The Reason for the Season!

I'm excited to have some time off to celebrate Christmas. God has been teaching me lately about the intricacies of the Body of Christ and I am thankful that He appreciates diversity among the brothers and sisters of Christ. We pray that you and your loved ones have some time to spend some good quality time celebrating what God did for us on the first Christmas.

Alex has this week off for work. I don't know if he'll know what to do with himself! I worked last week, but I have off two weeks for Christmas. Yippee!



Here's how much fun Alex and I are having. ALOT of fun. This past week we took a gingerbread house over to our Iraqi family's house and here's how it turned out. Their English is getting so much better and we are getting to have more abstract conversations. They are simply wonderful people. They gave us some cheese rolls (boureg in Iraqi) that were unbelievable and we served them to our neighbors today and they were a big hit!

Which berings me to our next fun activity. Today, Alex and I hosted a White Elephant Gift Exchange party for our neighbors. It was lots and lots of fun. We ate good food, had a trivia game, did the gift exchange, and then Alex did a toast where we shared with them how big of a blessing they are. Honestly, God has blessed us BIG TIME this year with amazing friendships with very cool and very sweet people. THEN, Sarah wanted to go Christmas caroling, so a couple of us went caroled around the complex. Here's a video of us doing 'O Holy Night' which is Susan and Sarah's favorite.

Merry Christmas!

Beth and Alex are busy bees

Goodness this has been an interesting week. Here are some highlights:

-Please be praying for Alex's work situation. He is basically doing a two person job but getting paid for one. The situation is affecting his performance- not because he's doing a worse job but there's so much to do that he can't get to it all- and that affects his bonus and raise. Frito Lay is not being very fair to their employees right now. He almost had to work Thanksgiving which launched a major hissy fit from me. He has been applying elsewhere and it's still slightly possible that he could move up to Frito lay headquarters in January.

-My job is going good. We're discussing goal setting this week, which in my opinion is the most important. We're trying to instill in these girls that the decisions and choices they make now are going to affect them in the future. Last week, we had a dance party and I fell doing the Cha Cha Slide but don't worry- I'm okay; only my pride was bruised (just kidding!). It's been interesting but this six weeks has been a welcome break from the more difficult schools.

-Alex and I had the opportunity to attend the First Annual Victorian Ball in Waxahachie, Texas. Our neigbor, Susan, with the help of her husband, Richard (see below) put it on. It was SO fun! Many of our neighbors showed up and Susan taught us different Victorian dances. I led the parlour game of the night and it went over really well (despite being a little nervous). We took my grandmother from Fort Worth to the ball. She's in the picture below with the young ballroom dancer. When Grandmother and I walked in, we immediately thought that she was going to have to take the stairs. Then a guy came up behind us and said we could take the elevator. This building is about 100 years old so I was feeling dubious about the elevator. He opened these closet doors and Grandmother and I peered into this dark shaft that didn't have walls. It was basically a platform with wires attached. Grandmother looked at me and said, "We can take stairs." But the guy pressured us to try it and we did and we're still alive, so that was an experience.

-Tonight we took our Iraqi family to North Park mall to see Santa. It was wonderful. They are familiar with Santa (AKA Baba Noel in Iraq) but they had never seen him before. The five year old was SO SO SO excited. She stood at the little fence and yelled his name and said that she loved him and blew him kisses. I wish I could put pictures up. It made her night! He gave her a book with coloring sheets and she carried it like it was the most important thing she owned. What a blessing to be able to share that moment with them. Next week, we are thinking about taking some movies and kids' Christmas books so we might be able to explain the story behind Christmas. We might make a gingerbread house, too!

That's about all our exciting news for now. Please let us know what's been going on witchu. I'll leave you with a conversation I had yesterday with one of my girls.

Girl: You're married?

Beth: Yeah.

Girl: You don't act like you're married.

Beth: Um, how do married people act?

Girl: Happy and joyful

Beth: Errr, okay....

She then began to back pedal while I chuckled under my breath. I also had a conversation with a girl this week who asked me if I had ever considered dying my hair and then cowered in disgust when she noticed I had a nose piercing. Much love from the junior high ladies...

Giving thanks

What an excellent week we have had. I didn't have to work at all this week, so I got to hang out with some of my lady neighbor friends. On Monday, we painted. Look at this! Sarah did a sweet Cat in the Hat and Sabrina painted Alex and I anime-style. It was very fun and very relaxing.

For Alex's birthday, I took him rock climbing. This was only my 2nd time but Alex was a pro at it. I'm not a huge fan of heights but I scaled the walls pretty quickly. Alex did crazy stuff like climbing on horizantal cliff faces. Yikes!


We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Alex's family. I think we might have perfected our jalapeno soup recipe. We got to play a rousing game of Mad Gab, too. It was very nice.

We spent almost all yesterday with our Iraqi family. I took the mom and both daughters shopping at the Galleria. THAT was an experience! I have never been shopping on Black Friday before, especially not with two children under the age of 5. I took them to Old Navy and the mom loved it! The mom was awed by the beautiful mall and there was an ice skating show going on. I had quite an experience trying to corrale the children while the mom tried on some clothes. Not being able to speak Arabic definitely puts you at a disadvantage when a kid is crying. I put slippers on my hands and clapped them to distract her. It didn't work. The kids got tired around noon so we went home early. Hopefully, the mom and I will get to go by ourselves soon. She loves sales!

After shopping, Alex and I took the entire family to the Dallas World Aquarium. It was SO fun! They had never seen anything like it. It was really crowded but they had a blast. We are getting comfortable enough around them to joke and their English is really improving. I taught the mom the word "cute" and its proper usage. The dad kept saying "snack" instead of "snake" at the Aquarium and I explained the difference. Alex is going to start helping the dad look for a job. This next week, we are eating at a Middle Eastern restaurant to celebrate Alex's birthday and sometime we're going to go see "Baba Noel" (i.e. Santa Claus). So fun!

Wedding pictures!

If you are a glutton for punishment and would like to look at all 800ish pics of our wedding and engagement, click http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0CZsnLZy5bMX0w. Furthermore, if you would like copies of said pictures, please note the name of the picture and let me know (alex.and.beth@gmail.com). I'll print them off at a Walgreens near you (classy, I know).

Ah, community living....

Sorry it's been a while. So many new friends, so little time to blog!





We FINALLY got our wedding album (our fault, not theirs). I'm currently uploading our pictures to my Shutterfly site, so I can share them with you. Stay tuned. I just started the upload and it says that it should be done in a day and four hours. So......



Oh gosh. We've been so busy with our new friends. This past weekend was loco. I went skateboarding with our mother-daughter neighbors. We did it for about an hour at a local park and it was SO FUN! Hopefully next time we go out, we'll get some pictures.

Then Alex and I went to this adorable little girl's first birthday party. It was fun shopping for her and it was even more fun to see her eat her cake and be surrounded by people that love her.

Sarah, my new neighbor friend, made this awesome bear cake. Please take note, because I will probably never have enough patience to make this.

After that, on Saturday, Alex and I went over to some other neighbors for dinner and it was just plain fun. We hung out and they told us about their lives. God is being so good in filling our time with opportunities to love on people. It certainly makes things interesting!

