Doing Justice and Loving Mercy, Together

Letting God Write Your Motherhood Story

2012-01-19T07:02:00.000-12:00

We had our first real venture into foster care this weekend. We hosted three brothers, ages 9, 12 and 13, for respite care. Respite care is temporary or relief care for full time foster parents, sort of like sending your kids to grandma's house? Respite care is super fun, who wouldn't love being the equivalent to grandma's house. However, we aren't just respite care for these brothers. We have been asked to consider adopting them. Out of respect for all parties involved and foster care confidentiality policies that is all I can, or will, say about the boys on the Internet. (Additionally, if you see me anywhere in public with the boys or you are in our home do not mention the word adoption as it is not on their radar yet AT ALL.) I have been torn about how much to share about our journey on-line, I want to be honest and open yet I cannot share everything because of the nature of foster care. I also never want to over share about other people on-line. You can see my warts, but it is not my place to share Andy's or any potential children's. And, even with a belief that I should keep it real, some thoughts are best kept private.

So, with all of that in mind. Here is just a smidge of current journey to building a family.

You may remember me mentioning these brothers in this post. The prospect of parenting them has terrified me from the beginning. Andy and I have talked and prayed and I have shed many, many tears. When people ask how foster care is going and you tell them that you have been asked to adopt a 9, 12 and 13 year old, they look at you like you are crazy. You know what, I think it is crazy too, so I don't need the reminder! I have rehearsed all of the "ifs, ands, and buts" in my mind more than you can comprehend. Thoughts of these brothers consumes my mind day and night. Most of the time I am thinking of all of the chaos that this would mean to our lives. I have cried to Andy, "Why can't we just be normal? Why do we have to house a 20 year old and think about adopting three adolescents? Why can't we just be normal and have a baby or something!"

So, we hosted the three brothers this weekend and they were a sheer delight. Not without normal bumps and quibbles of brothers this age, but overall they are just an incredible little crew. It is much too early for us to make a decision about our forever future with these kids and legally several things have to happen before they are technically adoptable. Nothing is ever a sure thing in foster care. What we do know is that we will host them for several more respite weekends and keep praying for God to make His plan known to us.

As Andy and I have discussed the possibility of parenting these boys a quote from Lysa TerKuerst has refused to leave my head. Lysa is the adoptive mom to two Liberian boys who came to her family at ages 13 and 14 -- crazy right? I have heard her talk about their family story and she says, "As Christians if we only do things that are secure and certain then how can we ever walk by faith and not by sight?" That is a profound thought to me as we face down our own crazy adoption situation. Today, I put on a Focus on the Family podcast while I was cleaning and guess what they were playing? Lysa telling the story that this very quote came from. Please go listen to her two part series about her life and the adoption of her boys. If the idea of listening to a Christian broadcast makes you bristle, will you listen to it anyway? I think her life story will move you regardless of your beliefs. Something she said early in her talk caught my heart today. She told her audience to, "Let God write your motherhood story." That is precisely what I needed today. Today I need to let go of the idea of being normal and embrace what God wants for our family. So, you can join me in praying we can discern what that is.

Goals for 2012

2012-01-04T01:15:00.000-12:00

It is the beginning of the new year, so everyone is talking about their resolutions or goals for the coming year. I know that 2012 is going to be a year of big change for us since I am working at home for the foreseeable future and hope to add children to our family. So, here are a few of my goals as I look ahead to 2012.

Spiritual

Begin attending Bible Study Fellowship so that I can do in-depth Bible study. I start next Wednesday and I am super excited.
Establish Sunday as a Sabbath. We are a go, go, go kind of family and want to learn to rest and rest in the Lord. We are trying to set aside Sunday for worship, rest and enjoying the company of those we love.

Relationships

Go out on a weekly date with Andy.
Get to know our neighbors better by having people over.
Have friends over for dinner at least monthly.
Become a mom! We hope to have children in our home full time via foster care this year.

Work

Begin to recycle and compost. I would love any advice on these topics.
Start a (very small) garden. Again, advice welcome! I want to feed us more veggies while reducing our grocery bill.
Blog weekly. What would you like to read about?

Health

Exercise 4 times weekly. We joined the YMCA last year and this became a normal part of our lives. I want to keep it up and try out some group fitness classes. Of course, the goal of this is to be healthy and lose weight. Last year I saw very little weight loss despite my faithfulness to exercise, but I am sticking to it for overall health.
Establish a healthy nutrition plan for our family. You know that we will try to eat natural, mostly organic food. We tried a Paleo diet challenge in 2011 and liked it. I am not ready to implement a fully Paleo lifestyle, but I want to incorporate a lot of Paleo principles into our diet.
Compete in a mini-triatholon like the Tri-Deltathon at UT that consists of a 400m swim, 6 mile bike, 3 mile run.
Compete in at least two races of 5K or more. I am running the Knoxville Marathon 5K, does anyone want to join me?

Personal Growth/Education

Read at least one book monthly. A few already on my list are The Connected Child by Karyn Purvis, Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis, and Grace Based Parenting by Tim Kimmel.

What are your goals or resolutions for 2012?

Our New Kind of Christmas Take 1

2012-01-02T13:10:00.000-12:00

You know what? I love Christmas. I just love it. I love the twinkling lights and the parties and the excitement and the excuse to eat sugar and hang out with a lot of my favorite people. I love getting adorable Christmas cards and putting up Christmas decorations. I love pondering Immanuel, God with us. I love thinking about the deep and wide and vast love of God for us to come to this earth to be our brother, friend, teacher and Savior. (Seriously, you have to watch the Nativity Story next Christmas. We watched it Christmas Eve just before bed and loved it even more.) We attended Redeemer Church of Knoxville during Advent and really enjoyed using the church's Advent guide for weekly family devotions. Andy especially liked talking about how celebrating Christ's birth is supposed to get us excited about Him coming again.

We hosted an Open House for our neighborhood for the second year and had a lovely time. We have a small neighborhood and a lot of people came by. We have some of the best neighbors that you could ever ask for and it was nice to catch up with them.

This year we tried our hand at a new kind of Christmas where we gave gifts to Jesus rather than to each other. The week before Christmas Andy and I finalized our choices for our Christmas gift donations. We had a lot of fun looking through the catalogs and choosing gifts. We purchased a year of primary school education for an abuse survivor through IJM and donated a cleft palate surgery for a Chinese orphan through Show Hope among other things. Family members donated to Hope Resource Center in our honor as well as an incredible foster care ministry that is being started by family friends in Missouri. The greatest gift is that our sweet pseudo-sister Sarah was inspired by our donation of the cleft palate surgery and rallied her company (a home health provider) to raise money to donate to Show Hope as well. My heart swelled at that news because our counter cultural Christmas message spread to the hearts of others and their donations will change the lives of some fortunate children.

It was an interesting experiment to have a "gift free" Christmas. I say "gift free" because we still got some stocking stuffers and various gifts from friends and family. However, the focus of our gift giving was to buy for the least of these. I liked that a lot. Yet, I learned that others want to buy you gifts and it makes them really happy. My sister, for instance, told me that she was an adult and could buy me a present if she wanted to. She did and I loved it. I also learned that there is some excitement that goes along with gift anticipation that I don't want to completely remove from our household. I told Andy that it felt really different to not be looking forward to opening gifts. He asked if it felt like going to someone else's birthday party? Touche - it is Jesus' birthday afterall. We spent the Christmas Eve morning with our little nieces and nephews and they were ready to explode with excitement because Santa was coming THAT night. I want the focus our family Christmas to be the coming of Jesus and giving to others, but I also want to figure out how to incorporate the excitement of the season and receiving gifts. Chris and Stacey do a great job of balancing all of this with their little ones and I want to learn more from them. Keep your eyes peeled for how our traditions evolve.

We exchanged stockings with our Sto-Nack family the night before we all went our separate ways for Christmas weekend. Our choice for gift giving made my life a lot less stressful during December. I had fun looking for stocking stuffers and ornaments for Andy, Sam and Sarah, but didn't feel the pressure of having to find the perfect gift.

This is Sam's attempt to look excited for a picture because Sarah gave him a trip to the Grand Old Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame. The perfect treat for the guy who can sing every word to every country song ever written.

Sarah didn't follow our no gift guideline and bought us a Keurig machine. Andy has been wanting one so badly and was thrilled with her thoughtfulness. We love our new toy and we are very thankful for her thoughtfulness.

Our annual trek to St. Louis was a lot of fun. We saw both families and lots of friends.However, we have a woeful lack of pictures. Alas, I resolve to be a better picture taker and blogger in 2012.

My New Job

2011-12-29T05:18:00.000-12:00

Today is my first day as a stay at home wife (SAHW)/ soon-to-be stay at home mom (SAHM). I have had three jobs since my college graduation over a decade ago (yikes!) and I have loved all of them. I love to work, I get it from my dad, but I have always wanted to be a stay at home mom once we started a family. We have had a hectic (yet incredible year) and Andy has been looking forward to my time being more flexible and being able to do a lot of tasks during the day so that we have more time together on evenings and weekends.

I have heard about how hard transition going from the working world to being at home full-time, so I am interested to see how I adjust. I have a serious list of projects to work on and we will begin doing weekend care for a set of 9, 11, and 13 year old brothers in January. My first morning home has been productive and now I am waiting on our friends Mike and Claire to drop off their foster kids who we are keeping for a few days as Mike and Claire celebrate their anniversary. I am considering this weekend trial by fire!

(Well, I had all kinds of fun pictures to post of my morning, but blogger won't upload them. I'll try again later!)

Santa Hustle

2011-12-11T10:42:00.002-12:00

I am back on track to becoming a runner. Honestly, I don't like running. I have been sick the past two days, so I really did not want to get out of bed on this very cold morning. However, today I remembered today that race day is super fun! In general, runners are really nice people and race events have a great atmosphere with camaraderie and celebration. You also get a great sense of accomplishment when you finish!

This morning we ran the Santa Hustle 5K and Half Marathon in Sevierville, Tennessee. It is a really fun race where everyone gets a Santa-like shirt, hat and beard to run. A lot of people took it to the next level and dressed up even more as elves and other characters. One group was Santa and all eight reindeer! They ran in formation for the entire 5K and even sang Christmas carols. It was so cute and fun. Our friends Laura, Brooke and Mackenzie ran the half marathon, as did Andy, while I ran the 5K.

Andy has been running half-marathons and full marthons for about seven years. This morning's race was a breeze for him. He was a pretty cute (and skinny!) Santa. He loves to run and especially loves race day. Today he finished fourth in his age bracket and in the top 10 overall! Not too shabby.

Brooke, Laura and Mackenzie also ran the half marathon! Laura and Brooke both clocked personal records for the day. I was so proud of them.

The girls decided to get in the spirit of the race and get cute socks. They were pretty disappointed to see that about half of the female runners had a similair idea at Target! They still looked adorable.

Being Available

2011-12-04T15:10:00.000-12:00

It is really incredible to see God work as we begin our foster care journey. Andy and I pray a lot more these days as we prepare our homes and our hearts to welcome foster children. I taught a Bible study for my work this week, which is not a common experience for me, and I met an amazing couple who have been fostering for almost two years. They have adopted one of their foster daughters and are hoping to adopt a second in January. I was feeling really discouraged about the foster to adopt process that day and meeting them lifted my spirits. I also gained new friends who can give me advice on this journey. God knows who to bring us and when.

Foster care and adoption is an awfully peculiar situation to be put in where is some ways you get to pick your children. It is just such a funny system saying yes and no to children coming to your home and how to decide who to say yes and no to. We have already received a call about a potential set of brothers that may be available for adoption. The potential placement does not fall within our specified age bracket (10 years and under) nor our per-determined number of siblings (two). We have not made a decision yet and we do not have to make a decision yet. I am not sure that we are ready and equipped to provide the type of experienced parenting that these boys will need. I feel guilty for even the fact that we may not accept this placement. I told our case worker that I have mommy guilt and I am not even a mommy yet!

So, today I am pondering what it means to be available to serve God. Does it mean saying yes to every opportunity? Does saying no mean that I am living in fear? I know that the answers to these questions are not simple. Yet, I also know that if I had listened to common sense and my fear emotions that I would not have answered God's call to provide a home for Sam. I wouldn't have been available for what God wanted for our family. And, I would have missed out on a lot of joy.

Starting Our Family

2011-11-27T09:44:00.000-12:00

We have been talking about adoption since our dating days. Andy recalls an evening sitting on my porch, playing Scrabble when I asked him, "So, how do you feel about adoption?" Having been friends with me for more almost three years, Andy knew that saying no to adoption meant saying no to me. So, that night Andy said, "I have never really thought about it, but I am open to the idea." And that began our journey.

