Christopher The Pirate

So we have had a little adventure over the last couple weeks. Chris was ripping out a tile floor when a piece of tile flung up and hit his eye. He rested from Thursday through the weekend, but come Monday afternoon it became very sore and when he woke up on Tuesday he could not see out of his right eye. We spent the day in two different Doctors offices, with the little boys I was babysitting. We then drive from Providence Memorial to Baptist Hospital for surgery. The Doctor reported that he cut the sclera and the cornea and the cut went 2mm deep. It is a miracle that it did not cut the retina. The doctor was also worried that the infection in his eye was a bad infection that would mean another surgery to remove his eye and clean the infection out behind Chris' eye. As of this morning, Dr. Clark is very impressed with his progress and says its a miracle that everything is healing as fast as it has. It is healing about twice as fast as expected and praise God that there is no more infection in his eye. Thank all of you for your prayer during this time.

Old Married Couple

Reality has set... I am not young anymore! No more fun and games and just wasting money (wait I never really did that anyways) because buying a new washer and dryer has become the highlight of moving into our new place! Last Saturday we went on a quest for a nice new washer and dryer... finally got one like the picture like this one! I love it now that all the little quirks are worked out and the Sears guys came and replaced my broken washer. It was a little crazy... sounded like a plane about ready to take off! I'm sure our neighbors loved it! Speaking of washing machines and dryers... I probably should be a sweet wife and get some laundry done!

No More Charleston

 
So the guys are FINALLY finished with this blasted job they have been tackeling for the last three months or so. I am so happy to finally get my husband back! This picture is Chris putting the very last piece of tile out of a 3,000 square foot tile job! 

cant imagine...

 

I was at a missions conference a couple of weeks ago learning about Community Health and one of my roommates was a lady who is currently ministering in Pakistan. She allowed me to put on this chador, to see what it is like from underneath the veil. First of all it is VERY HOT! The day I tried on the veil it was 107 degrees, which would not be uncommon for the veiled part of the World. I can't imagine what life would be like being all covered up. I will not get into my personal opionion about being veiled under Islam, but I will share that I have a passion to befriend and reach these women. Since 1/5 of the world proclaim Islam, I know that no matter where in the world I live, there are bound to be women who God can and will place along my path. I am willing to serve Him wherever He leads, but if I have any say, I would like to minister to Muslim women in the 10/40 window (the Middle East or Northern Africa in particular). We will see where God leads... maybe I will have to abide by these rules one day in order to reach Muslim women... 

Josh & Carrie

 

It has been a lot of fun for us to be able to share in the love, joy, and laughter of some of our dear friends wedding's. God orchestrated a beautiful friendship between Josh and Carrie and their wedding day reflected their unique qualities. May the Lord continue to be their center as they walk through the adventures of marriage... 

Hangin Out

 

Busy Scheduals make it almost impossible for all four of us to hang out. Meredith and I both work odd hours (as she is a nurse) and Craig and Chris are often out of town. It was so much fun to just hang out, laugh until our stomachs hurt, relax and fellowship. Hey we even had our waiter laughing with us, funtimes! 

Cooking

 

Landon cook muffins KeKe?
I watched the kids for the weekend while Brian and Sunny were interviewing for the head tennis coach for the men and womens tennis teams at the University of New Orleans, and Landon became insistant that he was making muffins. I thought this was a cute picture of him cooking. I wish I could find the picture of me when I was his age, because we look alike. He actually did a really good job and even spooned the muffin mix into the muffin tin. I was impressed that he was so "perfectionistic" or type-A that he did not make a mess. 

My Babies

 

LANDON & BRAXTON

These are the sweetest little boys I know! You have to admit, they are really cute kids! I have had the joy and privlege to be a part of their daily little lives since they were in the womb. They are my little encouraging rays of sunshine! They most definitely keep me on my toes, but at 2 1/2 and 10 1/2 months, they have been a huge inspiration to my life. I am very sad to say that their Dadoo (Daddy) took a job in New Orleans and they will be moving at the end of the month. Obviously I am happy for them, but very sad to see them leave. I have known Sunny and Brian since I was in high school, I have house sat, babysat, and even lived with them. They are family so it is a bitter-sweet time for all of us. 