We have hung out more with our Iraqi family. Last week, we had them over for dinner at our place. I had to go to a Middle Eastern meat market to buy halal (similar to kosher) chicken for my chicken and rice. We also had lots of donations from family and they were SO appreciative. The wife wanted almost all the kitchen stuff we had so it was nice to help her feel more at home. Next Friday, I am taking all the females shopping at some malls and then we are all going to the Dallas World Aquarium. Super fun!

Tonight we took them to McDonalds to eat. It was interesting because we got to help them out with ordering food. Our cashier was hispanic and she asked where they were from. When Alex and I told her that they were from Iraq, she didn't know where it was. The realization struck me that this Iraqi family has to not only deal with learning English, but having to deal with the multicultural aspects of America.

My work is much better. We just started our new six weeks sessions at new schools. Both of the schools that I am at are wonderful! It's a nice change from the last session. One of the schools, Sam Tasby, is in the refugee area of Dallas so we have girls from all over the world. It is so neat! Alot of them don't speak English (they have been here a couple weeks) but they are just so sweet. The school has a really positive atmosphere that makes my job much easier. Also, I found out through facebook that an acquaintance, Kirsten, from college is a science teacher there so I went and found her this Monday and we had lunch. I'm getting to work with some different coworkers this time, so I'm excited about getting to know them better.

Alex's work is going....There have been a few mini crises that have disappeared after much prayer. We just signed another lease for a year, because we're not sure about what the job situation will be in January. I know he would appreciate your prayers about his career. He is trying to refocus on building relationships with his employees and loving on them.

We are so ready for Thanksgiving! Hopefully we'll get to see all of you soon.

Beth and Alex: The Fear Factor Edition

For those of you who doubt our ability (or at least MY ability) to eat or drink things that we think are gross, pay attention. Alex and I are mentoring an Iraqi refugee family through the International Rescue Committee. Our family is a mom, dad, 5 year old girl, and 11 month girl. The father had a contract with the Americans in Baghdad, and thus was targeted by al-Qaeda. The family had been refugees in Jordan for 4 years! We had our first actual meeting with them two weeks ago. At the mother's request, we went on a picnic with the family. Alex and I were concerned about the language issue and while it's certainly not easy, we are able to carry on good conversations and have lots of fun. We have all agreed that we can help them with English and they'll help us with Arabic. The dad is really outgoing and the mom is my age, so I feel we have some things in common. The girls are as cute as can be. We ended our picnic by swinging and playing on the playground.

This week, they wanted to cook us traditional Iraqi food. So, I showed up early with chocolate cake and all the necessary ingredients. The eldest daughter and I made it together without the use of a measuring cup. It looked really really soupy when we poured it into the pan, so I prayed that it would turn out okay and it did. Then Alex showed up from jury duty (more on that later) and we sat down to eat. This is what we were greeted with:

They also included a vegetable plate and some fried (and boiled) bulghar wheat meat pastries. I am proud to say that I, Beth Wise, ate some version of a chile relleno with meat, rice, and vegetables inside. I also ate something that looked like maroon broccoli. The meal actually tasted much better than I thought and I was pleased with that. Alex did a great job. So we successfully finished dinner (although the father wasn't pleased that they had leftovers). Then they break out the tea. For those of you who don't know, I may be a pickier eater than Alex, but I can at least gag things down. One of Alex's least favorite drinks is tea. In the Middle East, hot tea is the customary drink that you offer people when they come to your home (i.e. they drink it ALOT). So, after dinner, they make us both tea, without asking. I am able to drink mine. Alex keeps glancing at me as he takes miniscule sips. So, finally, I grabbed the chance to set my cup next to his and stealthily switch cups. What a good wife I am to rescue my husband from a sure and sudden death by tea. We then talked about the election (the dad likes McCain!) and the mom asked me about our coins, so I showed her which coin is a quarter, dime, etc....

Next week, Alex and I are having them over here for dinner. Future meetings will involve the grocery store, the zoo, and hopefully some parades. It should make for an interesting time. The reason I am not posting their pictures or names on the blog is because I do not know about their security situation, so it is better to be safe than sorry. If you would like to see some pictures we took with them, feel free to email us (alex.and.beth@gmail.com) and we'll send them to you if we know you.

I mentioned that Alex had jury duty this week. He reported on Monday and was glad to be picked. So he didn't have to work Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday! How nice! He really enjoyed learning about the judicial process and he ended up being the head juror.

This was my last week at these first 3 schools. We threw the girls a party and reviewed what we had talked about over the past 6 weeks. It was a fairly easy week and we had lots of cooperation (because we had food). On Wednesday, my partner, Jill, and I walked into 1st period and heard, "Yay! Girl Scouts!" instead of our usual "Ugh, Girl Scouts. (insert eye rolls and hissy fits)", and we thought we had walked into an alternate universe. Gosh. We start our new schools this next week and I'm excited about a fresh start. There was also some drama this past week involving the upper management at Girl Scouts (it's not all cookies and kumbayah). The direction of the program may be changing in the future because of some decisions made this week. I would have thought that a non-profit would be more stable than this, but I'm learning alot!

We've been hanging out with our neighbors alot. Our buddies, Rick and Sarah, who have the cutest baby in the world, helped me carve a stinkin' amazing pumpkin and I got to show Sarah the wonders of IKEA today. We've started having a weekly game night with a junior high girl and her mom. This Saturday, we're having a Ladies' Movie Night. It's so cool to have so many fun people within 10 seconds of us. You don't even have to drive anywhere!

The weekends have still been busy. Two weekends ago, Amy and Keith came up from College Station. We showed them around Alex and Beth's Dallas and had some good food. It was so encouraging to see them and fun to play hostess. Last weekend, my family came up to Frisco and we all spent the weekend at my aunt's house. Everyone did the Gary Burns 5K race on Saturday morning. Alex ran it (3.2 miles) in less than 30 minutes. Leah and I chilled at the back of the group with the clowns (I do think we beat the mascot dressed as the #7). If my sister posts pictures of the event, I'll put some up. Our friend, Kelli, from Arkansas was in town so we got dinner with her on Saturday.

Spiritually, God is being faithful in giving us the fellowship we need and continuing to give us opportunities to trust Him. We thank you for your continued prayers. Please let us know how we can be praying for you. Feel free to drop us a line anytime! We love you guys!

The busiest week of our life......

IMPORTANT! We have had an address change (same place, different address!) so, if you need our new one, please email us and we'll let you know!

Let's begin:

FUN STUFF

-Last Friday, Alex took me to Medieval Times for my birthday. Basically, it's a Renaissance Festival/ jousting tournament/dinner thing. It was really really fun. We ate our dinner, which was served to us by our "wench", without silverware. We sat in the yellow section and cheered for our knight, who looked like a brunette Heath Ledger (and he knew it). We also sat next to a couple who made out everytime the lights went out. Awesome. Alex and I had a great time. I'll have to scan the picture we bought that we took with the princess. :)

- We have been hanging out with our neighbors hardcore. I think it is safe to say that they make up the bulk of our Dallas friends. Last Saturday, Alex and I went to Screams, which is a Halloween theme park at the Scarborough Faire Grounds, where our neighbors, Richard and Susan, are working. It was SO fun! We loved getting to see them in action.