The weekend after we got engaged, we attended Together for Adoption and Andy fell in love with the idea of foster care. We have planned to begin our family through adoption from that day. We may or may not try to have birth children, but wanted to begin our family through adoption because currently being childless we have more freedom on how many children and the ages of children that we can welcome into our home. We recently completed our home study with OmniVisions and are awaiting approval. It is likely that our home will be opened in December and we hope to have a placement of children in January. To begin, we have decided to open up for up to two children ages 10 years and younger who are available for adoption.

This is our plan. We believe that we are following where God is leading, but we also know that He is in control and our plan could definitely be different. In some ways I am so thrilled to be opening the doors to the next chapter of our lives and in some ways I am absolutely terrified. We are walking into foster care and adoption with our eyes open. Through or training and through friends who foster and adopt we know some of the hard things that we will likely face. Most likely our children will have been abused and neglected in their homes of origin. Very possibly our children will have memories of those homes and will, therefore, have diffuculties adjusting to new homes because of those experiences. Our children may exhibit behaviors that are a result of past abuse. I have started looking through Web sites of adoptable children and wondering if any of those children are the ones we will adopt. Then, fear will grip my heart. "How can we possibly do this? We are not prepared to take care of these sweet kids who have endured so much!" Yet then I remember the reason we have chosen this path to begin with because if we do not open our home, then who will? So, instead of letting the fear take hold I pray that God will give me a spirit of power and love and a heart that is ready to embrace this adventure.

So, our next chapter should start soon. We are buying some bunk beds from a friend. I have put in my notice at work and will have the good fortune to be a stay at home mom. Now, we just need som kids!

A New Kind of Christmas

2011-11-25T01:14:00.077-12:00

Last year, I really wanted to begin to celebrate Advent as a family. We decided to do reading each night at dinner to prepare our hearts and to anticipate Christ's coming. Christmas is such a miraculous time. God came as a man to be our friend, brother and Savior. Thinking of Christ has a baby makes him so very human to me and makes the story of his life, death and resurrection so profound. We watched the Nativity Story movie a few nights before Christmas and will do that again this year. It will move you to see these people you have read about since your childhood actually depicted as real people with real emotions and stories.

Andy and I spent our first Christmas together while we were engaged. Since we were spending so much money on our wedding, honeymoon and getting our house set up we chose to do one small gift each for Christmas. That worked well, so we did the same thing last year. One gift with a very reasonable price limit. Between the two of us we have a decent number of people to buy gifts for. I was hustling and bustling to get it done last year when I read Ann VosKamp's "Thinking About Whose Birthday It Is." I was ruined. I knew that this was how our little family was supposed to celebrate the birth of our blessed Jesus. We were suppose to forgo luxuries for ourselves to give to people who do not even have necessities.

We are very fortunate to have everything that we need. As are our families. Both of our families enjoy buying gifts for each other and are very generous at Christmas. For Christmas this year, and hopefully for years to come, all of the gifts we are giving and receiving a for Jesus. He has told us that when we give to the least of these that we give to him, so that is the way we want to celebrate His birthday. We have made a list of charities that we will be donating to and asked our families that if they would like to give us a gift to donate to one of these or a charity of their choice. A few of our favorites are: Show Hope, Covenant Mercies, Blood Water Mission, Hope Resource Center, International Justice Mission and Bethany Christian Services.

Let me just say, this is a really hard mental and emotional shift. For months, I have seen things that I want in stores or on-line and thought,"I will ask for that for Christmas." OR "I want to get that for Andy for Christmas." It will take some time to undo my 31 prior Christmases, but I know that this is the right thing for our family and I am excited to be taking the big step to making it a reality for us. Sacrificing for others is always worth it in the end. Truly I do not need a pair of Uggs or a new Chi when there are children who do not have water they can drink because it is infected with feces. I do not need more place settings of my china when there are children enslaved as prostitutes. We are blessed with great abundance and we need to share it more.

Our Advent season will be filled with Sunday night movies (come on by our house every Sunday in Advent to eat soup or chili and watch a Christmas movie!) with friends, a few treats on St. Nicholas Day, driving around to see Christmas lights, sipping hot chocolate, a Neighborhood Open House and hopefully plenty of down time to enjoy the company of those we love, exchanging stockings with Andy, Sam and Sarah, and pondering the wonder of Emmanuel, God with us.

P.S. I also saw this cool idea on Pinterest: “Something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read.”

Building Our Traditions

2011-11-24T01:13:00.000-12:00

This is our third holiday season together. In 2009, we were engaged and last year we spent our first Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year married. I love traditions! In fact, I was stressed out last year to find perfect holiday traditions that we could celebrate every year and be able to say, "We have done this every Thanksgiving since we were married." Silly, I know. One tradition that we started last year and did this year was a month of thankfulness. Since November 1, we have been writing every night at dinner thankfulness leaves and posting them on a board. This has been a really good way for the three of us to think about Thanksgiving as more than just a feast with a big turkey.

We have decided, at least for now, that we will stay at home on Thanksgiving and travel to St. Louis to see both of our families at Christmas. We will miss seeing our families today, but are so thrilled to have a relaxing weekend at home together. This morning we are just lounging around and will watch the Macy's Parade. Well, I will watch it. Andy and Sam are still snoozing! This afternoon we are volunteering for clean up at KARM's Thanksgiving lunch (Knoxville's homeless mission) and this evening the Blantons are joining us for dinner. I have been cooking little by little each day this week and I am looking forward to a great holiday!

This weekend we will decorate for Christmas. I am definitely a no Christmas until after Thanksgiving, but I am ready for some Christmas cheer. Andy and I will deck out the house and then decorate our family tree when Sam gets home from work on Saturday. We will visit the Fantasy of Trees which is one of my favorite Knoxville events!We have had such an incredible year and I am so blessed to share my life and my home with Andy and with Sam. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Honeymoon Baby

2011-11-02T13:03:00.001-12:00

I did not want a honeymoon baby. In fact, I was so adamant that I did not want a honeymoon baby that I broke down into sobbing hysterics on our honeymoon when I thought that our contraception of choice wasn't working properly. Poor Andy had to comfort an irrationally hysterical wife just three days into marriage.

It did not surprise any of our friends and family when Andy and I welcomed Sam into our family last year. Our sweet friend Sarah had taken custody of her younger brother, Sam, in 2008. He had the awesome opportunity to live at Bethel Bible Village in Chattanooga for more than two years, but last year he finished high school and his time at Bethel was coming to an end. Sarah shared at our small group that if Sam couldn't find a job in Chattanooga that he would be moving onto her sofa. For a few days I mulled over Sarah's predicament. Then it hit me: he could live with us. Sarah lived in a house with two other single girls and little space to spare. I lived in a house with three extra bedrooms and an incredible male role model. Andy was away that weekend and I kept rehearsing how I would ask him if Sam could come to live with us. After he arrived home, I dropped the bomb on him, "I think that Sam should move in with us." Andy said that he would think about it and we snuggled onto the couch to watch a movie. About an hour later, he paused the movie and said, "I think that Sam should move in, too." That was that.

God put a desire to do foster care into our hearts during our engagement and while this wasn't actually foster care, Sam was a young person who needed a home and we had a home to provide. Sarah reminded me recently that I said to her, "Sarah, we are Christians, this is the type of thing that we do for each other." It really is that simple, God tells us to open our hearts and our homes to our brothers and sisters, to the foreigner, the widow and the orphan.

We have been taking our lumps lately in regards to being mentors to Sam. We are rookies fighting battles that seasoned parents find exhausting. Sam is the sweetest young man you will ever know, but he is a typical 20 year old that is very tough to motivate and inspire when most of the time he wants to sit around playing video games and reading comic books. Crafting a responsible adult is a long, slow, arduous process. Last night, as I bandaged his hand from a small wound he got at work, Sam told me that he was preparing me to be a mom. I am not Sam's mom, he has a mom and house mom that fill that role, but I realized for the first time that Sam is my honeymoon baby. Sam moved into our home on October 25, 2010. A honeymoon baby, had he come the traditional way, would have been due in the last week of October. So here's to my 6 foot 2 inch, 250 pound honeymoon baby who is teaching me each day how to be a mom.

Leslie Loves

2011-06-09T12:41:00.000-12:00

1) The iPhone
I was one of the haters. I always made fun of the members of the iPhone cult. I am one of them now and I am not sorry. I. love. it.

2) Good Reads

This is a great Web site that helps you catalog your books. Share reviews and get recommendations from friends. It is a great way for me to keep a list of what I have read and books that I want to read.

3) Iced Coffee
Like the entire eastern United States, we are in the throughs of a heat wave. Of course, I am not giving up my morning cup (or four) of coffee. However, since it is reaching 80 degrees by 8 a.m. I have been toying with iced coffee recipes. I am trying this cold brew recipe tomorrow in the hopes to avoid a watered down brew.

4) This guy.
I'll be writing a post about that soon.

Recent Reads

2011-05-30T09:38:00.001-12:00

This post should really be called, "An Ode to Audio Books." I absolutely love getting audio books from my local library.

When I sit down to read, I tend to stick with books that are spiritually nurturing or educational, with an audiobook, I am more likely to get a book that is purely leisure since I am driving an can turn my brain off a little. Here are a few that I have enjoyed in the past couple of months.

Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl
I picked up this audio book at the library just because the title was interesting. I was completely delighted to find one of my favorite books in recent memory! Ruth Reichl recounts her years as the New York Times food critic in an understandle, creative and completely entertaining way! I HIGHLY recommend this for a pick me up read or a great audio book.

I Beat the Odds by Michael Oher
As a person with a deep love of adoption and as a hopeful future adoptive and foster mother, I loved the movie The Blind Side, so I jumped at the chance to read I Beat the Odds by Michael Oher. This memoir is an honest monologue about Oher's very difficult upbringing in the worst of Memphis ghettos and the foster care system. Oher is an incredible young man who is honest about is mistakes and shortcomings and always respectful of his mother and other who contributed to his fractured young life.
This very honest memoir gives you insight into how many people in desperate poverty think about their situation that is devoid of hope. Oher explains how the generosity of others coupled with his determination changed his life. He gives practical examples about how you can truly help people around you.
Please read this book! It is delightful. You truly can change someone's life if you are willing

How Starbucks Saved My Life by Michael Gates Gill
We listened to this book on a road trip. The story of a middle aged man pushed out of his high paying job and forced into the service industry is more and more common in our current economy.
Gill's writing style still speaks to his elite education and seems a bit out of touch. However, he willingly takes responsibility for his failures and truly embraces his new life. As a coffee lover, my ears perked up during the technical coffee discussions. This book is enjoyable just not spectacular.

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld
After reading Sittenfeld's "American Wife" last year, I was excited to read "Prep" which was her debut novel. I took on listening to the audio book as somewhat of a guilty pleasure. Seriously, I am almost 32 years old and reading a high school coming of age drama? Yet, I LOVED it. I listened to it to and from work instead of my standard news on NPR. I would sit in my driveway waiting for a chapter to end. I listened to the last chapter twice because I wasn't ready to say good...moreAfter reading Sittenfeld's "American Wife" last year, I was excited to read "Prep" which was her debut novel. I took on listening to the audio book as somewhat of a guilty pleasure. Seriously, I am almost 32 years old and reading a high school coming of age drama? Yet, I LOVED it. I listened to it to and from work instead of my standard news on NPR. I would sit in my driveway waiting for a chapter to end. I listened to the last chapter twice because I wasn't ready to say goodbye to Lee.
The book centers on a middle-class midwestern girl going to an elite boarding school near Boston. She, predictably, feels left out and lonely and also develops a crush on her class' most eligible bachelor. "Prep" has received scores of bad reviews and while I understand the criticsms of lack of plot, loating of the main character and general use of cliches; I loved this book because it made me feel the way I felt in high school. I wasn't popular, I wasn't a loser, I floated in the in between always analyzing how other people perceived me. I had host of unrequited crushes that felt so deeply painful at the time.

This is a great beach read for the Summer. Warning: the book turns sexual in the last quarter or so. If that is offensive for you, then I wouldn't start reading this one. However, since I work with teens and young women in unplanned pregnanices, even in the sexual content of this book had value for me. Being inside Lee's head and understanding her adolescent agnst has truly given me a new perspective on the women I work with and why they make the choices that they do

Sugar, oh honey, honey

2011-05-23T15:19:00.000-12:00

Continuing with my healthy eating trend, I have been trying to purge our house of high fructose corn syrup and white sugar. This tough! I love so many types of food and I love making food for other people. My tastes aren't always mainstream so I hesitate to introduce them to others.

Tonight I was making snacks for our small group this week and wanted to make some oatmeal bar cookies. I realized that I didn't have any white sugar or brown sugar in the house. I have plenty of grade b maple syrup, honey and agave nectar so I decided to give this recipe a try replace the sugars with agave and including cherry preserves instead of the cinnamon chips. The preserves did include sugar, but not HFCS.

