Photo Scavenger Hunt

So, what happens when a scheduled excursion to Uptown to see the Christmas decorations with the JV AWANA girls gets slightly derailed? Flexibility!! First, we ended up with only two girls being able to go(it was actually really nice). Then we found out that most of the holiday decorations had come down the day before. Uh oh. So I did some quick thinking and we went on a "photo scavenger hunt." Basically we wandered through Uptown taking pictures with anything we found interesting- it's amazing how many fun items you can find when you're looking! We took so many fun pictures that I had a hard time choosing what to post here. So even though there are eight here, there are thirty more fun pictures on facebook that you can see, if you'd like.

We found toy soldiers in front of the Performing Arts Center...

lots of walls and marble creations....

interesting artwork....

fun mosaics....

beautiful historic churches and other buildings....

seafood...

lots of lit-up sky scrapers....

and really fun fish fountain sculptures

The Fog

For the last month our family has been struggling to know what to do, what to say, to encourage and speak words of truth into the life of a loved one. One day things will seem a bit better and the next, they're terrible again. It's been a hard month. I've personally struggled with anger toward this loved one and the selfish choices that have been made that effect so many people. I think I struggle with it because I constantly think about choices and their consequences. It's just the kind of person that I am, that I just simply can't do something that I know will inflict massive hurt on others. I just don't understand.

This afternoon I was continuing to read in the book, "Cross-Cultural Servanthood"(it had a bit of a stay in MT until it was mailed back to me), by Duane Elmer, and the chapter I was reading was titled, "The Servant and Mystery." In it, the author discusses how often things occur that we just can't comprehend, whether it be with the nationals, our sending agencies, our co-workers, or the culture in which we're serving. And he used the picture of fog and sunshine: Foggy Today, Sunny Tomorrow. Sometimes we go through months and months, or even years of fogginess, not knowing why things are happening. Often, the fogginess is brought upon by our own choices(as of my loved one), but other times it comes and we have no reason why.

The not knowing why brought to mind what happened yesterday: one of our former Varsity kids, now a young man of 20 or 21, was driving from Michigan to Charlotte last night with his wife of 7 months. They were in a terrible accident and he's now in a hospital in Ohio, having gone through brain surgery, been put into a medically induced coma, and is now clinging to life. He's alive, barely, but no one knows how much of him will still be there if he survives the next few days. This is not a fog caused by him and his sin choices, but nonetheless, his family will be walking in a fog for months and possibly years.

But here's the truth that we can cling to, whether it be completely trusting the life and choices of my loved one into His hands, or the actual sustaining life that Lane now needs so desperately. This is what I want to say to my loved one and to the Bargeron family in this time of great uncertainty:

"God is trustworthy even when we can't see, feel, or hear Him. He guides us in decisions and promises never to leave us, even when His guidance takes us into the fog, mystery, and suffering. He is there in the fog, He is active, and He is fulfilling His glorious purposes. Our role is to trust- even if it takes years." When the fog threatens our judgment, we must cling to unassailable truths, such as:

*God has promised never to leave me. Therefore God is near even though the fog hides His presence and I fear He may have abandoned me.
*God keeps His promises. In spite of my circumstances and past acts, He does not, will not, and cannot change His mind about walking with me in the mystery times.
*God works His good purposes not only for me, but for all He loves. In life's mysteries He is actively working out His good pleasure for me and for others even though I may never realize it.
*Even if the fog of mystery never lifts in my life, God is worthy of my life and obedience. He may choose not to explain Himself, and I must rest in His wise judgment.
*My responsibility is to walk humbly and faithfully before my just and loving God and within my community.

Christmas in the Carolinas

Hunsucker Christmas was quiet this year, without the lively Carr clan to keep things moving.

Mom and Dad waiting for me in the living room this morning.

One of our family traditions is that Dad reads Christmas stories before we open the stockings and gifts.

Christmas breakfast? Fancy cheeses: sharp chocolate cheddar, cranberry stilton, and horseradish cheddar. We don't have an actual planned breakfast, and just snack on treats.

Another tradition(or what has basically become one) is that Dad buys us jewelry. He gave me beautiful Peridot studs.

Then we talked with Will's family in Ukraine. I think Phyllis was waking Bogdan up, so they're not in this picture.

 

 

 

After that, I got out and went on my shorter bike route(13 miles). It was a beautiful day here in the South; sunny and around 50 degrees. =-) I came back, got cleaned up, prepared another dish, and then we had lunch with Grandma, and our friend, Sally, from church.

Post lunch family picture

With Grandma. She's so tiny now. She used to be 5'1, but has shrunk down to about 4'8. She makes me feel really tall, and I'm not even quite 5'4!

 

Merry Christmas, everyone! I pray that you've had a blessed Christmas season celebrating the coming of our Savior.

