Harry Potter

Ok so I know I'm a little behind and the real Harry Potter craze is over but I decided since I had more time that I would tackle the task of reading the 1 book of decent thickness and the 6 books of insane thickness. I started about a month ago thinking it would probably take me about 6 months to read them. I have the 1st 6 in paperback bought off Amazon for about a penny each and decided that by the time I got those read I'd be ready for book 7 this summer when it came out in paper back for a reasonable prize. I could not see myself shelling out over $10 for Harry Potter.
Prior to this as close as I had gotten to the craze was seeing like movie 3 or 4 with my sister and I was so confused I can't even remember what happened.
Well in the past month I have read all 7 books finishing the 7th one tonight (thanks to not having much to do this weekend that was that important) and have watched the first five movies thanks to a Harry Potter weekend on ABC and DVR.
Now while I definately prefer the books the movies did them ok justice and were pretty good.
Now I won't go into my love of these books so that I don't ruin it for any of you soon to be Harry Potter fans but they are really good books and great books about love and sacrifice and what is important life for children and adults alike.
So if you haven't go read Harry Potter but let me warn you - you won't be able to put them down.
Next on the agenda: Marley and Me then Edgar Sawtelle. Any other recommendations out there?

Baby It's Cold Outside

Yep that is straight off of Elf and one of my favorite parts where she is in the girls shower singing and he just goes in and sits on the counter and joins her (it is PG)!! That is such a great movie!!! Probably my favorite part is when Elf tells Santa he is sitting on a throne of lies!!!! (I want to go on a tirade here about using resources available to you instead of just bowing down and depending on other people but I won't let being up all night last night on call lead me to that tonight.)

Anyway, it really is cold outside. I was driving 30 minutes North of Abilene last night left here at 2AM and the temperature was like 27 Degress by the time I was driving back home at 6:30 AM the temperature was 13 degrees Yep "Baby its cold outside"

Weather is such a reminder of the Power of the Creator. Yesterday at 6:30 PM it was 80 Degrees today the high was 28. About 7:30 the wind kicked up to about 50 miles an hour and in a lot of Abilene the electricity went out and that includes the Cowboys game!!! We have a tumbleweed probably at our house - Oh wait we live in West Tx and across from a field what should we expect. Anyway here is the picture of the first tumbleweed because some people think they are so big so we took a picture. Now imagine this one tumbleweed times 30 the same size pile up against the fence and the side of the house all the way out about 10 to 12 feet from the house. If it wasn't 20 degrees I might would go take some pictures.
After Thanksgiving they came with these big pruning shears and cut the tumbleweeds all up and hauled them off. I cleared them out Saturday and they are piled up again. I'm sure that is not good on my allergies and its sure not good on our nerves. There have been several breakins over the past couple of months in our area and so the other night when I woke up in the middle of the night and heard these noices I thought someone was breaking in but low and behond nope just the tumbleweeds scraping up and down the house. Luckily our robbers are dried up!!!

Well there goes the beeper so starts my on call night.

Random Act of Kindness

So today the cold blew in and after 80 degrees yesterday I wasn't expecting it. So since I had a Starbucks gift card and needed something to warm me up I stopped by the Bucks. Of course the line is forever long because its the first super cold spell but I had that nonfact but with whip (like that doesn't defeat the purpose) hot chocalate in my head (yes those of you who know me well I won't even drink Starbucks Coffee!!!).

Anyway, I'm sitting in line and notice that there are two of those new square JEEP SUVs in front of me one black and one silver. I thought hmm interesting that they are together they must be from a car dealership or something. Yes I was pretty bored waiting. Anyway, I get up and order and pull up to the window. Usually they take your payment and then hand you your drink. Well this time the guy hands me my drink and says, "your drink has already been paid for." I said "huh?" He says "you owe nothing" I said, "ha is this a joke?" He says, "no the car in front of you paid for yours"

I was speechless!! I didn't even know what to say. I'm sure the look on my face showed the shock I was in.

But as I drove away there I felt so good. And blessed. It made me smile that in this time of economic turmoil and when so many people focus on the bad things that are happening there are people out there that just invoke random acts of kindness on people. It reminded me how it only takes one person doing one small thing to change a person's day or possibly even life.

So today this ladies random act made me just a little more light hearted, a little more positive, a brighter smile on my face knowing that there are many many good people in this world that do many many good things for others.

Class Rep Appreciation

So yesterday was a friend from MFT school's wedding in Abilene - Sarah. It was beautiful it was in this little chapel that low and behold one of my bosses owns (I found out when she was bringing out more punch glasses!!!) Anyway, as I was sitting there by my friend Steve's daughter and wife I was thinking what awesome class reps we had during our two years in the program.

Let me explain a little bit. Each year each class of the two classes in the MFT program elect a class representative. The class rep has a couple of main jobs 1) to bring to the professors concerns of the class, 2) to let the class know things the professors need to let us know from staff meetings, and 3) (and perhaps most important to the other students) work desk duty if needed.

So our first year we elected Laura Beth and she was awesome. She brought our class together and worked hard to unite us when most of us didn't know each other. I believe it was in large part to LB was why our class was so close. The first semester she planned something every month from scavengar hunts, to trick-or-treat, to Christmas Caroling, and to progressive holiday dinners it was awesome fun. She kept this going right through the spring and summer.