Recipe: Oatmeal Cookie Bars
1/2 c. canola oil
1 c agave nectar
2 large eggs
2 Tbsp. milk
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
3 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 jar high quality cherry preserves (I used cherry because it is Andy's favorite. Use whatever you like.)
(I also added about two tablespoons of almond butter)

sea salt to sprinkle on top
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13×9″ pan with foil, so that the ends hang over the long sides of your pan. (Easier to lift the bars out later.)
In a large bowl, combine oil, agave, eggs, milk, vanilla, and salt. Beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until sugars have dissolved.
In another bowl, combine oats, flour, baking and soda. Stir until just combined. Add to liquid mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until combined. (My batter was fairly runny, possibly because of the agave). Transfer to prepared pan, reserve 1/2 cup. Spread preserves over top. Dollop remaing batter across top. Sprinkle sea salt on top.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and cool until firm. Lift bars out using foil “handles” and cut into bars. Store tightly covered.

I snuck a little bite and it is pretty cakey rather than dense like a bar cookie. If you are in my small group, I hope you enjoy my experiment.

Eating Healthy and Losing Weight

2011-05-08T01:39:00.000-12:00

I have always battled my weight. Late in high school I finally lost my chubby baby weight that I had carried all my life. Then my freshman year of college I lost more weight. Of course, as a woman, I still thought that I was fat. A few years passed in college and the late night McDonalds and pizza runs caught up with me. Weight slowly crept back on to my body as I entered my early professional life. In 2004, I became a devote follower of the South Beach Diet and lost 40 pounds in a year. As the story goes, weight came back slowly over the next few years, but THEN I started dating Andy and fell in love. We started eating out and stopped working out. That is a bad combonation and we both gained weight during our year of dating and first year of marriage. So, here we are.

Looking slim in 2005.

Looking chubby on New Year's Eve 2010. Ready for a new start.

As a very goal driven person, I will do whatever it takes to meet my goal in weight loss or anything else. However, once my goal is met I celebrate by getting too relaxed. After I lost 40 pounds it slowly crept back on when I got lazy with my refined carbs and sugars. I ran a half marathon and then haven't run again in two years! Now that I have a small family to cook for, so it is hard to stick to extreme dietary restrictions. So, I am trying to establish a healthy life style rather than a one time goal. We try to eat real, non-processed foods (something I learned in my South Beach days). We are eating a lot of fruits and veggies these days. We recently bought a Vitamix blender to help make whole food eating more convenient. (I LOVE this blender! Getting me talking about it and I may never stop.)

My new love, The Vitamix.

Andy and I joined the YMCA and have been working out at least three - four times a week since January and I have kept a pretty tight reign on my diet, even when eating out for several months as well. Andy has lost 20 pounds and I have lost three. I have never had a high metabolism and I think hitting 30 has kicked my butt. I am incredibly frustrated, but determined to stick to our healthy lifestyle and teach my family a healthy lifestyle. I loved the book In Defense of Food by Micahel Pollan and have started following some good blogs Kath Eats Real Food, Nourishing Gourmet, and Keeper of the Home.

What do you do to stay healthy? Do you have any favorite sites, blogs or books?

Our Nest

2011-05-07T13:18:00.001-12:00

We are in the middle of home renovation. I married a man who was in the middle of renovating a home. I married a man who can do anything. He can build walls, rewire your entire home, he can tile, he can install wood floors, hang cabinets, well, you get the idea. Andy spent summers in college working for a construction company building homes. This all means that Andy is obscenely competent.

Do you know what it means when you marry a man who is obscenely competent? It means that you never hire anything out. Ever. Our basement (which is half of our total square footage) is in total chaos. In the past this would have sent me into a panic attack. I don't like chaos. However, that obscenely competent man turns chaos into beauty. So, I have been enjoying our beautiful main floor that Andy overhauled room by room.

The view from my perch into our foyer.

Our dining room.

Our living room. (The rug will move downstairs once we finish the project.)

My messy kitchen.

My hardworking husband.

I want to be a runner ...

2011-04-28T13:07:00.000-12:00

I found these old pictures from the St. Jude's Half Marathon in 2008. It makes me want to be a runner again.

Rest

2011-04-24T14:15:00.000-12:00

I am in constant motion. Completing tasks, acheiving goals, cleaning something, helping someone, learning about some new passion. I am bad at resting. My mind is always racing. I always think about things that need to be done.

We have so much going on in our lives that my lack of rest has led to several emotional breakdowns in recent weeks and possible illness. For several weekends I have had flu like symptoms for a few hours at a time, Andy thinks it is linked to overwork. Yesterday Andy came home from a run and found me on the kneeling on the kitchen countertops cleaning the windows and sobbing because I felt so overwhelmed about everything that needed to be done at our house.

Two weeks ago we tried to do an activities fast. We only participated in mandatory activities (like going to work) and spent our evenings doing Bible study or reading. This was really hard for me. I wanted to keep getting little cleaning tasks or emails done here and there. Is it possible I have some serious issue that prevents me from resting. Many friends and roommates have suggested this over the years.

Everyone is busy. How do you prevent physical exhaustion and emotional weariness?

On a positive note, I took a nap on the deck today and enjoyed a glorious Easter Sunday.

My Kind of Town

2011-04-16T10:52:00.000-12:00

Emilee, Natalie, Rebecca and I went to Chicago last weekend to visit Michelle. It worked out to be a great girls weekend. We stayed downtown at the Marriott Renaissance right on the Chicago River.

We ate a lot of great food, including Giordanno's Famous Chicago style pizza!

Greyson wins the best baby ever award!

We went all the way to Chicago to shop at Marshall's.

The Chicago River.

We also visited the Bean at Millenium Park and took the obligatory tourist pictures.

Foster Care and Us

2011-04-14T14:30:00.000-12:00

Together for Adoption is a great organization that educates the Church about God's heart for the orphan and His call on Christians to adopt and care for orphans. Andy and I attended the 2009 conference together just four days after getting engaged. Before getting engaged, we knew that we wanted to adopt children. At T4A, God opened Andy's heart to foster care. Pastor Scott Roley spoke about becoming a foster dad more than 30 years ago to a young teenager who has been sexually abused in her birth family as well as in three subsequent foster homes. I remember feeling Andy slump in his seat while he listened to this story and then leaning over to me saying, "We have to do something about that. Christians have to provide good families for these kids." And with that, God started directing our path.

Earlier this year we completed foster care training. We are still in the process of completing paper work that will certify our home to receive foster children. Our current plan is to provide respite care during 2011; respite care is "relief care" for foster families such as watching children on the weekend. In 2012, we would like to become full-time foster parents with an eye toward adoption. Although, we are very open to providing a home for children temporarily and helping reunite them with their birth family, if that is what is best for them.

This whole process is emotionally overwhelming. My constant prayer is for God to direct our path and make it straight. We want to do foster care to build our family, but more importantly to provide a family for children who need one. Please join us in praying for God to unite us with the right children.

Together for Adoption recently interviewed this couple at their house conference about fostering to adopt. They eloquently put into words how Andy and I feel about foster care. Watching it is worth 15 minutes of your time and may help you understand a little bit about our passion.
http://www.togetherforadoption.org/?p=10304

What questions do you have about foster care? Leave a comment and I will try to answer your questions in a future post.

October - March

2011-03-26T05:06:00.001-12:00

This is my attempt to do a pictorial catch up of our lives.

October 2010
The annual UT vs. Georgia weekend. This time in Athens and it was hot as blazes! We are hiding in the breezeway during halftime to cool off.

UT Culinary Institute has been hosting wine and beer pairing classes. They are so much fun!

Sam moved in with us. Sam is the 19-year-old brother of our sweet friend Sarah. He is living with us as "transitional living" to learn how to be an adult and live on his own.

We spent a little time away at a cabin in the middle of nowhere North Carolina.

November 2010
Kim and Leslie came to visit so that Kim and Andy could take a ride in this!

November wouldn't be complete without spending an evening supporting East Tennessee Children's Hospital at the Fantasy of Trees Gala.

Thanksgiving Day was spent enjoying the warmer than normal temps and dining with friends.

Then we headed to Missouri for our sweet friend Kelly's wedding!

December 2010
Sam graduated from high school! Here he is with his beautiful sisters!

Christmas was so much fun this year. We decorated two trees and the boys drank gallons of hot chocolate made with my sister's recipe.

We hosted a really fun Christmas Open House for our neighbors.

January 2011
We rang in the New Year with a party at our house, but managed to take zero pictures.

We also had a few snow days in January. This was teh snowiest winter I remember since moving to Knoxville in 1997!

February 2011
We celebrated our one year anniversary at the Dancing Bear Lodge in Townsend. I HIGHLY recommend this amazing resort. It is reasonably priced with cozy cabins and a phenomenal restaurant.

Auntie Les' Sweetheart Party lives! And it is even more fun with Silly Mr. Andy along for the ride.

We went to the "Movies and Martinis" fundraiser at the L&N Station. It was fun to return to the site of our wedding reception! This is one of the last events to be held at the L&N before it is transformed into a high school.

March 2011
Pictures yet to be downloaded. We have been having fun and laying low. And today we are beginning our basement remodeling project. I hate renovations. Don't get me wrong, I love the end product, but hate the process. Pray for me and my sweet husband who will have to put up with me for a few months!

Life moves too fast to blog!

2011-03-16T04:58:00.000-12:00

I have never been fantastic at doing regular blog posts, but the past year has by far been my worst! I want to chronicle life on the blog, so I remember what we did, who we saw and what I was thinking. I am going to try.

What do you think blog world?

What would you like to read about?

Children of God

2011-03-15T13:13:00.000-12:00

First Seven Months of Marriage

2010-09-16T01:12:00.000-12:00

Jackson Hole Honeymoon

2010-02-27T07:12:00.001-12:00

Most homeymooners jet off to tropical locales to celebrate thier newly minted marriage, but not us we opted to head to Wyoming in the dead of winter where temperatures range from -10 to +20! Seriously though, we decided to pick a ski area for our honeymoon and "embrace the winter!" We picked Jackson Hole, Wyoming and had a marvelous trip!

A lovley wine and cheese spread awaited at the hotel sent by my very sweet boss who arranged for small gifts to be delivered to the room each day of our stay.

We enjoyed our treat while watching the last five minutes of the Super Bowl. Sorry Peyton.

The Gros Ventre mountains flank the town of Jackson and were a beautiful sight right outside of our hotel.

We LOVED our boutique hotel, The White Buffalo Club.

We also loved a little bakery called the Bunnery were we ate several breakfasts.

The TV behind Andy is showing the it was -1 on our first day in Jackson.

The famous elk antler arches stand at the four entrances to Jackson's Town Square.

The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar is a famous Jackson landmark.

It is known for its saddle bar stools. Sadly, I wasn't all that impressed with the place!

A store for me!

Andy warming up by the fireplace before we head out skiing. Doesn't he look like a pro!

Wednesday we took a sleigh ride tour through the National Elk Refuge. Several locals recommended it and it didn't disappoint.

We also saw "The Man of La Mancha" at the local theatre and thought it was great. We love going to musicals.

Thursday was Andy's big day as we went snowmobiling in Yellowstone! It was a very cool experience.

All that I really wanted that day was to see a buffalo and I went home sad and buffalo-less. However, we did see a moose when skiing!

We spent a ton of time in town eating amazing food and also got a few massages at some fabulous spas. Andy planned an unforgettable trip!

Wedding Weekend Recap

2010-02-27T06:24:00.001-12:00

We had so much fun on our wedding weekend. We welcomed many friends and family from all over the midwest and southeast for our Rehearsal Dinner at the University of Tennessee's Down Under and wedding at Second United Methodist Church and the Historic L&N Station.

It all started with pizza and bowling at UT.

Since we are both from St. Louis, but live in Knoxville we blended our two hometowns for the Rehearsal dinner. Stefano's Pizza and Moon Pie's from Tennessee added to the St. Louis traditions of Gooey Butter Cake and Vess Soda.

The wedding day started with a bridesmaid breakfast at the Hilton and then getting ready with my family.

We decided to do all of our pictures before the ceremony so that we could spend more time together. We had our first look at the Downtown Hilton and then traipsed around the city to our favorite places.

On our way to take pictures we saw two of my favorite people checking in to the hotel. Katie and Rachel and I met as summer camp counselors eleven years ago.

We took our traditional pictures at Cafe 4 because it is the place where Andy initially told me about his feelings. And, it is super cool.

Handsome fellas

Lovely ladies in gray

The Bowdens

The Nacks

Here we go!

Jenny, Jenny and Austyn are my lifelong best friends

We had so much fun dancing the night away!

The LL & LB piggy back tradition had to happen on my wedding day!

Our place cards and train whistles were one of my favorite details. We asked guests to, "give their whistle a toot to make the newlyweds kiss!"

A wonderful night!

Mr. and Mrs. Nack

2010-02-16T07:06:00.000-12:00

Today is our ten day anniversary and I am celebrating by fighting off some cold/flu crud and a sick day from work. We are in the process of rounding up pictures and such but here are some wedding weekend highlights that I stole off of various friends Facebook pages.