Christmas Craziness

Soo, this past week has been pretty crazy. From last Sunday to this Sunday I had: church, the final day of JV AWANA for the year, the church Christmas party, dinner and McAdenville with Kristie and Zariah, lunch Uptown with Julia, church Christmas caroling, the Varsity AWANA Christmas party, an evening visit with friends in town for a funeral, a Varsity girl's Christmas movie morning, the funeral, people staying with us for three days, a surprise party for Margaret, church, and our family Christmas party. Throw in cooking, cleaning, making what seems like a million trips to Target and Trader Joes, ornament making, oh, and that's right- the normal things I have to do- and, wow, what a week! Whew, Christmas is going to be a breeze after all of that! Here are a few pictures of some of the festivities:

**a couple already have captions, because I used them for a Christmas slide show that we played at church today. 

You'd have to have been in my group to understand that caption. So as to protect the identity of the person that inspired the caption, no names shall be used. ;-D

I had to include this one so that you could see my cute little grandma terrifying us(she's the tiny one) as she trotted around the room as part of Santa's reindeer. I'm not quite sure that she fully knew what was going on(this is my grandma w/dementia), but she was sure game to take part!

Caroling with one of my JV'ers

You know that a friend knows your quirks well when they know that a porta-jon is a photo op, and they are waiting outside the door prepared for your exit.

Through A Child's Eyes

I thought it would be fun to plan a special Christmas treat for Zariah, my mentee, and since my friend, Kristie, is Zariah's Thursday mentor, I invited her to join the fun. Seeing things afresh through a child's eyes(particularly one who doesn't get special surprises very often) was so great. We started the evening by taking her to The Diamond, a hip old diner in our neighborhood. She loved it....and kept telling us so. Then came the big surprise.........McAdenville-also known as Christmastown USA, http://www.mcadenville-christmastown.com/. Oh, my goodness, was it ever fun to watch her taking in all of the lights. She kept saying, "I LOVE this place!" What a joy it is to bring joy to others. We took a ton of pictures (and I suspect that she now thinks her mentors are crazy), but here are just a few:

At the Diamond

Checking out the beautiful trees around the lake

The night's not complete without hot chocolate!

We visited Frosty

And did a bit of caroling

JV Family Christmas pic

The GBC JV AWANA group wishes you a very Merry Christmas!

Zariah

Zariah is the 9 year old that I mentor every Wed. afternoon with the after-school program, Faith, Hope, & Love. As I've gotten more involved over the last few months by going to school events and having lunch with her at school monthly, I've begun to realize that this child is definitely what is referred to as high risk. She's in a tough family situation, in a tough neighborhood, and just has a tough life. I've seen a lot of the need and it reminds me of situations in Odessa with children who have parents, but the parents either aren't involved, or have a ton of problems themselves. This child is living in conditions that hurt my heart, but then I stop and look at her, and am amazed. Even though she's got a lot against her and has grown up learning how to be tough and take care of herself, she's smart, loving, hungers to learn, and wants to do things the right way. She's been given a chance at Brookstone(private Christian school for high-risk kids), and is also in Faith, Hope, and Love every afternoon. She's being exposed daily to God's Word, and has Christian mentors in her life daily sharing their lives and their faith. I'd love to have some of you partner with me in praying for this little girl: for her salvation(I don't know if she's saved, or not), for her safety, for her heart not to harden as she grows and develops in a tough situation, for her to have joy beyond what is normal in a life like hers, and that she'd grow up and escape this poverty lifestyle. Would you also pray for the four of us who mentor her and that we'd know how to speak into her life and best serve her and her mother? Thank you so much!

By Hook or Crook

Yesterday I was going through a box of stuff that I brought back from Ukraine and found an unfinished scarf that I had crocheted while there. I would often take projects with me on my long train trips and this had been one of those projects. The funny thing is that this scarf was almost fully completed at least 1 3/4 years ago, with only the tying off and the tassels needing to be finished. So I pulled it out of the box yesterday determined to finish it. Then I went on a search for my crochet hooks, before remembering that I had given away all of my craft supplies to people in Ukraine before leaving. Today I went and got a hook to finish the scarf. Now the funny thing is that this scarf is just way too hot to wear here in the South. I'm hoping for at least a couple of good freezing days to wear this beauty!

Lost: A 5 yr. old

**No worries. I didn't really lose a child.

Meet Evelyn. She's acting as a visual representation for all of us. This week I finished my 7th month of going Paleo and hit the 40 pound mark, as well. 40 pounds gone, that is. Evelyn is a normal 5 yr. old who weighs about the exact same amount as what I have lost.

I've lost an Evelyn!

"The best way to spread Christmas cheer...

.....is singing loud for all to hear." Buddy the Elf

Last night was a lot of fun with my life long friend, Kristie. We enjoyed seeing some of the holiday sights in Uptown, including the famously odd reindeer in the Wells Fargo buildings. Somehow, she had made it her entire life without knowing about these interesting Christmastime statuary, so I had to do something about that, of course. We started at the Wells Fargo Towers, went through the Overstreet Mall to Founder's Hall in the BOA tower to see the singing Bear band(sadly, there was a company party taking place, so the Bears weren't performing), and then walked back outside so that we could see more lights. The weather was really great and it was a really fun evening. I'm definitely catching the festive mood now!

