Conduits of Hope.

Five years ago, Haiti was rocked by a massive earthquake. Catastrophic is the best descriptive word that comes to mind. It would have been bad enough if this earthquake had happened anywhere else- it was incredibly destructive. A quarter of a million homes and apartments collapsed, along with 30,000 businesses. Over fifty aftershocks measuring 4.5 or higher occurred over the next two weeks, and those are still pretty good sized earthquakes.

We don't know how many people died in the earthquake, because the Haitian government issued some inflated casualty numbers in the aftermath. Outside sources agree that the number is definitely over 100,000, maybe up to 160,000. Morgues were inundated with the bodies of those who died. Tent cities were constructed to house the displaced.

Five years is a long time,  by some measurements. Remember the Christmas Tsunami from five years ago? The southeast Asian nations affected by that disaster have made tremendous progress since then. Yes, the poverty in that area has slowed some of the rebuilding efforts, but in some ways, they are doing pretty well. But Haiti, not so much.

Haiti has a very complicated history. The Haitian people have so much to be proud of. In the 17th century, they were the richest colony in the French Empire. Haiti was known as the "pearl of the Antilles." At the beginning of the 19th century, Haiti became the world's first black republic, after ex-slave Toussaint L’Ouverture led the colonialists in revolt. Haiti's home to gorgeous beaches and stunning mountains, an incredibly interesting history and culture. And yet, for a variety of reasons, it is such a hard place to live. Some organizations consider it to be the poorest country in the world- it is definitely the poorest in the Western Hemisphere. Government corruption is out of control. Haitians are fleeing the country, either going to their neighbors in the Dominican Republic (which has resulted in some harsh anti-immigration laws) or risking their lives in makeshift rafts and boats, trying to make it to the United States or another country across the waters.

Because of the poverty, the government corruption, and other tremendously sad factors, Haiti has not recovered well from the earthquake five years ago. Despite billions of dollars in foreign aid, and millions of those donated by ordinary citizens, people are still living in tents. Family members are still unaccounted for. People are still looking for jobs, after losing theirs five years ago. And impoverished conditions are a breeding ground for more problems like disease malnutrition, a bias against education....it's a cycle of tremendous sadness.

Haiti has a very special place in my heart. I knew a little about it before the earthquake- my favorite professor in college loved Haitian and Dominican history, and frequently traveled there. He taught about those countries in just about every class, whether you'd think they were relevant or not. The earthquake happened right after Brandon and I got married- I remember waking up that morning and hearing about it, and my stomach just sunk. Natural disasters are scary enough, but I knew about how hard life was in Haiti before the quake, and it made me sick and sad to think of how hard things were going to be after. The next week was full of heartbreaking stories- some with happy endings, some not. So many people were lost. It is still so sad to think about. The following year, we received Joane as our first correspondence child. She didn't live in one of the cities most heavily affected by the disaster, but she had lost friends and family members. Haiti started to take up more room in my heart. And then my friends adopted my little buddy A from there, and I was won over. I love that kid so much. My heart is heavily invested in Haiti now. I had been working on fundraising to go there with Compassion (that's on hold  at the moment, but I still hope to go someday, whether with them or my church.) And Brandon and I want to adopt from there when we meet the age requirements set by the Haitian government. We have friends who have recently started the process, and while I'm excited for them, I'm also super jealous! We have a few years to go before we meet the minimum age requirements set by some agencies. Life is full of waiting. But, Lord willing, it will happen someday!

Life in Haiti is hard, but not hopeless. There will always be hope as long as people are willing to help. One way you can help Haiti is by investing in the life of a child there. It sounds cliche, but children are the future. They're the ones who are going to grow up to be doctors, teachers, and politicians. They're going to be the world changers. They're the conduit for hope. I would have written this post even if I didn't advocate for Compassion, but I do want you to know that there are precious little ones waiting for a sponsor in Haiti, and you can change their lives. Getting a sponsor is such a joyous occasion for these families. There's assurance that their children will get the assistance they need to grow up healthy and strong, in a nation with the highest percentage of orphans in the world. A nation where only half the adults know how to read and write, and only 10% of students make it through high school. Where one in 10 children doesn't make it to the age of 5. Where over 80% of all people live under the poverty line, and half the people live in abject poverty. Sponsorship means tutoring, nutritious meals at the center, emergency assistance, clean water, medical and dental check-ups, encouragement from the staff and from a loving sponsor, and most importantly, it means sharing Jesus with these kids and their families. What better source of hope can they have?

