Lifes lessons from some Puppies

Today I received an email from a very dear friend of mine who has just recently started to make some incredible changes in his life. These changes are reflecting such a positive radience on exactly how wonderful of a person he is on the inside, a person that people who just know him and don't take the time to understand him are missing out on. This friend most recently started volunteering at the SPCA out of his love for animals and his desire to give back to four legged friends that always seem to have the perfect kiss and eyes of comfort just when you need it the most. If any of you have ever tried to sign up to volunteer at an animal shelter you will know how much work it is just to get your foot in the door, so you will also know and appreciate that a true volunteer has real passion and dedication for animals when they actually. make it through.
So anyways, I have to introduce you to one more friend of mine before this story will make any sense to you, and that is Gizmo. Gizmo is my 3 year old, 6 lb female chihuahua that will absolutely, without a doubt change your ideas of the yappy, ankle biting pups. She has been an amazing addition to my family and changes everyone that meets her, with her tender spirit.
Now that you have a pretty good idea of the two main characters of my story, I would like to share with you the email that I got from my no name friend mentioned above. It went something exactly like this: "Before I met Gizmo I probably wouldn't have given a cranky Chihuahua a second chance, but because of her I think I have a soft spot for them now.  Last week, the 15th, there were two Chihuahuas in a kennel together, Betty and Batty.  Whenever anyone would come up to their kennel they would both cuddle up on the bed together and shake and bark like typical annoying Chihuahuas.  Well I decided to take them out, when I went in Batty warmed up to me fairly quickly and he actually turned out to be really cool!  Betty was still very timid but she did warm up to me, she was just so sad and scared and even when I had her outside she just wanted to sit on my lap.  After that they became my best buddies for the day and I made sure every time I saw anyone looking at them I let them know that once they get out of the kennel they are both really sweet and they're not grumps like they act in there.  I never did get either one of them adopted that day but I kept thinking about them and looking at the website this week to see if they were taken off, they both were off by Thursday or Friday.  So the first thing I did yesterday was look at the adoption board to see when they went home!  But they weren't there.  I of course assumed the worst and I couldn't understand how they could have been put to sleep.  I was thinking about them last night and getting myself upset and started to wonder if I can really take working at the SPCA if I'm gonna know stuff like that is happening.  Well they updated the weekly adoption list on the website last night and of course guess who is on there?  Betty and Batty!  I guess the white board must only get updated by volunteers and not for every adoption.  So all that acting emo for nothing.  Its all Gizmo's fault! =P"
While this email really is a story about how one chihuahua changed a mans heart to be able to reach out to other chihuahuas and give them a hope for a future, there is a deeper lesson to be learned here. I cannot pass up the opportunity to articulate and remind myself how important it is to not write people off simply because of a first impression. I can't help but sit here and imagine the big, deep sigh of relief and comfort that Betty and Batty must have felt when my friend reached out a loving and comforting hand to them. There is no doubt in my mind that God put our animal friends on this earth to teach us something, and in this case I can't help but find a lesson on how to be more like Him. It makes me take a big sigh of relief just thinking about it and reminds me that this is the same comfort that I get from my Heavenly Father just when I need it the most. Psalms 30:11-12 says "You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. Oh Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever." When Jesus reahes out his hand to us, we can find a greater comfort and joy than what Betty and Batty felt. We can rest assured knowing that we are saved forever just by taking his hand, accepting him as our savior and walking in his footsteps daily. So breathe that sigh of relief with me and remember, don't judge a book by its cover, cause that deeper, inner spirit can bring you joy for days, months, years to come! All praise and glory goes to God.

Little Boys

I am a very proud Aunt to one niece (Dilynn, 5 years old) and one nephew (Callahan, 3 years old). Watching them grow up has been an amazing experience for me. They have both developed their own personalities and it has made them so unique, sweet and quite charming!
Just yesterday, little Callahan had to go shopping all day at Ellington Outlet Mall with 'the girls' - my sister, my mother and my niece. This is a picture of him on the car ride home. When I saw it, I had 2 reactions - 1. they are totally messing with him while he is sleeping and putting things in his mouth - or - 2. he was just absolutely exhausted and passed out while playing with his Spiderman. Turns out neither of my reactions were right...My handsome little prince was just acting. Apparently he sat REAL still for close to 5 minutes listening to his Grandma and his Mom laugh hysterically and take pictures of him before he popped open his eyes and told them he was just "faking it".
To me it is just amazing that a 3 year old is that creative! What a memory!

