Thoughts on race...

Nothing light for this post...but I've been thinking, more than normal, about racial reconciliation recently. And wishing it was a nice little issue we could box up the solution to and wrap it with a bow. But it's not. And being an educator in the inner-city, as well as living in a neighborhood with one other white person besides Micah and myself, well, it isn't something I can just put on the backburner.

I am not faced with awful situations every day. I don't regularly condemn people different than myself and, minus a few instances my second year teaching, don't really have people take notice of my pasty complexion.

But I was recently talking to a white man from South Africa and he made the comment, "70% of adoptions fail." Which had me thinking because, before Baby Bell, Micah and I planned on adoption. We still continue to plan on adopting (one or both of us are getting "fixed"). And while I have seen adoption adjustment be a struggle, I haven't really seen it "fail."

So that started the race dialogue in my head. It was escalated the other day by something that happened while I was driving. Then I read an article on www.theblackcritic.com, "Am I racist?", that kind of hit home.

Is racism to be expected in each person? How do we combat it? Is it something that we can ever rid ourselves of? Or will we let the various people who fit stereotypes continually feed into our expectation of race?

Here is what I do know, from my observations.

Ignoring race and ethnicity is not in the best interest of the child.
It is not effective to pretend to be something you are not.
Skin color does not equal life experience.
Socio-economic status seems to play an equal role in societal expectations, and a larger role in educational expectations.
I cannot beat myself up for being a white, female teacher in an inner-city school. (and minus about 4 students, my whiteness has had little affect on my influence.)
I don't know what it is to physically be a minority, so I can't empathize.

peace.

Christmas Recap

Micah and I started Christmas last weekend. We braved the northern Indiana ice storm and went to my sister's Friday night bearing Hot Box Pizza breadsticks. Saturday we spent with Ma and Pa Bell eating wonderful food, experiencing great company and conversation, opening blessed presents, and laughing hysterically while playing euchre (Micah and I dominated 2 of 3 games...woot).

Sunday we took a drive to admire the ice storm, got coffee at Micah's favorite coffee place in the Fort, played video games with Cassie and Trevor, went on a date for lunch, the visited with my family for Christmas. Again we had great company...I love my sisters, got to see the newest niece, and just got to "be" with my side of the family. We were blessed abundantly through food, gifts, and conversation.

Yesterday we got to have our very own special Christmas. It is the only one we will have to focus on each other. So we did just that (minus the trip to pick up our escape artist), we had the world famous Schaab Christmas breakfast, opened presents for Christmas, had snacks, opened Micah's birthday presents, ate lunch and cake, watched Ironman, and had pizza for dinner. The gifts we each received were a mixed of "necessities" (each of us functions off of 4-5 work shirts and don't always keep up on the laundry well enough) as well as blessings.

I really love to bake and cook, so Micah got me some fancy schmancy kitchen stuff (I got the sifter I asked for) as well as the Buffy Season 8 comics and the Decemberists vinyl singles. I got Micah a few movies, Settlers of Catan, some lounging pants, and Ron Paul's manifesto.

I had a moment during the day where I realized I hadn't really taken the time to reflect on Jesus. I also realized that I wrote about the exact same ocurrence last year. And I even think I came to the same conclusion...

Jesus should be central in every moment of this life. Most days, He is. Some days He ranks right with doing the dishes in the aspect of maintaining my relationship with Him. But for the most part, He is the reason for this life and my pursuit of attempting to live as He calls us to.

It's the every day living that gets tangled for me...how do I react the person who cuts me off on my 5 block drive to work? Does the class that constantly tests my patience know that I'm really trying to love them? Am I supposed to work once Baby Bell comes? Am I OK if Micah stays home with the baby? We live fairly minimally as is, but am I OK letting the people we support know that we may have to cut their support so one of us can stay home with Baby? Is my family really my first ministry? If they are, why do I feel guilty about that?

You know, simple things...like how to live like Jesus.

So, I take December 25th to enjoy the blessings He has given...my family and my husband. A few gifts and a great meal. Time spent together. And I trust God still loves me-even if I forget to read Luke 2.

peace&love.

Shameless Plug

After tears from 4 eyes and whining from Elmer, Inu is home! We got a call from HomeAgain around 10:45 this morning telling us she had been found... :)

HomeAgain is the company who microchipped Inu. When she was gone for more than an hour last night, I posted that she was lost to their website. They then sent out an e mail to all the people in their network withing 10 miles of our zipcode. A very nice woman and her husband were going to be coming into our zipcode to visit family this morning, so they printed off the HomeAgain e mail with Inu's info for their trip. Alas,they saw her on their way to family, called HomeAgain, and were transfered to us!

She was gone for 15 hours and made it about a mile in that time. She was happy to see us and is currently snoozing. My guess is that she is exhausted!

So, it pays to get your pets microchipped...but most importantly, it pays to know lots of people who understand the bond between animals and owners and pray you through losing one...

God is good, undeservedly so. We never knew how important she was to us until she was gone.

Merry Christmas! (And to Micah, Happy Birthday!)

Inu is lost

Please pray for her safe return. :(

SURPRISE!

It's 4:15 on Friday, December 19th...yesterday was the last day with students and today was a teacher "records day." Though I like to think of it more as a catch up with the other teachers in the building kind of day. Most teachers don't risk the danger of overloading the system on the last day possible to do grades, so we are done with grades and therefore have nothing to do on "records day." Though I did pick up the front of my classroom. (I was going to clean the whole room, but realized I have students who really like to organize the instruments and untangle the scarves and ribbons...so why should I do that myself when I can be chatting with a variety of pretty cool people?)

To quote the Counting Crows, "It's been a long December..." For lots of reasons it has been an extraordinarily challenging year, obviously (from the point of this blog) it has been amazing and incredibly blessed as well, but challenging none the less. Becoming one flesh comes with many side effects-both beautiful and requiring sacrifice and hard work.

On December 23, 2007 Micah and I saw each other for the first time since 1999. On December 23, 2008 we will not only have been married for 5 months, 18 days but we will also be 10 weeks 2 days pregnant.

It's true...most of you who read this already know...but we are pregnant.

God pretty much rocks our socks.

Not because we have been praying for this to happen or because we were planning it.

Baby Bell is not an answer to prayer...in fact, we had asked people to pray the exact opposite.

Baby Bell is a blessing because God certainly hears the mumblings and desires of our hearts when we don't even realize what we truly desire. Micah and I agreed before we dated that we both desperately wanted to be parents. But we also wanted to be married for a while before that process even happened.

