A Camper's Life for Me, Yo Ho!

Here's a photo of Hannah (far left in the white t-shirt) with a bunch of girls at Camp Travis. Apparently they're having a BLAST: ropes courses, paint ball, water skiing, zip lines and learning all about God's love in the book of First John.

I really miss my baby! Lanier and I are having a pretty quiet week, just working and hanging out at home. Last night we went to the Wheelocks' house for our Marrieds' Group and watched part 5 of "Marriage on the Rock" by Jimmy Evans. We learned what the most important to have in your marriage is. Can you guess? None of us got it right!

God. HE is the most important thing we can have in marriage. Without Him, we're basically doomed to a life of disappointment and frustration. Why? Because we take the most important needs we have in our lives (acceptance, security, identity and purpose) and instead of letting God fulfill them, we demand it of our spouses, who are totally unable to do what only God can. It was a great session. There were three couples there including us, and we had a great time of discussion and prayer afterwards.

Then we ran by Starbucks at 10:30 because Bess was closing, and we got all their leftover sandwiches and pasta salads and stuff. Praise God for free food! We got a $180 parking ticket this week so our two-week budget was kind of blown out of the water. But God is in control and He's taking care of us every day, I see that so clearly. Security!!

I just printed our newsletter yesterday and will try and get it in the mail today.

Just for fun, here's a scripture reference Jimmy Evans quoted in MotR last night. I'm including a bit more because he only said the first part. Look it up! It's great.

Jeremiah 17: 5-8

5 This is what the LORD says:
"Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who depends on flesh for his strength
and whose heart turns away from the LORD.

6 He will be like a bush in the wastelands;
he will not see prosperity when it comes.
He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.

7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.

8 He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."

Mother's Day

This is probably one of the best Mother's Days I've ever had. I was so looking forward to it!

Church was great and Scott preached a really great sermon. Interestingly enough, it was NOT about mothers. Instead, he continued his 6-part sermon on "The Emotionally Healthy Church" based on the same titled book. Today happened to be about grieving and handling loss. How apropos, considering Cherie's funeral service was today at 4:00.

The thing that I heard that was most impacting was the statement, "Grieving and loss enlarges our souls." It IS an unavoidable thing because one cannot get through this life without experiencing grief and/or loss at some time or other. Another statement Scott made was that "life is full of pleasures and pain--it is a balance of both, and one cannot be ignored at the expense of the other." That's so true.

After church, Bess and Sophie joined us at home for a lovely dinner of onion-roasted sweet potatoes (Jan Lee's brilliant idea of sweet potatoes instead of plain), broiled veggies (onions, mushrooms, peppers and squash) and strawberry champagne! Dessert was vanilla ice cream and cheesecake. Yum!

Now we're about to go to Gruene Hall and hear Belleville Outfit play. They're an awesome band and I plan to dance like no one's watching!

Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

--Rachael

Saturday Fun

Today was Cheri's baby shower. It was probably the best baby shower I've ever attended, and I was a hostess! Yes! I took lots of photos but Cheri has the memory card presently. Photos to follow at a later date. She got LOTS of stuff!

Later, Hannah and I met Sarah and her son, Noah, at the Bezes' pool for a swim. Noah hadn't been swimming before. He was perplexed by the water at first, but gradually gained confidence and was splashing exuberantly by the time we had to leave. He's two.

It's weird to blog from one's kitchen, but that's exactly what I'm doing at the moment. It's 9:14pm, central time, and Lanier's making tomatillo salsa. I've diced onions and grated cheese. Oh yeah, fajitas. Hannah's in his office, playing computer games. I have a big bouquet of mixed flowers on the counter, courtesy of Mother's Day tomorrow. I picked them out. :)

We're listening to Sufan, dancing a little, cleaning as we go, enjoying a Saturday night together.

I find it important, since a girl I know, Cherie Morris (not my friend whose baby shower was today), died a couple of days ago. She'd fought non-Hodgkins lymphoma for six years. She's got two kids, Rynae, age 6 next week, and Drew, age 2 (3?). She wasn't even as old as I am, I don't think. Anyway, Glenda, our office manager, is her mother-in-law, so it's been a large part of my life, praying for this girl to be healed. She was home, and doing ok, but had a lot of pain the night before she went home to Heaven. In the morning, she went into a coma, and I don't think she woke up.

Tomorrow is a memorial service for her at 4:00. I plan on going. Odd to have a service on Mother's Day, but really, I find it nice. She was a great mom. I prayed for the family this morning in my quiet time.

I know what it's like to lose someone. It really sucks. But you know, nearly eight years later, I am married again, with a lovely 13-year old daughter, dancing in my kitchen, making fajitas, and enjoying life. We only get so long, you know. Today is actually the anniversary of my Big Daddy going to Heaven. He passed seven years ago after a wonderfully full, long life.

This weekend, this Mother's Day weekend, I make it a point to enjoy life to the fullest. I think it honors God, and honors those who have proceeded us in life, who are happily waiting us to join them in Heaven, where we will all dance together again.

