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