But now that we are pregnant, we cherish "holding" baby Bell at bedtime as well as whispering good morning to baby. Though Micah is much better at whispering to my belly than I am.

So, I'm ready for winter break...and so is baby Bell. We hope to have lots of quality time staying warm in blankets together and baby will be the best company ever while I finally get to writing all the thank you notes from the wedding. Call me modern, but last I heard we had a year to get them out...my hope is to have them in the mail before 2009.

It is a little premature, but here's hoping to a little more calm start to 2009 and just as happy as an ending!

peace.

The many faces of Inu

Thankful

A little late...but better late than never!

About a year ago, Micah "friended" me on facebook.

Lots can happen in a year.

I love being married. Micah loves being married too. We highly recommend it to those who are called into marriage.

God is good, all the time.

I am thankful for my ENTIRE family-the Shepherds, the Schaabs, the Wiedenhoefts, the Bells, and the Davidsons. Even though I'm really bad at staying in contact, they are a really amazing and wonderful family to have.

Sometimes, I am thankful for my dogs.

I am thankful for my students. They pretty much rock and give my lots of really great stories to tell.

I am thankful for Love.

And I still hope for peace.

A real Christmas

So, here's the deal. Watch this, then do it. Give. Be Jesus.

peace.

Saddened

Things have been happening that leave me no option but to completely rely on God...and it is scary, but so, so amazing. And regardless if His will are my prayers, God is so, so good.


But sometimes, I run into something that breaks me heart. The picture at the bottom of this post is one of those things. Her sign is a response to a decision that was made for California in the last election...as well as a reaction to priests protecting their parishes by denying child abuse and molestation charges.

It breaks my heart that this woman is separated from the love of Christ because of the hands of those who follow Him. It breaks my heart that this woman has seen so much hatred from the church (maybe even experienced it herself) that she is jaded against those who truly seek to live like Jesus. Who seek out the lonely...who follow the commandment to love both God and neighbor.

There is no stipulation on love. There is nothing in Jesus' words that tells us that we are to ostracize a whole group of people based on part of their life that they may or may not have a choice in...

And personally, I am so tired of trying to show everyone that-while I am a "Jesus-freak"-I am not the same as most. If I got to spend half the time I do defending my faith as I did loving others as much like Jesus as I am currently capable of doing, I think my neighborhood would be a different place.

I understand that I too have destroyed the name of Christ to others, but knowingly and ignorantly. I am not innocent of this crime either.

But I plead to those who come across people that they have deemed beyond "saving," before you write someone off think about all those who society deemed as "outcasts" and "unlovable" yet Jesus loved.

peace.

addendum to last post

Last night I was thinking about something happening in our life...I was thinking about how, while God has empowered us to make great decisions and given us the opportunity to use all He has taught us, the outcome of the situation is still ultimately in His hands. I realize that this may be common knowledge to most (as it is to me), but I suddenly felt empowered to pray with a new understanding of our Lord. And I felt free.

peace.

What God is teaching me...

One of the things that has been hard about being married is how much my relationship with God has changed since Micah entered my life. I remember talking about it with our mentor couple before we got married, and Erin very directly said that the way she spent her time with the Lord changed when she got married.

I haven't felt void of God, but He has more been my umbrella than anything else. I know He's there, I still experience Him, and still have been learning more about Him. But He seemed to just be above me, seeing everything but not really "involved."

Last week started to turn around a bit...we had passionate discussion in house church that was empowering to us, a convicting sermon that left us with hope, and new direction for how we feel God is asking us to live.

It's been exciting to see Micah fired up about what God has to say...for a while I felt like Micah was really supportive of my crazy ideas about how to live but in more of a "I really love Carter way" than a completely sold out for living minimally kind of way. And I think that is starting to change. We've been talking about sacrifice in more than a financial sense, but in a "what would it look like if we both worked part time so we could be more dedicated to our family and available to serve the community" kind of way. We've been talking about how to make the home more energy efficient. And what it will look like when we are down to one car.

It's exciting. And I feel close, empowered, and excited about living into this life God has provided in a very alive and real way.

But it isn't without some sacrificial realization from a very one sided and personal level.

I am learning what it means to be married and have friends. Sometimes my biggest desire is to have one of my close friends move next door so that we can be in each other's lives more regularly. I am realizing that one flesh means a lot more than sex. I am becoming more comfortable with the notion that friendships change and that I can't always see people when they desire to see me. I am understanding my married friends more...

peace.

empowerment

Sometimes I think the very people who wish the government had less control are the very people who are relying on the government to do the "right thing."

I have had several conversations with people this week regarding the recent election and their frustration with Obama's stance on abortion.  To be honest, while I believe that EVERY life is completely sacred, abortion isn't something I think about on a regular basis.  Yes, it breaks my heart that we don't recognize the sanctity of ALL lives, but I don't line up the government with abortion.

As mentioned above, the most shocking thing to me has been the amount of people who, when asked how they choose to vote, vote solely on the president's stance on abortion yet do nothing.

Have we forgotten how to use our voices?  Have we forgotten how to fight against injustice?  Where is our imagination?

What if the people who were adamantly opposed to abortion sought out women who were susceptible and offered to adopt their child?  What if, instead of picketing, you went inside the abortion clinic as a volunteer?  Obviously, not to support abortion, but to be closer to women who felt they had no other option?  What if you loved not only their unborn child, but the mothers carrying the child?  What is we loved the mothers like Jesus loved the woman at the well?

I don't know who reads our blog and if it will make people angry.  Feel free to leave any kind of comment you'd like (if you choose to), but I do ask you this...please be thoughtful and intelligent before writing.  It's fine if you disagree, but if it is degrading, I'm deleting it.

peace, Carter

PS Something Micah and I talk about is the sanctity of all life...be it the unborn, the endangered mother, the person on death row, or the soldiers in the midst of battle...how can we choose to love only one kind of life and not all people?

smiles

I've written about I before...she's the little girl with leukemia in kindergarten. She was out for about a month, but she has been back at school for a couple weeks now. It is nice to have her in class again.

And I actually do have her in class, when given a choice she comes to music class! She doesn't always participate, but she wants to be there. Which I am exceedingly excited about! She does great in music class-can keep a steady beat, likes to sing, likes to play instruments. It's really great having her there.

Yesterday we were singing "Allison's Camel." A standard in kindergarten music literature. And it was great...we were flashing sign language numbers like peace signs. And then at the end of the song, E shouts "OH MY GOSH!" and as I look over to see what caused such an outburst, she says, "I is smiling!"

Then, as all the children turned their heads to look at I, they start to clap for her, which makes an even bigger smile come to her face.

