  We never made it to Mepkin Abbey!"  We grinned at each other and said together, "Guess we're just going to have to go back."

Glad you were curious enough to read.

Power Hour

This morning I woke up very early.  So early that my mascara ended up in with the toothbrushes.  I very rarely get up this early, but it's is a weekly routine for The Hubs.  Every Friday morning he attends Power Hour- a men's Bible study at our church.  6:30am.  A couple of weeks ago he told me that a series of study was coming up that wives were invited to attend.  When I went with him this morning two things happened.

First, I showed love to my husband.  I didn't realize how much my early rising demonstrated love to him until we arrived at the church.  I was freaking out a little because I didn't want to be the only wife there.  Tim simply said, "I know I love you and you love me a lot because it didn't take any effort for me to convince you to come with me."  A simple statement that speaks volumes to me.

Second, I saw the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in a church building.  And that's saying a lot because I was practically raised in a church building.  These faithful men, many of whom are retirees, sang hymns together, listened to a lesson, and then it happened.  They closed in prayer.  They knelt down right in front of their chairs all across that room and prayed.  First they took turns giving thanks to God, then they entered into a time of petitions to God.  I was overwhelmed by hearing the voices of these men and knowing that there, on their knees, they were recognizing where true power comes from.  They were so contradictory to the world and completely beautiful.

Some Day

Let's face it.  I have not really been consistent in writing on the blog.  I said in my first post that I wanted to write a married people blog.  I have done a poor job of that.  All of our house repairs and escapades seem to have taken over everything.  I didn't intend for this blog to only be about the house, so I plan to try to be better at sharing more of us.

As such, I want to tell a little about how I'm spending my time now.  In my second post I gave some background about who we are and what we do.  I said I would be filling you in on what I'm doing with my time now that I quit my job.  Better late than never, right?

When I quit my job, I figured I would take the summer off and figure out how I would spend my time in the fall.  This was not to be so.  The Lord had plans for me that I knew little of.  One of those plans was for me to begin leading worship for a women's Bible study on Thursday mornings.  The cool part about this is that I had actually told The Hubs I wanted to get better at guitar so maybe I could lead worship "some day."  My some day came much sooner than I thought!  So, armed with plenty of knowledge and little skill, I began leading these precious women every week.  It has been amazing!  Truly one of the highlights of my week.

The reason I tell you this today is because of a text I received yesterday.  One of the ladies who teaches the Bible study asked for a specific song... the same song I had heard the night before and wanted to sing on Thursday.  I can just hear BB say, "Isn't that just like our God?!"

Love That New Olreans

We spent July 29th-August 4th in New Orleans with a few of our college students.  At the beginning of the year, we decided as college leadership, that it would be important for us to go on a mission trip.  But where to?  After some conversations with ministers at our church, we decided to go to New Orleans because of prior relationships that were established.  It was our first time to be on the planning end of a trip and I was more than nervous on a few occasions- making sure paper work was done on time, gathering student money, planning when to go where in the city, etc.  It was a learning experience!

There were 10 of us all together... 4 leaders and 6 students.  We drove one 12 passenger van and our little Corolla.  We stayed at Annunciation Missions which is a church that has several rooms full of bunk beds and dorm style bath on the hall.  They fed us breakfast and dinner and sack lunches that we took with us to our work site.  James and Jean are the staff members there who pretty much keep the place running.  They were so welcoming and did anything they could to make us feel at home.  James is originally from the Lower 9th Ward where the levy broke during hurricane Katrina.  He took us to the neighborhood and showed us what remains.  There are a few houses rebuilt, but mostly lots that have seven years of overgrowth on them.  The levy has been rebuilt and there are even houses just across the street from it again.  We were so thankful to James for letting us hear his story and ask questions about a very traumatic time.

We worked with a church called Vintage Church.  They have a couple of campuses in the New Orleans area, and the one we helped at was in an area called Metairie.  We quickly learned that the people of New Orleans stick pretty close to their neighborhoods.  So even though the church got it's start uptown, the people of Metairie weren't interested in going too far from home and decided to join with a church in the area that was dying out.  They have been remodeling and working to build the church for about a year.  Now that they have a good body established, they are starting to reach out and invite the community to come visit.  Our work with them was two-fold.  First, we went into the community to spread the word.  We went to a park to pass out water bottles with the church label on them.  Our kids were nervous to start conversations in this way, but they were champs!  On another day we went to a local mall and passed out business cards with the church info on them.  This was also nerve wracking for us, but it was amazing to hear our group talk later about how they surprised themselves and were able to do this so easily.  Some of them are really excited to keep practicing their new skill of sharing Jesus with people!

The other part of our work at Vintage church was to help them update what will become the children's area.  They are a church of growing families and need classrooms and space for the kids that are growing!  We painted and painted and painted.  Door frames, walls, doors, ceiling grids, and maybe even ourselves a little.  I was so proud of the way that everyone stayed busy the whole time and really got a lot accomplished.

The best part of the trip for me was to watch our students get to know each other and love each other!  We have been praying for unity and commitment among our students and from day two of the trip it was easy to see it start to happen.  We are excited to move into the school year with this momentum and are praying that the many members who didn't get to go on the trip will catch the enthusiasm of the other students.  It has been neat to hear the students share about what they learned.  Totally worth a few nerves leading up to the trip!

I think we all fell in love with the people of New Orleans.  They have such a welcoming and thankful spirit.  Everywhere we went, people expressed their thanks for our help.  They were so willing to share their stories and city with us.  We can't wait to go back!  Here's a few pictures of the fun.  :)

Annunciation Mission

Party Van!