Yours,
Rachael

Ladies' Night!!

Yes, it's been probably a year since my last Ladies' Night, sadly, but Bess wanted to revisit my Glamour Shots party. So we invited about a dozen girls and had Glamour Shots II!

Before everyone arrived, Bess was frantically making snacks, and Sophie was a little underfoot, so I took her out back to get a few photos while we waited for Mommy to finish. She struck this pose all on her own, the ham.

We started doing pictures around 8:00pm. Hannah was ready to go first. Most of the girls were a little camera-shy, initially.

Cheri was there to take my photos. I borrowed one of Bess's dresses.

Stacy had a blast, can you tell? She was the last to be photographed, but probably had some of the best shots.

Laura and Stacy together. Sniff, sniff, Laura and her husband are moving to West Virginia next week! This was sort of a last hurrah for Laura and the girls.

American Eagle ad. Or Old Navy.

Camille, Jenni and Ashley. Three hard-working mamas who definitely needed a night out!

Kristen was doing Camille's makeup.

Sweet Esther! This is totally out of character for her. I don't think I've ever seen her in a skirt. She teaches our yoga class on Saturday mornings and met me and Bess at the finish line of our 5k race two weeks ago. We love Esther!

Janelle was there for GS I, so this is old hat for her. Jake and Lanier kept the kids and Sophie so the big girls could play.

Bess, trying to think of how to pose.

Action shot!

The guys caved in by 10:30...they'd had enough of babysitting. (I think they ran out of diapers and had an emergency.) Anyway, we got this great shot of 'Nelle with the kiddoes.

Best Friends Forever ('til middle school, anyway!)

So there's a brief glimpse of our Ladies' Night. Kudos to all the husbands who stayed home with the kids! We had a blast. Until next time!

Hannah's News

Yesterday evening Hannah was inducted into the National Jr. Honor Society at her school. There looked to be about 150 - 200 kids being inducted, but it was a pretty special event. Hundreds of parents came and all the kids were dressed up. Hannah told me they made fun of all the boys because they all wore clip on ties. We laughed.I snapped photos like crazy and Hannah kept yelling at me to quit. But here's a shot of her with her good friends Makayla on the left, and Erin on the right. All three of the girls used to live down the street from one another when we were in Guada Coma Estates. Good times!

And here's Hannah with her other good friend, Crystal. All the new members of NJHS received a medal and a certificate. The invitation to be a member was based on grades and community service and general conduct.
Congratulations, Hannah!

Howdy everyone,

Things are pretty busy at work. I just finished a design for WIM Orientation this June; Deon needed a poster to put up in churches across the U.S. Here it is! I'm pretty happy with it. It's 11x17 so we can print it in-house. Now to the next job!

Financial Peace

This Sunday afternoon we went to our first class of Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace University." There were 17 families who signed up for the class at our church, River City Vineyard.

We watched a DVD for an hour and then broke up into two groups and answered some discussion questions. Most of us are married, and pretty much everyone could say they had made some poor financial decisions in the past. Everyone was looking to learn how to better manage finances and either get to a point where they could give freely toward different areas or different situations when God moved on them, or they wanted to create security for their children in the future.

It's a 13-week commitment but we're excited about it. Getting started is always the hardest part, but when you do, then you've got momentum to keep going!

Right now we're praying about getting Lanier a different car, and paying taxes and how to do all of that.

Last night we read Matthew 22 and considered what Jesus meant when He said, "The kingdom of God is like a king who invited guests to the wedding banquet for his son." Who were the "guests," who were the king's "servants," and who were those who got invited later when all the guests declined to come? Why did the man who wasn't properly attired speechless when the king asked why he didn't wear wedding clothes? And finally, what did Jesus mean when He summed it all up, "many are called but few are chosen"?

We decided that the king represents God, the son is Jesus, the wedding banquet is the end, when the earth is gone and we're facing eternity, and God is inviting people into heaven. The guests, Lanier thought, were the Jews, God's first chosen people. I guessed that the king's servants were/are pastors, prophets, missionaries, etc. God's messengers. When the Jews refused to come, then the king sent out the invitation to all the rest of the world (Gentiles, or, us).

We weren't sure about the guy who showed up without dressing up. We figured Jesus meant this was a man who didn't bother to exchange his normal, dirty clothes (eg., his normal, dirty lifestyle) for "robes of righteousness," or that which God promises us when we accept what Christ did for us, and in faith, receive that new life, the holiness that Christ purchased for us and we can only accept when we repent and submit ourselves to Him. So the man tried to show up without having that clothing of righteousness, trying to enter on his own terms, without accepting the sacrifice and reconciliation of the Son. Hence, his being thrown out.

So why are many called but few are chosen? We thought maybe it means all of us are called (God wants everyone to be with Him and celebrate eternity with Him), but few repent and accept Christ's payment, taking on that righteousness, and since God cannot be around sin, only the few who are righteous, without sin, will be chosen to enter into His kingdom. It's nothing personal, it's just the way it works.