Also, when someone couldn't work the desk or those extra times that weren't planned for desk duty we never had to worry about it because we knew LB would just cover it no questions asked and without complaining. She also represented us well to the professors and always encouraged us with what the professors said that was positive but also encouraged us to improve on things the professors would notice or be frustrated about. She would do research on things like how to get our license and what it would cost and events coming up and always prepare us.

The 2nd year we elected Steve and he continued the same things LB started above with maybe the exception of the get togethers but this was more due to time and we would plan our own things by this point in time. During the hard 2nd year what I really admired about Steve is even when he was frustrated or discouraged and when things would get tough we would get an email from Steve that was so positive and encouraging and helped us to keep our chins up and focus on the things that really matter like our clients and our friendships. He would help us put the changes that inevitably happen behind us and just accept those and move forward. He would remind us that the 1st years were looking to us for leadership and that the professors were doing what they thought was best and he would set the example even when it was hard for him because he was frustrated. And again desk duty was never an issue. And Steve did this with his wife working and 3 small kids.

As I'm now out graduated and watching and talking to other classes from people I have met either at work or in the community that went through the program; I realize how blessed my class was to have these two very special people be the leaders for our class and how united we were largely in part to their efforts. So as I was sitting there yesterday thinking about how maybe I don't miss class and the long hours and stuff; I do miss the people and the encouragement that we constantly received from our class reps throughout the program. Especially in my job where sometimes its hard to stay positive and focused on the good I am tyring doing.

So LB and Steve thanks for all you did those two years that went way underappreciated.

And of course we also heard the best speaches ever at the banquet!!!!! I don't know of another class who circled up, attempted to say the Serenity Prayer from memory, and received clay jars from their reps!!!!

THANKS LB AND STEVE

And Oh yeah

One other thing - my brother in law is the guy that stands on the field and hands the refs the headphones if a play is reviewed - so if you know Todd Bissett look for him if a play is reviewed!!!

Game Day In Lubbock - Who would have ever guessed?

When you grow up in West Texas football is huge. Either you are a player on the field, in the huge marching bands, a cheerleader, or in the stands yelling until you are hoarse you support your team whether they are undeafeted or winless.

And aliances are formed around the college team you choose to cheer for. And in Texas there are 3 options Tech, Texas, and A&M. Whether you hook'em, gig'em, or have your guns up determines the future for many kids growing up in West Texas because that is where they set there eyes on college. And there is no splitting allegiances!!

So this weekend ESPN Gameday is in Lubbock for a huge game. I have a lot of friends there and you can feel the energy from anyone that has an allegiance to Tech or Texas. Too bad my allegiance isn't for either - well maybe that is good. Tonight is the "big" game. My friends have bad mouthed each other all week in fun and tonight my dad's team the Red Raiders take on the Longhorns where I would love to see Colt McCoy win the Heisman because well frankly he is such a role model and a leader.

So about 11 pm tonight some will be happy and some will be crushed and then just like always there will be a bunch of jesting tomorrow but then life will go back to normal until the next "big" game the day after Thanksgiving where Mr. McCoy has yet to beat my team!!!

Nooma Video

I had never heard of Rob Bell until last spring. The spring of 2008 was a mixture of great times and very hard times. One specific week had been very tough. School was getting overwhelming with classwork, seeing clients, other work from jobs, and other responsibilities. Then one of the students at ACU who was a good friend of one of the student’s in the program as well as a former Blue Haven camper committed suicide and it rocked our world. Not to mention the flu bug was ravaging through the clinic hitting both the students and professors and the somewhat healthy ones were trying to cover for the ones that fell victim to the bug. Everyone was exhausted – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. During supervision we asked for a self of the therapist supervision session and this was where I was introduced to Rob Bell.

My supervisor brought a video called Rain and showed it to us. You can watch it below (complete with Portuguese subtitles!!):



I didn’t have a clue who this guy was or what this video was going to be about only that it was one of the Nooma videos that my supervisor had been talking about - whatever that was. I come to find out Rob Bell is the pastor at a church he founded in Michigan. His dad was a judge and was associated with Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Some people love him and of course some are very critical of him. I haven't yet formed an opinion nor really think I need to but enjoy his Nooma videos and have enjoyed reading one of his books I have started. I am not saying I agree with everything he writes but I think he makes you think about things from a different perspective sometimes and search out what the Word really does say and to challenge some of our traditional views and to see things as the Jewish World of that time would see things.

So as for the first video Rain – it really helped us through a tough time just being reminded of these things. It makes me think of the 3rd Day song, When the Rain Comes. The rain comes in all of our lives. Sometimes its heavier than others but knowing that we can cry out during these times and God hears us is an amazing promise. I need the reminder often that when I build my life on a solid rock the rains won’t tear it down. There are so many times I wish I had built my life on that solid foundation but what matters is what it is built on now and what it will be built on in the future. So now built on that rock I can come before the throne of God during the rain and cry out and be comforted. That is powerful!!

We showed this at Celebrate Recovery one week and just to remind others that they have a choice whether to build their lives around their addictions of this world or around the love of God and that choice dictates how you are able to handle the trials that come as you move from that house built by your own hands to the way of the Father was an amazing thing for me to see.

