LuvBug

Happy Birthday to The Vine!

Jason and I have been attending a new church in Braselton, GA since the fall of 2008.  We have totally enjoyed it and we love everyone there!  It is a new church plant and it's 2 year birthday is this month - Happy Birthday to The Vine :)!!  So I wanted to show you a one year recap of what The Vine has been up to the last year, it is very impressive :)....

Merry Christmas!

First I want to apologize for my lack of posts - life has gotten crazier and crazier.  I have picked up extra hours at work, I have been trying to go to the gym (1 1/2 - 2 hours each day I go), I have been sick (stomach problems and sinuses), and I have been trying to be a full time mom and wife.  I know you all have been just as busy, especially with Christmas glaring us all in the face.

How was everyone's Christmas?  Ours was wonderful and different than any other year....

This was my first year without Brad.  I have dreamed about Brad every night for the last month or so, some have been peaceful and some have not been so peaceful.  I have cried from time to time thinking of how much I miss him, listening to Silent Night (that was our favorite Christmas song when we were young), talking to Weatherly about him, or just whatever.  I imagined I would cry the day of Christmas, but I did not.  There are so many traditions based on Brad I did not know if I could go through with - eating sausage balls, watching Scrooge with Albert Finney (his favorite Christmas movie), and opening Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve.  We decided to do all of them, and Christmas felt more complete.

Another thing we did different was a very strict budget.  I told Weatherly she would only get one gift from Santa and one gift from each grandparent.  We also decided to spend whatever we spent on the family we would spend on the homeless.  Equal amounts.  Weatherly and Tennyson were a part in picking out gifts for the homeless children, wrapping them, and going to The Garden with Jason and The Vine to distribute them.  It was a great success and had a great impact on the children.

On Christmas morning Santa brought Tennyson a train track (from eBay) and brought Weatherly a Littlest Pet Shop fitness center.  My mother brought them a few items from Santa and from herself, and Granny bought them a few clothes.  After we opened our gifts we read a story about the first Christmas and then we celebrated Jesus' Birthday by blowing out a candle on top of desert.  It was tons of fun :)

While we put Weatherly to bed she asked her father if every child got presents for Christmas, was there anyone left out?  She wanted to know why she got so many, she was only one little girl.  It was the sweetest thing I had heard all week and really put things into perspective for me.  On Christmas Eve I was stressed about not having a "wrapped" gift under the tree from Jason and I.  I was worried they would not have "enough".  I had heard about ALL the toys others were giving and getting and I thought my small budget was not enough.  Apparently I was missing the purpose of Christmas - the birth of Jesus, the love he brought and the gift he gave me - his life.  It is not about how many toys my children have, they know they are loved and they were so happy with the Santa gift they got.  They did not even notice their parents did not give them a wrapped gift.  They understood we were celebrating Jesus' birthday and they know they are loved.  What else matters :)?

We had a wonderful Merry Little Christmas!!

I need your help...

I need your help - I want to sell 20 "Go Dawgs" dresses for the Vine's Big Give. The materials for these dresses have been bought by the multiplication of the resources God has provided through an individual and The Vine. We are now seeking to multiply that into a blessing the Vine can distribute between the Gwinnett Children's Shelter in Buford, and Gainsville Action Ministries.

Please order a dress today so your money can benefit one of the above ministries.

Why Guatemala?

Last week Jason told me he was invited on a mission trip to the Guatemala City Dump by Kevin Queen. At first I was confused - why a dump? Then I did some research on the conditions in Guatemala and I was appalled - I never knew that their are people that actually LIVE in the dump and find all their food, clothing and well-being off other people's waste.

Here is a little blog I found about what the author, David Booth, saw while he was visiting the dump:

Day 3 Part was also packed full. In the morning we drove across the city to tour the city dump. Along the way we noticed a large shantytown precariously perched on the side of a deep ravine, where many families were living. Although there is constant danger that their makeshift houses may be washed away by rains, these ravines are some of the few places that are public land, and therefore available for squatting.

As we approached the dump, the smell of the dust was nauseating, and we covered our noses and mouths with whatever cloth we had handy in order to breathe. We were lucky that it was a dry day: on wet days, the smell is overpowering.