These beautiful Haitian kids are all waiting for sponsors. Will you end their wait today?

Lucmanise is 3 years old. She lives with her mom, dad, and a sibling. Her parents are unemployed, and adults who are able to find work in her region work as subsistence farmers for about $33 a month. Lucmanise likes singing and running.

Roudlin is 4 years old. He lives with his mom, dad, and three siblings. He loves soccer and he's currently going to preschool. People in Roudlin's region face a lot of health problems, and they are in need of schools and employment opportunities. 

Ansica is 5 years old. She lives with her mom and dad and one sibling. She likes playing hide and seek and other games with her friends. People in her region are in desperate need of clean water. 

Wilson is 6 years old. He lives with his mom and dad and two siblings. He has been waiting almost a year for a sponsor. Wilson is struggling in school, and would especially benefit from the encouragement of a sponsor. 

Rose-Dana is 8 years old. She has been waiting over six months for a sponsor. She lives with her grandfather and her mom. Rose-Dana likes to sing in the choir.

Getting to Know You: Said

Here's my second post in my new series profile my sponsor kids!

Name: Said
Age: 16
Birthday: November 30
Country: Tanzania
Sponsored since: July 2011

How we got him: I started corresponding with kids in 2011- we got two other children earlier in the summer, and added Said at the end. At that time, a limit of three correspondence children had recently been instated, so we thought Said would be our last!

About his family: I knew when I got Said that his dad was not around. When I met him in Tanzania, I was able to ask more about his family, and learned that his dad died several years ago. He lives with his mom and his sister Moshi, and they visit his grandmother twice a year to help with planting and harvesting. He had another sister named Huba who passed away in 2013.

Hobbies and interests: Like all Tanzanians, Said loves soccer, and he's very good at it! He is also a great artist. He has drawn many pictures for me over the years, and I'm assuming he really likes jam since I've lost track of the number of jars of jam he has drawn for me. I was privileged to sit and watch Said draw in person when I visited Tanzania in March 2014! He is a quiet, gentle soul who is a really good big brother- he takes care of his family, and he also looked out for Elisha and Bonifas when we were all together for our visit day. He was also really content to just sit with me watching them play, with his hand on the arm of my chair.

Here are some quotes from his letters throughout the years!

"Said greets you saying 'shikamoo.' He says this is a greeting of juniors to seniors, and the response is 'marahaba.' So he asks you to say marahaba!"

Our first photo of Said

"I thank God for a friend from America. May God bless you for your loving heart, that you decided to choose me."

"Welcome to Tanzania, there are many animals and many national parks."

Our second photo of Said, updated in 2012

"Beloved Jessi, receive love greetings from my family and I. My mother and my sisters greet you so much together with your family."

"Praise the Lord! God is good and I hope he protects you."

In 2012, we got a photo of Said wearing the sandals and shirt he bought 

with his birthday money!

"Your letter has made me to be happy, thanks a lot for remembering me."

"Thank you for the nice letter. I am so much blessed when I get your letters."

"Receive greetings of love from me and my mother. We thank God ever here for keeping us. We also thank you for your prayers. Thank you so much for your next letter. I thank you that you told me that you had a holiday of Thanksgiving. I became very happy when I received your letter."

Representing the Big Blue Nation, all the way over in Tanzania. 

"I believe that you are proceeding well with your daily activities."

"I would like to greet you in the name of Jesus. I say, praise the Lord Jesus! My family and I hope that you are fine and getting on well with your daily works." 

"We wish to see you face to face, so we wish you to come to visit us one day in Tanzania." 

