Rocking Houston

I'm here in Houston with the Find Your Way Home prison tour, and as I had been told, it is an amazing experience. Today, we were at St. John's Downtown UMC (Rudy Rasmus' church, for those familiar with him), where Becca Stevens and the women of Magdalene shared about the power of love and community to transform lives broken by abuse and addiction. 

For over six hours today (encompassing three two-hour worship services) this morning, I helped sell Thistle Farms products and books. Thistle Farms is the non-profit business through which the women in the Magdalene program gain job skills and earn money making all-natural bath and body products. (Check out their stuff at thistlefarms.org. It's also available at many Whole Foods stores and other retailers.) Patti--pictured at left below--and I felt like such novices compared with Katrina, Tara, and Gwen, the Magdalene graduates with us who are masters at their trade, but we got to where we could talk about the products and ring up a sale with ease as well!

I did get to trade off occasionally and go up to join in worship. Man, oh man--I was in heaven. I got to clap and sway and sing at the top of my lungs without sticking out like a sore thumb. 

Becca delivered her message at each service, and then her husband Marcus sang "Bless the Broken Road." They were both amazing.

I'm not really the sort of person who gets "starstruck" (at least not for actors, singers, and the like--moreso for big authors or well-known pastors) but I've got to say it's pretty cool hanging out with Grammy Award winning songwriters and artists. Marcus, as I mentioned yesterday, wrote "Bless the Broken Road," special to Matt and I as it was our wedding first dance song. Also on the tour are Don Schlitz (who wrote the Kenny Rogers hit "The Gambler"--and, just now checking out his website, I see he also wrote "When You Say Nothing at All" and "Forever and Ever, Amen") and country star Julie Roberts ("Break Down Here"). When I moved to Nashville seven years ago, I wondered if I would spot any stars--then I realized I wouldn't recognize any if I did! This tour, plus having a country music video filmed at our church before it burned, give me my full Music City credentials now, I think :0)

Anyone who knows me understands that meeting and hanging out with ten new people I don't (or barely) know is a recipe for major anxiety, but this group of people has been so welcoming to me as the newbie to the tour and we're having a lot of fun. Last night, we all went to an Astros game, and aside from the terrifying navigation of the streets here (holy cats--what is up with all the access roads, one-ways, and U-turns here?) everything is going smoothly. 

Tomorrow, we go into the prison, to bring words and songs of hope to incarcerated women in recovery. It will be an eye-opening experience, I am sure. Already having spent some time with the Magdalene women on the trip, I know there are walks of life and sides of the street I cannot begin to imagine. Tomorrow will likely paint an even starker picture of this world I've never seen.

Sic a Dog on a Child of God

One of the musicians traveling with the Find Your Way Home prison tour (for which I'm headed to the airport in a few minutes) is Marcus Hummon. He's an acclaimed Nashville songwriter, writer of "God Bless the Broken Road" (to which Matt and I danced at our wedding) and several Dixie Chicks hits whose names are escaping me right now.

This song of his strikes you right in the heart, with evocative lines like the one in this post's title. He asks "Would I feed Jesus with my own hand? Would I let Jesus step on my land? Poison my well? Sic a dog on a child of God?"

Please listen to "Rosanna":

On Mission

I feel a lot of guilt about my failure to get out and serve in the community more. Social missions are very important to me--namely, issues of poverty, hunger, homelessness, people's lack of access to affordable health care, etc. I try to put my money where my mouth is in supporting ministries focused on those causes, and politically, I vote and advocate in ways that I feel benefit those Jesus called the "least of these." But I feel negligent in not putting more of my time and physical energy toward those causes.

The lure of my family and home are so strong (and my free time so limited) that I have trouble committing to any regular volunteer schedule. Just as I try to give to those who beg from me on the street, I try to say "yes" when invited to serve somewhere for just one period of time, without signing away my precious two evening hours of "Kate-time" on any long term basis. (I have come to understand in recent years why the Apostle Paul and the Catholic Church even today advocate singlehood for the most devoted servants of God!) But I know I am called to do more. I just don't know what.

Several months ago, I begged God to lay a mission opportunity in my lap, and promised to say "yes." Soonafter that, I heard about an opportunity to serve at a Costa Rican orphanage for a week, and I immediately responded to express my interest. As the trip planning progressed, however, things just didn't feel right and I backed out. (That is not to imply there is anything untoward about the organizers of that trip; I just wasn't feeling comfortable about it.) Though my concerns felt reasonable, after my prayerful promise, I felt like I was explicitly refusing God's call and proving myself a fraud.

A few weeks later, my boss (who would soon be leaving for another position) called me into his office and asked me to take over a project he'd been shepherding--the Find Your Way Home prison tour. I wrote about it here, when I designed a benefit concert poster for the tour. The tour visits women's prisons around the country, delivering a message of hope from author and Episcopal priest Becca Stevens and graduates of the Magdalene program, which helps former prostitutes and addicts recover and live a healthy and whole life. (Becca Stevens is an Abingdon author, and we are sponsoring the tour along with the Cal Turner Family Foundation, so that's why my boss was so actively involved in this.) Their message shares with incarcerated women two principles: "love is the most powerful source for social change, and women can begin to create their own communities of healing wherever they are." (Those are Rev. Stevens' words.) I had been interested in and envious of the opportunity my boss had to travel with this group and be a part of this amazing ministry since the tour began in January. And now, for the final two stops of the tour, I get to be part of it as well.