The smiling lasted maybe 45 seconds, but the impact of it has carried me through today. It reminds me, that while I don't always like the politics of the education system or having to report to someone who was never a music teacher, there is so much more to my job than lesson plans and meetings.

By the way, she smiled again today-only she was on my lap, so I didn't get to see it.

Speaking of politics, just a little soapbox.

One of the great things about our nation is that we don't have to agree all the time...and we've been given avenues to share our disagreement when we have them.

But, if you believe in honoring God, you best be praying that your heart changes if you hold any kind of contempt for our current president or president-elect. Trust me, I have had to humble myself and do it before too.

peace.

Loneliness

During a wedding several years ago, I heard the officiant tell the couple that now that they were married they wouldn't be lonely ever again.

And while this was a beautiful and romantic sentiment at the time, I knew that it wasn't true.  Just because we are in the company of others doesn't mean that we can't feel alone.

Somewhere there is a blog written well before I was married about how I feel most alone right after a big music performance.  After all the congratulations are given and hugs received I am usually left alone in a gym to clean up the stage.

But yesterday something completely different happened.

We had a big celebration at my school for winning the Blue Ribbon Award.  We're kind of a big deal.

The kindergarten students sang first and, after they finished and were sitting in their seats, I got to go sit next to Micah.  :)  He came to the ceremony!

It was the most wonderful experience to have him with me!  I felt so loved and supported.  It was fabulous to share such an important part of my life with him.  He got to see the students I babble on about day after day and understand why I love them so much.

Then he got to see my middle school choir.  They are an absolutely wonderful group of students who challenge me on a regular basis.  Many tears and successes I have experienced as a teacher are brought forth by my middle school choir.

So, while I know there will be times in life where I feel lonely, yesterday wasn't one of those times!

peace.

honesty

Micah and I vowed for this blog to a be a true testimony to the first year of marriage. I digress often and speak about teaching (which stories from the field fuel many of our late night conversations) and social justice issues (which is also an extension of Christ being alive and whole in us).

And while those are real things happening in our life, it doesn't always touch the heart of what is happening in our life. We have hoped that some day, when we are mentoring married couples, we could point them to the early posts in our blog for insight as to what the first year of marriage is like...

So, here it goes.

I struggle with anxiety and depression. I know I'm not alone, but this is the first time I have had to share this struggle with someone in such an intimate manner. And it is hard to see Micah struggle with my inability to function and think so poorly of myself.

I'm usually OK at work. I see my fuse shortening with the kids sometimes, but-in the end-my job isn't hugely affected by this. Work is typically my place to be free.

But when I get home from work, I let out the dogs and then sit on the couch for hours feeling overwhelmed by the most simple of tasks-walking to the bathroom, doing the dishes, sweeping the floor...and cry.

Then I start to feel worthless because I can't function like a normal human being and stand up to go to the bathroom or spend 15 minutes cleaning dishes. I doubt my abilities and identity in Christ. I feel inadequate.

Typically, these feelings don't start until late November/December, but they started earlier this year. The changes from 10 months ago are astounding and it is understandable to feel so overwhelmed. While I absolutely adore being married, it is a huge life change. It is a huge stressor.

So I have to share these ugly, ugly parts of myself with a man who loves me to pieces. And it breaks his heart to me so broken.

Sometimes the gravity of his love and the brevity of my self-worth collide into this beautiful mess of redemption and purpose to help me better understand what God is doing in our life.

The final part of being honest is something fairly open ended because, you see, I haven't fully comprehended it.

I went to my gynecologist Thursday and she believes I may have had an early term miscarriage. It is only a theory for what is potentially going on with my uterus, but it is a bit jarring none the less. In the past 72 hours I have gone from being unaffected by this news because I didn't even know I was pregnant to feeling guilty for drinking beer/taking anti-depressants and feeling responsible to being annoyed with my doctor for telling me something so casually and back again. I haven't cried and mourned, but I have felt sad.

Luckily it happened on fall break and Micah I have spent most of the weekend in bed relaxing. Which is the best medicine a girl could ask for.

So, anyway, that's where we are...I started taking Paxil 2 weeks ago and it seems to be helping a bit.

I guess all I really have to say is that I'm happy Micah is a strong man who loves me so I don't have to do life alone.

peace.

It's 4:54 AM and I've been up for an hour...

It's really just a matter of perspective, but it is either very late or very early. I woke up about an hour ago. And fought the alertness I was experiencing, but in the end I decided I could either lie in bed miserably or do a few things while I was unwillingly awake. My hope is that I'll go back to bed in a bit and actually sleep past 6:30.

So, for now, I'm up...and I don't want to make too much of a racket so cleaning is out...

I also happened to not only marry Micah, but all of his stereo equipment. As a musician I have to say, it pretty much rocks to be able to listen to music on an amazing system. Sometimes I struggle with having nice things and this is applies to our stereo as well...but most of the time I am just happy he bought it before me and before he was a Christian.

So, there you have it, one of my dark sides. While I am sad Micah lived without Christ for parts of his life, we both agree that we couldn't justify spending major bucks on stereo equipment at this point in time of our lives.

I have heard several times that most common fights in a marriage surround money and sex. This will be about the the first...

We are currently living in a 912 square foot home I bought when I thought God was calling me into singleness. It was perfect for me. It is not perfect for me, a husband, and his stereo system. My original thought in buying the house was that it would help me continue on the path of living simply and not acquiring too much "stuff." Micah and I keep getting rid of said "stuff." If you go to the Goodwill on Keystone, more than likely you will walk away with something from this house.

We also love to cook. And the kitchen in this house is just bizarre. Plus I'm pretty sure the cabinets are the originals from 1954. I broke a drawer. I don't know how to replace it.

And the basement flooded...with sewage. We lost our entire book library, Micah's cd and dvd collection, and my American Girl doll collection in addition to all but 10 pictures of me from birth until age 20.

This house isn't leaving our possession any time soon.

When we created our initial budget, it looked like we could live off one salary. SCORE! We planned on buying another house and (hopefully) renting this one...but we weren't too concerned since I could afford this house on a single salary and we weren't planning on spending a ton on a new place being that we like living in the 'hood.

But after much speculation and fleshing out of the budget, we have decided that owning two homes is not possible if we desire to pursue the gifts and callings God has given us. (Plus I read that the housing market crash is not totally from people buying homes they can't afford, but it was also added to by all the people who bought and additional home or two because the market was down-with the plans of flipping or renting-and cannot carry the cost of their additional homes...)

