KONY 2012

I have for years had an overwhelming heart for Africa and the battles there.  I am not sure why or what to do about it, but I believe God has placed it there.  I pray for the people there and have such a heavy heart over the incredible atrocities that take place in so many of the countries there.  The events and actions so many people there have to go through or have had to go through is beyond my belief.  I wanted to share this video that I saw a couple people share on Facebook today.  The goal of this video KONY 2012 is to make Joseph Kony known.  To make his crimes known.  Joseph Kony is the leader of a group known as the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army).  They abduct young boys and force them to fight and kill and maim.  They abduct young girls and force them into a sexual slavery.  The goal is to bring him to justice and to save this army of invisible children.  The video is about 30 minutes long.  I know it's kind of long, but how long did you scroll through Facebook today?  How much time did you waste watching some crazy reality show that you had never seen before, but got sucked in to?  Please take the time to watch and to learn and to hopefully be moved to action. These are rights we should fight for.  We may live in different continents and countries.  We may have different governments or beliefs or ways of life.  We are all humans.  We all deserve to have the ability to receive an education.  We deserve to feel like we can keep our children save.  Our children should be able to be children.  We should stand up for those who can not stand up for themselves.  The narrator and producer of the film said at one point in reference to atrocities in the past, "We cared but didn't know what to do - too often we did nothing."  We can't afford to do nothing.  There has to be something. 

Check out KONY 2012 to sign a pledge and receive other information.  Be informed about what is happening in our world.  Because it is our world.  We are all creatures of God and we need to show the love and compassion that God has shown us to others.  We need to stand united and make a difference.  It is possible.  We can't know and do nothing.  What happens if one day that same war is at our doorstep? Who will fight for us?  We will want our prayers and our cries to God answered.  We need to be that answer now for those who need us. Pray for these people.  Pray for change.

Five Whole Years

Arabelle,

Today you turned five years old.  Five!!!  How is this possible?  Where has the time gone since you had the little baby voice in this video?  I watched you sleeping this morning in disbelief that another year had passed.  In disbelief that you are as big as you are, that you hold conversations, that you are as mature as you are and that you are who you are.  Life you with you is amazing.  This year has been a fun one for you.  You have learned to tell jokes, or your own version of jokes.  You have your first little pop star crush...a little Bieber fever.  (Although I am not sure you know what liking someone is all about since you also want to marry Lincoln.)  You have made us laugh until we cry.  You have taking a strong liking to posing like a model.  You also really like to dance.  You love deeply and are so passionate about everything.  You even are starting to tell your friends about God and how important it is that they know him and know he is our Father.

I am not going to lie, there are times when things are all sunshine and rainbows though.  You can make us work for it.  Sometimes the tears I cry aren't from a silly joke you told or when you walked in and said "Arabelle in da house", but from wondering how strong willed you can possibly be.  Which I am finding is very strong willed.  You know what you want that is for sure.  But in that you have grown so much this year.  You come and say you are sorry for things you do and are starting to understand repentance.  You want to pray about how you maybe yelled at us or didn't listen.  You are growing in such awesome and amazing ways.

I pray today and ever day that God blesses you in unimaginable ways.  I know that God has a purpose and vision for you that is far beyond any idea I have ever had or could imagine for your life.  He loves you and is proud of you, just as mommy and daddy love you and are proud of you.  We can't wait to see what this next year has for you.  Starting school is just one big thing I can think of.  I know you can't wait for that. 

Happy birthday Bo Bo Bear!  We love you!

Mommy

Wedding Bliss

Happy Monday!

A little over a week ago my little brother got married.  He and his beautiful wife Georgia said I do. The wedding was in Brown County at an old farm.  There is a pretty farm house that has been remodeled and a nice finished barn with pretty landscape and all.  The ceremony itself was originally planned to be held outside in front of a big tree that had a cute swing hanging from it.  Unfortunately the weather had different plans.  We held off all day through little rain drops and lots of clouds, hoping for that outdoor wedding, and finally at 5:00pm when the wedding was scheduled to start at 5:30pm we decided to move the wedding inside due to the pouring down rain.  So we packed it all up and moved it in.  It was a nice intimate setting with the ceremony and reception all in the same area.  It was a beautiful, relaxing and wonderful time.  I think that they had a fabulous wedding and a nice time.  And as someone put it during the open toast, we hope that their life together isn't nearly as eventful as their dating relationship in Japan.  If you aren't familiar with the story you can read it here and here.  Or you can even find a little bit of it on CNN.

Here are some details from the day...and my beautiful girl. 

And of course the handsome groom and his lovely bride...

I couldn't have pictured a better day for my brother.  And I couldn't have dreamed up a better wife.  She is beautiful and sweet and perfect for him.  Their eyes just light up looking at each other.  I pray that they light up when they see each other for the rest of their lives.  I pray that their love only grows stronger and the joy they felt last weekend grows daily. 

I hope you enjoyed the pictures from their wedding.  I know we enjoyed it and loved being able to celebrate with them. Now they are off for a new adventure. They leave this week to move to New Zealand.  Well Zack is moving and Georgia is just heading home.  They will also have a second wedding there to celebrate with Georgia's family and friends.  How lucky they are to have TWO weddings!  For someone who loves to plan and decorate, I would be beside myself with excitement! 

We will miss them so much, but love them and can't wait to hear all about all of their new exciting happenings....and hopefully we don't hear about anything else in their life from CNN...or MSNBC...or Fox News....you get the picture!

Have a wonderful week bloggies!!

Addicted...

I just became addicted to Pinterest....and before that Goodreads.  I am absorbed and lost in fun things and books.  If you don't hear from me for a while track me down there.  I am sure you will find me....lost in pinning multitudes of things I love to virtual boards or lost making lists of books I long to read.