The first of those two is this coming weekend--when I would have been on that mission trip to Costa Rica.

We'll be in Houston, where Rev. Stevens will speak at St. John's Downtown Church (a United Methodist congregation led by Rudy Rasmus) and then she and the Magdelene women will speak at a nearby women's prison the next day. I'm told it will be an amazing experience and I'm excited to be a part of it.

In Sunday school a couple weeks ago, we were talking about the death penalty, and someone said "You know, we can talk about these issues theoretically all we want, but Jesus said we should be out visiting those in prison." And I thought "wow--I actually get to do that." It's harder these days than it was in the days of Jesus or even John Wesley to go into a jail and visit with prisoners. There is a lot of security clearance, etc. But I have the opportunity to go into prisons and bring comfort and hope to troubled women. True, my role is more organizational--I won't be speaking myself--but I still feel honored to be a part of it.

This week, I got another e-mail about an international mission opportunity--a trip to Mexico to work on sustainable agriculture and combat hunger and poverty in rural Mexico. "Could I, should I, sign up for that?" I thought, always feeling like I need to do more and put my principles into practice. (And wow, that sounds like an amazing ministry!) I looked at my schedule, though, and wouldn't you know...?

It is the same week as the other prison tour visit I get to be a part of--to Los Angeles in September.

I still feel called to be more hands-on in serving the poor, and hope I can find the personal motivation to sacrifice some of that precious family-time. But this opportunity for prison ministry and the coincidence of the dates of those mission trips I heard about helps me to relax a bit and trust more that God will guide me to the places I should be serving.

What causes and ministries do you feel most called to?
How do you find (or make) time to serve others amidst the other responsibilites of daily life?

TEETH!

In honor of Kate's first dentist appointment today, it's appropriate that I share our newest trick for getting big smiles out of Kate for pictures.

She's naturally a pretty happy child, but like many kids, she can sometimes go deadpan and just stare at the camera when a picture is being taken. So, now that she is learning the names of some body parts, we just say "Show us your teeth!"

And sometimes, she'll oblige.

Hope she's as obliging for the dentist today!!

Project Life (Vacation Week!)

Man, was it hard to pick this week's Project Life pics! We went on vacation to the mountains of North Carolina with all of Kate's grandparents, and had a lot of fun. I posted a bunch of pics from the trip yesterday, and these mere seven do not do justice to the week!

Monday 6/28: We drove the six or so hours down to the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the three-bedroom cabin we found through homeaway.com. It was gorgeous, with a big great room and kitchen, three nice bedrooms, a gameroom, TV room/balcony, and porches off the front, back, and all three bedrooms to enjoy the view.

Tuesday 6/29: The first full day of the trip, we drove down to Rutherfordton, NC, where there was a great children's museum with a bunch of hands-on experiences. Kate especially loved the little grocery store, where she grabbed all the eggs she could, put them in her cart, took them to the checkout, then put them back and did it all over again! The tomatoes got a little play too, but those eggs were just the perfect size for her little hands, and she loved them.

Wednesday 6/30: We spent this afternoon touring the Biltmore Estate in Asheville. We'd all been there before, but it was fun to see it again. Having a stroller with me this time, I got to ride in the old-fashioned elevator, which was very cool--wrought iron decor and no door except a rope, guarded by the elevator operator! We did a fun photo shoot of Kate out on the lawn at the end of the day.

Thursday 7/1: We hiked at Lake James State Park (after driving literally all the way around the large lake, thanks to a faulty turn in our Google-maps directions), and then swam at the park's beach area. Kate was fearless as always and really enjoyed the water.

Friday 7/2: We hiked again this day at South Mountain State Park, where there was a cool 80-foot waterfall. Like the day before, Kate rode in our new child-carrier backpack. Popi and Mommy took their turns, since Daddy and Opa carried Kate at Lake James, watching our steps carefully on the steep path. Leaving Kate with grandparents at the base of the falls, Matt and I climbed the even steeper path to the top of the waterfall. We were worn out, and enjoyed grilling out back at the cabin that night to celebrate my birthday.

Saturday 7/3: Goodbye, cabin. You've been lovely. We really enjoyed your plush mattresses, relaxing adirondacks and rockers, and gorgeous views. Wish we could have stayed longer (and that we hadn't gotten stuck in standstill traffic on the drive home!)

Sunday 7/4: Independence Day and my 29th birthday! After church, we went to a pool party, where Kate exercised her independence by refusing to sit in her float and trying to drown herself instead! She wanted to be out and about, unencumbered by floatation devices (she tolerated the borrowed water-wings, but they didn't really do anything) and only really enjoyed herself when people were puttering her around the pool in their own arms.

Hope you all had a good holiday weekend! Check out more Project Life over at The Mom Creative!