Hundreds of people live in the dump. Ostracized by the general population, many spend their entire lives in the dump, subsisting entirely on scavenging -- for food, clothing, everything. In the past few decades, the problem has worsened to the point that many of these dump dwellers have never known of any other life: They were born and raised entirely in the dump. Their parents and their parents' parents have lived there all their lives. Glue sniffing is also common problem among dump dwellers, as it gives a temporary high and deadens the smell of the dump.

Even among the dump dwellers there is an established social order. People with seniority are at the top of the social strata, and get the garbage from the trucks that came from the richer areas of the city, while newcomers start at the bottom.

The dump also functions as an informal recycling industry. People specialize in collecting specific items or materials, which they sell for reuse or as raw materials.

Please pray!

New Pictures

I finally uploaded over 300 pictures today - and it took all day!! Please check them out and let me know what you think....

Photo Album - Cancun, Mexico '08

Day 5 of the Mission Trip

Today is our free day. Everyone is going to the island to ride scooters, play on the beach and go snorkeling. Unfortunately I had to stay in the hotel because I am sick with something viral. I am just happy my sickness did not fall on a ministry day. I have learned so much, and I have enjoyed walking the streets praising God's name. I know God has a reason for me to be lying in bed with a fever - so I contently lay in bed with my faithful husband by my side.

I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you a story of salvation from last night. Royce, Ken, Ricky, a Mayan lady and myself went door to door through some town-homes in the community. Apparently one home we encountered was a man named Moses. He said he usually throws tracts away and never goes to any church functions, however, yesterday something (the Holy Spirit) led him to keep the tract and go to the church service. Satan tried to detour him and his family - they lost their house keys and could not lock the dead bolt to their gate, however they left the home anyway. Moses loaded up his 3 children (one is 20 days old) and his wife and came to the service. After Denny spoke Moses came to the front of the church to receive Jesus. It was so beautiful and Moses was beaming with joy. The sweat, the cavernous bumpy terrain, and the heat was worth every minute to see Moses' eyes shine after the service was over. Praise God!!

Day 4 of the Mission Trip

Today had to be the hottest day we had!!! I do not think I have ever sweated as much as I did today. Praise God water was available!! We started our day with a prayer walk and inviting the community to the service we were providing at the local church. Today we had two separate groups and each group had once church member with us to help talk to the neighbors. Our church member was Mayan and taught me a few phrases in Mayan - now I have so many Mexican and Mayan phrases circling around in my head that they all get jumbled and come out all wrong. It always gives the locals a laugh and they usually know what I am trying to get at. We went to a Squatters Village - which had to be some of the most basic homes I have seen. Some of the homes did not have roofs, no one had electricity or running water, the floors were cavernous earth, they threw their garbage in a close raven, and they made their homes out of whatever they could find - vinyl advertisements, old mattress frames, loose wood, corrugated cardboard, and whatever else you could find lying around. These people are very inventive, they can make a home out of anything, and they can find work doing anything. Stores pop up in different places, even their homes, they walk up and down streets selling their trade, they ride around on bicycles selling water - whatever it takes to make it to the next day. They do whatever they can to stay off government paychecks (very remarkable - it makes the USA look pretty lazy). Everything I have seen has really made me appreciate what God has blessed me with. I am amazed at all I take for granted - clean running water, electricity, toys, a roof, multiple rooms in one house, land with grass, a grocery store that always carries what I desire, paved roads, health, food, and so much more!

How important is it to keep up with your neighbor when you know a church only needs $750 to roof, paint and lay floor to finish their nursery. This week has put a lot into perspective......

1 Timothy 6:6-8
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

Be sure to check out Jason's blog for some great video of this week.....

Day 3 of the Mission Trip

There are a few things I must tell you about Mexico I was not totally aware of:

1. The mosquitoes are vicious - their bites feel like needles, they swarm at dust in blankets (I have never seen so many at one time), and they bite more than once.

2. It is not the heat that will bother you as much as the humidity - I often feel like I just left the shower with my clothes on within 5 minutes of being outside (and it is worse than New Orleans!).

3. There is a breeze that is a God send - the heat would be unbearable if there was not this terrific breeze.

4. Most of the local restaurants do not have air conditioning - we sit outside with the humidity and bugs to eat our meals.

5. The people who live in "poverty" live in homes that would be condemned in the States. Most are 1-2 rooms that have multiple functions. They sleep in hammocks at night so they do not take up extra space in their one or two room homes.