- This week we had a note on our door informing us that our address had changed. This was the first time that we've had an address change without moving. So, Alex and I decided to host a neighborhood "House Warming Party" to celebrate our "new" houses. We had a taco bar and a game night. We probably had 20 people in and out. It was so fun and I think we will have more of them!

-Tomorrow we meet our Iraqi family! It's a family of 4 and they have two baby girls. We are super pumped. We'll let you know how it goes.

WORK

- We are enjoying Alex's new schedule. Last weekend was uber-busy and the next few weekends will be busy too (but it's better than being bored!) The first week in November might be a little stressful for him because he has so much going on.

-I didn't have to go out to my schools this week, so I got to spend the week getting to know my coworkers. Fun girls! We all went out to lunch on Wednesday and spent an hour and a half chatting. This next lesson that we're doing is trying to emphasize how healthy choices can be easy and we're showing them how dancing can be exercise. So....we will teach them (or rather, learn from them) the cha-cha slide, cupid shuffle, the Macarena (!), Souljaboi, and then freestyle to Lil' Mama. Oh. my. gosh. This should be interesting....

SPIRITUAL THINGS

-So, now that Alex has weekends off and our Bible Study had kind of fizzled out, we started to think about what kind of church we wanted to go to. Institutional? House church? Established small groups? When we moved to Dallas last year, Dave from our Bryan house church gave me some Dallas HC contacts, so I emailed them to see what's up. The only reply I got back was from a woman named Liz. She told me that she and her husband, Eric, were not involved in a housechurch but they wanted to get dinner with us. So we set it for last Saturday night. Alex and I were kind of uncertain about how the meeting would go. They were the nicest people we have met since we've been here. We had a 2 hour spirit filled conversation.

Eric and Liz were hippies who became believers through the Discipleship movement, so they've been in HC's their whole spiritual lives. When they moved to Dallas though, they never really got plugged in. They shared with us that their form of fellowship is with individuals and really small, spontaneous groups. Basically, they do not have a set group or time that they spend with believers. This was very encouraging to Alex and I. Furthermore, they encouaraged us that God has given us this awesome opportunity to minister to our new friends at the apartment complex and we should continue to invest time in them. So, Alex and I have been praying about what to do about the whole church situation. We studied what fellowship really is and we've decided that God wants us to try the "fellowship on the fly" thing so that we can learn to depend on Him before we go to the Middle East.

This might be a hard idea for some of you to wrap your head around. Think about it like this: The Bible admonishes us to not give up meeting one another. If you think about fellowship as rechargable batteries, you need to get your batteries recharged. Some people have a structured way of charging their fellowship batteries (set time, place, group of people). What Alex and I will do is depend on the Lord for our next charge. He is already being faithful because our friends Amy and Keith are coming up for the weekend, and I'm sure we'll get to have some church time. This might sound like the easy way out (We don't have to go to church!) BUT I would rather have a set time and place because then I know exactly where we're getting spiritually fed. This will definitely challenge Alex and I to seek out the different places where God is. We're excited about this new chapter in our spritual lives and we would appreciate your prayers.

Along with that, God is teaching me how to live minstry, instead of it being a separate affair. If you look at Jesus's life, he had a tight knit group of friends, but he spent most of his time with people who didn't know who He was. It is so easy to have a group of friends that is mostly Christian because it is comfortable. But then, it is easy to fall into the trap of having a "ministry" once a week and letting it become something to check off your list. I defintely thought this way for most of my life but now that God is placing us in the midst of people who don't believe as we do, I am realizing how fulfilling and fun a life of ministry can be! In loving these people, we are discovering more about God's love and compassion, and we couldn't ask for more than that. Come visit us and meet our neighbors!

We love you guys. Please email us if you want our new address.

A drumroll please.....

Alex's partner just put in his two weeks notice, which means that Alex gets to move his schedule to Sunday through Thursday. We have Friday and Saturday to spend together! Yipee!

Who would have thought that we would be celebrating over Alex having weekends off?

Mama Mia

(WARNING: If you tend to feel vomitous at things that are sweet and/or romantic, you may want to avoid this post.)

Here's how sweet my husband is. I came home from work Monday to find a homemade menu for "Ill Forks" hanging outside my door. (An aside: We always drive by this restaurant on the tollway. It's sign says "III Forks". I always say that it's Italian (Ill Forks) which could mean "The Forks". Alex contends that the name of the restaurant is "Three Forks". Will we ever find out? Probably not. Carrying on.....) It was written in fake Italian-English. So, I open the door, and my husband greets me with a towel draped on his arm and a fake paper mustache on his face. He was also yelling, "I make you-a spicy-a meatball-a!" We then had an Italian dinner and it was lovely.

One more reason why I love that guy.

A Update 4 U

Hmmm. I (Beth) started my new Girl Scouts job this week. Since I'm only working 3 days, I'm done for the week, which is uh-mazing. My first reflections on this job are as follows:

-I do not know enough slang to sound cool. The gym teacher today told me that I need to "talk crazy" to the girls if they're "talkin' crazy" to me. If someone talks back to me, I can also say, "Are you talkin' to me or is there someone behind me?" and look around like I'm expecting someone behind me. I will practice this with Alex.

-I will be tired this year. Today my co-leader and I had 60 girls in one class period. It was chaotic with a capital C.

- I love my coworkers. They're funny, driven individuals and I like working with people my age.

- I need to brush up on my rap music. These girls have different "cultural currency", if you will. I don't think singing the Beatles is going to cut it.

- Alex told me this morning that my cardigan made me look nerdy. I am grateful for his warning.

I'm excited about this year. These girls are (mostly) excited about us being there and I look forward to getting to know them better. This year will give me a better understanding of poverty and "at risk" kiddos.

Please be praying for the girls- for their futures, for their teachers, for their concept of what Truth is.

Let us know how your lives are going.

The Birth of the Cactus High Five

My, oh my, how interesting this week has been. It started (last Saturday is the arbitrary beginning of this week) with me going to meet a Hurricaine Ike evacuee/friend at North Park and watching her enjoy America's second largest mall. I then moved on to our Progressive dinner, which you can read about in the previous entry.

On Sunday morning, I drove my sleepy husband and dog to Abilene, where we hopped in my parents van and shipped off to Oklahoma to go camping. (We left Gracie in the backyard with Samson and paid my sister to come over. Needless to say, I was quite the nervous pet owner. Gracie seems to be an escape artist. While Alex and I were at Six Flags tonight, we left her in Alex's parent's backyard. When I went to pick her up, she was sitting on the front porch. At least she sits on the porch when she gets out?) The original plan was to go to Arkansas but Ike was supposed to follow us from Dallas to Arkansas and then circle there until we decided it was time to leave, so the plan to changed to OK.

Dad took us to the Witchita National Wildlife Preserve. Although my father wanted to regale me with history lessons about grass and Indians, I refused to enter the Great Plains History Museum. After a 3 hour drive through the riveting landscape of Northwest Texas and the flatlands of Oklahoma, we finally arrived at (gasp) mountains. Granted, they're no Rockies or Smokies, but there was definitely some elevation gain, which completely surprised me because I assumed all of Okalahoma was the same elevation.