Rehearsal Dinner: Pizza and Bowling at UT's Down Under hosted by Kim and Leslie Nack. We hosted about 100 people and 20 kids under the age of five. It was fun and chaotic.

The Bridesmaids Breakfast at the Downtown Hilton hosted by Sally Carter. These were some of the most special moments of the weekend, getting to spend quiet moments with the most important ladies in my life.

Pictures were all completed before the ceremony. Apparently I needed some more primping.

Getting excited before the ceremony!

The ceremony at Second United Methodist Church, Mr. and Mrs. Nack!

The reception at the L&N Station hosted by Rick and Barbara Bowden. Dinner, wine, photo booth and dancing. It was a marvelous evening!

Check out Lillian and Ben's sites for some professional pics. And check out the AWESOME photo booth that Michelle did for us here.

Leslie Loves 2009

2010-01-05T03:45:00.001-12:00

A little late, but here are a few reasons that I loved 2009:

January - My friend Heather started a weekly prayer group with me and our friend Sarah. We prayed almost every Friday morning that God would provide husbands for Sarah and me and that Heather would have a baby.
February - Auntie Les's Annual Sweetheart Party. (This year we are calling the Sweetheart Party a Rehearsal Dinner!)

March - I completed the 14 day Master Cleanse! Maybe I'll do it again in 2010.

April - Reunion with my high school youth group friends in St. Louis. We surprised a friend who is currently a youth pastor and had a great time catching up after 12 years in some cases.

May - I was asked to serve on the Board of Bethany Christian Services' East Tennessee office. I am so excited to have this opportunity to advocate for adoption and orphan care in my community.

June - Ten amazing and eye-opening days in Ethiopia and turning 30!

July - Vegas with Jenny and Jenny AND we find out that Heather, from my prayer group, is having a baby! She is expecting a boy on April 1.

September - The love of my life asks me to be his wife.

October - Continued the Tennessee vs. Georgia game tradition with Rachel and Katie. Ten years running!

November - We hosted an adoption and orphan care seminar at church that was a great success. I can't wait to see what adoptions and ideas to care for orphans come from it.

December - Christmas with the Bowdens and the Nacks in home sweet home St. Louis. I really do love that place.

Flashback - I Run for Orphans

2009-12-15T03:13:00.000-12:00

A friend reminded me of this post from my blog a few years ago. This friend said, "I read that post and thought, 'He loves orphans, she loves orphans. Those two should get together!'" Well, almost exactly three years after that post I am going to marry that boy and we plan to care for orphans together for as long as we both shall live.

One of the amazing things about our relationship is that as we have fallen deeply in love with each other, God has been unifying our life goals and vision for ministry. From the beginning, my passion for adoption and orphan care is what attracted Andy to me and he has taken a lot of time and energy to learn all about it. We both have restless hearts to love the least of these in Jesus' name and are in whole-hearted agreement that God will use us to love orphans through foster care, adoption and orphan care efforts. What most people see as overwhelming, we see as an exciting adventure and cannot wait to get started.

I wrote that post thinking how great is was that this young guy was raising money for an orphange in Haiti with no idea that Andy was going to be my husband and lifelong ministry partner. Quite an astonishing God we have, isn't He? "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!: Romans 11:33.

Orphan Care and Adoption Seminar in Knoxville

2009-10-28T14:02:00.000-12:00

I am so excited to let you know about an Orphan Care and Adoption seminar that we are hosting at my church in a few weeks. November is National Adoption Month. Have you ever considered adopting either locally or internationally? Have you thought about being a foster parent? Or have you wondered how Christians are to help the 143 million orphans in the world?

Please join us on Saturday, November 14, at Cornerstone Church of Knoxville from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. for a symposium on orphan care, adoption, foster care, and more. We will have information from Covenant Mercies, Bethany Christian Services, Knox County DCS, Youth Villages, Child Help, Adoption Foundation of Tennessee, and more.

The cost is only $5/person and includes lunch and materials.

Please invite anyone that may be interested.

Updates at http://cckadoption.blogspot.com/

A little blog love at Together for Adoption

Comment with any questions!

Leslie loves

2009-10-01T06:00:00.003-12:00

1) My fiance Andy!

2) My engagement ring, to a much lesser extent.

Leslie Loves

2009-09-15T02:11:00.003-12:00

1) The Fruit and Berry Patch in Halls, Tennessee. Andy and I picked apples, ate fried pies and spoke with the incredibly cordial owner for 30 minutes. Now I just have to figure out what to make with all of these apples.

2) Fried pies. We ate some in Halls (see above) and now I feel the need to learn my grandmother's famous recipe.

3) The volunteers and staff that make Hope Resource Center run. It is a tough, often discouraging job and these men and women do amazing and loving work.

4) Football season despite last weekend's events and the impending doom that awaits the Vols in Gainesville this Saturday.

5) Franklin the wonder dog.

6) Mondays. Unusual, I know, but Mondays are fantastic.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

2009-08-03T13:09:00.009-12:00

It has been a really fun and very full Summer this year. I was out of town for 21 days from June 10 - July 26! Here is a taste of what I have been up to:

After returning from Ethiopia, I celebrated my 30th birthday with way too many parties.

Party 1 - a fabulous boat picnic with Andy.

Party 2 - Dinner with my Knoxville girls. Sadly, no pics available. After waiting for more than an hour for a table at Downtown Grill & Brewery I guess that we weren't in a smiley mood.

Party 3 - Las Vegas with Jenny and Jenny to celebrate all of our birthdays! This trip deserves it own post, but here are some highlights.

About to see Jersey Boys!

At the Grand Canyon
The traffic jam at the Hoover Dam on the way back from the Grand Canyon. More than two hours to go five miles, then a flash flood in the desert ....

This is what we looked like when we finally got back to the hotel. We toasted ourselves for making it home.

On our way to dinner at Mario Batali's on our last night.

Party 4 - A weekend with Mom and Dad to see Wicked at The Orpheum in Memphis.

In July, we also celebrated Andy's birthday with a great dinner at Whitestone Inn in Kingston.

Then, off to Missouri for Andy's friend Amanda's wedding. We saw both of our families, went to the Muny with Jenny and saw a lot of Andy's friends from Mizzou.

This is Andy's oldest nephew Jayden. He is my new best friend, though he can't remember my name. He declares his love for me regularly.

Now I am back on Knoxville catching up on regular life for a little while and getting ready for football season!

Some Long Rambling Thoughts from Ethiopia

2009-07-07T12:49:00.012-12:00

Upon returning to the States, I quickly readjusted to my American "go, go, go" lifestyle. Thankfully, last weekend I took a short vacation and was able to ponder my experience in Ethiopia. There is so much to tell, so many stories to recount, yet I can do none of it justice. These lyrics by JJ Heller ran through my head continually on the trip:
"Don't let your eyes get used to darkness, the light is coming soon. Don't let your heart get used to sadness, put your hope in what is true."

The Team

Sixteen people traveled together to Ethiopia. Most of us were somehow connected to Together for Adoption, but a few extra friends joined us as well. Five were adoptive parents, three were teenagers, one mom and two daughters came on this adventure together, three friends from church came from Jacksonville, two college best friends came to learn about setting up an adoption fund in the Mid-West, two other teammates have already started an adoption fund in South Carolina. We also added three honorary team members: Camden and Joe, Americans currently living and serving in Ethiopia; and Yoseph, an Ethiopian, who was our driver, translator and teacher of all things Ethiopia!

Hearing life stories from team members was one of the high points of the trip. On my trip application I stated, "... bringing like-minded believers together in service fuels passion within a group and creates a collective vision." Now that sounds so business-like, but learning from the lives of these new friends did increase my passion for adoption and orphan care.

The culture, the city and the people

Ethiopia is the third poorest country in the world and we saw a lot of poverty, but not the worst of it. We stayed in the capital city of Addis Ababa for the entire trip. Even if you have been to third world cities, it is hard to describe the masses of people, chaotic driving and herds of sheep and cows wandering in the streets next to Mercedes. It was bizarre to this small, suburban mind. Yet, in the apparent chaos and crowds there was an ebb and flow that made everything work. I was fascinated by the diversity of people walking the streets in the city. From the very poor to the very ricj, women dressed in traditional Muslim attire and ladies in thoroughly Western clothing as well. One minute you would international diplomats cars and then pass over a creek that wreaked terribly of human feces. It could be truly mind boggling.

The ladies from our group stayed at a nice, dorm-style guest house. Our fellow guests were from Holland and Switzerland, each working more long-term in Ethiopia. The two women who staffed the guest house were simply charming and embodied the Ethiopian culture to me. People are more important than tasks and guests are highly esteemed. Yoseph would tell us many stories about the laid back nature of the culture. It is wonderful because relationships are very important, but can be frustrating when you want to get something accomplished. Nothing happens quickly in Ethiopia and you spend a lot of time sipping coffee with friends. Not that I can complain about that. Which leads me to ...

The Coffee

Yes, an entire section on coffee. Frankly, it deserves its own section. Coffee was originally discovered and cultivated in Ethiopia. It is still a major export and plays an important part in everyday life. Ethiopians are very proud of their coffee and they should be. Each time we arrived at an orphange, a home or any type of ministry. Some staff would stop what they were doing and begin preparing a coffee ceremony for us. Coffee purists will love this. They begin with raw beans, roast them on a small fire, then grind and boil brew them into the darkest, thickest, most amazing coffee. Tradition is that coffee should not be served alone, so Ethiopians serve popcorn.

We also spent a good bit of time at various coffee shops in Addis Ababa. When in doubt, stop and get coffee to talk over plans. There are no words for the disappointment that I felt when I had a cup of coffee on the flight home. I fear that I am ruined for life for all coffee, but the real stuff. Sigh.

The Children

It is easy to write about culture and coffee. Yet painfully diffucult to write about the children and encapsulate it all into a mere blog post. We visited five ministries while in Addis: Children's Home Ethiopia (funded by The Forsaken Children), Hope affiliated orphanges, AHope Ethiopia serving children with HIV/AIDS, Bethany Christian Services, and Entoto Mountain Outreach. Carolina Hope Adoption agency sent us with money to purchase needed supplies for each of the facilities we visited.

It was a pleasure to meet and observe all of the Ethiopians working tirelessly to change the lives of the children in their country. I particularly loved the ministry of re-parenting and sharing Jesus with street children at Children's Home Ethiopia (go here to learn about what they do and how you can be involved). It was also a pleasant surprise to be able to visit the transition home for Bethany Christian Services. I have recently joined the Board of the local office and friends will soon be adopting the daughter through this home. I tried to meet her, but looking at a picture of her was a s close as I got since she hadn't been transferred to the city yet.

My passion for adoption comes from a deep belief that God tells His people to care for orphans. More than 13% of Ethiopians are orphans. This means that they have lost one or both parents to death or abandonment. Adoption is a beautiful expression of the heart of God, but it is not a solution to the orphan crisis. We discussed this idea at length as a group and I thought about the larger orphan crisis a lot as I held children with no parents or families. How does a society reach a point where 13% of the people are orphans? It is astonishing. Many things cause orphans: disease, poverty, irresponsibility. However, as a whole orphans show us that this world is not as it should be. The world doesn't exist now as God created it. We, as people, have marred it with sin and sin comes out as destruction in countless ways including millions of orphans worldwide.

Sunday morning I was reminded of God's promise that he will make all things new and that Christ will return some day and put His world right again. "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God." Romans 8:18-21.

If you don't believe in the Christian view of the world, you may think that I sound crazy right now. Sin causes orphans? Jesus is going to fix it all? Regardless of your your religous beliefs, you know that something is tragically wrong in this world and children left without parents because of disease, poverty and neglect are just one evidence of that fact. You know that there is something fundamentally wrong with children begging in the streets. There is a problem when parents discard babies due to inconvenience.

So much of what I witnessed in Ethiopia isn't all that different that everyday life at home. The rich turn their backs on the poor. Convenience and comfort are more important than the well-being of other people. Prosperity and tragedy are neighbors. Ambivalance reigns. As I mentioned before, Jesus will right all of these wrongs when He returns. However, He has also told His followers to bring His kingdom to this earth and that whatever we do for the least of these we do for Him. None of my blog posts are complete without a challenge, so here it is. What will you do for the "least of these" in Ethiopia? There are a lot of links above to ministries that are helping. Maybe you should donate to them, maybe you should go to see for yourself or maybe you should adopt a child and embody the love of the heavenly Father to him or her. Just a thought.

For more pictures of the trip. Go here.

Ethiopia teaser

2009-06-25T14:35:00.004-12:00

Ethiopia

2009-06-08T13:18:00.002-12:00

I leave for Ethiopia on June 10. Life has been amazingly busy and actually quite stressful as I prepare to leave, so I haven't quite digested that I am going to Africa for ten days! Maybe I will have remarkable profound things to tell you about my experience when I return. I hope so. As my love for orphan care has grown, I have also been intrigued by the factors that lead to an orphan crisis such as disease and poverty. Pray that God gives me big eyes while I see cause and effect close up. I want to be envisioned to find solutions rather than overwhelmed by the problem.