So, instead, we are staying here. Doing our best to get rid of stuff. Maintaining the house. Putting in a one way valve in the basement to (hopefully) prevent another sewage strike. Making this kitchen as workable as possible. Creating a lifestyle that utilizes all the items that have been bestowed upon us so that we don't need storage. Or much at least. Which is good because this house has 2 closets. Micah hangs his shirts from the curtain rod in our bedroom.

This gives us freedom! We are not in bondage to mortgages or debt. Instead we are able to pursue the course we believe God has provided...we will be able to front all monies for adoption in a few years, Micah will be able to start his photography business well before we have children, we are able to travel to visit our friends in Turkey, our family in California, and be the hands and feet of Jesus in very tangible ways. We are able to put money towards retirement not to galavant, but to relocate...right now we toy with the idea of starting an orphanage in Africa in retirement. But that is quite a ways away.

Living below our "means" is freeing. It allows God to speak to us, guide us, and point us in the direction of how to distribute the funds He has graciously given to us.

And while we have plans that we believe God has laid, we also understand that-in the end-none of this is ours. It has been given to us so that we may bring Him glory.

peace.

just because I feel like it...

Micah is currently gone. Not a forever kind of gone, but just for a few hours kind of gone. We rarely have these moments without him being at work. So it feels kind of odd to know he isn't at work while I type this. Instead he is off living the dream and taking pictures of a band for upcoming promotional materials. Or something like that. All I know is that my friend Erin is a really stinking great musician. And she loves Jesus. And her music isn't hokey. (At least what I have heard.)

So, I'm home right now. I feel pretty icky on lots of levels. There is the physical level of having some kind of cold or allergies or combination. There is an emotional level of processing the anxiety I have been feeling as of late. And then there is exhaustion which comes from the combining of both.

Micah and I just celebrated our 9 months of being together and today marks 3 months of being married. We were traveling to an Indiana reception for the the Fingers last night with some old college folk when they asked us how we met and such. And right now, I'm procrastinating cleaning the floors and going to Target, so I thought I would just share a bit.

Micah was my first dance ever, and I was his, back in the 7th grade. Good ol' 1994. True to middle school, we didn't talk much afterwards...even though we were both band geeks and involved in all those fun activities together for the next 6 years. In high school, I always noticed his variety in hair color and he always noticed that I talked a ton. He also thought I was super cute. :)

We didn't talk at all after he graduated in 1999.

Last November he "friended" me on facebook. I noticed he was a libertarian, so I made a comment about it. Being excited, he thought I was one as well, but didn't lose hope on me when he discovered that I am strong encourager of the redistribution of wealth and aiding foreign nations.

We saw each other for the first time December 23, 2008. We talked until 6 a.m., went to church the next night, drove around town looking at Christmas lights, and hung out until 4 a.m. We then had a big discussion via online and the phone about our life's expectations, God, finances, and adoption. We discovered we were compatible, hung out for New Year's, started dating and met each other's parents the next day, and then got engaged on February 15th. (It is important to Micah that we didn't get engaged on Valentine's day.)

While it feels like we have known each other our whole life and is so clear that this is ordained by God, we are continuously reminded that we don't know each other completely.

But we are excited to get to know each other in the days to come.

peace.

Autism vs. AIDS

After a little backstory, you will read a most amazing conversation that happened in my class today.

One of the boys from 103/104 is coming to kindergarten music once a week with room 102. Today I had 102 without J. I asked the kids how having J in class went and if they had any questions. Most of the kids really liked having him there and getting to help him be a great student. Though one child had a question. E asked, "Why does he make faces and noises?" This was what happened after that:

Me: He does that because he has autism.
E: What is autism?
Me: (to the class) When most of you have thoughts you can say them out loud. J has tons of thoughts in his head, but he doesn't know how to share them. Remember how he kept shushing me when I would sing? I think he was trying to tell me that he wanted to listen to the cd, but didn't know how to say it.

(JC raises his hand)
JC: Is autism a disease?
Me: I think it's a disorder...
JC: Oh, never mind, I was thinking of AIDS.


It is the first time I have ever laughed because of AIDS and I'm sure it will probably be the last. But seriously? A 6 year old...

When I told JC's mom what he said, her response was, "No more NPR in the car..."

peace.

PS I am going to go through and change all the kids names in previous posts for privacy reasons. If a child strikes you and you want to pray for that child, let me know and I can pass on the prayer needs...but other than that I need to respect the privacy of others...

Call and Response

I love documentaries.

I love them because they tell real stories. The human story is one of incredibly ebbs and flows, ups and downs...why do we need to fabricate drama?



Call and Response is a documentary about slavery, told through many people's stories and some amazing music from some amazing musicians. (The full description of the movie through an editor's words are at the bottom of this blog.)

I have been talking with my middle school students recently about what it means to care for the "least of these" and fight for the rights of others. It has been amazing to see them rise and do their best to understand and love people throughout the world with compassion.

I want this movie to come to Indianapolis for lots of reasons. But the biggest, is that I want it to come here so I can take my students and have them not only experience some of the most talented musicians currently in the field, but be educated and empowered. Please take a moment and request it come to Indianapolis. Just send an e mail to info@callandresponse.com

Proverbs 31:8-9 (New International Version)

8 "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.

9 Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy."



peace.

CALL+RESPONSE is a first of its kind feature documentary film that reveals the world’s 27 million dirtiest secrets: there are more slaves today than ever before in human history. CALL+RESPONSE goes deep undercover where slavery is thriving from the child brothels of Cambodia to the slave brick kilns of rural India to reveal that in 2007, Slave Traders made more money than Google, Nike and Starbucks combined.

Luminaries on the issue such as Cornel West, Madeleine Albright, Daryl Hannah, Julia Ormond, Ashley Judd, Nicholas Kristof, and many other prominent political and cultural figures offer first hand account of this 21st century trade. Performances from Grammy-winning and critically acclaimed artists including Moby, Natasha Bedingfield, Cold War Kids, Matisyahu, Imogen Heap, Talib Kweli, Five For Fighting, Switchfoot, members of Nickel Creek and Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers, Rocco Deluca move this chilling information into inspiration for stopping it.

Music is part of the movement against human slavery. Dr. Cornel West connects the music of the American slave fields to the popular music we listen to today, and offers this connection as a rallying cry for the modern abolitionist movement currently brewing.

kindergarten recess

If you ever have a chance, I high suggest watching a kindergarten recess. Seriously. And the bigger, the better.

I come home for lunch. It is one of the luxuries of living close to work. I can come home, let out the dogs, and either watch an episode of the Office while I eat my lunch or clean something. The latter really depends on the day/days to come.