How I Became A Plumber

I became a home owner in 2004 and since that day, I found out there was a lot to learn about life! I have learned how to tile, I can do anything in the yard (mow, trim, pull roots, cut tree branches down, heck - I've even cut a small tree down!), change a toilet, and of course I am a heck of a plumber! So when I was in the shower the other day and heard an odd gurgling sound coming from the toilet, I knew it was just a matter of time before I would end up on the roof showing the plumbers crack! It sure is a DIRTY job - but for $45, a lot of patience, and a little muscle - Josh and I got the job done! This is the second time having to do this to my house in 5 years....so here's to another 5! Cheers!

Animal Owners Need Better Screening

At about 8 a.m. on Saturday morning my doorbell rang. I looked out the window to see who it was and to my surprise, it was one of my "neighbors" that doesn't speak English too well, standing there holding a small white dog. When I answered he asked me in his best English, if it was mine. He said the dog was running out in the middle of the street and he thought it was mine. I reassured my neighbor that it was not my dog but I would not sleep till I found its owners.
I think the dog was some sort of a poodle and was as sweet as he could be. He was very dirty and looked kinda skinny to me but he was wearing his rabies tag so I knew we could find his owners, but I wasn't too sure I wanted to find the person that did not take care of this sweet baby....
So anyway, after a little convincing from Josh, we took the little guy up the street to the vet hospital to see if they could look up his address. Our new little friend made friends with everyone at the vet! So sweet! After the vet handed us the address to the owners (one street South of my house), we drove little Mr. Poodle dog home, and to no surprise the owner was not in the least bit "classy" of any sort. I
t is very disheartening to see that people like this are allowed to own animals. The child that opened the door was dirtier than the dog I was returning :( One day I will be able to own my own animal rescue and no dog that I come in contact with will ever have to suffer!

Circles & Puppy

I went to a Mary Kay party tonight with my sister in support of the Guatemala mission trip and met two new friends...Puppy & Circles. Circles is on my right with the yellow bandanna and he is a 9 year old Maltese and something mix (don't remember) and Circles is a 2 year old full bred Maltese who got his name because every time he gets excited he does circles in place - lots of them! When you hold them they just snuggle up in your arms too...no squirming, just kisses! They were too cute and of course stole my heart! I would have brought them home if I could have snuck them out of the house! I will be paying many visits to my new Mary Kay lady just so I can see my new friends again!

Blog Inspiration

Not sure why, but reading peoples blogs has always been alot of fun for me, and writing my own has been a huge desire, but lately it has felt like a chore. I guess it is mostly because I work on the computer all day at work and when I get home I have no desire to get on a computer again! However, I have a friend at work that has been blogging alot lately and he just puts a new story on each day, sometimes it is a memory from the past and sometimes it is a current event, but none the less it is a great laugh, cry or read.
So thank you to my inspiration! I am encouraged to begin a daily blog!

Garage Sale Success Story

Sorry I did not get back sooner on the address of the garage sale, it seems like life is going 100 miles an hour lately. But I am proud to report, we had a VERY successful garage sale this weekend. We raised over $2000.00 between Friday and Saturday. The monies will be divided evenly among those that participated. That should be a nice contribution :)! I received a ton of donations to sell from a friend at work and his wife, and I must say - the donations went like hot cakes! Thanks guys! The yard sale looked like that show Clean Sweep - we covered two yards. I worked a 13 hour day yesterday, from 7a.m. to 8p.m. I was exhausted but it was rewarding. I met most of the people on my team and I am glad I get to share this experience with such a great group of people.
I have to keep this short, have to go get ready for church and a 4 hour mission meeting to follow.
Thank you to all that have kept this in your prayers and for those that donated to the cause...God really came through for us!