He has many other videos worth viewing. Another powerful one is called Name. They can all be found on youtube. (Warning: Bell can be a little dramatic in the videos)

I’m reading one of his books now called Sex God. This book was recommended to me and I thought it was a really weird title for a book but it is the notion that God created everything to be connected to Him, to one another, to the earth etc.

So I look forward to blogging some of my thoughts about his book and maybe some of the other Nooma videos.

New Aunt

Oh and I am going to be a new aunt - my sister in LR will now have to watch the Office episode from two weeks ago although maybe she should not take birthing lessons from Michael Scott or Dwight Shrute!!!!

Vampires

As I've said before I see many psychotic people day in and day out. I guess that motivated me to read a series of books that make the humans in the books wander if they are psychotic (although the author does not go there).

You might have heard of the Twilight Series. My friend Jenn had been trying to get me to read these books for a while but when I asked her what they were about the word Vampires just immediately turned me off. Not my thing. And then when she added the word "romance" I was thinking very cheesy and definitely not my thing. Well then I had several more people talk about how good they are and then someone loaned me their copy to read and I gave them a try.

Here is the thing I read all 4 in the series and these are thick thick books with the last one over 750 pages in less than 3 weeks. And I've been wandering where all my time has gone!! So you ask are they good?

Here is my verdict - decent - good early high school level read. While the plot and characters are pretty well developed and the story line is intriguing it is for sure fantasy which again just isn't really my thing. But shockingly I didn't just get through the books but couldn't put the next one down. There is a romantic theme but it is not too mushy or trashy like all those cheesy romance novels I can't stand and there is enough mystery to keep you going. There is even some controversial subjects and moral issues dealt with all though mostly they are pretty subtle themes. When I finished all 4 books in the series (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn) I was like well those were ok but it was not To Kill a Mockingbird, Grapes of Wrath, or even Harry Potter but for some reason there was a mystery that mesmerizes you where you have to know what happens and can't put the books down.

So if you want an easy entertaining read go for it. But warning you may not be able to put the books down.

MIA; On Call; and MIA for the wedding

So I'm back - you wonder why I've been gone well here is a list:

1) LPC exam (which by some amazing grace and luck I passed thanks to good ole Jaime aka Dr. Goff!!)

2) um Texas Longhorns - yes I know I am an A&M fan but there is nothing to cheer about there and so I will let go of my allegiances and cheer for UT because I am loyal to the McCoy family!!

3) The opportunity to read anything I want on my own schedule - maybe I'll start writing about what I'm reading

4) As bad as it sounds I can actually watch some TV - I mean I got to see Dwight give birth to a watermelon instead of hearing about it at the clinic or at work the next day. Of course nobody where I work thinks the Office is the least bit funny but....

5) and probably the number one reason is my on call schedule


On Call is killing me!! Yes its good extra money to go on those student loans and yes it is usually really good at helping stack up those coveted couple family hours but I am not a fan. Here is how it works. A schedule is published of a rotation of all the admissions and crisis staff that rotate for on call. That means that on a week night from 5 pm to 8 am the next morning and from 8 am to 8am on Sat. and Sundays you have to carry around this little pager and sit or try to sleep in uneager anticipation of when the pager will go beepbeepbeep. Then you have to call and find out whether you are going to see a client at the ER, the jail, their house, or wherever the police have found them. The criteria to get page is the client must be suicidal, attempted suicide, homicidal or making threats, or so psychotic they are an imminent danger to themselves or others.
For a good illustration of my job watch the Law and Order SVU episode from October 14; seriously I thought they had filmed that in the Hendricks ER with me and one of my clients!!!
There are many frustrations but probably my greatest is how it handicaps you. One time I tried to go walking with a friend. The problem is you have to respond immediately so when you get paged you have to stop hope you remember to bring pen and a piece of paper to jot down the information, call the ER or the police or whoever called in the call, attempt to keep this all confidential, and then try and get to the sight in a representable manner not looking like you just went and sweated working out. The moral of that episode was: Rebekah when on call just stay at home!!!!
Yeah don't try and go out to eat either because about 5 minutes before you get your food beep beep beep. Church is also an issue. Pretty much any activity.
And sleep -well don't count on good sleep because whether you get paged or not you are sleeping in fear you won't hear the page so for someone who counts on a deep sound sleep to get refreshed well you might as well have been out on calls.
Oh and when you are the new kid on the block then you get to take all the shifts when someone suddenly gets sick at about 4pm or when they just flat don't want to do it. And then there is Saturday which you go back and forth on because its twice the pay but you give up your saturday but then you don't have to work the next day so you can knap. Oh but wait the old lady at work already has dibs on EVERY saturday of the month - oh well.
I just keep remembering its good pay and hours!!!

One more note; I worked hard to not be on call next weekend October 24th because one of my very very good friends from Dallas was getting married. Well today I go get the invitation to get directions to the place of the wedding and low and behold the wedding was yesterday. I am so frustrated at myself and sad because I have been talking about this wedding and scheduled everything around it for at least two or three months I just scheduled around October 24th instead of October 18th!!!!

So Nitro, N. Trinh, Nancy and Andy my friends - Sorry I guess I"ll have to enjoy the fun through your stories and pictures. I can't believe I missed it!!!

Rio de Janeiro - And finally getting back to the U.S.

