Clara...

The cutest little 5 year-old girl lives in Indonesia. Her name is Clara and we sponsor her through Compassion International. We have received 3 letters from Clara since we started sponsoring her in April. Here are some of the comments from her letters that make us smile (and sometimes cry).

"How are you Mr. Mike? You must be doing well. Here my family and I are always doing well."

"Thank you for the picture. Mr. Mike looks handsome and your wife is really pretty."

"Are Mr. Mike and your wife happy to sponsor me? I'm happy to have Mr. Mike and your wife as my godparents."

"Have a great new life, Mr. Mike! May you have a cute little baby like me, soon!"

"Mr. Mike please pray for me that I will be the best at my school."

"Our hobby is the same; singing and take care a dog. Later, if I have a dog, it will also be given name Tucker so that I always remember Papa Mike and Mama Kasey."

"If I have grown up later, I also would like to serve God like Papa Mike."

The translation is a little rough on a couple of them, but it's still cute nonetheless. If you've never considered sponsoring a child, maybe this will change your mind. It's totally worth the sacrifice on your part to see the difference you make in the life of the child.

Christmas Time...

I think it is officially Christmas season! Mike and I hung the out door lights this past weekend and are starting on the indoor decorations this week. That means I need to spruce up the blog too! Enjoy!

Fork in the Road...

It seems as though I have come to a fork in the road on this journey called life. I will be finished with school in a couple of weeks and still have no idea what I am going to do afterwards. I could get a job like everyone else does when they finish school, but then again I’m not usually like everyone else. I’ve been looking for jobs off and on when I get a chance and I haven’t really found anything that has caught my eye.
The fact is I don’t know if I’m ready to join corporate America or if I even want to. Of course me working would help us to save for lots of things we will need in the future and will help us to live more comfortably and not just paycheck-to-paycheck, BUT we could get by without it (we have been now for a year!). I would love to travel and to volunteer or go on a mission trip, or go join an international graduate program, but those things just don’t seem feasible.
I have such a desire to help people that can't help themselves. I have such a desire to do something meaningful with the days I have here. I have such a desire to do something big in my life. I don’t want to look back in 10 years and see: get married, graduate college, and get a job. BLAH!!
Mike and I have been praying for some kind of insight into what God wants us to do with ourselves. There seem to be so many unknowns. If you would have asked me five years ago what I was going to do with my life I would have had it all planned out to the T, but not so much anymore. It’s like the opposite of that now. Am I going to work after college, if so doing what, and where? Am I going to volunteer and serve, if so how and where? Are we going to have children, biologically or adopted? There are so many things that are just so complicated right now! If anyone is actually reading this please pray for us and our fork in the road.

Gone Hunting...

Right now I'm sitting in a tree south of Covington, waiting for that big buck that I'm nearly certain will never show up. I saw a little five-point buck out here this morning. If I see anything tonight it will probably be him again.

I spend the whole year looking forward to rifle season, the only hunting season I take part in. It lasts for two weeks starting in late November. I wait and wait and build it up on my mind, then get out there at the crack of dawn in the freezing cold and wonder, "what about this was I looking forward to?". Of course, I'm reminded when the sun comes out to warm me up a little and I get to watch a deer step out onto the field I've been watching for two hours. (ok, not really now that I have this fancy phone to keep me preoccupied, I only glance at it every once in a while)

Anyway, I don't think I'll see anything tonight with this woodpecker remodeling his house in the tree next to me and the armadillo rolling around in the leaves behind me. I'll just bet the deer will steer clear of this area, instead of risking being shot by whatever is making all the racket.

History...

I don't know exactly what to think about Barack Obama being our next president. I think he has some new ideas and I think it will be exciting to see where he takes us. I also think it will be a scary journey. I don't agree with some of the things he says. I choose to put aside the political junk for now and just be happy that I was alive to see a black man elected president. This is a huge thing for America. Not all that long ago blacks weren't able to vote, let alone use the same water fountain as whites. I think it is so exciting to witness history. I will be able to tell my great nieces and nephews (or grand kids) that I remember the night I watched the first black president be elected. So even though I'm not all that thrilled about him leading our country and making decisions on behalf of our country, I am very thrilled to see our country looking past skin color.