Garage Sale

I just learned that our first event as a team is coming up on May 1st and 2nd. We are having a garage sale to help raise funds for the trip. The sale is in Dunedin (I will get back to you on the address - but surely you will see us as I am positive it will be the Dunedin event of the year!) from 8am to 3pm. I will be there on Saturday the 2nd (I have to do that darn work thing on Friday). So with that said, does anyone have any old junk that they would like to get rid of? I am more than willing to come and pick it up :)!
So I am excited about this event because at this point, I really don't know any of the members on my team. Actually, I suspect I know one of the members, thanks to Facebook! I was looking up (a.k.a. stalking, as some of you like to call it) people by their email addresses and think one of the members is someone that was in my Life Group class. Such a small world - out of a church with literally thousands of members - I would know someone in a group of about 15 who randomly signed up for this trip! The Lord really does work in mysterious ways.
I have also decided to start a Spanish word of the day. This should be interesting! I remember when I lived in Germany, I tried to learn German and it was a disaster/nightmare! I think mainly because the teacher picked on poor little old me :( but mostly because that language is so harsh. By harsh I mean a lot of grunts and abnormal noises that I am not used to making! So hopefully I will not find Spanish to be as hard. I even put this cute little English / Spanish translator on my page!
Ok, so call me or email me if you have any junk you want to get out of your house, I will surely sell it to someone as their treasure. I will keep you posted on future events! Until then, God Bless!

Im BAAAACK!!!

Hello all. I have decided to start blogging again in an effort to get the word out to everyone about a very exciting opportunity that I have coming up this August. I will be going on a 7 day mission trip with a team of 17 other people to Guatemala City, Guatemala. While there, we will be working with two missionaries already serving God in that area. I am thrilled to meet these people, experience their culture and show God’s love to them.

While there we will be involved in many ministry related activities at the Shalom Baptist Church, such as helping work with children and youth, and assisting the women’s and adult ministries.

I will be blogging about the events that lead up to this trip and about the experiences I have while I am there. I hope that you will follow along and enjoy with me.

Here is a little bit of the history of the Shalom Baptist Church that I know so far...
Shalom Baptist Church was founded by Pastor Alvaro Perdomo Sosa in 1991. It was the vision of Pastor Perdomo and about a dozen or more people to start a church in zone 18 in Guatemala City to glorify God and meet the spiritual and physical needs of the community.

While today Shalom is the largest, fastest-growing Baptist Church in Guatemala, her beginnings were very meager. This was Alvaro’s first pastorate, and most of the congregation had never been in any leadership role. Before officially forming a church, this group met and prayed for months to see if this was really God’s design for them.

On their next scheduled home Bible study, they decided that if they had 10 in attendance, then it was God’s will for them to become a church. If not, then they would accept His will and look for another ministry in which they could be involved. When the meeting began, they only had a handful of people. Then, as it often does in Guatemala the power went out, so they went outside to sing and pray. It was reaching nearly midnight, and the group was ready to accept that God was closing their doors. During their final prayer, a couple arrived who had been lost and searching for the Bible study for hours. With eleven in attendance, God confirmed their calling and Shalom’s doors would never be in danger of closing again.

Early in their formation, God also opened doors and created a vision to work with children and youth. Due to malnutrition, lack of health care and low life expectancy, Guatemala is young country with over 50% of the population being 18 years old or younger. On one Sunday service, Shalom had made sandwiches to feed the congregation when worship ended. A few children walked by and inquired about the food. Shalom told them, “You can have one sandwich now, or you can come back with a friend and receive two.” This was the start of Shalom’s children’s ministry which would later develop into our Christian school, our after-school Carpenter’s Kids program, Children’s Church, nursery, Engadi youth ministry, Fusion young adult ministry, Karate ministry, children’s medical partnerships with Vanderbilt and other hospitals, and a host of other programs touching the lives of young people.

Today, Shalom is a 24/7-type of ministry with thousands participating or being touched by our ministries on a weekly basis. In her 10th year, Shalom Baptist School has an average of 750 students. Our medical and dental clinics see 300-350 daily. Our after-school programs and evening worship services serve hundreds in the community. As of April 2008, our ministries have witnessed nearly 400 people accept the Lord as their personal Savior since the first of the year. We are proud, not of what we’ve accomplished, but that our Lord has chosen to use Shalom to reach, heal and save his people.

Shalom, though very blessed, is not without her challenges. Most of our congregation is well below the poverty line, and as many as 70% of our families are single-parent homes. We deal with gang threats, drugs, abuse and other serious social and family issues that make ministry seem impossible at times. With great obstacles and few resources, God continues to work and provide in one of Guatemala’s most needy communities.

Stay tuned for more...