Hmmmm - interesting it seems that it was a short while ago when I posted an entry and there was a hurricane plowing down on New Orleans. Now I'm sure you all have a new thought process when you here the word Ike. Please keep many of my friends that are in Houston in your thoughts and prayers. Some of my friends are under mandatory evacuations and I have a friend that is due tomorrow (that is with a baby). I stood on the sea wall in Galveston in March when we were there for a conference and walked out on piers that aren't even visible now. Actually I never even saw the water anywhere near the sea wall when I was there. And now I am looking at pictures of the Hilton Hotel we stayed at in March. Just amazing how fast a storm can change things.

Here is my promise - with this posting you will have had the chance to read about our entire trip to Brasil!!!

So we headed out of Recife about 3 in the morning. Daniel is a good friend picking us up although I guess really did he gave a choice?? :) Its a good thing though because we knew we were fixing to be without our translators but didn't know we would need them in the Recife airport to check in!!! When we planned the trip we planned it to leave early in the morning and have our lay over in Rio instead of Sau Paulo. Daniel arranged for some missionaries who are actually Brasilian and from Sau Paulo Carlos and Elaine to pick us up and give us the 6 hour tour of a city of about 12 million people. To give you some perspective on the size of this the Houston Metroplex has ~ 6 million people, the DFW metroplex has ~ 6 million people and NYC metropolitan area (one of the largest in the world has about 19 million people and the LA metroplex area has about 12 million people. (all according to Wikipedia). Here is the kicker thought NYC has about 2,000 people per square KM is about 2,000 and LA has about 2,700; Rio has about 6,850 people per square KM. (and Sau Paulo is even bigger with 18 million people and 9,000 per square KM). The point is that these cities are so packed. You look out at Rio and its looks like flying over Manhattan except that it goes on and on. Rio has no choice but to grow up because it is locked in partly by the ocean and partly by the mountains. When Manhattan got land locked it just overflowed to Brooklyn and New Jersey!!! Just wanted to put all of this in perspective for you.

But the biggest thing about Rio is it is seriously one of the prettiest places I have ever been. It is a very poor city and the crime is bad and the slums are many and people often have little hope but the rich are rich and many of those that do make it big thrive off of tourism. And of course soccer is HUGE and on the way to the Christ Statue we passed the huge new soccer stadium the city built in hopes of attracting an Olympic bid.

Of course if there was only one thing we wanted to see (and we thought there was only time to see one thing) it was the Cristo Rednetor (Christ the Redeemer statue) on Corcovado Mountain. I didn't realize this is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World but when you are standing there next to it you totally see why!!! To get there from the airport we had to drive through several tunnels that were carved out of the mountains around Rio, through the city streets that were luckily light on traffic because it was Saturday; up a very windy road to the ticket entrance. We then got on another bus and went up very hairpin turns (where some including Carlos and Rena got sick) to the base of the top. I say base of the top because then we had to hike up all of these stairs to the base of the statue where not only do you see the enourmosity of the statue but you also have arial views of all of Rio. The statue is 120 feet tall and is at the peak of Corcovado Mountain in a forest. Although we didn't see any apparently it is not unusual to see monkeys and other common rain forest animals (like say snakes). The statue was finished in 1931 and get this it only cost $250,000 which was probably a whole whole lot then but you know. Anyway you can't even describe it. It is like seeing the David or the Sisteen Chapel, the Eifel Tower, whatever you want to put in there it is one of those things that words just can't do justice. At the same time its so ironic that a city that does not know Christ has such a symbol atop its city and is its famous landmark.

Because of the lack of traffic we got to eat lunch at another Brasilian restaraunt and discover things are a little different in the north where Recife is and also got to drive and get out at Copacabana Beach. If you just went to this part of Rio you would think the city was wealthy but of course this is the tourist trap and where the stars hang out. While we thought the beach was really crowded because it is their winter and was like 70 degrees we were told that because we could see beach it was a scarce day at the beach. We got out and just watched the clear waves crashing on the beach which I could have done all day.

We then even had time to drive to Sugar Loaf mountain which when taking the cable car or the tough hike to the top provides more arial views of Rio. I would have loved to have had the time and been in the shape to hike it. Maybe that will be a dream of mine!!!

After Carlos and Elaine took us to the airport and made sure we got checked in we headed to Sao Paulo to catch our flight back to the U.S. Now for you all that went to HUF with me you will know how excited me and Jennifer were (we both had been to HUF) when we walked into the duty free shop and found - guess what - yes BACI!!!! That put us in the mood ready for the long flight back to the U.S. However, United Airlines had another idea - lets not take the flight tonight. We later found out that on the same plane we flew from Rio to Sao Paulo on the pilot decided that there was some mechanical failure and we couldn't go. Nice that we just got off the plane!!! Anyway, this is where we really missed our interpreters but to make a long long 48 hours short our flight got canceled - we waited in a line forever to turn in our passport to the Brasilian government since we had already been through customs - we waited in line to get our luggage - we waited in line to get on the bus to go to a hotel - we waited in line to check into the hotel - we didn't have to wait in line for our two minute call to the U.S. - we waited in line the next morning to get a bus back to the airport - we waited in line forever at the airport to get our passports back - we waited in line and finally got on the flight to Washington D.C. Even though we got into D.C. too late to get to DFW we were so excited to be back in the U.S. In defense of United Airlines we stayed both nights in nice hotels and they gave us a coupon for like $100 bucks off a ticket. Not much but at least some gesture and I was pretty glad that we waited for a safe plane.