Our first interaction with the rangers was my mom getting chased out of the gift store at the Visitor Center to which she replied, "I didn't want a wolf mug, anyway."

We then proceeded to "Doris Campground" and selected a campsite between the lake and the shady bathrooms. My parents treated us to a steak dinner and then we hit the sleeping bags. Being that this is a nature preserve, there are bison, elk, and deer walking around and elk tend to bellow all night long. Fortunately for me, I brought my earplugs.

Monday, we got lost for the first of thousandth time trying to get back to the Visitor Center where we could ask them what hike was good. At their suggestion, we decided on a short hike to an abandoned mine but the directions were more like this:

1) The trailhead is off the road behind the gate, behind a cabin, behind the bathrooms.
2) Don't take the first right.
3) Look for a big rock.
4) Look up.

Great, thanks. Let's just say we found the trailhead but that was about the most successful part of this hike. My most useful, newfound knowledge about Oklahoma is that they don't label much. They give you instructions to turn left at the tumbleweed and then throw you out to fend for yourself.

For instance, when someone gives you the instruction to not take the first right on the trail, one would assume that there is, in fact, a 2nd right and only a 2nd right. Not in Oklahoma! The trail split about 91 times and more than once, we had to turn around because it just ended. (Oh, great! I've always wanted to hike to a rock). Alex and I did get to go swimming in some natural water but it only lasted about 2 minutes because I was sure a water moccassin would affix itself to my neck the minute I started to have any fun.

After that riveting hike, we did another and had roughly the same results- trails that lead to nowhere, despite the fact that a map on the trail told us we were standing near something called the "Forty Foot Hole". Don't you think that would be hard to miss? Clearly, we were all blind because all I saw was elk poop. We did get to climb around on some rocks and Alex collected some snails to eat (please, don't ask). That night we had steak and potatoes (ala Beth and Kelli Sweat) and Alex ate his snail. Then we drove up "Mount Scott" to watch for vultures and the sunset. I found it interesting (and stupid) that everything in the Refuge was plainly named (things like Mount Patricia, Lake Roger, Fanny Ravine). We froze our butts off that night cause the temperature dropped so low.

Tuesday we decided to do one moderate hike and then head on home. Well, we forgot this is Oklahoma, Land of the Anti-Signage. We were supposed to hike through this wilderness area and end up at two lakes. Halfway through, we were picking our way through a dry creek bed and I was anxiously looking for one or more of the 20 varieties of snakes in the area to make an appearance; that's when the trail stopped....again. Alex and Dad tried to find a way through, but to no avail. So, we turned around and promptly got lost again. We finally stumbled upon an actual trail (as opposed to the grassy overgrown weedy trail we were on). This might sound like a good thing, but we were so disoriented at this point, that we didn't know which way the car was, even with the GPS. So we chose to go to the right. About 20 minutes later, we get to this giant rock by a stream. Unfortunately, we had never seen this before which means that we might be going the wrong way.

So, I volunteered Alex and I to climb up and see if we could get our bearings better. We couldn't. The rock got too vertical near the top. On the way down, I slapped a cactus that was lurking (okay, not lurking; I knew it was there) in a handhold. While I started picking out the pricklies (what is the technical term?) with my fingers, Alex the handyman dug in his backpack for his pliers. It took us about 5 minutes to remove the offending needles and my hand felt numb afterwards. Later, Alex got one of the stickies in his tongue because it had stuck on his finger. (hahahaha.....shhhh)

I was tired of Oklahoma.

So, I finally came up with the idea of checking shoe prints on the trail to see if we had been there before. We backtracked our 20 minutes and kept going towards the other end. We did find my dad's footprint going the other way, so we knew we were almost back to the car.

The drive home was uneventful.

Alex and I came home on Wednesday.

Today (Friday) I had more training for Girl Scouts. It was fun and I got to know my coworkers a little better. We went out to one of the schools we'll be at and I was reminded how small junior high students were, so I relaxed a bit. I start on Monday. I think I'm going to say "Whoop" alot. Maybe the girls will think it's fun. Maybe they will think I'm a loser. I don't care.

Frito Lay rented out Six Flags tonight, so as soon as I got home, Alex and I hopped in the car to go ride some rides. I rode a few new ones (Runaway Mountain) but I refuse to do anything involving big drops, much to Alex's chagrin.

Coming up this weekend- breakfast with neigbors, an antique show with the same neighbors, Alex's sister's birthday, and another outreach. Goodness, it's nice to have something to do....

Progressive times at the Wise house

So, I had my first official training for Girl Scouts on Thursday. It was finally nice to somewhat be able to answer the question, "What are you going to be doing?" The people were lovely. The women in my program are around my age, so that is just dang exciting. I might actually have friends that I met on my own! at my job! Yeah!

Basically, what we're going to be doing is a six week program that teaches leadership, communication, and self confidence to "at risk" junior high girls during their gym class. We work in teams, so there is always at least two of us. I talked to a girl who worked in my particular program last year and she said it was tough work cause we could have upwards of 70 girls in one class period (WHAT?). After hearing this fact, I had a daydream that I was being punched in the face by an angry, aggressive junior high girl. Also, because it is in their gym class, they are essentially being forced to participate so we have that going for us. All in all, our program goal is 4500 girls by the end of the year.

That being said, this will be a definite test of my perseverance. There will be good days and there will be horrible days. Usually, at the first sign of horrible-ness, I have an overwelming urge to quit. Discipline is the reason I'm not a teacher. I'm simply not good at it- I either get flustered, intimidated, mad or a combination of all three. However, I got some good advice from a friend who has worked in similar situations and I'm going to try and practice being patient and loving.

Girl Scouts is a secular organization and they stressed how important it was that we respect everyone's religious beliefs, so my light is going to have to shine in different ways. It should be really really good for me. I'm very nervous and very excited all at once.

Tonight, Alex and I participated in a progressive dinner with some neighbors who we've gotten to know because we all have dogs. Alex and I did the appetizers, then we had beef stroganoff, and key lime pie at two different apartments. It was so much fun! They are all fascinating people (We dined with the King of Scarborough Faire and a Countess, too). One of them has a girl in the 6th grade and she and I are going to PetCo to look at dog costumes. Hopefully, I will be able to build a relationship with her. Everyone agreed that we should do it again and I'm already looking forward to it!

AND Alex and I went to a training meeting for the IRC about mentoring a refugee family. We got to pick an area of the world (guess where we picked) and the recruiter said there are alot of Iraqi families who were middle management in the government that have been chased from their homes. Most of them speak English. I'm SUPER excited about this. We spend two hours a week with the family, teaching them cultural things and showing them practical things like using the bus system or shopping at the grocery store. I'm already planning on taking them to the State Fair and possibly one of my little cousin's football games. Ooh-whee! Exciting times.

Nibbles and Tidbits

No groundbreaking events have taken place lately in our lives but I could share a few things...