Please also pray for our group of twelve traveling and serving together. Pray that we will be full of love to have hearts to love what God loves. Pray that we will be healthy and strong (in body and soul) to work hard. Pray that we will weep for these children, that we will laugh with these children and that we come home ready to fight for them.

Our tenative schedule is below along with links to the homes we will be working in. Check http://www.togetherforadoption.org/ from June 10 - 19 to discover what we are up to along the way. Ethiopia is the the nation of origin for my much beloved coffee bean, so I certainly hope that I get to enjoy some while I am there!

June 10: Depart Knoxville 4 p.m. EST

June 11: Arrive Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 9 p.m. local time (2 p.m. EST)

June 12: Explore the city, visit work site TBD

June 13: Hope affiliated orphanges

June 14: Church

June 15: Ethiopia Guest House (working here not staying)

June 16: The Forsaken Children

June 17: The Forsaken Children

June 18: Work site TBD, Depart 10 p.m. local time (3 p.m. EST)

June 19: Arrive Knoxville 3 p.m. EST

Leslie Loves

2009-05-15T05:25:00.008-12:00

It has been a really long time since we've had an edition of "Leslie Loves", so here goes!

1) Hummus. I'd happily eat it for every meal.

2) All of my psuedo nieces and nephews. Especially this guy because he cried when he couldn't go back to my house last weekend. I just love him!

3) Peet's Coffee. I love all coffee, but Peet's is my new obsession after reading "Starbucked" by Taylor Clark

4) Tuesdays. Quickly becoming my favorite day of the week, but may change to Wednesday and Thursday sporadically throughout the Summer. I'll keep you posted.

Dreams coming true

2009-05-01T09:26:00.002-12:00

Have I mentioned that I am going here with these nice people from June 10 - 19?

Well, I am and it is a dream come true! Africa was on my Before 40 list, so I think I should get to transfer something from the Before 30 list, right? Seriously though, I am thrilled to have the chance to visit the "orphan in his distress" as James tells us to do. May God use this trip in remarkable ways.

Fifteen Years Later

2009-04-07T02:08:00.005-12:00

Fifteen years ago:

I was a freshman in high school.
Kurt Cobain had just committed suicide.
Gas cost well under $1/gallon.
I couldn't believe that my sister was about to graduate, I thought that she was so grown up.
And, unbeknowst to me at the time, the massacre of one million people began in Rwanda.

Walt Mueller has a poignant post about why we should care about Rwanda. And why we should care that nobody in the world community did care 15 years ago. Please give it a read, then watch the movie Hotel Rwanda and then pick up "Left to Tell" that he references. It is a remarkable story and is one of the books that enlivened my heart for Africa when I read it a few years ago. I challenge you to refuse to be ignorant of what is happening in this world. We must know to care and we must care to act.

First Friday Five at Knoxify

2009-04-02T00:56:00.002-12:00

Knoxify.com is a local Web site that wants to spread the word about what makes Knoxville great. I am excited to be a contributor to the site and even more excited to announce our new project First Friday Five. The first installment is April 3!

Knoxville Marathon Relay

2009-03-31T00:42:00.005-12:00

These cute girls ran the Knoxville Marathon four person relay this weekend. April, Les, Laura, Esther

We had so much fun despite the very cold wind during the second half of the race. Thanks girls! Look for us to break some records in 2010.

Not For Sale

2009-03-18T02:32:00.000-12:00

The most startling sentence that I have read in a long time:

"Perhaps if the rebels were stealing oil rather than children, the world would pay more attention." David Batstone on the Lord's Resitance Army's practice of kidnapping and enslaving Ugandan children.

"Not for Sale" page 111

All the Single Ladies

2009-03-03T23:44:00.005-12:00

All the single ladies (and single gents, too) out there should take a look at the article One Single Day on Boundless. It takes an honest, but inspiring look at the pain that many of us feel in our mate-less state.

Let me know your thoughts.

Rescue Orphans

2009-02-27T14:34:00.002-12:00

Below is a challenging reminder from World Orphans of how we can make a difference in this world. I met World Orphan's Mike Vinson at Together for Adoption last November and they have a wonderful program that connect us all with practical ways to rescue orphans.

Do you desire to assist the poor and crush poverty?
Rescue orphans.
Do you wish to combat HIV/AIDS and other heinous diseases?
Rescue orphans.
Do you hope to prevent pedophiles from abusing young children?
Rescue orphans.
Do you want to stamp out prostitution?
Rescue orphans.
Do you yearn for the end of drug dealing and addiction?
Rescue orphans.
Do you crave to uphold the worth and significance of women?
Rescue orphans.
Do you long to stop violent extremism and the placement of children into radical schools?
Rescue orphans.
Do you dream to crush illiteracy?
Rescue orphans.
Do you aspire to eliminate child labor?
Rescue orphans.
Do you seek to eradicate the recruitment of child soldiers and atrocities they are forced to commit?
Rescue orphans.

Maybe I should pick up another habit ...

2009-02-15T11:52:00.004-12:00

"In England, a cappuccino costs more than a line of cocaine."
Taylor Clark on the coffee culture world-wide in Starbucked

Mark another off of the list.

2009-02-06T03:51:00.002-12:00

A little while back I told you about my Before 30 list. I got to cross another off this week as I successfully completed a month long fast from Diet Coke, which includes all other types of diet sodas. It wasn't all that hard since I had coffee to get my caffeine fix, so I thought I would keep it up.

However, I binged on February 1 with three diet sodas. I realized that I have an actual problem when I had a Diet Pepsi at lunch. I hate Diet Pepsi, but it was the only diet soda option and I wanted to have it simply because I could. It reminds me that I have only run four times since the half-marathon eight weeks ago.

Hmmm... maybe my goals should be to be a runner and to never drink Diet Coke again. Too bad I don't really like running and I LOVE Diet Coke.

2009 The Year of the Scarf

2009-02-02T06:30:00.003-12:00

I wear a lot of scarves. As I threw one on yesterday I wondered if I wore them too often. Yet, by a happy coincindence I came across this video today and I will sport the scarf until it is long out of fashion! And, check out Big Mama because she is hilarious.

Scarf Tying 101 from Big Mama on Vimeo.

Social Justice and Throwing the Baby Out With the Bath Water

2009-01-22T10:35:00.003-12:00

Today is the thirty sixth anniversary of Roe v. Wade, so I posted this about abortion on my church's Singles Ministry blog. Give it a read and let me know your thoughts, agree or disagree?

KSO Blogger Night

2009-01-18T10:13:00.003-12:00

Knoxville Symphony Orchestra's second annual blogger night provided the perfect opportunity to get dressed up and go out on the town last week. I met my friend, Natalie, at Cafe 4 on Market Square for pre-show desserts before we headed to the gorgeous Tennessee Theatre. Upon arrival, I was happy to see that we were seated near good friends Gavin and Chris as well as the Duttons.

The show opened with an ensemble of eleven bass players, cellists, violinists and a harpsichordist performed Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major. This was my favorite part of the evening since the musicians were closer to the audience and I could clearly see their varied expressions while they played. Maestro Lucas Richman then welcomed the audience as well as the bloggers in attendance. With no disrespect intended, the blogger crowd definitely brought the average age in the theatre down by several decades. Next, full symphony performed Mozart's Concerto No. 24 in C Minor with pianist Navah Pearlman. After intermission, the symphony returned without Pearlman to perform Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 in A Major.

It is no surprise to say that I am not a musician, nor a music expert, so I was not sure what I would have to add to the blogosphere's discussion of the night. My fashion forward guest and I tossed around the idea of critiquing the fashion of the evening. There was good and bad and ugly. Yet, I do not like to be negative on the blog, so I decided to pass. Instead, I'll take this opportunity to encourage the under 60 set to pay a visit to a KSO performance. The musicians are talented and the elaborate setting of the Tennessee Theatre makes it a multi-sensory event. Go ahead, be cultured.

Goals and Resolutions for 2009

2009-01-04T07:28:00.004-12:00

In addition to my "Before 30" list, I also try to set goals in various areas each year. I put my 2009 goals on paper two weeks ago and I have an awful lot to get done this year! Here is a sample from each category.

Spiritual

-Escape for an entire day of solitude once every two months. I'll use this time to think, pray and read.

Professional

-Get to work early, work hard and Leave work on time.

-Expand my professional network through community involvement.

Social

-Host a dinner party in my home each month.

Health

-Get seven hours of sleep every night.

Education

-Read two books quarterly in each of the following categories: business, theology, just for fun.

Financial

-A lofty savings goal.

Does anyone else have resolutions or goals for 2009?

Before I turn 30, I will...

2008-12-21T14:31:00.004-12:00

In June 2009, I will turn 30 years old. While a lot of people dread this milestone, I have been determined to embrace it and make sure that it is fun! Last year, I created a "Before 30 List" and have been working away on it. You can check my progress below, bold items have been completed. I have six months and one day to accomplish the rest. Wish me luck!

1) Run a half marathon. (December 2008)

2) An IRA savings goal.

3) Learn to play tennis.

4) Learn to drive a stick shift.

5) Cook a prime rib.

6) Bake a successful soufflé.

7) Exit a ski lift without falling. (February 2008. I had literally fallen every time I had ever gotten off of a chair lift.)

8) Visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. (May 2008)

9) Fast from Diet Coke for an entire month.

10) Take a cooking or craft class.

11) Host a Kentucky Derby Party with traditional food and Mint Juleps.

12) Eat at the Lady and Sons in Savannah, Ga. (October 2008)

Finished

2008-12-08T16:01:00.004-12:00

This year I created a "Before 30 List" of things to accomplish before I turn 30 in 2009. One of the biggest items was to run a half marathon. I marked that item of the list last weekend at the St. Jude's Marathon and Half Marathon in Memphis! I learned a lot about myself and life from my training and race experience. Hopefully, I put it all into writing at some point.

Below is a picture of my friends and me at the finish, including Chris who also ran and finished 93out of 6663 half marathoners!

Trying to Prove Myself

2008-11-11T02:33:00.004-12:00

I think that most of us spend the majority of our lives trying to prove ourselves to someone. Whether it is for high school popularity or career success. I love this post from Common Grounds today. If we are in Christ, He loves us because He loves us.

Together for Adoption

2008-11-02T15:32:00.002-12:00

Saturday, November 1
3:30 a.m.
Wake up

4:30 a.m.
Drove from Knoxville, Tenn. to Greenville, SC

8:15 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Attended Together for Adoption Conference

6 - 10 p.m.
Drove from Greenville, SC to Knoxville, Tenn.

It was completely worth the very long day for some great theological teaching, solid application for orphan care and lots of laughs with my friends Dave, Laura and Bill.

Audio files should be up soon at http://www.togetherforadoption.org/. I suggest you take a listen.

Georgia On My Mind

2008-10-16T03:06:00.004-12:00

I have traveled to Georgia twice in the past two weeks. First for vacation in Savannah with my mom and next to continue the Tennessee vs. Georgia football game tradition with the girls from Camp Westminster.

Mom and me in front of Paula Deen's The Lady & Sons restaurant, the main reason for our trip! The Bowden girls love some Paula Deen.

The famous fountain in Forsyth Park. I simply fell in love with Savannah! It is so beautiful and interesting. I definitely want to return. If you go, you have to take some type of tour, there is so much to see and learn.
Mom and me at the fountain. I insisted we do self-portraits and every landmark.

Now, on to Athens!

The girls before the game celebrating our tenth UT vs. UGA game. Check out the personalized cups that Katie made for us!

A little cornhole and ladder golf at the tailgate. Blake and Andy were in for the game too, so they came and tailgated with us. So fun!

The girls after the game. I still have a smile on my face despite the Vols performance.

On my mind and in my prayers

2008-09-29T16:15:00.003-12:00

A few things that have been occupying my mind today:

1) Michelle, my bff, gave birth to her third child yesterday! However, the very adorable Nicholas Worthington Hamstra is having some breathing issues and the family is waiting on test results to know what is happening. Michelle is also very weak after the delivery. Check her blog for pictures and more details on how to pray.

2) My friend Nick's mom was is a very serious wreck in Memphis this weekend. She was the only survivor and has serious injuries, but is stable. Please pray for Nick and his wife Lindsay as they decide on her care and treatment.

Today is a day when I wonder when we became old enough to have such grown-up problems.

Tailgating Season Begins

2008-09-07T09:42:00.006-12:00

This Saturday, September 13, three of my favorite things will be combined into one experience: UT football, tailgating and brunch. The Vols kick-off at 12:30 p.m., so we'll be getting ready for the game pretty early. Any ideas for a creative menu for a tailgate brunch?

An early start in Memphis 2006.

Home opener with the gang in 2007.