I usually return to work during kindergarten recess. I always make sure I walk through recess for 2 reasons:

1) I am only like the most popular person ever at kindergarten recess.

b) It is non-stop entertainment.

It is no secret that my favorite class in the building is 103/104. They are 9 children in kindergarten through 3rd grade with austism. Only one child is verbal. They have recess during kindergarten recess as well.

Today a small group of small children were waiting patiently by the door when I walked through the playground. I watched them as they were anticipating their playmate...and was pleasantly surprised when it happened to be one of the boys from 103/104. I then followed them as they followed him in an amazing game of follow the leader. He was by far the most popular student on the playground.

One of the things I love about my building is how the kids don't bat an eye at students who are considered "exceptional." The students from 103/104 are their friends.

And it is beautiful.

peace.

a little insight

For the past few months Micah and I have been discussing our social calendar. While we are both trying to be respectful of the other person's desires, we are both being challenged in how we schedule. The next two stories will give you quite a bit of insight into how we are programmed.

Anna, our mother on the Bell side, shared with me a few weekends ago about Micah as a baby. She told me that as soon as Micah was carried out in his stocking (a Christmas baby), she wanted him to be a part of the family. She wasn't worried about Micah being on a strict schedule, but more that she wanted him interacting with his brothers, father, and herself. So she would bring him out on his blanket while his brothers were playing and to the dinner table when the family was eating. She said he would cry and cry and cry during these times. Finally she relented one day and put him in his crib.

Anna said that as soon as Micah was alone in his crib, he stopped crying. This continued to work when Micah would cry, and she soon learned that he was happiest when he was by himself.

Our mother on the Shepherd side, Beth, on the other hand likes to brag that she could leave me anywhere and I would just talk and play. In fact, she is incredibly proud of the fact that she could take me to the Elks club and leave me in my stroller by the bar. I would just talk and smile at people as they would come up to get their drinks.

Come to whatever conclusions you desire, but I hope this was as insightful for you as it is for us.

peace.

Mad Hot Ballroom

In the state of Indiana, the next two weeks are dedicated to making sure our children are being taught to take standardized tests. Some schools only take one week to take the ISTEP, but as a newly crowned Blue Ribbon School in which 28% of the student body has an identified need, we typically take about 2 weeks to take the test.

My schedule is a mess and the kids who are testing are burnt. When I planned my curriculum, I forgot about ISTEP and have quickly realized that teaching students about the order of the mass probably isn't within their attention spans this week.

To get the kids excited about the Folk Dance Club and appease their tired brains, I have been showing them "Mad Hot Ballroom." It is a fabulous documentary that follows 3 New York City Public Schools as they learn American Standard Ballroom Dancing and have an opportunity to compete in a city-wide competition. The three school are very different from each other and (spoiler alert) the "underdogs" win. :)

I have a delightful group of 12 5th graders (a complete fluke in scheduling, but I'll take it) who are totally excited about the movie. I was catching up some kids who were behind as to what is happening and started talking about what is means to live in poverty. One of the girls got real upset and told me she didn't want to know that some children don't get 3 meals a day. I mentioned to her that lots of kids in our school live in poverty, but that I think it is so cool that most people don't even know this because they love each other like a family. She then got really upset with me because now she knows that some of her friends probably live in poverty.

Sometimes I forget that people don't want to know that there are people in this world that are suffering. Kids that don't have a "free" education and get free breakfasts and lunches.

This breaks my heart. It is when we turn a blind eye to the suffering of others that we begin to forgot how to feel. And what is living without feeling?

peace.

struggle

I think about the times I have really struggled in my life-the abuse I inflicted on my body as a teenager, the ups and downs of family, and the questions of where my next meal would come from through my early twenties. I am thankful for the refining and faithfulness of God in these moments.

And now, as I sit on my prep and small children go by yelling greetings into my classroom (the latest was a "Hi baby!" from one of my children with autism), I think about being married and what a blessing that truly is. How I never expected to have another person who is committed to being by my side for the rest of his life...how wonderful it is to have the dishes done when he walks in the door from work...and how great it is to have 30 minutes in bed together at the start of each day. I love being married.

But right now, I'm struggling. I'm struggling with decisions I made before I was married. I'm struggling with understanding how to look for the future and be a good steward at the same time. I'm struggling with allotting funds to things that "might" happen while there are needs to be met in my classroom every day. I'm struggling to look like Jesus as a young, well-off, white, American woman.

And it's hard.

But Micah and I are in this together. And we have a common vision. To love the orphans and widows and live as Christ.

Yesterday J was sitting in the hall way across from my classroom. J is a kindergarten child with autism. He can be violent and has the mouth of a sailor at 5. (In fact, one of the boys who is "non-verbal" walked up to me the other day and said, "What the hell you doin'?"...ahh, his first words and he learned them from Jay-Anthony.) I don't see this in J. He has always been perfect for me. But anyway, yesterday, he was sitting in the hall across from my classroom while I lined up room 107. When I walked to the door, he looked at me with a big smile on his face and started to sing, "Line up, line up everybody go to line..."

And those are the moments I cling to in struggle.

peace.

a tale of two tails

I just want to recount a 10 hour period in the life of Elmer and Inu.

Friday night Micah and I returned home from volunteering at an AWESOME benefit concert to raise money and awareness for Love146 (www.love146.org). I was exhausted so I went to bed while Micah stayed up to work on something. From the bedroom I kept hearing commotion and eventually heard something that sounded like a dog fight.

First, Micah smelled Inu's gas (which is disgusting) and when it didn't go away, realized she had pooped in the kitchen. Which isn't typical. Inu is a big dog with BIG SMELLY poops. Then the dog fight happened.

Normally we pick up Elmer's food when Inu comes in from outside because she tries to eat it. But this time we forgot and Inu didn't notice it right away, but then saw Elmer eating something and decided that-though she wasn't hungry-if Elmer was eating it, then she wanted it too. So a fight ensued.

The dogs were up and at 'em at 5 in the morning, I got up to take care them to find that Inu had chewed her diaper (she is in heat and we are protecting our lively hood) and strewn the little chunks of cotton all over the living room. Also, Elmer had thrown up all over the living room. Micah cleaned up the vomit and I cleaned up the diapers, put the dogs outside, and went back to bed.

We were supposed to get up at 6:30 to go visit our parents in Auburn for the day, but didn't get up until 7:30. We packed all our things, got a new diaper on Inu, and started to load the car. I had Inu on her leash and was carrying something to the trunk when she lept and put herself in the trunk first. (We then closed the trunk to see what she would do, but when we opened it she was licking the inside of the trunk and resting.) Micah got her out of the trunk, then she ran over the neighbor's yard, peed in her diaper, then started flinging herself everywhere in attempt to be clean.