-For those of you who don't know, Alex bought this 7-11 slurpee cup on their 25th (or 75th?) anniversary. It is one of those 1000 oz cups that changes color when you put cold stuff in it and you can get a 99 cent refill for the rest of the cup's life. Well, Alex doesn't let any liquid touch his lips unless it comes from this hideous goblet, which also means that it only gets washed when I can steal it away for the 30 seconds it takes to actually put soap in it. Alex is sleeping right now, so I just washed it. Do you know what I found at the bottom? It looks like pink cake batter. Unless Alex has been mixing dough for a wedding cake in his mug, I'm pretty sure that washing his cup should not involve having to scrape dough off my sponge. Ew.

-I bought a skateboard cause my buddy Katie and I want to be hardxcore. We were going to learn how to longboard but they cost about $100 used and I decided that I would rather not spend that much money on something that could possibly kill me. So, I decided on a skateboard. However, before you decide that I eat nails for breakfast and I will punch you if you ask me how I'm doing, please consider these few things:
- I did not push a little skater kid down and steal his ride. I bought this at a mall. And not just any mall, but Stonebriar Mall, which is in Frisco and is marketed to upper middle class soccer moms and wealthy yuppies. If the employees at the trendy clothing store Fossil look at you carrying around your skateboard that's still in the box like you're a poser, you have a long way to go.
- As Alex and I stepped out of Dillards to go to the car, we both had the same idea. I should ride my new toy, (ahem, I mean land surfer) to the car, for practice. So we ripped the box off and I, still holding my purse and wearing flip flops, step onto the board. Within .4 milliseconds of letting go for Alex, the board shoots across the parking lot without me on it. Unfortunately, it is hard to ride a skateboard when you have fallen hard on your butt and think your ankle might be broken. There was a man sitting in a truck apparently waiting for someone when we stepped out, but after this shameful fiasco, he put his truck in reverse and left. I would say that this wipes out any HARDxCORE attributes I had prior to this purchase.
- HOWEVER, if I can in fact learn to stay on the board longer than it takes me to blink, I will do things like let Gracie pull me or hold onto a rope that is attached to Alex's bike. These dangerous activities will require more accessories though- helmet, elbow pads, wrist guards, knee pads, and a neck brace. I guess I will never really be hard, but I think I am okay with that.

- I have training for the Girl Scouts job on Thursday and my grant writing class starts next Wednesday, so my life is moving forward. Yay!

- Alex and I may be the Appetizers for a progressive dinner at our apartment complex on Saturday. Our funny neighbors thought it would be a good time, and we agreed! We'll let you know if it actually happens, so you can be praying for us.
(EDIT: Alex and I will not actually be the Appetizers, as our neighbors are not cannibals. We will simply provide chips and hotsauce. That is all)

Beth Joins the Girl Scouts

That's right, folks. It's time for me to rejoin the ranks of those Brown vested, cookie-selling, craft making, little homemakers. I'm going to have to dig out my old sash with my patches (Correction: Patch. I was only in girl scouts for a season because gluing tongue depressers together was a rousing night at our troop meetings). No, I'm just kidding. I'm not going to be a troop leader. I'll be working with their outreach programs, which means I get to lead a program in inner city schools that is geared for middle school aged girls (perfect!). I also get to work in a team so I'll have fun coworkers.

Here's how my interview went (My thoughts are in italics). The place was in way south Dallas so I left extra early to allow for traffic and getting lost. Let's just say I didn't hit traffic... I got there and was handed an application. I started filling it out and then I realized that there were extra questions on the back. One of them was "Describe a challenging obstacle that you have had to overcome." My first thought was "What???". I knew that some of the kids I would be working with had grown up with drugs and violence and so I racked my brain to find something that might relate to that, even a little. I got nothin'. I wrote some lame-o answer about my grandfather's death and what it taught me ("People pass on but their memory can live on forever in my mind"- SO LAME). While making up this full-of-it mini essay, I survey the room to look at my competition. All middle aged African American ladies. Great.

So finally, the interviewer comes out and says, "Okay, ladies, follow me." Ummm, a panel interview? I'M NOT PREPARED FOR THIS. Don't pass out! Don't pass out! So, I calmly walk into the conference room and introduce myself to the ladies. We sit down and they explain a little bit about the different programs available. Then they start asking questions. They start with me and then go down the line. On the next question, they start with the lady after me. These questions were actually kind of difficult because you don't immediately know the "right" answer. For instance, we had to describe a time when we had a conflict with someone and we resolved it. Thankfully, I was last on this question. All of the other women, in their middle aged wisdom, had been through alot in their life- divorce, raising children, getting their DOCTORATE (Doctorate? Doctorate? I'm so not getting this job) so I knew that my answer would not be as significant. I told them about how my parents and I argued alot during my senior year in high school and how I learned to communicate better.

So, the interview lasted an hour. When it was done, I was pretty depressed about it cause there were 100 applicants and if all of them had the qualifications of my fellow applicants, I knew chances were slim that I would get it. We were instructed to hand our applications to the receptionist at the front and she would make sure all our ducks were in a row. She looks at my application and says "Just a minute. Follow me." So I follow her to the back room, assuming that I've done something wrong. Suddenly, she turns around and says, "I can't hand you your HR paperwork in front of the other applicants." Huh? Whadya say?

She then turned and left me dumbfounded in the hall only to return with a green Girl Scouts folder. She directs me to a desk and proceeds to pull out tax forms and background checks. I looked at her and said, "What does this mean?" She stood up and said, "Uh, congratulations?" WHAT IS GOING ON? "You got the job!"

I then proceded to freak out in my mind. I started the paperwork and then wanted to think about, so handed it to the manager and told her I would come back later. Then, I walked to the lobby, changed my mind, and went to finish my paperwork.

This was the craziest day I've had in a long time. I thought that I wouldn't even get the job and instead, I ended up being the one that was hired right off the bat! God is so good!

I have training next week and then I think my start date is later in the month. I really don't know that much yet but I know I'm excited. So, yay!

Wise Unemployment Has an End in Sight?

So, in the last blog, Alex told you that I was taking steps to become a grant writer. The class won't be done until the end of November and then I have to volunteer to write some grants to build up some experience, so I still need another job in the meantime.

That brings me to my exciting news! I have an interview on Thursday at 9:30am with Girl Scouts of America. (Unfortunately, if being in Girl Scouts is contingent on getting this job, I will fail. I dropped out of Girl Scouts way early). Basically, I would tutor 3rd grade girls in schools and mentor them as well. I would be done at 3pm, so I could work on grant writing in the early evenings.

The few things that I am struggling with are that the pay doesn't knock your socks off and it's pretty much a job that someone with a GED could do. When did I start caring about status and money? I don't know. I think I would really enjoy this, and so I should give it a shot! I'll update again on Thursday!

Another Trip to White Rock Lake

Beth, Benjamin, and I took another trip out to White Rock this past Sunday. We have learned from last time; realizing that hot dogs don't really make the best quick snack for joggers and cyclists. Today we wrote on poster board (in our own crooked letter font) free water, this time supplemented with granola bars. I think sitting closer to the road definitely caused us to meet more people, even if it was a quick thanks as they went on their way. I hope we aren’t giving off that high school fundraiser vibe, as a few people offered Benjamin and Beth money for the granola bars.