Closed Doors

 

Well after many prayers, much advice, and family members input, Chris and I decided that the timing is not right for me to go to Zambia this summer. I will still be going on a 6 week internship sometime in the fall, but for now I will remain at home. I will be finishing up my last semester at CIU creatively by taking intensive community health and medical classes. This allows me to be able to go wherever the Lord leads me sometime after September. Please pray with me in my many upcoming decisons. We are praying that the Lord would open doors for housing, jobs, a Church to get involved with, and the details of my internship. Thank you for your loving support. 

HOTLANTA

 

These smiles are real and we are happy because these pictures were taken on our 6 month aniversary. We have made it through 1/2 of the hardest year (or at least that is what everyone says). Since Chris has been working in Charleston for many weeks and I am still in school and working full time, it was so refreshing to finally get away together! Quality time is both of our love languages, so it has been very difficult to be apart with little time for communication. A couple weeks ago we went to Atlanta and Chris surprised me with a nice hotel and we went to see Martina McBride in concert. WOW does she have a voice!& 

Teamwork

So they say the first year of marriage is the hardest... Well I agree! Relationships are not always nice-and-easy and marriage is not all about wine and roses like many assume. I like to think of marriage like mountain biking or rock climbing. It consists of teamwork, perseverance , trust, sweat, blood, difficulties, twists and turns along the way, however the sense of accomplishment, the joy through the difficulties, and the results make all the hard work so rewarding. So how this relates to marriage, it too has its ups and downs (as does any other relationship since we live in a fallen world), but there are lasting results in how we choose to handle the difficult situations that arise. Many give up, throw in the towel, and many end up divorced, but there is no sense of accomplishment in that. Why go through all the work without reaching the top of the mountain? So we choose to press on, continue to make it our daily goal to learn how to love one another in practical ways, and try to make an effort, in our way too busy, lives to spend time together. Like mountain biking, marriage is fun, exciting, and an adventure!

The Invisible Children

I just got back from viewing the Invisible Children's documentary film at Jammin Java. This film is about the thousands of children in northern Uganda who have to flee their homes and sleep in the city streets, hospitals, or make-shift safe haven buildings in order to escape the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) so they too are not abducted. Being abducted means you become numbed to any sort of feelings because you experience brutal beatings, cruel killings, and the fear of death. However, not being abducted also means fear of death and abduction, the great possiblility of sexual behavior at a very young age, being raped, contracting HIV/AIDs virus, same sex encounters at will or by molestation, etc. So there is a whole generation of children who are being jaded and made to grow up too fast. Here are some of the cold hard facts...

Northern Uganda called the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today because of the lack of attention

1.7 million people forcibly displaced

An estimated 20- 50,000 children abducted to fight as soldiers

tens of thousands of children commuting nightly

130 people die per day in Northern Uganda due to violence

This is shocking news that never hits the press here in America. Not belittling the harsh reality that there is a war going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is genocide going on in Africa yet everyone seems to turn a blind eye. Here is what people all around the world are doing to make a difference. On April 29 there is going to be a Global Night Commute where people all around the World are going to commute to their city and sleep on the streets for one night as these children do every night. Please be a part of this stand. How can you ignore the harsh reality of these Ugandan Children? I have a link to the right in order to find out more information for the Global Commute in your city.