I think I slept most of the way back to Abilene from DFW except for those times that Montezuma's revenge started hitting but that is when I got that call that I had a new niece.

Well that is all folk's but the trip was amazing and I had so much fun. Brasil is truly a unique, beautiful, and diverse country with some of the warmest people I have ever met!!!

Jenn and I at the Statue

Minus the telephone poll a really cool shot from downtown Rio of the Statue

Our great tour guides Carlos and Elaine

Our group at the base of the beginning of the steps up to the Statue

You can see the new soccer stadium at the bottom left hand corner

Another view from the top of the Statue of the city

Those are clouds over the ocean not mountains

Our Last Day in Recife

It was hard to believe how fast our week had

flown by but we looked forward to the last day of VBS being the best day. We weren't sure if the strikes were still on or not but as the kids came streaming in we ended up having more kids than we had had all week. The last lesson was John the Baptist and the snack was graham crackers and honey. Well as I alluded to the roasting marshmallows earlier we ensured we had plenty of graham crackers for another project you'll have to keep reading to hear about!! It was sad knowing that this would probably be the last time that we would see these kids. Me and Jenn had really become attached to "our girls" and Yancey seemed to have become attached to some of the boys. There are so many cool stories and fun we had with the girls. After the VBS was over and we tore down the decorations and packed up we went to our last luncheon at the Escola da Biblia and then we had talked Danny and Lee to taking us to Olinda where we had heard there was this amazing overlook of the city. Here is a communication story for you - Lee speaks a little bit a very little bit at that of English and Danny speaks a little bit and a very lit bit at that of Portuguese (oh and by the way they are engaged) but anyway on the way to Olinda Lee got a call from a family member and told us her aunt who she was close to was sick. We expressed our concern and wished her that her aunt would get better and continued on our drive to Olinda in the dreary weather starting up other subjects. On a side note we had amazing weather the whole time we were in Brasil considering this is their raining season and there is hardly a day when it does not rain all day and it mostly only rained on us at night - well except for today when we are going for a view lookout. Anyway, we got through this really cool neighborhood up cobble stone steps up a really steep hill to this church where we enjoyed an amazing view of Olinda and Recife. Then we came back down and were going in and out of the shops when we ran into Randy (the kind of head American missionary). Come to find out Randy had come to give Danny and Lee his car and he was going to drive us back to Recife because Lee's aunt had actually died. Apparently Lee had told us this in the car but we misunderstood her!! They had to go immediately because her family lived several hours away and in Brasil they don't embalm so they have to have the funeral and burial within 24 hours. Just shows you how language and culture are so imporatant in communication.

Anyway, we enjoyed our view went back and met Daniel and Jana for pizza where we discovered that Brasilians have this wierd (at least to me) habit of putting mayonaise and ketchup on their pizza. They tried to get me to try it but believe me that is one thing I think I can go my whole life without trying and I thought I put ketchup on everything.

The pizza place was at the mall so me and Jenn had to make a stop to get some Hershey bars. (are you starting to figure out what our project was with Hershey bars, graham crackers and roasted marshmallows?). Anyway, we were headed to the LST party which had a western theme to it and as it was pouring down rain Randy who was driving did not see a big gulf of a whole in the road and we hit it hard with the right side of both the front and back tire. Soon we heard a hisssssss and then a thuthump thuthump duthump. Yep we had a flat tire and not just one but two (and we weren't the only car that had hit the hole). Not only did we have a flat but the rims were bent. Daniel came and picked us up and we entered the party late even for Brasil time. Jenn and Yancey and I went to cook up our smores (the project) and we had dominoes and yahtzee and they seemed to have so much fun. I was ecstatic because Ana and Pricilla were there again and we had thought we would not get to see them again. We really had a great time of fun and bonding on our last night with our new friends. We then headed to our last night at the Pousada to pack and get ready to get up at 3 AM for the beginning of our trip home which will have to be a whole another blog entry!!!

Cardboard Testimonies

Many of you know I help with Celebrate Recovery which is a Christ-centered 12 Step Program. Our format is to have a large group meeting and then small group (women and men separate) every week. We rotate every other week having a lesson and testimony in large group. One thing that we have really encouraged those attending CR to do including the leaders is to think about and possibly even prepare and maybe even give their testimony. This is something that is pretty hard for me to want to think about and take the time to put it in words. We have some videos from other people who have been through the CR program that we usually watch but a couple of weeks ago Steve showed a video that I had seen before but not really paid much attention too. I know its 8 minutes but if you only have 1 minute watch one minute because it is powerful.

This video brought home to me that we are all just humans struggling to be reconnected to God. I have so many things I could put on my cardboard if I was doing this but I think ultimately I would put - " so disconnected from God" and on the other side "Blessed by a restored connection to God"

So many things I've done to get me to the point I'm at have been from a severed connection with God and its amazing how peaceful your life can be when that connection is restored. Think about if you were giving your cardboard testimony - what would it say?

Video of Brasil Trip

Since Daniel and Jana have already left for Tennessee and Yancey and Jenn were gone for the night of the mission trip presentation Yancey made a video of the trip. It is a really good summary if you want to listen to it.

There was more than 6 days in Brasil

Well back to Brasil - maybe even the rest of the trip thanks to having Labor Day off again after two years of ACU refusing to give us that day off. I am just chilling here at home watching and praying that the devastation of this hurricane is not near as severe as the news media seems to want it to be!!!