We did see a man named Bill who we met last time which is great. We really want to build relationships with people. He's a very nice man who rides around on his recumbent bike. He packs his own water but is kind enough to stop and talk for a minute. It was cool that he remembered us and said he had been thinking about us as he was riding around the lake. We had just been wondering about him earlier that day as well. We got to know him a little better and he gave us some things that we could be praying about. We met another man who stopped and talked with us named Mark. I won’t go into details, but he is going through some rough times and sat down to talk with us for a good twenty minutes. It always amazes me how people who are lost are so willing to open up about the problems in their life. Maybe they are looking for sympathy? Or maybe they are hoping that someone will be able to provide them with answers. He asked if we were Christian, which we replied yes. We even got to pray with him which was great. He seems genuinely interested in learning more about “religion” as he would put it. I think the lake would be a great place for us to have Bible study. We have been talking about going out to the lake on a regular basis to help us build relationships with people and we want to figure out a way to meet people who are curious about Christianity. We might put an ad in the paper for those who want to learn more about Christ or have questions. Maybe the lake would be where we could meet on neutral ground and discuss? It seems people today want a more open forum. Not a church where they sit and listen, but a place where they can listen, comment, and ask questions as well. I am not saying that churches are bad at all, but I think there is something about a person walking into a building where everyone thinks the same way that automatically puts that outsider on the defensive. I really hope that we can continue to go out to the lake and get to meet people, pray with people, discuss God’s word with them, and show them love.

On another note, Beth is continuing her job hunt. She has also signed up for a grant writing class which is awesome. It’s a great skill to have, especially in the non-profit sector. She’s already a great writer and I’m sure she is going to do well. My job is taking a toll on me but I am doing my best to remind myself that I need to give thanks in all circumstances and glorify God in all that I do. We’ll keep you up to date. Beth’s class starts around the end of the month. Peace be with all of you. We love you.

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Colossians 4:2-6

Wise Family still Plagued with "Joblessness"

Yes. That's right. I'm still unemployed (by choice) but I've got a few irons in the fire (hopefully). I have applied for more jobs with the Interntaional Rescue Committee but I'm dubious about hearing anything back from them. I know God will help us find something. In the meantime, we heard back today from our car insurance folks and we're going to get our deductible back from my wreck in May (whoo-hoo!). That takes a little pressure off, which we like.

We've been able to meet some neighbors in our complex. A few people who own dogs let them run around and play in the evenings and Alex and I have joined the club. It's actually really exciting. I went over and chatted with Susan and Richard tonight who both work at Scarborough Fair and teach theatre. They're really fun people and I'm excited about getting to know people who live so close! Yay!

Our Anniversary

Well it has been one year already. A year on August 11th. I really can't believe it. Where did it all go? This first year of marriage has been a huge blessing in my life. Beth is a ton of fun and my best friend. She is an encouragement to me and those around her. I'm so thankful with how patient she has been with me, especially considering my job situation at Frito Lay. I think it's a great testament to us being a team. It's great to look back and see how faithful God has been to allow us to get married before we were done with school, graduate, have jobs, provide fellowship for us in Dallas, continue to stir our hearts for Muslims, and to help us to be patient for that opportunity. I keep looking at the global events taking place thinking that we don't have a lot of time left to share the good news. I pray that He sends us soon.

Anyway, you're probably wondering what we did for our anniversary. Beth and I agreed when we got married that each anniversary we would, instead of buying gifts, be a little more romantic and come up with a way of proposing to each other all over again. Naturally I proposed the first time, so this first year was Beth's turn. I came home to the sound of chirping crickets and the peaceful scene of a camp set up in our living room. There was my tent all made where the living room table would normally be. Beth looked very cute in her over-alls. She had wanted to take me camping, but unfortunately it had been raining most of that day. I opened a package and in it was a board game; Settlers of Katan. We had played it with our friend Emily and it's pretty fun if you like strategy. You build settelments and develop your little kingdom. Then Beth asked, "Would you settle down with me?" Haha, very clever. I of course said yes. We are going to go camping a different weekend in September so that should be fun. For the day, we would have to improvise so we went and saw one of our favorite movies, The Dark Knight. Pretty darn good, go see it. We then proceeded to one of our favorite restaurants, Golden Corral. Pretty darn good, go eat it.

It will be interesting to see where God takes us this year. We are already expecting lots of changes. As you know from the last post, Beth is looking for a new job, and I am expecting a change of position in 2009. Mostly though, we want to continue to seek Him and we really want to find ways to get more involved in the community around us. This week I got to meet our neighbors Suzy and Richard. Hopefully we can continue to develop a relationship with them. I'm very thankful for Beth and I pray that our relationship will glorify the One who made it all possible. I think I have a pretty good idea for how to propose next year, we'll see how it turns out.

Unemployment at an alltime high for the Wise's!

So, I (Beth) quit my job a week and a half ago. Surprise! As it got closer and closer to school starting, I started to think about (and dread) going back. Part of it is that I felt like my Spanish wasn't good enough for some of the tasks that they needed me to do and that was just very stressful. Also, over the summer, I've had time to think about what I really want to do and what I really want to do is help people- be out in the community meeting people's physical needs. So I (with lots of discussion with Alex) decided to quit my job.

Now, I'm in the process of looking at various non profits in Dallas and realizing that I have almost no viable "skills" to offer. I guess that's what being a history major gets me. I have a genuine desire to help people, I'm a self starter, and I work well under pressure but those kinds of things don't really come through on a resume. So, if I don't have any success in this round of applying, I'm going to try and find something that will get me by for a while and I'm going to take some courses to get some "skillz". I'm looking at taking a Grant Writing seminar because lots of non profits would need that. Getting my teaching certificate for ESL is also a possibility. Who knows? I'm just praying that I'll end up where God wants me. I really want to be able to be His hands and feet in my job.

I'm trying not to let the whole process stress me out. I had a giant stress canker sore on the tip of my tongue (resulting in a lisp) for 2 weeks but I think I am calming down now. It is good for me to be reminded that my success is not measured in how much money or make, or even if I have a job. I need to find my joy and satisfaction in the Lord.

Alex is doing well. There's a distinct possibility that some openings in the plant would enable him to move to a better shift. He's supposed to find out sometime this week, but they've been saying that for the past two weeks. He gets to go to Houston in a couple of weeks to do a plant audit there and he's very excited about getting the corporate treatment. The hotel he is staying at will stock his kitchenette with the groceries that he wants. I forsee lots of Haribo Gummy Bears and orange juice in his future.

Other than that, we're preparing for our sisters to go off to college. I had my first mountain biking experience on Monday with Alex and Benjamin. I was dirty and tired and I almost punched a tree out of frusteration but it was fun. Halfway through the trail, I almost passed out and Dr. Benjamin the Mountain Goat saved me by sharing some of his precious life saving H2O. (Honestly, I'm a little over dramatic when it comes to my health. I told Alex yesterday that I think I have throat cancer. This statement has not been evaluated by doctors...yet. Haha. ) I think we're going to try and ride to White Rock Lake on Monday. Good luck to us! We're also looking at mentoring a refugee family that has been resettled in Dallas (with www.theirc.org). We'll keep you updated!