We got the diaper off Inu and Micah went on a quest with her to find a place for her to poop (she is very particular). So I tried loading the trunk again and Elmer jumped into it. Micah came to help and Inu joined Elmer.

Needless to say, we were very excited when we got both dogs in the back seat and could head on up to see our parents.

Love.

PS It was an absolutely wonderful weekend, by the way. We are blessed.

voting

Last night I was in the car with Micah to get Inu doggy panties (our little girl became a woman) and told him (in jest) that I am going to vote for the socialist candidate in this year's election.

I don't know who the socialist candidate is now-a-days and, in all reality, I probably won't vote for him/her. But I do have to say that it is barely September and I'm tired of everything election.

Not because I don't care...

I am tired of hearing speeches from candidates that skirt around the issues. I am tired of candidates who write legislature that they would not vote for. I am tired of people slamming on each other and the candidates.

Micah and I don't see eye to eye politically at all. And it doesn't really bother us. (Though I do think he is more kind with me than he is with others.)

But, seriously people, if you are going to support someone at least be educated on their platform. What is their history of voting? What do they desire to continue in their presidency? What do they desire to change? Through what measures are they going to make this change?

This is my plea to you...get educated. And stop supporting the candidate of your choice by saying things like, "It's time for a woman/african american to be in the white house!" or "So&so's speech was awesome!" and all the speech writer did was compose 45 minutes of bashing the opposition. Read Blueprint for Change (http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/ObamaBlueprintForChange.pdf) to know Obama's platform. You don't have to agree with it, but at least know what he says...


Or go here:
www.votesmart.org



peace.

PS I didn't find a copy of McCain's platform, but I found this on his website, http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/issues/

Stories from the field...

At house church last night we watched part of U2's "Rattle and Hum" for worship. It was a beautiful picture where U2 goes to Harlem and sings "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" with a gospel choir. Two very different worlds colliding and having something worshipful come from that union.

Afterwards we talked about having eyes that are open to seeing Jesus in unlikely places. Sometimes I can get so caught up in looking for a symbol of him-be it a fish or cross-that I don't see Him in the every day.

Here is a way I recently saw Jesus in my building:

There is a student I love dearly who has down syndrome, we go way back and love each other lots. He desperately wanted to play basketball with the big boys at recess during the first week of school. This can be tough on a kid who is small, white, and doesn't really look like anyone else but desires to share in an experience with some of the tough kids from the 'hood. But they let him play. After a few minutes, someone even passed him the ball! And that is when something amazing happened: the rest of the kids backed away and let him shoot the ball. Those boys were Jesus to G and every other person who witnessed the event.



A few other funny stories.

My student I sings his answers to me in class. Isaiah is in Kindergarten.

I had to send a note home with a boy for farting on another student.

When I asked a class how old the world is, one student answered "232." If you ask him how old Jesus is, he answers "2008."

Yesterday I was teaching the students about learning "aurally" and talking to them about hearing something and trying to remember it for later. So we were practicing listening and then waiting a few minutes to play what we heard when I realized there were little pods of boys around the room playing their rhythms on the floor so they wouldn't forget them!

Two of the kindergarten boys with autism were holding hands in my class on Tuesday. I also hear that they really love singing and sing a few of our songs at recess all the time OR one of the boys sings "Allison's Camel" when he starts to get anxious to calm himself down. :)




love. carter.

This is I. She likes to go for walks with her brother T. She also loves to play drums (and does a great job imitating rhythms). She has a sister in first grade and a big sister in Africa. She always wears butterfly earrings, but they never match.

I get to hang out with her on Tuesday afternoons. She brings other little girls from her class with her. We are all trying to get to know each other.

She also has/had leukemia. She still goes in for chemotherapy on Mondays. She is really tired and weak on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. If you think about it, say a prayer for her.

love.

Life is Good

Hello All!

Micah here. It has been almost 2 months since Carter and I were married. It is hard for me to convey how fast it seems like that time has gone. It seems like only yesterday I was watching her walk down the aisle while tears of joy streamed down my face. I'm happy to report that God is continuing to bless our lives and fill us with joy.

Today has been an amazing day. We woke up early to go to church at 9. Worship was great today, the sermon was great, and we got to see our friends the Greiwe's off (they are heading back to Turkey this week). We came back to the house and I worked in the kitchen while Carter took a quick nap. What was I doing you ask?

Making homemade Meatloaf. And Corn on the cob. It was delicious. God in his infinite wisdom decided to put two amazing cooks under the same roof. Last night Carter made home made peach cobbler from scratch. Amazing.

We've been trying to buy all of our produce and food from locally grown sources. The meat came from a farm just outside of Indy. The corn was from a farm in Indiana. The peaches were from Michigan (it was either that or South Carolina). It is amazing how wholesome the food is. I feel refreshed after we get done with a meal, instead of falling into a coma like I do with fast food.

After dinner I mentioned to Carter that we should both cook one Sunday and have a few of our friends over for dinner. If you are interested drop us a line.

So that was the first half of my day. Now for the second half.

I've been blessed professionally in the last few weeks as well. Photography is my passion and tonight I will be on the field as a photographer during the first Colts pre-season game of the year. It also happens to be the first Colts game to be played in Lucas Oil Stadium

Note the emphasis on the word Colts. The first ever game played at LOS was Noblesville vs. Fishers on Friday night. I had an all access pass for that game as well and got quite a few good shots. The game was put together by the Peyback Foundation as a way to raise money for underprivileged youth. It was a very interesting/strange/exciting feeling to be standing 3 feet from Peyton as he casually strolled around the new field. It was an amazing experience and hopefully excellent practice for tonight's game.

Pictures below are from Friday's game. Stay tuned for shots from tonight.

go in peace
micah

Reconciliation

I was looking through some friend's blogs when I ran across a link for this music video. I'm always on the lookout for "famous" musicians doing good things with their music to share with my students. We have positive music sharing time throughout the first nine weeks.

There was an organization in this video that caught my eye called Homeboy Industries (http://www.homeboy-industries.org/). In the video it was a white man surrounded by a very diverse group of men cheering and flashing various (peaceful) hand gestures.

After researching the organization I learned that a priest, Father Greg, started it to bring reconciliation to rivaling gang members, to educate them and find jobs for them. They even have an attorney on staff who fights for these men!

Father Greg is bringing humanity and compassion to a group of people who know and have experienced very little of it themselves.

It reminded me of being in Uganda in the Music for Life Primary School with former African Childrens Choir members from Uganda and Rwanda. There were children from both the Hutu and Tutsi tribes.