Saving Money vs. Saving the World

2008-08-29T14:46:00.004-12:00

While trying to clear out my blog reader I came across this great post on The Simple Dollar. I often ponder the best way to spend money. (In fact, I was just discussing this the other evening with some great friends.) Is it better to buy everything cheap and use the money saved for charitable giving or is it best to buy more expensive items that line up with your beliefs (i.e. organic, fair trade, local)? This is a great post to get you thinking.

Hint: frugality is all about what you value.

Returning to a favorite book: Crunchy Cons

2008-08-09T10:39:00.005-12:00

Like many people my age, I have become incredibly disillusioned with both political parties. During the 2004 Presidential election, a close friend, who is a faithful Christian, opened my eyes to how tied evangelical Christians were to the Republican party even though the party largely stood for greed and all other manner of sins. As I explored the idea, I began to agree with his opinions, but it was easy to see that the Democratic party was not a good political partner for my life philosophies and faith either. Enter, Rod Dreher and his book Crunchy Cons: The New Conservative Counterculture and Its Return to Roots. The book first appeared on my radar screen via various blogs late in 2006 and I picked it up to read last Summer. I loved it instantly. I picked it up for a re-read a few weeks ago and love it even more.

Dreher, a columnist for the Dallas Morning News, devout Catholic, local farming enthusiast, free market evangelist and homeschooling dad, lays out a philosophy of traditional conservative values that he largely attributes to Russell Kirk . The main premise of being a "Crunchy Conservative" is living for "Permanent Things" including family, good of the community and faith. Page after page, I wanted to shout, "Yes and Amen! This is the way life, community, country should be."

If you have ever pondered these issues, Crunchy Cons is worth a read. It will cause you to toss out all modern American definitions of liberal and conservative. While the book offers no answer on who to vote for this November, it does cause the willing reader to examine his or her allegiances, beliefs and daily practices. This work has taken its place among my favorite books because as Dreher quotes Victor Hugo, "There is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come."

Quote of the Day

2008-07-21T14:10:00.002-12:00

"Love is sitting in another person's place and seeing how his problems look to him."

-- Francis Schaeffer

Mexico Wrap Up 2008

2008-07-10T05:58:00.006-12:00

There is so much that I want to say about my recent trip to Mexico, but I will try to be concise for your sake’s. Originally, we were slated to send half of our team to do construction in Juarez each day, but the cartel wars changed that and I am so glad. Many groups had cancelled their trips because of the violence, so we were the first group who had been there in weeks. The kids were ready to accept us with open arms and wanted to play until they were sent to bed at curfew. They were in need of a lot of loving and we were happy to oblige.

Donna and Karina reading together. Some good friends at SAS Book Distributors donated children's books in Spanish for us to take.

Jonathan, Diego, Marcos and Christian.

This kid's name is Angel and I found that to be terribly ironic.

The group tackled various maintenance projects around the Ranch and an optometrist on our team did eye exams for all of the kids and all of the staff. It was fun to see little ones running around with their new specs!

These ladies learned how to prep kids for eye exams.

Dr. Tarr's first patient that need glasses! My favorite boy, Gilberto!

My main responsibilities were coordinating team schedules, keeping tabs on projects and general oversight as well as teaching in our Vacation Bible School. Our VBS coordinators were magnificent. I had no idea what I was asking of them! This project was quite the undertaking, but I am so glad that we did it. Each day we sang songs, taught about the Fruit of the Spirit from Ephesians 5, made a piece of “fruit” and another related craft and also played a game related to the lesson. We had quality time with a lot of the kids and feel like we left them with more of a picture of Christ’s love for them. At some point during the week I became the primary teacher and my friend Joslynn acted as Spanish translator, together we were known as the “Party Girls.”

Meeting of the minds to plan the next day's jobs.

Dave praying with the kids at VBS.

Making the fruit of the day. Friday was apples representing kindness.

During one of the relay races, the kids make one team member a scare crow. It was so cute!

The VBS crew at the end of the week. We survived!

The Party Girls, Les and Joz.

This trip was a great time to be away from normal life and get some deep time in with God. Quiet mornings staring across the desert are among my best memories. During those times, God reminded me of why I love Him, why I love His people and why I love orphans.

My view during my devotions each morning.

I went to bed very sad one night when I imagined my favorite boy, Gilberto, going to sleep in his dorm. He has a clean bed, clean clothes and all of his necessities. Yet, he doesn’t have a mom or a dad. So, here is the call to action. What are you doing to improve the plight of the orphan in this world? If you are a Christian, we are told that helping the orphan is a sign of true religion (James 1:27) and I, for one, want my religion to be true. I want to challenge you to regularly support Rancho 3m (http://www.rancho3m.com/) or one of thousands of agencies like it (http://www.voiceoftheorphan.com/).

So, what are you going to do?

Home

2008-07-05T14:33:00.003-12:00

We pulled into Knoxville around 8 p.m. tonight and I am off to bed shortly. I am not looking forward to returning to the world of calednars, voicemail and to-do lists.

Posts about the trip will be forthcoming. Check this link for a few pictures with more to be added soon. In the meantime, this is my friend Javier:

Obligatory post about reaching the end of my twenties

2008-06-22T07:32:00.005-12:00

"The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you have been." Madeliene L'Engle

This week I will celebrate the last birthday of my twenties. A funny thing has happened in recent years, I look forward to aging. With years comes experience, wisdom, friendships and memories. In another birthday, I see opportunties ahead of me.

From ages 23 - 27, I dreaded reaching another birthday. It symbolized death to me instead of life. The knot in my stomach was primarily caused by my lack of husband and lack of babies. Turning 24, 25, 26 and so on unattached was not the life I had sketched out for myself. I am not sure when my outlook on passing years and years ahead changed, but it has. Somewhere along the line I decided that I could hate my life or embrace it. I decided to embrace it and have found fullness in my friendships, career and spiritual life. I have lived a full life in my twenties and I hope that the capstone year of this decade is as wonderful and memorable as some of the others.

Here are some friends that helped me celebrate with a lovely brunch on Saturday.

Knoxify.com

2008-06-18T00:43:00.001-12:00

A local Web site, Knoxify, recently put out a call for local authors to contribute posts about Knoxville. So, I decided to put my love for the city to work and dust off my old journalism skills. My first post is up today, it is hard-hitting reporting on baked goods.

Women's Business Professionals

2008-06-15T13:23:00.003-12:00

Some friends and I are beginning a Women's Business Professionals group to provide an avenue for networking and professional growth. Our first monthly meeting is set for this Thursday morning. I am excited about the opportunities that the group will provide for these ladies. Any suggestions on topics to be discussed or must-read business books?

Changing Directions

2008-06-09T08:30:00.002-12:00

In coming months, I hope to be blogging more and I will also be changing the direction of this blog. Topics will include issues of non-profit mangement, business practice, and all things Knoxville in addition to orphan care and adoption. Since I will have a more diverse subject matter, I think it is time for a title change.

Let your creative juices flow and leave your suggestions in the comments section.

Are we doing justice?

2008-06-05T03:15:00.002-12:00

I haven't had time to write a substanitive post in a while, but I am trying to put up some things that may be of interest to you. Since the actual title of the blog is "Do Justice and Love Mercy," I am giving you a taste of that topic from Tullian Tchividjian.

Tullian pastors New City Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is an author as well as being Billy Graham's grandson and once upon a time called Knoxville home. His post today refers to Gary Haugen, founder of International Justice Mission, and the mission of the Church in society. Read it here and then post your thoughts on Tullian's comments.

More information on International Justice Mission.

Say it ain't so Auggie

2008-06-04T00:01:00.002-12:00

My morning was greeted by this story on NPR. It is enough to bring a frown to this St. Louis girl's face.

Quote of the Day

2008-05-29T09:18:00.001-12:00

"It's so much easier to suggest solutions when you don't know too much about the problem. "
-- Malcolm Forbes

I Want to Be a Part of It ... New York, New York

2008-05-27T13:20:00.012-12:00

Saturday:
Ever Ready Diner in Hyde Park with my tour guides Jenny and Chris. I must mention here that I took some Tennessee treats for my hosts including "Knoxville Girl" and "I (Sunsphere) Knoxville" shirts to which they replied, "Oh its that Wig Shop from The Simpson's!"

Cruising with views of the beautiful Hudson River Valley.

We visited the FDR Home and Presidential Library . Eleanor and Franklin were gracious hosts.

Then off to a tasting the Rivendell Winery in New Paltz. Jenny knows what I like.

Sunday:

Off to the city via the train from Poughkeepsie. We met up with Jenny's friend Cory at Christ Church UMC on the Upper East Side, which I learned is home to the City's most prestigious pre-K Day School. Matt Lauer and Donald Trump's children attend there.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art was my most anticipated destination.

After watching a documentary about Frank Lloyd Wright last summer, I really wanted to see The Guggenheim. This is what greeted me.

Then it was off for a stroll through Central Park to the Upper West Side.

We happened upon Redeemer Presbyterian Church just in time to hear Tim Keller preach. I totally geeked out over this, Dr. Keller is my favorite living theologian.

In short order we were back to the Upper East Side to have dinner at Candle 79 with some of Jenny's friends. Then we headed to the East Village. As we exited the subway, the New Yorkers told me the neighborhood was super trendy now, but two years ago I could have easily been killed.

Monday:

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Rockefeller Plaza and NBC Studio tour. I geeked out again. I love the Today Show and NBC News.

I used my many miles of walking to overcome my fear of walking across street grates.

We ate lunch al fresco at the Bryant Park Grille in Bryant Park, location of NYC's Fashion Week.

After some more schlepping around midtown, Jenny and I said goodbye at Grand Central terminal. Then I made my trek back through Queens and the to LaGuardia and home.

Quote of the Day

2008-05-27T07:42:00.001-12:00

"You're from Tennessee? I LOVE Dolly Parton!"
-- my new NYC friend, Robert

Pictures from the trip to come soon.

I Heart Knoxville

2008-05-23T00:42:00.005-12:00

As I prepare to take off for NYC, I came across this post today and thought I would weigh in on why I love Knoxville and have chosen to make it my home.

1) Driving on Kingston Pike from Neyland Drive to Western Plaza. Something about the nostalgia and beauty of the Sequoyah Hills area makes me happy to be a Knoxvillian. (Please note: that this is the only part of KP I like to drive on.)

2) Neyland Stadium. I am a fourth generation UT grad and offical Big Orange geek. I love all things college football, orange and tailgating.

3) The Lake. All of the lakes and all of the different ways to play in them.

4) Gourmet's Market in Bearden. Best breakfast anywhere, especially on the weekend. I have even gotten my West Tennessee dad hooked on eating with me on the patio. My old stand by is scrambled eggs with goat's cheese and basil and, of course, a bottomless cup of coffee.

5) The Seasons. Four different beautiful seasons. From the mild Winter, to the honeysuckle-filled Spring, to Summery days on the lake, and the most beautiful Fall colors around, I love Knoxville's seasons.

Why do you love Knoxville?

I Heart NY

2008-05-12T01:31:00.003-12:00

I am taking my first ever trip to New York City in a couple of weeks! Any suggestions on must have NYC experiences?

Who Really Cares?: Chapters 2 - 3

2008-05-04T10:02:00.003-12:00

The Introduction of Who Really Cares? gave away the entire point of this book, but Brooks hashes out the specifics of his research chapter by chapter and it is pretty interesting though I am getting through the book much more slowly than I would like.

Chapters 2 - 4 address religion, wealth redistribution and income levels respectively. The most gripping tidbit for me is below:

"The unexpected part of Mr. Dawson's story is this: He gave nearly all his money away. During his life, he conrtributed $1.3 million to charity... When asked why he gave so much, he gave simple straightforward responses. 'I just want to help people, leave a legacy, and be remembered.'"

Matel Dawson was no ordinary millionaire. He worked most of his life as a forklift operator at Ford Motor Company in Detroit. He lived simply and gave generously. I want to be like Mr. Dawson, aka The Forklift Philanthropist, but too often I am mesmerized by a cute new dress or a quick weekend get away. I see people with more money, nicer homes, prettier furniture and want to be like them rather than being like Mr. Dawson.

I hope that today we will all strive to be a bit more like Matel Dawson than like each other.

There Simply Aren't Enough Hours in the Day

2008-04-25T14:23:00.003-12:00

From The Simple Dollar :

"The problem for me, though, is that it’s often too empowering. To put it simply, I often add more to the pile than I have time to ever accomplish. Right now, my task list has about sixty items on it and even if I worked like a madman on these items over the next week, I’d still end up with thirty or so items left on it.

Here, the problem isn’t the organizational structure - that’s good. The problem is that there’s simply not enough time in the day to do all of the things I want to do and thus things start falling through the cracks.

This is a problem that many people run into no matter how well organized they are. Our interests are so diverse and our ambitions are so large that we end up piling more and more on ourselves. Eventually, it doesn’t matter what kind of system you’re using - there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to get it all done.