NEVER say NEVER

 
God really has a sense of humor... NEVER say NEVER to God because it WILL come true! When my family traveled from South Africa to Kenya I said I hated Zambia, obviously hate is a very strong word. It was very dirty, poor, a little scary, and honestly I missed clean or at least reasonably clean bathrooms. Now that I have learned to love squattie potties Zambia does not scare me so much. As I finish up my Inter-Cultural Studies degree at Columbia International University, I am required to go on a 6 week internship. Originally I was planning on going to Chad, but God closed that door. God has opened a window of opprotunity for me to go to Zambia. I will be doing community development, chronological Bible storying, HIV awareness, and much more during my summer amongst the Zambian farms. Please keep me in your prayers as I continue to work out all of the details. 

Weekend Adventures

 

After much prayer and searching, we have decided upon attending the Huntersville Vineyard Church (just north of Charlotte). Chris plays drums or base in the band and we have both made some amazing friendships along with reuniting with old friends. The Lord really pressed upon our hearts to make the sacrifice of getting up earlier and spending the extra gas tank of money in order to worship Him with this body of believers. This is a picture from New Years... and its obvious that we are having a lot of fun at the best New Years Party in Huntersville English Style 

Before and After

 
The deal was I had to wait until after the wedding to chop my hair off... so I waited all of 5 days until I made the real change! Hey I figured I was a different person, all married now, might as well not look like I was still in high school! So here are two pictures to show you the 12 inch change in my style!

  

The Baby in the Family

As you can see... we have a baby! Blair is definately part of the family as she even takes up half the bed, leaving Chris and I to sleep on either edge! I could not have put all these stories and pictures on here without mentioning the other member of our family! She is actually sitting right here pawing at me as I am writing this. We enjoy spending time with her in the park on pretty days and she loves it when she gets to ride in the back of Daddy's truck!

Christmas

 

Well our first Christmas had to be done right! Choosing our favorite traditions from our own families and then adapting them for family together. The tradition of cutting down our Christmas tree came from my childhood. We really enjoyed our time together, but if you know anything about us you will know one thing... WE ARE OPPOSITE IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE! So as you can imagine it was interesting to say the least to choose what kind of tree, what size of tree, and then finally compromising on the tree we were to take home. Honestly we did pretty well compromising! We had a blast shopping for Christmas decor and spending the evening together putting on the ornaments and drinking hot chocolate! 

How We Met

How we met...
January 5, 2005 was a warm day, I was working as a maintenance girl at an apartment complex (painting, repairing, and cleaning apartments between tenants) and when I walked out of my apartment I saw a guy calling his dog to go inside. Later that morning he passed me on his way to the dry cleaners and exchanged introductions and spoke for a time. On his way to work he stopped his big black F150, dressed in a pin-striped suit, pink shirt, and pink tie captured my eye as he patted me on the head and told me to have a great day. 4 days after we met he moved to Atlanta. We kept in touch, thanks to Verizon, and trips every weekend to Atlanta. God really used that time apart for us to really get to know each other and for me to be able to spend time with the rest of his family. At the end of April he moved back, but within a few weeks I had to rush him to a local hospital to get his ruptured appendix out. As we spent 4 days in the hospital (right before my exams... just a little stressful) God made it clear that what we had was more than infactuation, it was a growing love. That is only the beginning of our love that continues to be a growing process...

Wedding picture

This is a beautiful representation of our wedding day! We got married on October 22, 2005 in Bluffton South Carolina. We had an outdoor wedding in the backyard of my childhood friends house, so as you can imagine it was very sentimental to me. It was absolutely perfect, which says alot because the rehersal was the most horrific day imaginable! Pouring down rain, a different location, many miscommunications, and lets just say that I shed as many tears as did the clouds! So to have a beautiful day without any complications on our Wedding Day was only by the grace of God and many answered prayers! Our dream was to have our wedding ceremony be centered on Christ not us. I believe we accomplished that with the worship song How Great Is Our God sung by our buddy Paul Jones as Chris and I took our first Communion together. We made it a very personal and intimate wedding by writing our own vows, having both of our fathers and Chris' grandfather as the ministers, and having our closest friends stand beside us. I will put some more wedding pictures online later