A Trip to the Lake; Being the Hands and Feet

For a few weeks now, the weekly Bible study that meets at our place has been planning on doing some sort of outreach. Yesterday we finally got to put that plan into action. It was simple really; go out to White Rock Lake with ninety cold water bottles and eighty hot dogs. Beth, Stephen, Benjamin, Kelli, Kyle, Abbey, and myself set up at a picnic table along the road. It was great to see everyone being the body and bringing their gifts and talents into the mix. Beth, Kelli, and Benjamin had made signs which we put up to let people know about the free water and hot dogs. No Jesus loves you poster (although He does), no preaching at people, just loving people. Of course it is our goal to demonstrate Christ's love for these people and not to deny our faith. Our thinking was we want to get to engage with people and show them our love for the Lord through our actions and love, and not because we wrote it on a piece of poster board. It was interesting because one of the first people to come by was a jogger named Patrick. We said hello, and he replied with, "Greetings brothers in sisters in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ." It was pretty cool. No posters, no t-shirts, no starting the conversation with, "Hey you need Jesus", but he knew what we were about. He stopped and prayed with us which was great.

We got to meet lots of interesting people. Whites, blacks, Hispanics, Indians, homosexuals, old people, young people. We like White Rock Lake and the diverse group of people that are there. It's interesting to see and know that regardless, we all need Christ. I believe the only reason that this outing was so successful was because of the prayer that went into it. We are not out there earning brownie points. We are not the focus. God gave Himself the glory, and I thank Him for that.

One thing that sticks out in my mind is how the Spirit moved and had total strangers opening up their hearts to us. I think it shows a lot about mankind these days. How they are hurting, lost, and wanting answers. How they long for fellowship, but need it with the Father to be truly satisfied. We got to pray with one couple who just moved here from Tennessee. She shared with us how her daughter may be pregnant, her son being blind in one eye, and her now being cancer free. Many wanted to know if we would be back next week. I really hope so. It would be great to make this a regular thing at a particular place and time. I think it would really help us build a relationship with people, who often come on a regular basis themselves. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for us. We love you.

"And Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.'" John 6:35

The Great Smoky....Hills

Sigh. Get excited. Here are the pictures from our trip.
ARKANSAS

We stopped at the Welcome Center in almost every state we visited. In Arkansas, we found a brochure for a flea market called Carrie's. It sounded cool so we went to Little Rock to find it. It wasn't cool. But...I did pick up this creepy doll form that makes Alex squirm. It is currently being used as a hat rack.

TENNESSEE

Nuff said! On our first day, we drove straight through to Nashville. The TN coupon book directed us to a Days Inn. Aside from the stains on the sheets and the hair in the bathtub, the smoke detector decided to tell us it needed a battery change at 2:30am. Here's a sleepy Alex trying to take the battery out.
I finally decided to call the front desk. Usually there are buttons that say "Front Desk" on the phone, right? Well, not here!
KENTUCKYThe next day we headed up the Kentucky to go to Mammoth Cave National Park. We got sidetracked at this cool little place called Lost River Cave. It was beautiful and we had a cave boat tour. Cool!
Lost River Cave was used as a night club during Prohibition and it's still functional. There was a bar and a bandstand. Pretty sweet! Legend has it that Jesse James also hid out here after one of his most famous heists.

After Lost River Cave, we went to Mammoth Cave National Park. This is one of the longest caves in the US.
We did a (really cheap) 3 hour/3 mile tour carrying lanterns. Our guide showed us Indian artifacts from thousands of years ago and grafitti from a couple hundred years. It was really neat. We wanted to do a crawling or kayaking tour but there wasn't enuogh time.
After Mammoth Cave, we decided to drive straight to Knoxville to spend the night. I decided that we should take a scenic route (while Alex slept). It was the most beautiful drive I have ever done. These pictures can't even capture it but it was breathtaking and I'm not even a person who really likes scenery. TENNESSEE AGAIN!

After Knoxville, we drove to Gatlinburg, TN AKA The Gateway to the Smokies. We got our campsite and then took a short hike.
We swing on vines.
Alex drank water out of a waterfall (but no worries, he has a water bottle that filters water).

We saw coyotes, deer, salamanders, and frogs....and sharks.
(Just kidding) Gatlinburg has an unbelievable aquarium (go figure!). It was one of our fun things to do in the city.
We went to this goofy "House of Illusions". The Genie in a Bottle trick was the only mildly cool thing there but we still had fun.
They had one of those machines where you can try out different haircuts. Here's the new Alex!
Our second day there, we did an 8 mile round trip hike up to Ramsey's Cascades. Let's just say it was pretty miserable. It was essentially 4 miles uphill with endless switchbacks. You kept thinking you would get there and then you would round the corner and see more trail. The scenery was pretty and some people ahead of us saw a bear, so that was cool.

Once we finally got there, we had enough time to sit down and eat one handful of trailmix before it started raining. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we did not have panchos so the way down was wet and slippery. When we finally made it, I determined that we needed to take showers. The National Park didn't have them, so we had to drive around to RV Parks until we found one that would let us pay $3 to bathe. Definitely worth the $3 though.
When we got back, Alex started the fire. He made some delicious steaks.

I slept.

LOUISIANA

Because we were flying by the seat of our pants, we made changes to our plans. After spending a night in Alabama with Alex's Great aunt and uncle, we decided to head to New Orleans. I had never been there and Alex's family said it was really fun. We stayed IN the French Quarter on a Saturday night, so let's just say it's not our scene. We spent way too much money on dinner; I got beer spilled on me; and the jazz club we wanted to go to had a $10 cover in cash, which we didn't have. We retired early and watched some TV.

Here's Alex performing for me. :)
This was a fabulous jazz band that was in a bar off Bourbon Street. We would have gone in to listen but we weren't sure of proper bar etiquette, so we just stood outside.

I was expecting to see alot of devastation from Katrina but we really didn't see that much (and we even got lost and drove around in neighborhoods). After New Orleans, we drove straight through to Houston and stayed with my grandparents. We were very glad to be back in Texas.

This was a really good trip for us. It was just the break Alex needed from work and we had alot of fun together. See! I told you I would get them up!

Right the Wrong

So, for those of you that don't know me, justice is my schtick. It's the burden that God has given me. Alex loves Truth and I love God's justice (In fact, we almost named our dog TJ for Truth and Justice but we decided that sounded like a superhero name).

Tonight, Alex and I had the NBC news on while we were doing chores and such, and I happened to catch a story covering a peace organization in Israel that had given 100 Palestinians video cameras. They showed some of the footage that had been captured. The most upsetting was a scene where two elderly Palestinians were planting seeds in their field when four masked Israeli settlers with clubs approached. I looked away as they began to beat the old people with their clubs. My heart ached so much that I had a physical reaction.

Probably the most memorable moment of my trip to Syria is the walk-through that we did of the Palestinian neighborhood in Damascus. I was struck by the sense of injustice that had pushed these people out of their homes. I left remembering that whatever the Western media said needed to be taken with a grain of salt because there was a side of the story that was being ignored. An upsetting part of the news broadcast tonight was the reminder that it seems the world is against these people. They are the underdogs.

I don't know what God has planned for Alex and I but He has given me a burden for these people. I don't know how to help them but I know that He has called me to it. My prayers are with them.


Seek justice
Encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
Plead the case of the widow.