Kristie in the Overstreet Mall

The hilarious deer statuary

The Atrium in 2 Wells Fargo(the bldg. my dad is the Operations Mgr. for)

Street decorations

The Bear Band(which has now swelled to a small orchestra) in Founder's Hall

Tightening the belt at Christmastime

Once I wrapped my mind around the fact that I'm on the "Christmas on a Shoestring" budget this year, I sat down and began to think about my options. Credit? Not an option. There's no wiggle room in savings, so that's also not an option. The main issue that I had to come to terms with is that I love everything about the Christmas season; the parties, the fun foods, the gift giving(I love trying to find just the right thing for each person), the decorations everywhere, the tree and wreaths, and the list goes on. I love it all, but I just can't afford to do what I normally do. I can't afford much of it at all. I considered cutting my food budget each week in December to be able to afford the wreaths, etc., and decided that my eating right was more important. I thought about skipping my afternoon coffee at Novas and decided that the getting out of the house to study factor was more important for my sanity. I already walk and bike more than I drive my car, so I knew I couldn't really cut my gas bill this month. I quickly realized that there's really not a whole lot I can do with my current budget except to get creative and to be satisfied with and thankful for what I'm actually able to do this year. I'll share with you later about some of my gift ideas, but for now, here are some pictures from last night's decorating.

Handblown glass balls

Curious as how to incorporate some of your beloved ornaments into decorating when you don't have a tree? Repurpose them along with other items from around the house for a really beautiful centerpiece!

About 6 years ago one of my friends moved from Charlotte and had to greatly reduce her belongings. For $10, I bought her entire set of ornaments that she had bought as an exchange student in Germany: hand carved birds, twisted twig stars, and three sets of large balls covered in red berries, tiny pine cones, and a mixture of the berries and pinecones. The ornaments are so beautiful on a tree and I really wanted to be able to use them off the tree, as well. You can't see them very well(I made this picture huge so you could see better), but the stars are hanging from the shelf and the birds are on top between the red balls.

Sleeping With Bread- a book review

Sleeping With Bread: Holding What Gives You Life, by Dennis, Sheila, and Matthew Lin

I picked up this little 73 page book at Barnabas International's www.barnabas.org 
PTM conference in October, along with several other books recommended for Member Care. 

The book opens with a description of the many children who were left orphaned during the bombings of WWII. The fortunate ones were rescued and placed in refugee camps where they were fed and cared for. Many of the children had gone through great trauma and weren't able to sleep at night, because they feared waking to find themselves once again homeless and without food. Finally, someone hit upon the idea of giving each child a piece of bread to hold at bedtime. Holding their bread, these children would finally sleep in peace. All through the night the bread reminded them, "Today I ate and tomorrow I will eat again."

It's a simple book that's about asking ourselves two questions: For what am I most grateful? For what am I least grateful? It's taking the time to acknowledge both the good and the bad in each day, bring them before God without any "What Ifs", and thank Him for the things that He allows in our lives.

The authors refer to the process as "The Examen." There are many ways to ask the questions:

-When did I give and receive the most love today? When did I give and receive the least love today?
-When did I feel most alive today? When did I most feel life draining out of me today?
-When was I happiest today? When was I the saddest today?
-What was today's high point? What was today's low point?
-What did you feel good about today? What was your biggest struggle?

The Examen Process:
1)Ask God to bring to your mind the moment today for which you are most grateful. If you could relive one moment, which one would it be? When were you most able to give and receive love today?
Ask yourself what was said and done in that moment that made it so special. Breathe in the gratitude you felt and receive life again from that moment.
2)Ask God to bring to your mind the moment today for which you are least grateful. When were you least able to give and receive love? Ask yourself what was said and done in that moment that made it so difficult. Be with whatever you feel without trying to change or fix it in any way. Let God's love fill you just as you are.
3)Give thanks for whatever you have experienced.

This process can be done alone, with a friend, a spouse, a family, a group, etc. It's an excellent debriefing for the end of each day, or week, or trip, etc. You can use the positive side of it with children's groups to help them see the positive in each others' actions throughout a day or week. It can be used at holidays, at the end of the year(looking back), in counseling(to help people find both the negative and the positive in their situation). It can be verbalized, or journaled. It can be used in letters, holiday cards, and in general, in communicating well with others. I started it this week, upon completion of the book, and am now journaling it each night before I go to sleep. Care to join me in the process??

Why did I like this book? I liked it because I see so many practical uses of this process. I also really like the emphasis on naming not only the positive experiences in our lives, but also understanding the reality of the negatives and the place that they currently have in our lives. We can verbalize both ends of the spectrum, accept them for being allowed by God, and thank Him for both the good and the bad.