Maybe the gulf coast folks should pack up and move to Brasil apparently they don't have hurricanes there!! Seriously though I can't imagine the nightmare that the residents of LA and MS are going through again. One of my friends lost his dad in Katrina and he is having to live that all over again so prayers for that area of the country and the residents.

So that Thursday back in June in Brasil I bargained with Jana to NOT get to the VBS at 8:30 when it is SUPPOSED to start at 9 so we got there at 9 and guess what - not anybody there but us!!! Now in Brasilians defense there was a bus stike on and so we were very worried that the number of kids that would be able to come would be very very minimal. But Danny with his van mobile to the rescue. I think Danny made three or four trips around Recife to pick up the kids and bring them. They were so excited to be able to come. It was worth the late start.

Our 2nd day theme was David. The kids made sling shots and then their snack was these sheep made out of marshmallows, marshmallow creame, chocalate chips for the eyes and nose, pretzels for the legs, and small marshmallows for the tail. What was funny was they don't really have marshmallows in Brasil so some of the looks were really funny. Some of the kids loved them and some of them hated them. We also introduced the Brasilian members that helped us Adri, Ricardo, Gilmar, Ana, and Lee to roasted marshmallows over the gas stove and they loved them. This gave us the idea of smores (you'll have to wait eagerly for a later post about that).

The VBS went really well again and it was even better because we got to spend more time with the kids and get to know them even better. After it was over Danny played Taxi service again and took all of the kids back home.

As for us we went and ate another awesome meal at the Escola da Bilbia and then we headed for the orphanage. While we were preparing for this trip Jenn's home church had raised money to be able to purchase whatever the orphanage was in need of. When we asked them they said they needed a TV and VCR. However, as we pulled up to the Orphanage in again a poor part of town we were told by Danny and Lee who work a lot with the Orphanage that they already had a TV and that in their opinion the kids were not watching appropriate shows because they were not monitored. As Danny and Lee are planning on helping starting an orphanage at the camp site by January with support from some churches in Alabama we decided to save the TV for their orphanage.

As we walked into the orphanage we saw one lady sitting behind a desk and then we walked into a concreate area about the size of my living room with kids everywhere just sitting. Their was two baby beds with multiple babies in the beds and the small kids did not even have diapers on. Their were mattresses laying around the perimiter with kids laying there that did not even budge upon our arrival. When we opened up our bags of coloring books, crayons, and mcdonald toys we had collected the kids surrounded us but these kids weren't sharing they wanted all they could get. It was so different from the kids that were in the poor neighborhood with the church that had love and shared. There are not words to describe the sadness and lack of love that was in the atmosphere at the orphanage. The neglect these kids were receiving was devastating beyond words. For me it was hard to even give them a glimpse of what love is like because I did not even want them to know what they were missing out on. It made me really appreciate what I have and even prompted the topic for my latest article for the Way magazine (maybe I'll post that later).

After we left the orphanage emotionally drained we went to catch a boat ride around the port of Recife. This is similiar to the boat rides around NYC. It was a little wierd leaving the orphanage and feeling so helpless and then going right back to our touristy life. The boat ride was fun and relaxing and we got to see where Jana went to high school and where she first worked. It was cool seeing Recife from the water and then we saw a beautiful sunset.

After the boat ride we split up and half of our group went to visit Dona Cosabida (Mrs. Cosabida) who is a member of the church who lost her husband and son in the past year unexpectedly. Daniel and Jana and baby Jack and Rena and Charlotte went to her house. Me and Yancey and Jenn and Randy went to another lady Dorinha's house and visited with her family. After going there we had Randy drop us off at the street market where we did some shopping. We had wanted to do that wed. night but had ended up just sitting on the beach where it was so peaceful that we missed the market!!!

It was hard to believe that we only had one more day in Recife.

The VBS group having fun

Natalie eating her marshmallow sheep

Jenn at the orphanage

Having fun with the kids at the orphanageJana, Me, and Jenn on the boatride

No more Olympics but there is FOOTBALL!!!

If you know me you know I LOVE football especially college. I'm sure Rebekah (the roomate) is getting excited that that is what the TV will be tuned to for the next several months. She might start scheduling clients on Sat!!!
But I love the Olympics too and I love that Michael Phelps won 8 golds. Rebekah, Carlos, and I have had this argument about whether we would rather win and Oscar or a gold medal. I'm all about the gold medal. You just have to come up with a super wierd story to win the oscar (ok that really isn't fair because I love movies to but...) to win a gold you have to have pure sheer athletic talent well except for maybe the sword fighting or whatever they call it. Although that is probably the "sport" my brother would choose. I could get on a soap box about how you can consider ping pong and that sword fighting stuff a sport and not softball or baseball but I'll steer clear.
Its nice to look forward to actually having Labor Day off. For some reason ACU the last two years didn't think it was necessary to give us a break that day!!! Oh well I get it off this year!!

Oh and wow what a bold move on McCain's part. I don't discuss politics much but I guess it is going to be a historical November no matter who wins.

Oh and one other thing - the Brasil photo album is finished and on its way so for those of you who have been dying to hear the rest of the story - just come by - or maybe one day I'll get around to finish blogging about the trip!!!

