on the eve of my wedding

Tomorrow my dress may get wrinkled.  My makeup might get smeared.  My hair may get messed up.  It may rain and we might all get wet.  The food or the decorations or the music might not be to the liking of all of the guests.  Because of my illness, my legs may fail and I might just not be able to stand the whole time.  After all my careful planning, some details may simply fall apart at the last minutes.

But guess what?

I don't care!!!!

Tomorrow I am marrying my best friend.

And that is enough for me.

May God be honored through the wedding and even more so through the marriage.

Last Day with Safe Families

This post is dedicated to Safe Families of Children of Central Indiana and to the amazing women I've been privileged enough to work with and to learn from:  Krista Davis, Diane Palma, Lisa Lance and Tracey Mitchell-Strong.  Read a previous post I wrote about SF here. 

Tonight I went to my last Safe Families event before I move away to a new city and (hopefully) find a new job.  It was the annual fundraiser, but it was as much a celebration as it was a fundraiser.  We talked and laughed and ate.  We made introductions and made small talk.  We recounted stories.

When I went in tonight, I thought I knew what Safe Families was all about.

After all, I was on staff!!

But as Dr. Anderson (the founder) and Krista spoke about Safe Families and the impact it is having around the nation (and spreading to other countries), I was humbled.  I realized anew that God's hand was all over this movement.  I viewed this ministry through human eyes.  I thought about the logistics and problem solving.  I thought about the statistics.  I got caught up in what I could do to help.  What I forgot is that Jesus is above and beyond all that.  And that Jesus is the very best that I have to offer anyone. 

Safe Families began a mere seven years ago.  Yet it already has branches in over 60 cities and even has a branch opening in the U.K.  Safe Families of Central Indiana (where I worked) began just over three years ago, but it is already growing by leaps and bounds.  As more people and more organizations hear about us, we get more referrals and more host families. 

The idea of Christians opening up their homes, caring for the child of a stranger and being "inconvenienced" with no monetary gain seemed preposterous in the beginning.  After all, who gives without expecting anything in return??  The answer to that should be:  The Church!  That is what we are called to do!  Dr. Anderson even spoke about how he presented this idea in Chicago (the first city to have Safe Families) and was told that it was "the best idea [that individual] had ever heard in his career".  But he was also told that it would never work because Christians wouldn't actually do this.  That individual was proved wrong when Safe Families flourished in Chicago and spread to other cities.  It seemed silly in the beginning, but it's working.  As people begin to catch this vision, it is spreading to more and more churches.    

One of the things I love about Safe Families is that it is a lifestyle.  It is not you driving to a homeless shelter and putting in your three hours of volunteer work and then driving back to your suburban life.  You are opening your home and your family to these children.  They are living life alongside you.  Isn't this the way it was supposed to be?? 




Safe Families is so much bigger than me or anyone else on staff.  It is God who is opening doors and growing this ministry exponentially, but us.  I am so thankful for the incredible people I worked with (those on staff, the volunteers and the Safe Families themselves) who reminded me of that fact so often.

I could write so much more, but it is late here.  Time for bed!


**Please pray about how YOU could be involved with Safe Families.  I am happy to answer any questions, but I'd love it if you would check out the links below to find out more about Safe Families.  :)


Safe Families Website (look for the video clips of Katie Couric reporting on SF)
Safe Families Locations
Safe Families for Children of Central Indiana blog
Safe Families for Children of Central Indiana twitter

ode to my favorite dress.

This is my absolute favorite thing to wear (with the exception of sweat pants, of course).  I bought it years ago from Shade Clothing and have practically worn it thin since then!  Usually I pair it with a denim jacket, brown boots and a scarf.  But sometimes I'll wear a cardigan with it or just throw it on and go.  It is super comfortable, it can be thrown in the washing machine with my normal laundry, it had pockets (!!!).  Pretty much, this is an incredible dress.

Unfortunately, Shade no longer sells this dress.

Otherwise I would own about five of them.  (kidding.)  (sort of.)

Shade just came out with a similar dress.  So I ordered it in the plum stripe (I also really, really like it with the gray stripes!!).  The mailman delivered it yesterday.  It's pretty cute.  (Score!) But it doesn't have pockets.  (Bummer.)  I wish that they offered this new dress with pockets and in solid colors (other than black) because I would buy one of every color!

Photo Credit:  Retrieved from Blissfully Domestic blog on September 14th, 2011.  Originally from Shade Clothing

National Back To Church Sunday (September 18th, 2011)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze5nCEmiamQ&feature=player_embedded

currently reading/update

Currently reading...
1.  text messages (that's honesty, folks!)
2.  case notes for my job
3.  Psalms (especially 101 and 139)
4.  harry potter #5
5.  "The Help" (I've gotten through about 10 pages...I'll give it a proper review when I can do it a little more justice).
6.  "Creation & Blessing" (finishing up one last class of my undergrad)
7.  emails from Mr. Mays


24 days until the wedding.

My life is going through a huge transition right now.  I'm going to enjoy everything settling down and being able to get into a routine with my (soon to be) husband!  :)

I couldn't resist.

Photo Credit: Gary Lawson from http://www.churchm.ag/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/best-bumper-sticker-our-son-is-god.jpeg

bathtub of emotions

This has been one of the most helpful communication tools in my life so I thought I would share.  I think it's especially good on those days when I am in deep pain and working with people who don't understand what that's like.  I've explained this over and over again when I was an RA and working with girls.  Mr. Mays uses this a lot to understand what I'm thinking and why I'm responding a certain way.

Imagine that you have a bathtub for your emotions and for stress.  Each time something is stressful or upsetting, it adds to the tub.  When the bathtub is full, the reaction comes.  That's your personal limit and you response in anger, frustration, tears, or shutting down.

Each situation of life adds a different amount (and each person can handle different amount of stress).  For instance, if you lost your keys and were late to an appointment, that might have only filled up your bathtub 1/10 of the way.  Another day, your car may have been stolen and that is especially stressful to you, so your tub is half filled by that situation.

Here's the key:  Life piles up.  Stress piles up.


When you lose your keys and you suddenly melt into a puddle of tears, it might be hard for you (and others!!) to understand why that small situation was so upsetting.  After all, it only filled up your bathtub 10% of the way!   But what you've forgotten is that it's not just the lost keys....  Before that happened your emotional bathtub was already filled to 95% with other issues so that last 10% pushed you over the edge and your bathtub was overflowing.


Caleb knows when I'm upset about something to ask how full my bathtub is.  It sounds silly, but it really has helped us!  When my pain levels are up, my bathtub is already filled to about 80%!!!!!  So when something that is seemingly small happens, I can get upset quickly.  It has helped our relationship a lot for him to understand how many "little" issues are filling up that bathtub.



It's a very simple word picture.  But it's proven to be really helpful for me.  Hope that this can help others (especially those dealing with pain).  Chronic pain is debilitating.  When others can't understand, it is isolating.  And it's even worse when you can't even understand yourself.






Photo Credit:  http://mymodernroom.com/tag/bathtub/