Close to My Heart

I must warn you that this post is pretty raw. I'm not sugar-coating the subject, because I don't believe it should be. So there's my disclaimer.

It hit me that I haven't shared with you, my blog readers, about a cause that is near and dear to my heart. Many of you already know of the horrific tragedies that have taken place in Sudan. However some of you may not, which is understandable because we live so far away from this reality. The reality is this: 2.5 million are dead, 8 million have been displaced from their homes, and thousands have been beaten, tortured, and raped all in the name of Islam. The Muslim government in Sudan declared jihad on it's own people years ago. Anyone that is not Muslim or has black skin is considered the enemy. Let's break that down a little further . . . you must worship Allah, follow Muhammad, believe the Qur'an is God's word, and you can't be black or you are a target to be tortured and killed. It's called ethnic cleansing, genocide, a holy-war. It has taken over in Sudan, and it is beyond tragic. It is heart-wrenching.

I have the privilege of working with businessmen who have decided that this is not ok. They want to encourage Americans to help the innocent, Sudanese people. Therefore, they have created a documentary called, "With Open Eyes." "With Open Eyes" is about five Americans who set foot in Sudan and spend 14 days traveling the treacherous landscape; traversing Africa’s largest country from south to north and into the Darfur region. Throughout their journey, they witness the brutal conditions the Sudanese people live in on a daily basis as a result of the actions of the Sudanese government, and visit with men, women and children who have been affected by those actions. Their goal was to gain understanding of the real situation in the war-torn country, and to document the reality of what they uncovered and experienced. Please go to www.SudanCan.com and watch the trailer. The images, while graphic in nature, are real and need to be seen.

After viewing the trailer, or the film in it's entirety (which you can purchase online), you may decide it's no longer acceptable for Americans to remain uninformed and/or unmoved to help. Individuals can do something! At Sudancan.com you can donate to organizations on the ground in Sudan helping turn this situation around. There are more ways to help too. You can sign the petition that goes to your local Congressman and the President. Just click, "Take Action" and find out more. Above all, please pray for the Sudanese people, and tell others about what is happening over there and how they can get involved.

I keep thinking, what if my country's government turned on me because I was black or a non-Muslim? I just can't imagine it and my heart goes out to these precious people who continue to embody resilience and joy. They remind me of 2 Corinthians 8:2 which says, "Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity." When the government burns down their churches, they rebuild. When the government kidnaps their pastor and beats him to death, someone bravely steps up to fill his shoes. When children are abandoned because their fathers were murdered and mothers were raped and killed, they are taken in by strangers in the refugee camps. These people are not giving up and in some ways I feel indebted to them. They aren't bowing down to other gods or apologizing for their skin color. The longer they stand, and the more help we give, the less power the government has. So please, do what you can.

A few more

You may be sick of seeing pictures of Brian and I by now. If that's the case . . . look no further. But I wanted to follow through with my word on a previous post and show you more pictures that Heather from Sprouts took. She's just so good at what she does! Here are a few more of my favorites:

Dreams

I think about dreams a lot. Not the kind you have when you're sleeping. Dreams: as in the desires of your heart, what you'd love to do or be if you could do or be anything. I believe God has purpose in giving us dreams. Dreams are gifts that are to be offered back to God. Several times in my life He has required me to lay my dream upon his sacrificial alter, allowing me to wonder if it will be burned or given back to me to live out. In any case, the very act of laying it upon the alter says to God, "this is your gift and I entrust it to you. It is not mine to control or hoard." This act of releasing your dreams is what I think God is after. It can be excruciatingly painful when God asks us to give up a dream permanently. But He is worthy of our trust. He has proven it over and over and over. He is trustworthy. I found this poem moving as I read it today and I think it explains things a little better than I just did.


Dreams die hard,
And they should.
But not so the dreamer.

Dreams are the stuff that living is made of,
And what keeps us reaching and growing - and glowing.

Dreams are that part of us that hitches to a star
And sprinkles whatever darkness may be with hope.

Dreams are at once fragile and resilient,
fleeting and persistent,
comforting and disturbing,
magnificent and absurd,
possible and impossible.

They must not be held too tightly,
for they need room to breathe.

They must not be held too loosely,
for they need the nourishment of loving attention.

Yet not all dreams were meant to be.
Some serve a higher purpose in dying.
And as with any death,
The survivor often loses heart.

But the dreamer must not die with the dream.
The grieving must become the altar upon which to offer the loss
and ask for grace to dream again.

And when the grieving has done its purifying work
The dreamer will emerge to find
that the death of one dream gives birth to another,
Another perhaps in every way more usable in the kingdom.

Yes, dreams die hard,
And they should.
But not so the dreamer

For when God possesses the dreamer,
He will mold the dream,
AND IT WILL BE RIGHT.