That’s where I’m at right now."

I completly concur. Yet, no matter how much I have to do, there is always something else that I want to try. Right now new projects running around in my head include: beginning a Professional Women's mentoring group, joining the Junior League, strengthening my daily prayer life and training for a half-marathon.

Sigh.

Audio Books

2008-04-23T04:38:00.008-12:00

I have a current obsession with audio books. As mentioned previously, I have listened to them for a long time on road trips, but now I'm listening during all of my drive time. My main goal is to listen to books that will develop traits and skills in my job.

I'm currently consuming Blink by Malcom Gladwell.

Next in line from Knox County Library are:

Good to Great by Jim Collins

Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell

The one down side is that my new obsession is squeezing out time that used to be dedicated to another obsession. Thank the good Lord for podcasts.

Quote of the Day

2008-04-22T01:33:00.001-12:00

I stole this today from a non-profit blog that I like:

"I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do."

- Leonardo da Vinci

HT: Perspectives from the Pipeline

A Depressing Look at White-Collar America

2008-04-13T13:22:00.011-12:00

A wonderfully talented niece's dance recital drew me home to St. Louis, Missouri, this weekend. That means between Friday afternoon and Sunday evening I spent 16 hours in a car with only my affable pup Franklin for company. However, I try to hit up the library for audio books before long trips, so I can make decent use of the time I spend barrelling down the highway. Four selections found their way into my CD player: Who Moved My Cheese, a sorely disappointing lesson on achieving your goals, Bait and Switch and Don't Eat This Book.

The content of Bait and Switch is almost haunting me. Barbara Ehrenreich, of Nickle and Dimed fame, undertook investigating the white-collar unemployment by posing as a middle-aged, upper-middle class PR executive looking for work. The book jacket describes the work this way:

"Bait and Switch highlights the people who' ve done everything right-- gotten college degrees, developed marketable skills, and built up impressive resumes-- yet have become repeatedly vulnerable to financial disaster, and not simply due to the vagaries of the business cycle. Today's ultra-lean corporations take pride in shedding their surplus employees-- plunging them, for months or years at a stretch, into the twilight zone of white-collar unemployment, where job searching becomes a full-time job in itself. As Ehrenreich discovers, there are few social supports for these newly disposable workers-- and little security even for those who have jobs."

Ehrenreich is a brilliant author. The book was entertaining and gripping, but in the end, the subject matter was quite depressing. The job hunters that she describes sound like my friends, my parents and my parents' friends. These were people who "had done everything right" and cannot keep jobs because of the current corporate culture. A culture largely built on greed. The author makes the arguement that these workers are victims of corporate greed, but it seems to me that we are victims of our own greed. We need good jobs with high earning potential to keep up with what our society tells us we need to be happy.

This is just the beginning of my thoughts on the book as I am still churning through the material I ingested. It is quite disheartening and makes me wonder what we have become as a nation, society and people.

As a side note of interest, if you saw the documentary Supersize Me then you'll know the basic agenda of Morgan Spurlock's Don't Eat This Book. The movie had me off of fast food for a few years and I have recently gotten lazy and back into the habit. I am only a third of the way through the book and have renewed my commitment to not eat the junk. Although you should know, that I ate McDonald's for lunch today before popping in the first CD.

Leslie Loves

2008-04-10T07:38:00.008-12:00

Back when I used to blog a lot, I did a little column called "Leslie Loves." I am bringing it back as a light-hearted weekly look into things, people, places and topics that make me smile. So, what do I love today?

1) French-pressed coffee.

2) Ballet flats.

3) Forsythia in bloom.

4) Wedding planning.

5) New babies.

Who Really Cares: Introduction and Chapter 1

2008-04-03T22:28:00.013-12:00

Brooks begins the book by explaning that he has been a polictical liberal his entire life and was sure to find that liberals cared more and gave more to social ills than conservatives. Through years of quantative research he found the opposite. Here are a few quotes that I found interesting from the Introduction and Chapter 1:

"All together, private charitable donations in the United States add up to a quarter of a trillion dollars per year. Three quarters of this amount is from private individuals (as opposed to foundations, etc.). To put this dollar amount in perspective: Private American giving could finance the entire annual gross domestic product of Sweden, Norway or Denmark." page 3

"The working poor in America give more of their money -- not less -- to charity than middle class people. Indeed, not being able to afford to give is more typically an upper-income excuse: Among people who did not give in 2000, the majority said it was because they couldn't afford it." page 8

"But young liberals -- perhaps the most vocally dissatisfied political constituency out there -- are one of the least generous demographics in America today." page 22

The last statement is particularly disheartening since I really believe that my generation wants to change the world. I hope that we can band together from all ideologies to do so.

Quote of the Day

2008-04-03T09:25:00.003-12:00

“You’d have to be comatose not to feel God’s hurt and anger ooze from the pages of Scripture over the oppression of the weak and vulnerable. I can’t get away from the fact that the main message of God to His people about injustice is to get off our rear ends and do something! I’m trying to figure out how I got to the place where the things that break the heart of God are so marginal to me.”

Jim Palmer
from Divine Nobodies pages 145—146

Who Really Cares?

2008-03-27T15:50:00.003-12:00

The book, Who Really Cares by Arthur Brooks has been on my "to read list" for about six months. It is not diffucult to decipher the bent of the book based on it's subtitle, "The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism: America's Charity Divide, Who Gives, Who Doesn't and Why It Matters," but I hope to learn a lot even though I feel from the outset there is a biased ideology at work.

Brooks' work has my attention for a number of reasons:

1) I work for a non-profit dependent on people giving us money.

2) I dislike labels, but if I think "compassionate conservative" describes me well.

3) All things wealth, generosity and greed related have fascinated me for about three years. I continually grapple with the ideas of standard of living, charity, poverty and human duty to care for one another.

Conveniently, a copy made its way home with me from my parents' house last weekend. I'll keep you posted on what I learn and leave you with this nugget from the book jacket:

"But beyond showing us who the givers and non-givers in America really are today, Brooks shows why charity matters -- not just to givers and recipients but to the nation as a whole. He shows that giving is crucial to our economic prosperity, as well as to our happiness, health, and our ability to govern ourselves as a free people."

Love, Marriage and Babies

2008-03-27T02:40:00.003-12:00

A few weeks ago, my darling roommate sent me this article by Emily Yoffe on marriage and child bearing.

Yoffe declares, for all the world to hear, that children should be raised in a home with two parents married to one another. I know that this worldview is generally accepted by most of my friends and those who read this blog, but I found it interesting that a columnist from a non-traditional media outelt would espouse the same view.

What are your thoughts on the article and on why this view is regaining ground?

Two friends hit the nail on the head ...

2008-03-22T12:21:00.004-12:00

If you know me then you know why the linked blog and the video below are so very funny.

An essay on dinner parties sent by Gavin.

And a reminder of an old memory sent by Casey.

Happy Easter one and all.

The Glass is Half Full

2008-03-19T11:32:00.003-12:00

Most of the things that I think about posting are pretty heavy, sobering and, well, depressing. I came across this gem from the crew at Cool People Care and thought that I would share it. Enjoy ... and spread the love.

Get Positive
by Sam Davidson

Put a spin on what you're talking about.
News is news and sometimes, no news is good news. But, good news is usually the best kind of news. Therefore, spend a moment today finding some good news and then spread it. Certainly there are stories that need telling no matter the spin, but there are many great stories that rarely get told. We all know that it's easy to spread celebrity gossip or the latest political scandal, but imagine the sound of our own conversations if we began to spread the wonderful news of the good that people are doing. Be a messenger of good news today.

Quote of the Day

2008-03-18T10:24:00.001-12:00

"And the thing that's hard for us to imagine is a whole generation between 18 and 40 years old dying off, and when you think about it, that's the economic core of a society – that's your doctors, your nurses, your teachers. It's just beyond our comprehension."

Benedict Schwartz

Referring to the fact 43 % of Namibia's adultpopulation is HIV positive

Today's Question

2008-03-12T08:22:00.003-12:00

Christianity Today's Vision Project posed this question in 2007:

"What must we learn, and unlearn, to be agents of God's mission in the world?"

What is your answer?

See some other answers here.

Back to Blogging

2008-03-12T08:18:00.003-12:00

I have decided to be a regular blogger again. Most of the posts will revolve around my work in life-affirming Christian ministry, non-profit management, orphan care and adoption. My favorite dog might sneak his way into a few posts as well.

The goal is to post a few times a week with an article written by me, a link to another blog or snippets of whatever I am reading.

Enjoy friends!

Terrify No More

2008-03-11T12:54:00.003-12:00

Tonight, I have been enjoying a rare, quiet evening at home. I have been catching up on blogs and getting some admin work done for the trip to Mexico. I posted a list of ways to prepare for our trip on the team blog and was reading through Scripture regarding the fatherless. I was taken by Psalm 10.

It would be safe to say that I fancy myself as a budding social activist. I boycott stores if I disapprove of business tactics, I buy organic to save the soil from agri-business, I support orphan care ministries, I spend leisure time reading about human trafficking and I work at an agency that hopes to end the needs and the want for abortion in our city.

I am passionate about making a difference in this world and especially passionate about ending abortion since it is a topic I am entrenched in for most of my waking hours. My dear roommate has listened to dozens of ranting monologues about the statistics and horrors of abortion and STDs when a dinner guest asks me a simple question about work. Oftentimes, I feel like a "Debbie Downer" because the things that I think about and talk about are, frankly, depressing. Yet, I read Psalm 10 tonight and it uplifted my heart. It reminded me that, as Christians, we are told to love what God loves and hate what He hates. He loves justice and He hates oppression, so we are called to be the same. So, I pray that as long as I have strength that our great God will allow me to do work that touches His heart.

Psalm 10
1 Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
3 For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.
4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
5 His ways prosper at all times;your judgments are on high, out of his sight;as for all his foes, he puffs at them.
6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”
7 His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.
8 He sits in ambush in the villages;in hiding places he murders the innocent.His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
9 he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;he lurks that he may seize the poor;he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
10 The helpless are crushed, sink down,and fall by his might.
11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”
12 Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand;forget not the afflicted.
13 Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?
14 But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,that you may take it into your hands;to you the helpless commits himself;you have been the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;call his wickedness to account till you find none.
16 The Lord is king forever and ever;the nations perish from his land.
17 O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
18 to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more. (emphasis mine)

A Voice for the Voiceless

2008-02-02T08:04:00.000-12:00

In addition to orphan care and adoption, my heart beats to stop human trafficing and especially the sex slave trade that monetizes the innocence of children. Carolyn McCulley, a favorite blogger, posted an aticle on the topic today, please read it and consider how you can be involved in ending this evil.

Reflections on Mexico 2007 to come soon.

Lord, I have a heavy burden

2008-01-20T11:31:00.000-12:00

Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." My vision for what God's will in heaven looks like is growing. It looks like freedom from the suffering of poverty and liberation from oppressive governments. It looks like an end to murder, rape and violence. It looks like perfect love casting out fear. It looks like unity with the Father, Son and Spirit. Yet, each day, I see how very far from that Kingdom we are. I see it in the eyes of my frightened clients who are deciding if they should have an abortion or carry a pregnancy. I feel it when I think of the children at Rancho 3m. I cry when I ponder the forces of hate, evil and sin in this world.

My friend Elizabeth introduced me to this song by Sara Groves recently. The lyrics capture my heart well. I have a burden to see the Kingdom of God come on this earth and I want to be among God's people who fought against despair and discouragement to bring the Kingdom to bear on this earth.

When the Saints

"Lord I have a heavy burden of all I've seen and know

It's more than I can handle

But your word is burning like a fire shut up in my bones and I cannot let it go

And when I'm weary and overwrought with so many battles left unfought

I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard

I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars

And when the Saints go marching in

I want to be one of them

Lord it's all that I can't carry and cannot leave behind it often overwhelms me

but when I think of all who've gone before and lived the faithful life

their courage compells me

And when I'm weary and overwrought with so many battles left unfought

I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard

I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars

I see the shepherd Moses in the Pharohs court

I hear his call for freedom for the people of the Lord

And when the Saints go marching in I want to be one of them

I see the long quiet walk along the Underground Railroad

I see the slave awakening to the value of her soul

I see the young missionary and the angry spear

I see his family returning with no trace of fear

I see the long hard shadows of Calcutta nights

I see the sisters standing by the dying man's side

I see the young girl huddled on the brothel floor

I see the man with a passion come and kicking down the door

I see the man of sorrows and his long troubled road

I see the world on his shoulders and my easy load

And when the Saints go marching inI want to be one of them"

Lessons Learned at Rancho 3m

2008-01-16T14:22:00.000-12:00

As I prepare to return to Rancho 3m this summer, I want to reflect on what I learned there in 2007. In the coming months, I will share those meditations here for your reading pleasure and, hopefully, spiritual encouragment.