6. Some homes are all concrete and some are sticks with old plastic banners to keep the rain out.

7. Most homes do not have air conditioning - they can not afford electricity.

8. You can go to any pharmacy and tell them what drug you want and they will sell it to you (I think narcotics are not included) - if I want phenergan they will sell it, if I want zomig they will sell it, etc. - CRAZY!

9. The children have very few toys - they play with rocks, dust and each other. Once they are old enough (we saw a 4 year old walking to a local store to buy the family their lunch) the children begin working for whatever pay they can get - they sell newspapers, bag groceries, whatever they can do to help pay the family's day to day expenses.

10. The children love piñatas and the fights over candy can often turn brutal. They have to split the boys from the girls so no one will get hurt.

11. The people in Mexico are very nice and they love to hear you try to talk their language, they are very forgiving of my butchering their phrases. Luckily I have many great translators to help ease the communication barrier :)

12. You can not flush your toilet paper down the toilet because the pipes are too small, instead you place your toilet tissue in the small garbage can beside the toilet.

There are probably many more points I wanted to add - but at midnight, after a long day, I am out of words. Please continue to pray for this mission team and please pray for the people we are ministering to. These last 2 days have been amazing!!

Day 2 of the Mission Trip

It is now midnight and we are all back in our rooms. It has been a long, hot, fun, and productive day. Everyone is so welcoming and genuine. You feel like you are family as soon as you walk into their presence. By the end of the evening I felt like I had known them for a week. I was a little disappointed knowing I was not going back to the same church tomorrow. However, I know we are going to meet more wonderful people tomorrow.

This morning I helped with VBS at the church (Aqua Viva) - we played games and ate snacks (pancakes and rice milk). While 3 of us stayed back to play with the kids at VBS the other 7 went on a prayer walk. Ken and Josh were invited into one family's house to worship together, it is a fabulous story that was a true blessing. After our morning venture we had lunch and came back to the hotel for 2 hours (I took a well deserved nap). We went back to the church for the night service and worshiped together for 3 hours. It was fabulous!!! Around 10 we ate dinner (which is normal for natives of Cancun) and headed back to the hotel for showers and beds.

Here are a few of the 300 pics I took today....

Going Abroad

The last 24 hours have been CRAZY!! Last night Jason and I were desperately trying to pack for our 6 day trip to Cancun, Mexico for a mission trip. I had just finished my 24 hours of working night weekends and I was exhausted. We finally got into bed around 11:30 p.m. and I broke down in tears. Not just small tears, but full rivers of tears. This was going to be the first time I had ever left my children more than one night. I sobbed until 12 a.m., when I finally feel asleep. Around 3:30 a.m. Jason and I drug ourselves out of bed to take showers and get to the church so we could pick up the other 8 members of the mission team to head to the airport. We boarded the plane at the last minute (see Jason’s Blog) and we made it to Cancun around 11:30…

Our first hotel was the most simplistic hotel I had ever seen. It had a bed, a TV, and a very small bathroom. There was nothing on the wall, no headboard, no paint, and no extra moving-around space. The hotel didn’t work out due to price so we packed back up and went to another hotel. Once we were settled we ventured out to a local market to buy piñatas and candy. It was so neat to see how the community lives. They shop one day at a time – buy pasta, rice, spices, dog food, etc. per weight to make it to the next day. They also had a fresh meat market – and I have to say I had never smelled a true butchers before….it was very distinct. At the small market I was able to buy Weatherly two little authentic Mexican dresses (for $250 pesos = $25 State dollars). After our market venture we went to the local Wal-Mart to buy a few snacks, which was hard to do since we could not read Spanish and we had a hard time finding the right aisle. After walking around in circles for a while we all made our decisions and left to go to a local taco store. At this restaurant all they sold were tacos….. They had chicken, pork, beef, tongue, brain and a few others I decided not to ask about. I tried a chicken, a pork, and two separate types of meat. I could only stomach the chicken and the finely shredded meat – covered with delicious guacamole. Once we had eaten our meal we made it back to the hotel – Jason and I moved rooms again due to the overwhelming stale smoke smell (this would make our 3rd room), we took showers, and now we are about go to bed ☺!

Please pray for Jason and I, and our mission team (Jessa, Connie, Deb, Denny, Josh, Ricky, Ken, Royce) as we begin our adventure in the morning. I hope to update you again tomorrow night. You can also see Jason’s point of view on the trip, as well as some video blogs, on sebren.info.

Love you all!!