We're Baa-aack!

We had a great vacation last week, staying in a gorgeous cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina with both sets of (grand)parents. They loved having so much time with Kate--from 6am wake-up time where she stumbles out to the kitchen in her jammies, dragging Raffi, Big Raffi, and paci along, to her way-later-than-usual bedtimes after a long day of fun. (If you're wondering, last week's posts were scheduled in advance, and all but one actually posted when I told it to.)

From our "central" location near Marion, NC, we visited a cool children's museum in Rutherfordton, spent an afternoon at the Biltmore, dined at the Grove Park Inn, and went hiking and swimming at the South Mountain and Lake James State Parks. Our original vacation plan had been to go to Perdido Beach, near Pensacola, but we were oiled-out. The mountains ended up being a great alternative. Like last summer, when Kate and I joined my mom's side of the family at a state park in West Virginia, my favorite part was just relaxing with a book on the cabin porch! The family activities were all great too, and Matt and I took advantage of our four doting babysitters to have a date night for ourselves one evening!

We got back Saturday night and enjoyed a nice Fourth yesterday. July 4 is also my birthday, so we celebrated what Matt called my "first of many" 29th birthdays. Our church had a "hymn sing" during worship yesterday, which was nice (a) because it saved Matt from having to write a sermon on vacation, and (b) because I love to sing! Matt is a homiletics-nerd, so the sermon is central to him, whether he's delivering it or hearing it at another church. For me, worship is primarily about the opportunity to sing praises to God, and I crave good, energetic songs. (A few weeks ago, the only up-tempo song was the choir's piece, so in the most inconspicuous way I could manage, I just HAD to sing along.) The congregation could submit requests for the hymn sing, so I managed to get a few 1970s/80s-era praise songs in there. The congregation favors traditional hymns written from approximately 1880-1915, which I generally don't care for. (As I wrote about in this post, give me grand, classical hymns, OR Jesus Movement-and-newer praise songs!) That said, both 1913-classics "The Old Rugged Cross" and "In The Garden" were part of yesterday's line-up, and those have the special distinction for me of being Grandpa and Nana's favorite hymns, respectively, and were sung by my cousin Jenny at their funerals.

After church, we had a little rest-time, during which Kate and Matt napped and I "assembled" the additional birthday gifts Matt and our parents gave me (despite explicit instructions that my new camera was my only desire! You all are too generous!) I added a few charms to my Pandora bracelet, and organized scrapbook supplies into my new caddy! Then, we were off to a pool party at the home of our church accompanist (who, despite our aforementioned different tastes in church music, is extremely talented!) Kate is so maddeningly (but wonderfully, in less dangerous contexts) independent, she pitched a fit whenever we put her in her float, and barely wanted to be held in the water! She would have tried to dive in and swim around on her own, if we'd let her! At one point, I was letting her sit on the steps into the shallow end herself, and the little daredevil leaned forward and essentially dove in! I was right there, of course, but she went under for a second and didn't mind at all! I'm glad she's brave, but it really makes me worry that she's too much of a risk-taker, lacking natural caution. At the lake last week, she was enjoying running in the shallow water parallel to the beach, and whenever she fell to her hands and knees, where her face went in, she always came up laughing!

Matt and I enjoyed a quiet evening at home, then, celebrating my birthday with some champagne and a game of SceneIt (at which Matt beat me, as usual). We stood out on the driveway, watching three separate fireworks displays peek over the treeline around our neighborhood. A lovely finish to our holiday weekend--which, since I have today off work too, is not actually over yet! Today is Matt's mom's birthday (a big-zero one) so we'll be celebrating with them tonight.

Here are just a few favorite pics from our trip:

Okay, so maybe I have more than a few favorites. (and there'll be a few more in tomorrow's Project Life!)
Hope you all have had a great holiday weekend too!

Becca's Elmo Birthday Party

Last Saturday, we went to our friend Becca's second birthday party. She and Kate are "BFFs" and enjoyed reading Elmo books together.

After all, it was an Elmo themed party. Becca LOVES Elmo. She can say his name, and her parents even have to spell out his name if they don't want to get her too excited.

 Cookie Monster brought the goodies, though. Om-nom-nom-nom. Cookies!!

 

 Becca got a special Elmo-decorated cookie with her two candles in it.

 

 Becca didn't eat him, but got pretty excited!

 

The kiddos (and there were more there than just Kate and Becca--but they were the focus of my photography) enjoyed climbing up the stairs to the playroom...

 

Where there was this awesome slide with a steering wheel at the top. Fun fun!

 

And just before Becca conked out for her nap, she opened presents--many of which were Elmo themed. Kate brought her buddy some Play-Doh, since it's good for Becca's sensory therapy.

 

You may recall from earlier posts that Becca was born VERY prematurely, and she still struggles to gain wait sufficiently. She is spending this week in the hospital for various gastro-tests. I hope they can get to the bottom of things, so that Becca can grow and Supermom Nancy won't have to stress as much about Becca's calorie intake! Check out their blog here.

Happy birthday, Becca!