Isaiah 1:17

Gracie's Bad Day

Despite my desperate attempts to NOT become a creepy dog person, I recently took the plunge and began searching for a dog dress. Project Runway Season 5 starts on Wednesday and Gracie needs to be dressed properly. I found myself traipsing about all over town looking for the perfect dress (mostly the right size). Yesterday, I took her to PetCo and while I was trying clothes on, I realized that I had been talking to myself and giggling about how cute she was while mere feet away were two stockers (not stalkers) who probably felt sorry for the poor dog lady. At this point, I stopped, put down the clothes and walked away. I was in desperate need of dog clothes rehab. Well, I found a dress today at Target that I am satisfied with. I raced home to try it on the dog, only to find that the carpet on our stairs has been ripped off by the world's cutest dog.

You'll have to excuse her body language in the picture, as she's just gotten in trouble for making a very costly mistake. She also pooped on the floor this morning, so really it's just been a rotten day for her. What better way to end it than to wear a dress lovingly picked out by your obsessive owner?

Hopefully, this will satisfy my need to clothe my canine. Alex and I want to buy a house and we're saving for that all-important down payment, so dog clothing isn't really in the budget. I'm going to start pawning my stuff on ebay this afternoon.

We got our 35mm pictures back from Tennessee, so you can be expecting an exciting photo diary coming soon.

Our 2000 mile roadtrip

Are gas prices high? Oh, we didn't notice. We just got back from a road trip across the South and it was really fun. Once our pictures are developed, I will post them. We went through Memphis, Nashville, up to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, down to the Smoky Mountains, through Alabama, Mississippi, to New Orleans, to Houston, and over the forest and through the woods. If it sounds exhausting, it kind of was. Pictures later. I know you're holding your breath.

ALSO, I have applied for a job at IRC (International Refugee Committee) in Dallas. Basically, I would be a case manager for new refugees during their resettlement process. It would be an amazing opportunity to show God's love to people who really need it. I'll keep you posted if I hear anything about it. Please be praying that His will would be done. Let us know how you are doing! alex.and.beth@gmail.com

Doers of the word

Hey everyone. Sorry I have not contributed more to our blog. I truly do miss writing as often as I used to. Please know that I am praying for many of you. Please feel free to let Beth and I know if there is anything else we can be praying about. I wanted to share what I have been convicted of recently.

"Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." James 1:21-27

I was thinking about the all of the different religious activities that Christians participate in. Conventions, retreats, book clubs, Bible studies, small groups, etc; these things are not bad in themselves but what is our purpose behind them? Why do I study the Bible? Is it so I can quote scripture and have the answer, or so that I may know the will of the Father and walk in His ways? Some of you may know that Beth and I have a Bible study at our place each Monday. It would be truly sad if all we did was read God's word and leave it at that. If I simply know the word, but do not live out what the word says in my life, then what have I accomplished? If I read God's word and know that I and the rest of the world are sinful, and there is only one way to the Father then why does my heart not break for my fellow man? Why would I keep such important news to myself? If I know that God's word says for me to love my neighbor but I am no better than the tax collector, only loving those that I choose, then have I really learned anything? I am deceiving myself, becoming comfortable with knowing what is right, but not necessarily doing what is right. My prayer is that we would put into practice what we already know to be true. God help me to truly desire righteousness. Help me to lay aside the wisdom of this world. Help me to put your truth into action that I might bring glory to Your name.

12 men decided to stop what they were doing and follow Christ. Through their faith God used them to change the world. Today there are more than 2 billion who claim to be followers of Christ. What are we doing?

Oh, dogs and turtles....

Well, I know it's been about 9 years since we last updated. Let me tell you, we have been SOOOOO busy (that and April was the longest month of my life). Alex is still slaving away at the chip facotry, making fatty snacks for you and me. He had an employee who got his finger cut off (almost). They sewed it back on and it's growing quite nicely now. How pleasant. He recently won a company wide award- the EcoHero award. One of his coworkers nominated him for his (our) efforts to help the environment. Ironically, shortly before he recieved this honor, all of the worms in the worm bin suffocated and met an untimely death. We still haven't recovered. Our recycling is coming along quite nicely, though.

My jobssss are good. I'm tired alot but summer is in three weeks! Can we say "Yes"??? My ESL class is goin pretty good. Most of the other teachers have lost alot of their classes (attendance drops off at the end of the year) but I'm sitting at about 50% attendance, which I take as a compliment. We've had some very fun times. I've started teaching them English phrases that they may use and be very confused by, such as: "He kicked the bucket" meaning "He died" (they thought that was a scream). Bahahaha.

The day job is really fun. It's slowing down since it's the end of the year. I've really enjoyed getting to know the kids and the people I work with are just lovely. Last Friday I went and got snowcones with two coworkers (whoo-hoo! Friends!). Just this week, I translated some official documents and when I sent them to get them checked, the official document translator for the district commended me for my translations. It felt good to get that kind of encouragment. Sometimes, I still lack confidence in my Spanish abilities so its nice to hear some good things. I've learned alot about poop and worms in this job, so that's always useful knowledge. Last week, I watched a kid poop in his pants while he was standing right in front of me and then at my next school another kid did it twice in an hour. Fun day!

We've been super super busy. People have been coming here to visit and we've been visiting family and friends and such. It's been really fun to have so many guests. Summer's not looking much calmer. Leah and I are going to Cozumel for her graduation trip and Alex and I are going to take a road trip to Tennessee to camp in the Smoky Mountains. I'm going to go visit College Station a few times and go to Abilene for a couple of days to teach my mom some fun recipes.

Our newest and most exciting news is that we have pets now. My parents brought us a box turtle named Ed who wanders around in our backyard. We're trying to train him to come to the porch when we ring a bell to tell him that it's time to eat. It's slow going. Go figure. We also got a puppy! We were going to wait until June but she was just too cute at Canton. Her name is Gracie. She's 3 months old today and she's a schnauzer/sheltie mix. According to a recent study taken while walking at the park, she's a really cute dog. Here are some pictures:

She's fun most of the time. She's learned to go to the door when she needs out (almost all the time) and it's only been two weeks. She likes to go to sleep in your lap and eat dirt. Alex and I have been exhausted because she has to go outside every 3 hours (even at night!) but she's been doing alot better. Last night she slept from 11 to 5am. Halleluia!

While her name (Gracie) is pretty cute, it's also functional. God has been using this God to teach me about HIS Grace. For instance, although the dog knows that she shouldn't pee inside, sometimes she still does it. Modern dog training states that if you didn't catch it, you don't punish. You simply clean it up and move on with your life. The trick is to catch her in the act and redirect. It's weird for me to not want to punish her for something that she clearly knows is wrong but when I think about it, God gives us the same gift. There are times when we are distracted or too busy to remember what God really wants us to do and we mess up. Sometimes there are natural consequences to our sin but He promises

11For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Psalms 103

How crazy is it that as long as we recognize we messed up, God forgives us and separates our sin from us that far! It has been such a blessing to experience in a small way how the concept of giving grace works. There are times when I have to be compassionate and remember that she is only a puppy. How wonderful to have a Creator who knows us that much better than I know my dog. If I can learn this from a puppy, who knows how much I'll learn from children??

:)