Well that is about all for what is going on in my really exciting life. (note if I wasn't bound by confidentiality this could be a really exciting blog but I'll keep those stories to myself)

Work Got Much Better

Tuesday was much better and really the rest of the week at work. The other crisis manager is out for two weeks and so I am training with the girl who I am taking her place but because there is only one of her to take care of all the crisis this week has been pretty busy. But I am not complaining because for the most part it was a rescue from the important but BORING training. I got to see a lot of different things and I really think I am going to like this job. And I'm home at night and have watched more TV even if it is the Olympics than I have in the past two years!!!

I also finally figured out how to post the graduation banquet post from last week. Apparently, a picture got hung up or something but its on there now.

It has been wierd this week. I haven't been lonely but its wierd that if I want to call someone to hang out they aren't here anymore. Well actually a couple still are; so Steve thanks for having lunch Friday.

I guess since I'm just chilling I should finish posting about Brasil. Maybe one day!!!

First Day of Work

Well today was my first day at the Betty Hardwick Center also known as MHMR (Mental Health Mental Retardation) Services. I guess I expected paper work and some training but this is basically what I learned today through a series of very boring computer tutorials and 3 equally boring videos:

1) how to correctly lift a box with my knees as opposed to my back

2) which type of fire extinguisher (A, B, or C) to use with which type of fire (paper, grease, or electric)

3) My benefits don't start until December 31

4) and I should not have sex with my the "consumers" of MHMR services or with my fellow employees

Needless to say not exactly what I expected but I am home at 5 pm with no obligations and am finally getting paid so....

One other thing: for some reason my blog on graduating did not post. Had this same problem with Brasil so hopefully I'll get that figured out soon.

Banquet and Graduation

For a year I have dreaded this weekend. The end. The tears. The goodbyes. But it is over and really it was awesome. A lot of fun. I won't say the final goodbyes weren't hard or that I didn't tear up with those last hugs and last pictures at the graduation reception but really I had a blast this weekend. Of course the family was here to distract me from the realization that my family I've formed over the past two years were mostly leaving but it was amazing to spend our last two nights together as a family in a cheery and happy mood. That is what my class has always done - find that perfect balance of sentiment, happiness, sadness, fun, seriousness - I think we are all experts at it.

Some highlights from the weekend-

1) Steve's speach at the banquet - Steve that was amazing just the words we need - we will be used as we leave, molded throughout the rest of our lives

2) going to the zoo with my neices especially seeing Karlee's excitement at the bears, lions, and all the animals

3) Amy Gunn getting to the graduation rehearsal ontime (or at least before most of us); too bad that didn't happen at the banquet but its ok we waited on you for the picture.

4) Saying most of the words together as a class/family of the Serenity prayer. Hey the words we made up was what was on our hearts and that is what really counts huh?

5) Holding my little neice Brooke she is so cute but I won't say I enjoyed changing those diapers.

6) THE VIDEO

7) Seeing Karlee have the time of her life jumping from the chair in the living room to the blow up mattress over and over and over again!!! I was exhausted watching her. And then there was when she sat spell bounded by the fire works at the end of the opening ceremonies. She was not happy when it was over and kept doing the sign language sign for more and saying "mo mo mo"

There are so many more. Some memories that might fade but more that won't ever fizzle out.

Over the past week I've helped friends pack and then said goodbye as they leave. This is when I'm grateful for our society where we have email, blogs, cell phones, text messaging where I know I can keep in touch with my friends that I've spent so many hours with over the past two years.

It is wierd. For two years we've shared so many details of our lives. We have laughed together, cried together, plotted our Office video that was awesome by the way together, studied together, prayed together, yelled at each other and reconciled with each other, shared our hurts and joy, our pains and triumphs. Oh did I take for granted that time in class for prayer requests when we shared what was deepest on our hearts. It has been the time of my life. It is surreal that next week I won't just be able to call and say hey lets go hang out.

But a new chapter is starting and so I think this weekend has not been as hard as I thought because its like saying goodbye when you go home for the holidays. Yeah its goodbye but you are family and you know you will be in touch and keep up and see each other again. Its that hope that brings the joy to this weekend.

So yes I will miss all of you but we are family and so it is ok!!

Wierd Times

The past couple of weeks have been crazy but not crazy in the same I'm too busy and don't have enough time to get everything done and I have a huge paper due crazy but a craziness because in our hearts we know these two years are soon coming to an end; yet it seems we all are in denial. Maybe we are at the beginning stages of grief and maybe that is too much thearpy talk!!!

We have had fun showers over the past couple of weeks for marriages and babies that are going to happen over the next year when we won't be together as a family anymore. Everything seems to be "one more" or the "last one" but nobody wants to say those words. However, no one minds saying the words the last loop of the chain that my class mate Christi made to cut off each day counting down the days. Ironically, the first years already have their chain made!!! I've crammed a lot in the past couple of weeks. I found out I passed my National Exam, I've gotten a job at Betty Hardwich which is an MHMR Center, I've gone to Austin to see my friend Jenn who has moved to near Vienna, Austria, I've gone to Camp Blue Haven for about five days, I've gone to the lake Brownwood for the weekend, I've gotten my 500 hour (and my 501 just in case they want to tell me one of my hours is bad I've got an extra), I've gotten my final evaluation and cleared everything through my supervisor and closed or transferred all of my cases and I've cleaned the house (of course with Rebekah's help) which is no small feat. It is wierd being up in the clinic and not seeing clients after over a year of that being my life. I won't lie and say I haven't enjoyed the break because believe me I have but I loved what I did at the clinic. My life was changed and I hope that I was able to help hurting people tap into their resources to begin healing.