- Verdell Davis
(from her book "Let Me Grieve but not Forever")

I must give a "shout out" to my good friend Heather Knowles who just started her own photography business! I was so excited when I heard that she was doing this! For some time now, I have been wanting to get some pictures made of Brian and I before we start expanding the family with kiddos. Getting Heather to take our pictures was great because she is reasonably priced and I love her creative modern style! Check out her website at Sprouts By Heather. She has taken some amazing pictures! In fact, there are a few photos of Brian and I on her site that aren't posted here on my blog. I'll post an update with more pics by Heather in the days to come though. Until then, here's a little glimpse at her wonderful work:

See, what had happened was . . .

My mom and I were in Mary Jo's Fabric store the other day when I kept overhearing one of the workers. Her southern accent was heavy. Well lets be honest, she down right sounded like the biggest redneck you've ever met. For those of you unfamiliar with Mary Jo's, it's like the Mecca of fabric stores (at least around Charlotte anyway). The selection is enormous. So the first conversation I overhear with this Mary Jo's employee and a customer went something like this:

Customer - "Wow, you guys have a really big selection of fabrics."

Redneck employee - "Yeah . . . if you can't find it here, you don't damn need it."

The next conversation took place between this same worker and my mom, and went something like this:

Mom hands the lady a roll of fabric to cut and then asks,"Do you have one of those charts that tells me how much fabric I'll need to re-cover a specific kind of chair?"

Employee, "You're going to re-cover a chair with this fabric?"

Mom - "Well, yes. Do you think it's too thin?"

Employee - "No, I just don't think it's suitable."

Mom - "Well you haven't seen my room!"

So then Mom decides she won't use the fabric for the chair, she'll just get enough to make some accent pillows. When the lady goes to cut the fabric Mom asks, "Are you going to measure and cut from where the pattern in the fabric actually begins?"

Employee sighs, obviously disgusted with Mom's question and asks, "Are you Baptist?"

Mom - "Well as a matter of fact I am."

Employee - "It shows."

Runner Up!

I forgot to tell you that I earned one of the runner-up awards in a photo contest that Erin Carroll had on her blog last week! I had a hard time deciding what picture to submit, but I finally turned in the one below. The rules stated that it had to be one you took yourself - no professional shots! There were some really neat pictures submitted. You can see the winners and the runner ups on Erin's blog, Blue-Eyed Bride


I have entitled this photo, "Like father, like son."

Good to Be Home

Ahhhhhh. It's good to be home. I love the fact that we really do have a home of our own, not just an aparmtent that we're renting, and I can actually say "home" and mean it.

After a full day on the road, Brian and I got back to Charlotte last Wednesday night and walked into a clean townhouse with a stocked pantry (thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law!). We were so thankful to not have to look for an apartment, move our furniture in, etc. Now I just need to decorate our home, but that's the fun part!

The day after we got back we celebrated Brian's birthday (on October 2nd)! He's 31 now! That day was pretty relaxing, and we liked it that way. We ran a few errands together, grabbed a pumpkin to carve later, went for a walk, I made dirt pie (one of Brian's favorite desserts) and cooked steaks for dinner. The next night we went out to eat at Maggiano's with Darren, Wava, Jerry and Marilyn to celebrate. We had plans to go see the movie, Fireproof, afterwards but our food didn't come quick enough and we missed it. I'm sure we'll go see it another time.

Brian will have a week to enjoy the house before he has to leave to go play baseball in the Dominican Republic for a week. They have a winter league down there and are having their "spring training" right now. They need pitchers to come down and give the hitters some competitive practice. If they like Brian a lot, they may offer him a winter job, but it's not likely because most teams already have their rosters set. The benefit for Brian is that he gets a paid vacation. He's staying at a five-star Hilton Resort (see pics below). All his meals and travel are paid for, and they give him a little pay for pitching too. I'm a little sad that I don't get to go with him, but it's not a big deal. He'll only be gone for a little while, I can handle that. Maybe it will give me some time to go shopping for our townhouse! But it does look like a beautiful place doesn't it?

Let the Celebration Begin . . .

A few pictures from the championship and after party . . .

THEY WON IT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Somerset Patriots won the Atlantic League championship last night! It was very exciting. Travis Anderson, the cather, hit a walk off home run in the bottom of the ninth to win it! Brian is somewhere in the middle of all that celebrating! Watch:




I'll post pictures later.

Welcome to the family

Brian and I have a long list of items we would like to get for our house: a new mattress, a new kitchen floor, different shades for the sliding glass doors, etc. etc. But one thing we really wanted to update was our TV. For the first 5 and 1/2 years of our marriage we've been watching a 19" or 20" television. So after saving up for a while, we finally broke down and bought a nice TV to go in our den. This thing better last us a long time because it was not cheap, but I think we'll really enjoy it. Welcome to the family Samsung 40 inch flat screen!