I heard the principal say that it is possible that some of the Hutu children's parents murdered some of the Tutsi children's parents. He mentioned that God was bringing reconciliation between the two tribes in his school. That in Rwanda when Tutsi survivors are united with Hutu rebels who tortured their families and given the opportunity (by the government) to retaliate, the Tutsi people are choosing forgiveness over revenge.

It brings new understanding for me in regards to having peace in my heart.

peace.

Yael Naim - Far Far

I was introduced to Yael Naim by a good friend on a bike ride...you may have heard her song "New Soul" on 92.3 in Indy. I also hear it is on some apple product video, but we don't have a TV hooked up right now-and haven't for quite some time-so I'm not up to date on those types of things.

Anyway, her self-titled album is a beautifully orchestrated of acoustic instruments mixed with her sweet voice. The songs in Israeli are interesting and hold your attention while the songs in English are melodically interesting, well written, and cleanly recorded.

Micah and I have listened to the album a few times in the past 2 days and both highly recommend it! (Which is something coming from a couple music snobs like us...)

peace.

Kinderchildren

I get to teach today! I had 4 classes this morning and will have 2 classes this afternoon. On a "normal" Friday I will also have a lunch duty and a 45 minute "special" class. I think it will be a kindergarten instrument class in the fall and folk dancing in the spring. :)

I had the most delightful children today. I just LOVE teaching the kindergarten children. They are so alive and joyful. We sang songs and did the chicken dance. I hear it was a hit, though one girl (who kept interrupting me) told her teacher, "I think I've had about enough of music class for the year." :) AND there was a boy who cried for his brother the whole class.

So, there you go. I had 2 kindergarten classes this morning and two unhappy campers. I'll take that as a successful day.

peace.

back to school, back to school...

My teaching schedule is still a mystery to me on the 2nd day of teaching.  This is not unusual, it is just hard since one of the many reasons I became a teacher is because I love children.  And not having my own classes in which to see them makes this difficult.

So today I decided to help in a kindergarten classroom that is without an assistant.  It was awesome!  I loved getting to spend time with the kids, getting to know them, hear their funny stories (they were on a Grandpas with beards kick this morning), and see their faces light up when they discover something new.

I met a boy who has two siblings in our building that are behavior issues with academic struggles.  He was bright and vibrant and fun.  He was polite and loved to learn.  And he has the most beautiful almost black because they are such a deep brown color of eyes. 

I met a little boy with aspbergers who would respond to me if I talked to him.  He has glasses and wears a very serious look on his face.  He is smart and organized.

And I met a little girl who reminded me what it means to love like Jesus.  She is bald from the chemotherapy treatments she receives for leukemia.  She is shy to the point where her parents call her a "selective mute."  And while I didn't pressure her to talk, I persisted on loving her to a point where she could be comfortable asking for her needs.  About 2 hours into the morning she came to me and started telling me about how the doctors put her to sleep so that "it won't hurt."

It just was a wonderful moment to have a little girl going through such devastating circumstances share those with me.  So I can be a part of her journey and love her through it.  Like Jesus who is loving us through this journey.  He will not forsake or leave us.

I love my job for lots of reasons, but mostly I love getting love kids like Jesus loves us.

peace.

Weight Watchers

Well, it is the first day of school with students and I'm STARVING so I'm about to head to lunch. It has been a whirlwind of activity the last few weeks with getting back into the groove of school and seeing friends. Even though I see Micah in the evenings, I miss him. During the summer I would have lunch with him a few times a week and we could e mail throughout the day. But times, they are a'changin'.

But back to a hungry tummy...I blame it all on Micah. You see, I don't struggle with my appearance in the mirror. Most people see themselves a lot larger than they really are-but I see myself much skinnier than I really am. And as long as my clothes fit, I'm a happy camper. UNLESS I step on to the scale, then I get all frustrated by the numbers flashing at my toes.

So, I have done weight watchers several times and have only been really successful the first time (I lost 30 pounds and kept 20 of it off!). I have tried 2 or 3 times since, but haven't really been successful or completely dedicated to the cause.

Right now, I am on weight watchers. I was on it before the wedding and then just dropped it for a few weeks afterwards for the honeymoon festivities. I decided to start back up 2 weeks ago and found it incredibly difficult to be married and be on weight watchers. When Micah wants a big bowl of ice cream and I get a half cup of the low fat kind, it is a little depressing.

Sunday evening I begged Micah to give me permission to go off weight watchers before going to hang with the girls.  He loves the way I look, but knows how down I get on myself about the scale.  I was so upset that he wouldn't support my decision to leave the weight watchers lifestyle and left the house frustrated.

When I got back to the house, Micah was entering points into the computer as he explained to me that he joined weight watchers as well.  It was simultaneously the nicest and most horrible thing anyone had ever done for me!

So now we are on our 4th day of weight watchers and all is well-even though Micah needs to eat ice cream every night to fill up his points value for the day.  I get 24 points a day and he gets 35.  The last two nights he has had 24 points left at dinner time.  That is the equivalent of 3 servings of ice cream with all the syrups and whip cream your little heart can fathom...I enjoy watching him eat his sundae while I drink my diet soda.  

Today I have used 3 points so far and am going to go fill up on 5 more now!

peace.

As We Forgive...

I heard about this on the Diane Rehm Show on NPR today...anyone want to organize a screening with me?

www.asweforgivemovie.com

I tried to download the trailer, but an error kept appearing...sorry.

peace.

This week...

This past week was a big one for Micah and me...Micah likes to refer to our stumbles as trifectas because they always seem to come in sets of 3. Like the time I got upset with him for playing garage band instead of calling me or the time I talked to my roommate for a good 5 minutes while he was on the phone and then quoted scripture to him when he was sharing a struggle with me...all understandable stumbles that were magnified by their trifectaness.

It's really a classic story...an extreme extrovert (me) marries a moderate introvert, where is the happy ground in this? How do we balance my desire to see everyone multiple times a week with Micah's need to have quiet time at the house to reenergize?

I don't really know the answer, but we are working our way through it. I have a feeling it is going to be a lot of touch and go and week to week assessment, but I can let everyone know that we worked through it unscathed...yes, some tears were shed, but once we really heard and understood each other's needs...well, we have both had moments that certainly surpassed our initial, "how can I possibly love you more than I do right now?" moments.

The shifting and shaping and growing of love is pretty grande. (British spellings always seem to add gravity to a sentence...)