If you are a reader you should totally join Goodreads...you won't regret it....I am 
there.

Have a happy Monday bloggies!

More Than Just a Place

Good morning bloggies,

A few years ago in a magazine called Real Simple, in a section where they pose a question and readers weigh in, they asked "What does home mean to you?"  I loved this simple question and people's responses.  None of them were basic as in it's that place I go to after work and wake up in the morning at.  They were all more thoughtful.

So I started thinking about this to myself and realized for me...

Home is my family....
Home is intertwining my fingers with Arabelle or Lincoln's little fingers....
Home is snuggling up next to Ryan...
Home is where I can eat a big bowl of ice cream while drinking a glass of wine without judgement....
Home is where we laugh and cry and stay together forever....
Home is way more than just a place....


So let's hear it, what does home mean to you? 

This is a long one...Part One

Just FYI this is going to be a long post.  I don't think there is any way around it.  Just have stuff to get off my chest and figured I would share it.  :-)

I have been thinking a lot about my little brother lately, Zacky Poo.  He is going through a lot of major change in his life right now.  Well really he's gone through a lot of change in the last 10 months or so.  Last August we all gathered and tearfully said goodbye as Zack left to move a universe away to Japan.  He left us for Kuji City, Iwate with a two year contract through a teaching program to work with the schools in the area teaching English.  We prayed for a safe trip there and that he would be happy.  He was gone a short time and came home for Christmas.  Again we said a tearful goodbye, but new he was happy there.  He had made friends, gotten settled and now had a girlfriend, Georgia.  His overall safety in Japan never crossed our minds.  Japan is a major world power after all.  It's not a third world country nor is it war stricken and even more so the crime there isn't what we see here.  He seemed safe and happy.

Then on March 11th came that call that no one wants to get.  It's the middle of the night, way to early phone call.  The one that you immediately know something isn't right because people don't call at those times to say they got a new puppy or are getting married or are having a baby.  They wait until reasonable hours to do those things.   No this was my mom, a little before 6:00AM, calling to say that we needed to get up and start praying that there had been a horrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan and that they couldn't reach Zack.  We had no idea if he was ok.  I jumped up shaking and got Ryan and ran to our computer.  (We don't have cable or satellite so no news channels.)  I pulled up MSNBC and found the most devastating and scary pictures one might see when your loved one is potentially in the middle of that.  The first headline was "Nuclear Emergency Declared in Japan" and below it were pictures of fires and rubble that was unrecognizable.  There was video after video of this enormous "wave" of water inundating these towns and cities that line the coast.  Unfortunately, my knowledge of Japan was so minimal it was so hard to tell where things were and what was going on.  All I knew was there had been a 9.0 earthquake (one of the largest in history) and a tsunami that was recorded in some areas as high as 30 feet or more.  High enough to demolish some 2 and 3 story buildings, strong enough to move entire houses, it picked up cars and put them on top of large buildings, tore families apart and devastated a country.  This is where my brother was.  Somewhere in the midst of this.  My heart felt like it was failing me.  How could this be happening??

We immediately called on friends and family to begin praying for safety and that we would hear something soon.  If I have ever been thankful for social networking it was at that moment.  I was able to post my prayer needs and within minutes I had so many people joining with my family in prayer.  It was an awesome thing.  Somehow we all pulled ourselves together enough to go to work that day.  Although we spent a majority of it checking the news, calling each other and emailing search and rescue through the US Embassy that had been set up.  It wasn't until that evening that we got word in a round about way that my brother was ok.  He was alive, but had set off on foot to the town where Georgia lives which would usually be a short drive away.  The stress continued for all of us not know about her safety and whereabouts and Zack's continued safety.  We hadn't actually heard directly from him and unfortunately in situations of this magnitude communications are wrong and people are misidentified.  The next morning we all received emails from Zack that he was safe and after 20 hours of hiking and trying he found Georgia also safe.

This is something we never in a million years thought we would have had to go through.  The concern and fear I felt over this, I am sure I have never felt before.  I didn't sleep well for weeks.  It seems that just hearing he was safe wasn't good enough.  It took several weeks for me to stop checking online for aftershocks and checking the US Embassy's website to make sure they weren't ordering an evacuation.  Even now, I still check on the size of aftershocks from time to time. Because they still continue, just yesterday there was a 6.7 aftershock or earthquake. 

The country is cleaning up and things are turning back around.  Their bravery and the way the Japanese people handled themselves is amazing.  I watched the news and read stories and was amazed at the way they handled themselves in the face of disaster.  I am not so sure the same would happen here.  While I would like to say that there wouldn't be looting or crime here, I am not so sure.  I am so proud of my brother.  He has grown up so much.  He isn't really my baby brother anymore.  I would say he's officially a man.  I am proud of who he has become.  He has gone through more in his young lifetime than most will go through in their whole life.  We love him very much.

Through this I was reminded of how important it is to lean on God.  To rely on Him as our comforter and provider, the one who brings peace.  I know that he is in control through the good times and the bad. I think more importantly I am trying to remember that God is worthy to be praised even in those horribly uncertain times.  The times where it seems like things are falling apart or that there is no good happening, I have to remember that God is in control and he has a plan.  If God knows the number of stars and has given each one a name (Psalm 147:4), how can he not know and have control of the details of my life or my family?  I continue to pray for peace and for comfort for the families in Japan and throughout the world who weren't as blessed as we where.  The ones who waited for word that never came.  I pray that they will feel God's overwhelming love and know that he is the one providing it.

You can still donate money towards Japan relief.  Here are a couple links if you want to:

www.redcross.org
www.shelterbox.org (you can't specify Japan here, but it's a cool organization)