Be well dear friends.

Back to Mexico in 2008

2008-01-05T09:35:00.000-12:00

Dear friends,
Happy New Year! I hope that 2007 was a wonderful year and that 2008 has started happily for each of you. My year was a time of fulfilled dreams, big decisions, rocky transitions and blossoming hopes. In May, I began a new job as a Crisis Pregnancy Center Administrator and in July I traveled to Rancho 3m Orphanage in Guadalupe, Mexico pursue my long held passion of orphan care. I spent ten tiring days in Mexico, planning, organizing and implementing schedules and project assignments for our team of 49. I am happy to tell you that I will travel to Mexico again this year, from June 28 – July 5, with another energetic team from Cornerstone Church of Knoxville.

For those of you new to this expedition, Rancho 3M (Mexico Multiple Missions, Inc.) is a Christian Orphanage and School located near Juarez, Mexico. "The Ranch," as it is affectionately called, serves approximately 50 children ages 4—18 years old, who have been abandoned or removed from their homes due to abuse and neglect. At the Ranch receive food, shelter, education and love as well as the most important thing that they could receive in their lives: the gospel of Jesus Christ. While at the Ranch our team will plan children's activities as well as work on varied construction and maintenance projects. You can find more information on Rancho3m at www.rancho3m.com .

Many of you took the journey with me in 2007. I had grand dreams of keeping you in the know by blogging at www.leslielovesorphans.blogspot.com, if you have read the blog you know that I failed miserably at keeping you updated! A long-time friend told me six-weeks after my return, "Well, it would have been nice to get some kind of update on how it went." The main reason I did not update the blog was that I did not know what to say. I did not know how to sum up those ten days into a few paragraphs. The words of Psalm 68:4-6 landed hard on my heart one morning of the trip: " Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the Lord ; exult before him! Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity…" As I sat in the dessert of Mexico, this Scripture was coming to life God was providing protection and a home for these little fatherless ones, but there was a vast amount of brokenness left to heal. The term "orphan" now had a sweet faces, deep eyes and tragic, individual stories attached to it. This trip made the worldwide orphan crisis real to me and further confirmed that I want to spend my life caring for the abandoned and giving a voice to the voiceless. Proverbs31:8 tells us to, " Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute."

So, this is where the rubber hits the road, this is where I ask you to help send me to Mexico again. Generous friends and family members exceeded my needed funds last year. All excess money is donated directly to the Ranch. As a team we were able to donate several thousand dollars more than we expected. My hope is that we will be able to outdo ourselves in 2008. I am asking that you would support me with your prayers and also consider a financial contribution. You can partner with me by making a pledge of $50, $75, or $150 or by investing any amount to help me reach my goal of raising my goal. Trip cost this year will be $1000, but my goal is to raise $1500 by May 2008. The trip cost includes airfare, meals, the cost of construction projects at the Ranch and gifts for the children. All checks should be made payable to Cornerstone Church of Knoxville in care of Leslie Bowden so that you will be able to receive a proper tax deduction. Please contact me at lbowden63@gmail.com and I will get you the proper mailing inormation.

Thank you so much for your consideration and please pray for me, our team and Rancho 3m. I also promise to keep the blog updated this year. In coming weeks look for stories and pictures from 2007 and plans for the 2008 trip. I look forward to talking to you soon and answering any questions you might have.

With my love, Leslie

Lazy blogger

2007-08-13T14:32:00.000-12:00

Well, I never really did a follow up post from Mexico. I suppose that I am still wading through the experience and asking God to show me where to go from here. What is next?

Until then, check out Anthony Bradley's blog . You may remember that I have linked to him before. He uses strong words and is likely to offend you, bu I wonder if that is because he is right. We are called to be home and shelter for the oppressed, but we're often too busy with our clean, pretty lives. Myself included.

Family Life Ministries also hosted some great shows last week. Listen to them here.

Read ... ponder ... act.

Thoughts?

New Web site

2007-05-25T02:13:00.000-12:00

Ranho 3m has recently launched a new Web site. It looks wonderful! Check it out at www.rancho3m.com

Orphan Care Summit

2007-05-06T12:57:00.000-12:00

I receive regular updates from a ministry called "Voice of the Orphan" the link can be found on the side bar. I received this one this week and wanted to share. I hope that you will read the whole thing and pray for the summit that will that begins in just a few days. What an amazing thing to be one in heart with so many people seeking to love, serve and obey God's commands for us.

For more than 31 years FamilyLife has stood on what the Scriptures teach and have been known by what we are for. Christians have a history of being known not by what we are against, but for being FOR the biblical definition of marriage, FOR covenant keeping love in marriage, FOR biblical families and FOR the value of all children—born or unborn.

It was our commitment of being FOR children that led us to launch our Hope for Orphans ministry in 2003. For years I have had a conviction that the Christian community not only needed to be pro life, but also pro orphan, pro adoption, and pro foster care. How can we only be for protecting unborn life and not also be FOR finding families for every child who does not have one?

...Twice in the last three years, FamilyLife has hosted what has become the Adoption Orphan Care Summit. Now, the third Summit in Colorado Springs is bringing more than 300 leaders together, representing some of the nation's most influential Christian adoption agencies and orphan advocacy groups. On May 9-11 we will meet to learn how we can encourage and equip churches to take the lead in meeting the needs of orphans.

There are now an estimated 143 million orphans in the world—that's greater than the combined population of the 20 largest cities in the United States. Over 500,000 children in America are in foster homes, including more than 120,000 who could be adopted today.

I believe one of the most desperate needs in our world today is to love and care for these children. I believe that followers of Christ should be the first to reach out to orphaned and abandoned children around the world. Yet many are unaware of the great need, or of God's call for the church to be actively involved in helping the fatherless.

God is already at work, and I'm inviting you to join me in asking the Heavenly Father, Who reached down and adopted us, to do exceedingly more than we can even ask or think.
It's easy to forget that each and every one of these children is precious to the Savior. Throughout Scripture we see God as "the helper of the orphan" (Psalm 10:14). I am convinced that Christians should be leading the international dialogue about our responsibility to provide a home and a family for those who have none.

That's why FamilyLife started Hope for Orphans—as an educating and exhorting ministry dedicated to supporting and helping the fatherless and connecting those children with loving, Bible-believing families. Next week's conference has grown from a partnership with groups like Focus on the Family, Saddleback Church, and Shaohannah's Hope. The Adoption Orphan Care Summit has turned into a strategic gathering of like-minded organizations that has the fingerprints of God all over it.

Please join me in praying:

That the conference will be effective in unifying these organizations to come together prayerfully and join God in what He is already doing.
We know that where God goes, there is also a counter-spirit. Pray that Satan will have no part in what goes on next week in Colorado.
Ask God to raise up tens of thousands of churches and hundreds of thousands of lay men and women to establish orphan care, adoption, and foster care ministries.
The Summit is not only attracting Christian leaders, but it's also getting the notice of the national media. An Associated Press story has shown up in dozens of newspapers across the country. Pray that media coverage of the event will be positive and will accurately portray the spirit of the participants.

Finally, pray that the Lord will continue to expand this movement to ultimately touch the heart of every fatherless child for His glory.

One child and one home at a time,
Dennis Rainey

President of Family Life Ministries

Come to the Mexican Luncheon

2007-04-22T04:55:00.000-12:00

Mexican Luncheon

Sunday, April 29

12:30 p.m. @ Cornerstone Church of Knoxville

All proceeds benefit our construction fund for Rancho 3m.

Team Meeting and John Piper

2007-03-19T05:55:00.000-12:00

Our Mexico Team had a great lunch meeting yesterday. Dave Puncochar took some time to explain different nuances of the Latin American culture to us. His main point was that, in general, Latino families are incredibly close-knit from generation to generation. Entire multi-generational families rear chidlren together, so it should be shocking to us that an orphange exists in Mexico. In essence, the family unit has broken down and abandoned these children. Because the culture is so focused on family, these children have a heavy load to bear in being orphans in such an environment. Most children have many relatives to love and care for them.

These children have no family, but praise be to God for the staff and supporters of the Ranch. They are family to these children. They are taking them on a path to their heavenly Father. We prayed yesterday that our team would incarnate Christ to the kids and adults.

Below are the main points of a sermon given by Dr. John Piper on adoption. Dr. Piper is himself an adoptive father and his church runs foundations that assist in adoption funding. The points are simple and speaks to specific objections people raise againts adoption, i.e. hardship, expense, etc.

"Taking Galatians 4:4-8 and Romans 8:14-17 as his main texts, Piper demonstrates eight similarities between God's adopting of us and our adopting of children.

Adoption was for God, and is for us, costly (Gal. 4:4-5; Gal. 3:13).
Adoption did for God, and does for us, involve the legal status of the child (Gal. 4:4-6).

Adoption was blessed, and is blessed, with God's pouring out a spirit of sonship (Gal. 4:6).

Adoption was for God, and is for us, marked by moral transformation through the Spirit (Rom. 8:14).

Adoption brought us, and brings our children, the rights of being heirs of the father (Gal. 4:4-6; Rom. 8:16-17; 1 Cor. 3:21-23).

Adoption was for God, and is for us, seriously planned (Eph. 1:4-6).

Adoption was for God, and often is for us, from very bad situations (Eph. 2:3).

Adoption meant for all Christians, and means for parents, that we suffer now, and experience the glory later(Rom. 8:22-23)."

You can listen to the message by following the link below.

HT: Justin Taylor

Amazing Grace, Modern Slavery and the Plight of the Orphan

2007-02-27T02:48:00.000-12:00

I've been a busy little girl the past few weeks, so I haven't been blogging. My biggest distraction was a phenomenal, four-day trip to see the Hamstra clan in Chicago. I had the best time with Michelle, Johnny, Addy and John Michael. They are precious, precious friends to me.

There isn't much news on our trip to Mexico. The team is in the process of fundraising for individual trips. There is still time to support me if you would like to. Email me at leslie_bowden@hotmail.com for details.

Many of you have probably heard of the new film Amazing Grace that chronicles the life of abolitionsit William Wilberforce . Wilberforce used his seat in British Parliament to fight against legalized slavery in the British Empire. The publicity surrounding the film has brought much needed attention to the tragedy of modern day slavery. Did you know that there are more people trapped in slavery than during the height of the trans-atlantic slave trade?

So, what does this all have to do with orphans? It is simple really. In many nations, no system exists to care for and protect orphaned children. Therefore, they are easily exploited, kidnapped and traded for sex and bonded labor. A major source of slave labor today are children. When you make the connection of the vulnerability of children and the horrid exploitation they face it is easy to understand why our loving and merciful God calls upon us to care for them. God loves the weak, He cares for the oppressed and asks us to do the same.

For more information on modern slavery, its affect on children and what you can do check out the links below:

The Amazing Change

International Justice Mission

Invisible Children

An early Valentine

2007-02-13T12:15:00.000-12:00

I opened the mail box today to find a Valentine that had arrived one day early. It was from my longest running, all around fantastic friend Jenny and her husband Todd. Inside was a sweet note and a check to help send me to Mexico.

How do I even begin to express how special and significant Jenny is to me? We have been friends since we were four years old, we spent endless hours in her basement laughing and being stupid, we've been on random trips, and we have kept Hallmark, AT&T and Verizon in business for the past ten years. Most importantly, I point to Jenny as the main human influence that led me to Jesus. Jenny has a beautiful, generous, joyful countenance about her and I always wanted to be like her. Little did I know at the time, her joy was from Jesus Christ and His forgiveness of her sins. What better friend could I have than my dear Jennifer Lynn? And Todd, well Todd is one of the funniest people that I have ever met. I'm so glad that such a wonderful man married my wonderful friend.

Thank you Gartens! "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." Numbers 6:24 - 26.

Todd & Jenny on their trip to India in December

Todd & Jenny's wedding (just because its cute!)

Jenny and I take notoriously bad pictures together, so below are some pics that I stole from Todd's myspace. (Thanks Todd!)

Running for Orphans

2007-02-13T11:57:00.000-12:00

This is my friend Andy. Andy is cool for many reasons:
1) He is from St. Louis and now lives in Knoxville (like me!).
2) He likes to run.
3) He likes orphans.

On April 1, Andy will run in the Knoxville Marathon to raise money for I Run for Orphans. This orginazation was started by a pastor in Columbia, Mo., to raise support for orphanges in Kenya, Sudand and Russia.

Here is why Andy is running for orphans, "... while in college I took a ten day trip to Port au Prince, Haiti, to work at a girl's orphanage, House of Hope. While I was there I saw several little kids who had been faced with major obstacles in there lives at a very young age. The Christian orphanages that were housing these kids were the only reason these kids could feel safe and loved and know that God loved them. That is why I have decided to run for orphans. It takes support to keep these orphanages operating. When I think about how important the smallest donation can be to these kids it is impossible for me to pass up this chance to brighten their lives."

If you'd like to support Andy on his run, click here.