Now the fam is coming in fact will get here tomorrow around noon and we will have a great fun banquet tomorrow night and graduation Friday night all of which will be a relief its over but sad as the family I've grown to love and see at least every week if not everyday is going many many separate ways. It will be joyous and sad but it has been an amazing ride and I am so glad that I made this decision to go back to school when I did because I am blessed to be a part of one amazing class - the MFT Class of 2008: Oh and Steve I can't wait to see that Video!!!!

Back to Brasil - Day 6

Recife, Brazil looking towards Downtown

coming from Boa Viagem

Ok I guess I got so blog happy that I had to take a couple of weeks off; or maybe I just wanted for you all to think I was just in Brasil for five days when in reality I think it was 10. I guess we'll know at the end huh?

Today was the first day of the VBS. Apparently, this was the first VBS ever in Recife so I took this as a great advantage because no matter what we did it was going to be new and exciting to the kids. The overall theme was Cars - which I've never seen but we did some cool things like take pictures of the kids as race car drivers and have puppet shows that were race cars etc. The coolest thing for me was getting to hang out with some of the girls we had met the day before at the retreat. Since some of them don't go to the Boa Viagem Church we weren't sure they would be able to make it but sure enough they did.

Now granted they weren't there at 9 -even though Jana talked us into getting there at 8:30. Most of you know I negotiated for the latest time possible and 8:30 was negotiated down from 8:00; but believe me this was the last morning that the number 8 even appeared in the time we got there. I soon put into effect the Brazilian time concept. I think the first kid showed up about 9:15 or so and I think we started about 10:30 even though it was supposed to start at 9:00. I could get used to Brasilian laxadasical (i don't have a clue how to spell that) time!!!

The lesson today was Jonah and so the kids did crafts making big fish out of paper bags and then participated in various activities like fishing in a pond; which reminded me of Fall Festivals at school growing up. Each kid then got a gold fish to take home with them. There were about 20 kids there; which I thought was really great although I did not really have any expectations at all about how many would come.

I also enjoyed getting to know (picture on left in order) Lee, Ricardo, Gilmar, and Danny as well as Ana and Adriana (plenty of pictures of them to come), and the other Brasilians who helped us. It is so easy to befriend people here even with the language barrier. I know I've said that before, but I think the south and Texas are pretty friendly but they don't even match the warmth of the Brasilians.

After all the kids left we went to the School of Bible building where Adriana and her husband Eneias have a cafe and ate some really good Brasilian Strogonof. I say Brasilian because it is really good but not anything like what my mom used to fix. They also had spaghetti which I have really been surprised how much pasta and Italian like food they have here.

Then we headed to downtown Recife to do some sightseeing and shopping. We saw a lot of stuff in downtown including the Marco Zero, a sculpture by Francisco Brennand (a famous sculpurist that was born in Recife and chooses interesting objects to sculpt - I'll let you google him), the high school Jana went to, where Jana used to work when she was a singer and then on a scenic drive through busy streets that reminded me of riding in a taxi cab in NYC so that Daniel and Jana could show us the church that Daniel's parents started in Recife and where they got married. Then at the insistence of us women we went shopping at this place I believe the name is House of Culture (Casa da Cultura) which is an old prison that has been converted to a shopping mall. It was really cool. Each cell is now a store.

We then headed back to Boa Viagem for church and again I was amazed at the warmth of the Brasilians. Yancey, Jenn, and I also ventured out to the beach by our hotel tonight and I could have sat there all night watching the tide roll in with the crashing waves and the stars trying to peak out of the clouds. It was simply beautiful!!!

Marco Zero

The Boa Vista Church in Recefi where

Daniel and Jana got married

This is the baptistry which is

outside and beautiful

The inside of the House of Culture shopping

The outside of the House of Culture

Each window is a prison cell now

converted to a shop

The Lake

Today I can barely move!! Well at least not from the waist up. I think every muscle in my upper body is screaming at me - especially everytime I try to move an extreme amount like get up off the couch or lift something heavy or just stretch - but every bit of soreness was worth the amazing ultimate Lake Brownwood experience.

My friend Mindy invited us to her parents lakehouse and me and some others went and were treated like royalty. We had a blast - played games, had a picnic, had a cookout of hamburgers and hotdogs on an electric grill thanks to the fire band, and the best was riding the tube out on the lake.

The pictures tell all. I don't think I have had so much fun in a long time. I forget how much I love the lake. Just sitting in the front of the boat hopping over waves with the wind slamming into your face. Then of course there is the whole gripping of the tube handles and holding on for dear life while at the same time trying to pull yourself up higher on the tube. And then there is my friend Mindy who has so perfected the tube riding that when whoever was with her would start to falter she would just reach out and grab them and save them. Man it was so fun.

And Mindy's parents are the best. So nice. They had one goal for us to have fun. And even when things kept coming up for them they would have to go take care of or need to tend to they still had one goal through all of that - for us to have fun. Rest assured WE DID!!!

Mindy, Becca, and Me

Me and Becca (and yes I still wear the goggles!!)

Kimberly and Michelle