Lower 9th Ward- this lot is kept up so the city won't take it, but on all sides you
 can see overgrown lots where people didn't come back.

House across the street from the levy.

Musicians Village

Keeping up with the Olympics, of course!

Brandon attended the fire academy here and got to spend some time with the NOLA firemen

Skyline from across the Mississippi

A little fro-yo nourishment... it was hot!

Famous New Orleans Sno-Balls

We helped Annunciation get ready for the fire marshall
to inspect by tearing down all the beds before we left.

Ok, the boys tore down the beds and the girls had blanket and pillow duty.

Mount Pillowmanjaro

St. Charles Line- oldest streetcars in New Orleans

There were beads everywhere!

Glad you were curious enough to read.

Overdue

I am long overdue on updating the blog.  We moved in two and a half weeks ago, and I have yet to write about what has been going one.  There are several reasons.  One is because not much has been going on.  Another is because we have been busy.  Also, some things have been trying so I have not wanted to write about them.  But my biggest reason is still to come.

Let me start with the saga of the kitchen floor.  It's actually the kitchen/dining room floor, but that's too long to type every time.  On the Friday before we moved in (moving day was Wednesday), I tackled the linoleum, as I wrote about in my Roller Coaster post.  It did not go well and we still have no kitchen floor, well at least not a finished one.  Our plan of attack has been to scrape away the paper that was left from the first layer of linoleum, then prime over it to seal in what paper we couldn't get up.  Next will be a layer of thin set, which is like a little bit of concrete to make it all smooth.  And finally, adhesive, tile, and grout.  Ken is going to help us with laying the tile.  Currently, Tim is priming the floor with his trust extension roller, so our house has that lovely oil based paint smell... we are going out for dinner.

Scrape, vacuum, repeat.

Now that you've seen the kitchen floor and what a hassle it has been, let me explain my biggest reason for not blogging lately.  Some women I go to church with (whom I completely adore) started a women's Bible study in a really lousy part of town four years ago.  They started with two and currently have up to 40 each week.  This summer they have expanded to add a literacy program for some of the women who struggle with reading.  I have one student that I meet with on Tuesday mornings to tutor.  There is a curriculum, which is necessary for a music teacher, and it is such a cool thing.  My student, who will be referred to as B is one amazing lady.  She is 51 years old and wants to learn to read better so she can read the Bible more, read novels, and possibly be able to get a job.  She is so selfless in her thinking.  She is always seeing the best in people, and she loves the Lord!  I have been doing this for three weeks now, but it only took one.  After the first time I went downtown and met with B, I came home and didn't have a single care for my kitchen floor.  The women we see on Tuesday mornings have very little, if anything, but they are happy and they love God.  Not only do I have a house, but it has three bedrooms, two of which we don't particularly need but which are full of stuff.  Not only do I have a house, but it has two working bathrooms.  Not only do I have a house, but it is in a great neighborhood with people around who are friendly and nice.  What does it matter if my kitchen floor hasn't been the easiest thing in the world to deal with?  I didn't ride in a bus last night that got shot at.  I get to eat three meals a day and wear clean clothes every day.  

So this has been my dilemma.  For a while I didn't really know what to say because I have it so good.  There have been plenty of mishaps at the house and we still don't really know what we are doing a lot of times, but it just didn't seem that important for a while.  Don't get me wrong, I am fully aware that the floor does need to be finished.  It just isn't so important that it hasn't happened yet.  And, of course, I still have days where little things seem like a big deal because they aren't the way I want them.   And I will love it when we no longer are tracking paper from the kitchen to the rest of the house (it gets everywhere!).  And I will be particularly happy on the day when there are no longer any boxes to be found.  But I have learned an important lesson from B and the rest of the ladies that I hope I do not soon forget.  

With all of that being said, there has been some definite progress made on the house in the last few days.  My friend Tasha came and helped me clean the kitchen cabinets and put new paper on the shelves on Thursday.  It was a big job, and she was amazing!  I even had to take a friend to the airport, but she stayed at my house and finished the papering.  What would I do without you, Tasha?!  Friday, Tim and I bought and hung some curtains and rods, he worked in the yard, I unpacked kitchen stuff, and he was victorious against the pesky vent cover that did NOT want to stay up.  :)

Unpacking madness!

That's what I call using your head.

For some time we were using a very small space in the kitchen because the rest of it was dirty, and we have also been eating meals that either come from a crock pot or the microwave, as all of our dishes and pots were still in boxes.  It's also fun to starting seeing some of our stuff around the kitchen.

The entire contents of our kitchen for two weeks.

Tried some new recipes that don't require any chopping
or precooking meat.  

These are my canisters, which I love, and Liz found the crock
to match at her mom's house.  What a great house warming present!!

In case you were wondering what I might be cooking up now that we have our dishes and pots unboxed, I'm afraid the menu isn't going to change very much.  We had to take the stove out today so that we can do the kitchen floor.  And falling in with the norm of everything else in this house, it did not prove to be an easy job.  But it's out for now and we will deal with getting it back in later.  

Where's Tim?

I hope to write again soon to show some more pictures of things that have gotten done around here.  I do have one more to share today, though.  This morning I went and met a friend who is going to be my accountability partner, which I am really excited about!  This is certainly a God ordained thing.  When I got home, my thoughtful husband had flowers for me in our semi-finished kitchen where we had been working so hard.  He's such a wonderful man and hard worker... I had to brag a little.  :)

Glad you were curious enough to read.