Anyone else have any further insight?

Salaam, worthy friends. February 29-March 10 I traveled with a group of friends to Morocco and Valencia, Spain. We had an amazing time getting to know the cultures of both countries and learning about the people there. This first photo is the gateway into the medina, the oldest part of the city where we stayed in Morocco.

Upon entering the medina, we stopped at a local restuarant to grab some tasty Moroccan food. This is what I ate. It's a vegetarian "tagine," which is a stew cooked in these unique clay dishes. The top of the dish is covered by a cone-shaped lid. Tagines can also be made with meat and they're yummy.

Here you see the ruins of the old wall that surrounded the city.

Walking down the very narrow cobblestone streets, we sometimes had to stop and let the men with their donkeys pass by. They'd alert everyone by calling out, "Attention!" in French (spelled the same but pronounced differently).

Here are some of the kids we met at Amicita, the American school where we worked for a couple of days. There are approximately 120 students, 85% Moroccan, 15% expats. They study French, English, Arabic and all the other traditional classes American students learn, including music and art.

Here is the front of the school building. They recently purchased a 3-story building directly behind this one which will be the high school, hopefully opening next year. It's been abandoned for 4 years so there's LOTS of work to be done first! That's where we came in.

This is how much dirt there was on the floor. Amazing. We wrapped torn sheets around our faces to (ineffectively) keep out the dust. Then we swept out and painted two classrooms on the second floor.

Ninjas!

A view from the road as we left our new friends and traveled to the ancient city of Rabat. All along the roads were olive and eucalyptus groves and fields of green onions.

We passed several herds of sheep. This was the best shot I got from the van.
We stopped at a scenic place to get a fun group shot.

We saw the best preserved archaelogical site in Morocco on the way to Rabat. These are the ruins of Volubilis, a Roman city.


Here's a picture of Mekness, another city we briefly drove through. We toured a mosque before proceeding on to Rabat.
Here are some detail shots of the mosque in Mekness. The wood above the doorway is cedar.

The intricacy of their tile work is staggering.
After a night in Rabat, we traveled by train to Casablanca, where we caught a short flight to Madrid. There, we rented a van and drove 4 hours south to Valencia.
Here is my gorgeous friend, Silvia. She was an exchange student at my high school from '92 to '93. We've kept in touch for 15 years and finally got to see each other again, face to face! She lives in Barcelona so she took a train down to hang out with us for the day.
Together at last!
Walking around Valencia, I spied this horchateria, a shop which sells horchata. It's a sweet drink made from the milk of the tiger nut. Bess had bought some a couple of weeks ago in HEB and I had tried it for the first time. It has a nutty aftertaste and is similar to rice milk.
The buildings in Valencia are huge and beautiful.
There were lights strung everywhere for some celebration. I didn't catch what all the fuss was about, but we were constantly jumping from the unnerving explosions of firecrackers everywhere. Silvia said it was a Valencia thing.
Here we have our friends, Ken and Monica, with Pastor Ebitu and his wife. They oversee a Nigerian church in Valencia. We attended their service on Sunday morning, our last day in Spain.
What a great church!! We all thought we were in Africa. The entire service was in English, but so heavily (and beautifully) accented that sometimes I had trouble understanding what they were saying. Boy do these people rock the house when they worship! Dad, you would have LOVED it.

They even dance while giving their tithes! The whole congregation came up like a Congo-line, dancing up to the basket and dropping in their offerings.

Here's a little white girl speaking earlier in the service. I had so much fun; I think I'd like to speak at an African church more often. They responded so much and we had a great time.


Two babies I photographed in the children's room. They were all so cute!!!
Later that evening after a full dinner of homemade paella (chicken and rice) we drove down to the shoreline to see the Mediterranean. It was so cold and windy that we looked for about 5 seconds and then had to run inside a building.

I'd been pining for icecream (really, gelato) during Morocco but never had an opportunity to buy some. So, Grace took pity on my and bought us all a cone. Lemon gelato! Fabulous! Tami and I enjoyed ours.


A fun photo in front of some of the colorful buildings there.

Me and Grace with Kathryn Stephen, the oldest daughter of our pastor back home in Georgia. Kathryn's about 10 years younger than we are and is living in northern Italy right now, working as a nanny for two little girls. It was so cool to see a face from home!

Well that wraps up our trip! It was a lot of planes, trains and automobiles (and walking!) but we had a great time and met lots of good people. I found them all on Facebook when I got home so we are still keeping in touch. It's so important to stay connected in the Body of Christ.

We traveled for about 24 hours to get back home and I walked in the door of my house at 1:45am Tuesday morning, the 11th of March. Lanier greeted me at the door with roses and tulips and Hannah had put out some brownies she'd made with a sweet welcome home note. I kissed her and she woke up groggily and said, "yaaay, you're home!" They missed me horribly. Thanks to everyone who took care of Hannah and kept them both company while I was away.

Until next time!
--Rachael