Playoff Update

The Patriots made it through the first round of the playoffs, and are now playing in the final championship series! They've played two games so far and are tied with the Camden Riversharks at 1-1 (the series is best of 5). Brian pitched the second game which was last night, and did well - 5 and 2/3 innings, 2 runs allowed. Unfortunately the Patriots only scored one run so he got the loss. Bummer. Let's hope they can win the next two games and clinch the championship!

Here are a few pictures of us on the Patriots' field a few days ago.

Vote for your favorite

I'm horrible when it comes to making decisions, especially regarding clothes and decorating. Today I found (what I consider) a really cute coat. I couldn't decide what color to get. It came down to orange or off-white. I bought the off-white one because I figured it would be more versatile, but I'm still torn. Which one do you like better? Or which one would you get? I have 21 days to exchange it so PLEASE vote for your favorite by leaving me a comment. Thanks for your help! (And yes, I had to take my picture in the mirror because there wasn't a pic of the off-white one online!)

Fall is in the air . . .

And it feels so good! I don't know how the weather has been down south lately, but today in New Jersey the high is 65 and the low tonight is supposed to be 48! Whew! Fall is coming quickly and I'm LOVIN' it!!! I can't wait til it looks like this:

Blast from the Past

I couldn't resist posting these pictures. My friend Heather (see the link to her blog on the right) introduced me to the website www.yearbookyourself.com. The decades range from the 50's to the 90's. Feel free to yearbook yourself and post the pics on your blog for all of us to see as well. They're hilarious!!

Piano Bar Celebs!

I know I usually only update the blog once a week, if that, but I just had to blog about my experience last night! We're in Bridgeport, CT right now and Brian was the starting pitcher for last night's game against the Bluefish. After the game one our friends, Rick Asadorian, a pitcher and former teammate of Brian's, invited us and some other Patriots players to a piano bar in New Haven to hear his brother play. The Asadorians are a very musical family. (There are three brothers and they can all play at least one instrument.). So at 10:45 pm about six of us decided it would be fun to go listen to and support his brother, who plays the piano beautifully by the way!

We get to the bar. We go to the back of the room where we can see the stage better. After about an hour, I catch someone out of the corner of my eye trying to pass behind me. I turn around, and it was David Cook - the latest winner of American Idol!!!!! And right behind him was Carly Smithson - another American Idol finalist - literally a foot away from me!!!! I had to do a double take. As soon as they sat down I was the annoying fan who asked for an autograph. Carly gave me one willingly (see below), but David had already been "blocked off" by a body guard. You better bet I kept my eye on them the rest of the night. I was so intrigued! Later, Kristy Lee Cook showed up. She actually got on stage and sang, "God Bless the USA." She did a great job. I think she sounds better in person than she did on American Idol.



When we left we saw the American Idol buses parked outside. I guess they were doing a concert in the area and decided to go out afterwards. Anyway, it was quite an exciting night for me. It's not every day you run into celebrities! We didn't get in bed until about 3 am, but it was well worth it!

Road Trips, TVs, and Blog Revamp

I can't believe we're in the last month of the baseball season. It has flown by! I feel like July was just yesterday. Brian is about to take his final road trip of the regular season. It's a long one - 8 days! They'll spend 4 in Bridgeport, CT and 4 in Long Island. Fortunately, I'll be going with him so I don't have to stay here by myself for over a week. Although I will say that the last time the team went on a 4 day road trip I had some solid, much needed time with the Lord and it ended up going by really fast!

My only disappointment with this upcoming road trip is that we don't get to stay in the Double Tree Hotel in Bridgeport. That's where we got to stay last year and it was so nice! I especially loved the hot chocolate chip cookies they gave us when we checked in. This year we stay in the not-so-great Ramada. Ugh.

Ok, down to business . . . Brian and I are considering buying a new television for our living room when we get back to Charlotte. Probably a 37 inch LCD. I have heard that Consumer Reports recently rated Samsung as the best, but Vizio is also one of the top rated TVs. After looking at Costco and Best Buy, it seems that Samsung is definitely the best, but the LG's picture looked really good as well. Anybody bought a television lately and have any advice or suggestions? Your comments are welcome!



And finally, as you've probably noticed I've given the blog a little makeover. I was getting tired of those same colors. I've also added a section called, "Picture of the Week" in the top right corner. I'm not a great photographer by any stretch, but once in a while I stumble upon a scene that's very picturesque. So I try to capture it. It probably doesn't always translate given my very inadequate, amateurish photography skills, but I hope you enjoy the pictures nonetheless.

Don't forget to leave your comments/suggestions on TVs!