We are so lucky...

This is Eddie. He comes to Sandals. He approached me at a Sandals Night Out last year asking if he could help out in the office. He comes consistently 3-4 days a weeks to do data entry or make phone calls or study for school. He is talking to his professor in this picture. At Sandals Eddie is what we call a "full time volunteer". Eddie is so thoughtful. He always brings us treats and little notes telling us we are doing a good job. Today he brought us ice cream cake from Cold Stone. yum. Some of the staff have milk allergies and he even thought enough to bring us dark chocolate so everyone could eat it. So, if you see Eddie, tell him thanks. He is making Riverside and Sandals church an awesome place.

The wonders of this world

There are a lot of things I don't totally understand in life but accept them and move on. Most things are explainable but pregnancy and babies are a mystery to me. The whole concept of getting pregnant and staying pregnant and giving birth is just a crazy miracle. The miraculousness of it (is that a word?) is what gets me everytime. Which is also what makes me sad and angry all at the same time. I think that women/girls dont really understand what it takes to just get pregnant, let alone stay pregnant and give birth to a healthy, functioning human being. With the abortion rates and teen pregnancies and abuse cases its enough to depress anyone who reads up on it. Thats what gets me. I know God allows us to make choices but why does He allow pregnancy? Why does a 14 year old get blessed with pregnancy the first time she has sex and aborts the baby, but a 30 year old who desperately wants to have a child can't get pregnant? It makes me teary just thinking of it. I keep trying to understand why some people get it and others dont and the only thing that makes sense to me is that we get a choice. But that doesn't even make sense. Its the 1 thing that perplexes me the most about God. You'd think it was philosophy or the trinity or is heaven and hell real but I get all that. That all makes perfect sense to me and I don't question it. There are some things a person just knows. I just know it and believe it and thats that. But the pregnancy thing leaves me bewilderd. How? Why? Why not? When? How??? uggh. I'm frustrated just thinking about it. Read a book on pregnancy and tell me if you get it. I don't.
The pictures are of my nephew Micah, coming soon.

Extreme Makeover...

Scraped ceilings, 12 gallons of paint, refinished hardwood, new window shades, rugs and outdoor furniture and here we are 3 weeks later. We still have a long way to go but it is much more live-able now. You can see our friend Chris laying tile at the bottom. Also in the picture is the freshly painted wainscoting and walls. SOOOO much better!