So, almost a month into it, I can share with everyone that our love has grown immensely and we become more and more excited to live into the life God has planned for us...now if we only had the blueprint...

peace.

our children

I have had several conversations recently about what it means to be a mother and who our children really are...Micah and I are blessed to be a part of a community that desires to give the lonely and abandoned a family, a community that seeks to love the "least of these."

We have seen multiple families adopt from places as close as Reilly Hospital or as far as Ethiopia and India.  We see their families love them as children of God, as if they have given birth to these children themselves.  I even just got done reading our friends' (and marital counselors) blog about their three year pregnancy waiting for baby Grace to come home from China.

And yesterday, I read this:

But being born Israelite in the flesh, Jesus insists, in not of concern.  God's people do not grow by having sex and making babies.  They grow by the Spirit of God weaving into and renewing identities and hearts, making them beat with love.  As with Abraham and Sarah's children, it is the child who is born of miraculous means and God's initiative who carries the blessing.

In addition to these words from Shane Claiborne, comes this footnote:

The people of God are created through a multiethnic gathering, as opposed to mono-ethnic progeny, is evident throughout the Hebrew Scriptures and is not just a New Testament theme.  The exodus was more than just the Hebrews but was enjoined by "a mixed crowd."

Reading these thoughts yesterday gave new breath for me what it means to have a family.  I am not being so bold as to say that everyone should adopt, but I believe that God has created me to do so since the first time my ability to have children was questioned at age 15.  

My interpretation of someone else's interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures seems to point to the notion that God created us to be a wide collection of people since the beginning, since He scrambled us at Babel.  He desires for our dinner tables to be filled with a rainbow of people and for us to love each as He loves them.

Children without parents are born of miraculous means.  A child born in Africa without proper health care, is born of miraculous means.  Children who survive the birthing process and are sent to orphanages are born of miraculous means.  And those who get to be their parents receive miraculous gifts.

peace.

Just to brag a little

Micah's photography has been published!

You can read the whole story here: 

http://www.ncaachampionmagazine.org/Championship%20Magazine/ChampionMagazineStory/Articles0708/tabid/84/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/164/Default.aspx

A picture of the flower girls and our honeymoon

Here is a picture of our flower girls...while AnnaLee didn't know what she was doing, I feel this is pretty representative of the balance we had going with these two!  We couldn't have asked for better flower girls, they were wonderful (and completely adorable)!

We'll get some more pictures of the wedding up in the nearish future.

picture taken by Megan Wynn of meganwphotography, edited by my incredibly talented husband.

We got back from our honeymoon yesterday.  The first week was spent "getting our life together" in Indy.  While we pushed through the mountain of things that had accumulated in Kandice's old room (that I affectionately refer to as "the dump"), we didn't get near the list done that I expected us to...on the other hand, though, I think Micah knew what was going to happen all along.

Colorado was spectacular and a wonderful time of being able to devote full attention to each other.  Just what a marriage needs!  We hung out in Denver for the first few days and saw a variety of tourist attractions (and spent plenty of quality time together inside as well) then headed down to the San Juan mountain range where we poked around Ridgway, Ouray, and Silverton and took a visit to a few historical spots as well as the local candy stores-where we got our one and only free perk of getting married.

On a side note, I believe our traditions will be candy stores and magnets.  We got 3 souveniers this trip-good solid beer glasses, a magnet, and t-shirts from the Mile High Music Festival.  It feels pretty wonderful to be married to a man who would rather take the vacation budget and spend it on a nice meal than knick-knacks.

We ended the honeymoon with a jeep tour of the mountains and the Mile High Music Festival (since the concert at Red Rocks was cancelled).  At the MHMF we saw Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers, Josh Ritter, Andrew Bird, and Spoon (front row, woot woot).  

We woke up super early Sunday morning, dropped off the car, and managed to be put on a plane that was broken.  So we switched aircrafts and before we could board that plane we found out it had the exact same problem.  Through some great teamwork we ended up on a direct flight to Indy first class.  We sauntered into town, got the dogs, and came home to a beautiful house with no remnant of "the dump" thanks to our fabulous house church.  Seriously, I haven't been able to walk clean footed through the house in over a year.  I got into bed last night and went to wipe off my feet to find them clean.  Our house church RULES.

I don't know how often Micah will post on here-though everyone should hope that it is fairly often, his photography is AMAZING-but, if you have made it this far, I just wanted to share a few pivotal moments I had on the honeymoon.

1) I like spending time with Micah.  We had two full weeks of non-seperatedness (minus 30 minutes at the MHMF where he napped and I watched Gavin Degraw) and I was sad to see him off to work today.  

2) Bedroom relations can only get better from the first time...thanks to lots of prayer and some good insight from great friends.

3) I would rather spend time with my husband than see Tom Petty in concert.  This was a pretty big one for me.  As Spoon was coming to a close I realized that I hadn't really talked to my husband in about 6 hours and, though we were spending plenty of time together, I missed him.  So we ditched the rest of the festival, drank COLD drinks, and went to bed.

4) While I never expect to be a skinny minny, I am tired of this chunky monkey belly and ready to shed a few more than the 6 pounds I gained on our honeymoon...as Micah put it, "You may have to work really hard to lose weight, but your great at gaining it!"  Amen, brother, amen.  Weight watchers, we're going to be best friends real soon.

5) I have a little ways to go in the communication department.  Seriously, I always thought I was great at communicating.  I have learned that talking and communicating are two totally different things.

I am blessed to be married to my best friend and a person who loves ALL of me, chunky monkey, passionate, on fire, and all.

peace&love, Carter

Just a little about us...

Micah and I firmly believe that God not only drew us together because we are ridiculously good looking and intelligent, but also because He has much for us to do...

Our wedding was perfect.  It was so for lots of reasons.  Our ceremony reflected who we are perfectly, the reception was a communal celebration, my family was fairly well-behaved...

But the main reason it was so flawless was in part to the warm reception of others to the causes we were supporting through our union.  We asked people to donate to the African Children's Choir in lieu of a wedding gift and many did (though physical presents were great blessings to us as well).  

Instead of dinging glasses to encourage us to kiss, we asked people to "Ring a bell for the Bells!" and donate a dollar (or more) to Austism Speaks to help raise awareness and funding for people with autism.  (as an aside, my school will host 3 classes of purely children with autism...I really feel these special children are my niche.)  

Also, all the women wore jewelry from ServLife.  You can read more about that here.

peace, the bells.

Pictures

Hi everyone!

We are 4 days into our marriage and they have been absolutely wonderful!  God has given us such a blessing in each other.  

If you would like to experience a bit of the joy we experience on July 5th, check out the following blog:

Megan's Blog

peace & love