Me and my boy. He brought me a kitenge cloth from his region. 

"I greet you in the name of Jesus, praise the Lord Jesus so much. Dear friend, I am so happy to write to you." 

"God bless you so much for your lovely heart for me, I am so happy. Also my mother thanks you so much for your lovely heart. God bless you and increase you where (you) took for me." 

"Beloved Jessi, I would like to greet you in the name of Jesus. Praise the Lord Jesus. beloved, I am very happy to get this chance to write you this letter." 

Said's photo got updated a few weeks after I got back from visiting him! 

Sweet Greetings from India and Brazil

Happy Mail Call Monday! It's the first one of 2015!

I was really happy to get two letters this week, especially since I haven't been feeling well! Letters always cheer me up. : )

First, we heard from my princess Kajal in India!

I haven't heard from Kajal since we sponsored her in September, so it was great to get a letter from her! It was full of information. The form portion of the letter was about her most recent doctor's visit. She said that she went to the doctor  with one of the workers from her project, and that she felt afraid! Poor Kajal! But the doctor checked her bloodwork and told her that she needs to eat more fruits and vegetables. I thought it was cute that her letter template included a small space for a drawing (she drew a flower) and also a tiny coloring picture- keeping on theme, the coloring picture was a little doctor's bag! In the rest of the letter, her helper at the project said that Kajal's dad is a farmer and her mom is a housewife. She has a brother named Abhishek and a little sister (one year younger) named Pranjal. She likes to eat dolls, and she likes to eat chapatis and vegetables. Kajal's helper also said she loves studying for school and learns Bible verses and action songs at the center, and "She is so cute and beautiful child." I agree wholeheartedly!

The second letter was from pretty Patricia in Brazil!

The translation for Patricia's letter was a little confusing, so I am going to ask my mom's coworker to take a look at it- he spent some time in Brazil growing up, and speaks Portuguese! From what I can gather, Patricia said thanks for the letters we've sent, and enjoyed seeing the pictures, too, because it was like sharing memories with her! She also liked one of the books we've sent (probably a notebook) and said that we "remembered her" by sending it. She also sent congratulations to Brandon- I think it's because I said he was working a lot more, but Brandon actually got a promotion recently, so that was pretty good timing! : ) And as usual, she signed her name with "kisses!" She is too precious.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for more letters next week!

Getting to Know You: Tasya

This year I'm introducing a new feature on my blog! Every Sunday, I will do a special post telling you about each of my sponsor kids. This is actually a little bit easier than keeping the tab at the top of this page updated, and it gives me the chance to go a little more in depth, too!

For my first post, I'd like to tell you about our very first sponsor child!

Name: Tasya
Age: 12
Birthday: May 28
Country: Indonesia (East Indonesia, in north Sulawesi)
Sponsored since: July 2010

How we got her: I've written out the story of how we became sponsors before, but after much waiting to be sure we'd be able to afford it, Brandon and I became sponsors the summer after we got married. I spent hours looking over the kids- I knew I wanted a little girl. I read each of their profiles, and found Tasya. She was on the "longest waiting" list, and in her favorite activities, it said she liked to read! And I'd never seen that on a sponsor child's profile before. Literacy is very important to me, and I love reading. I knew Tasya was the one!

About her family: Tasya lives with her mom and dad. She has a little sister named Silia and an older brother. I have not been able to get a direct answer about how old her brother is, but he was hoping to be a policeman, so he went back to school. Tasya's dad is a pastor, and Tasya helps out a lot at church!

Hobbies and interests: Tasya has a servant's heart. She does a lot at church and helps other kids at the project. She also helps her family a lot. She has a dog, and she loves seeing pictures of me when I was little. In her very first letter, she said she wants to be smart! She loves math and likes to read, too. She also participates in a lot of dance and cultural competitions at the project. She plays the tambourine! Tasya is also the first and only sponsor kid so far that has sent me a craft project. When I had spine surgery in 2013, she sent me some laminated purple bookmarks with Bible verses on them. They even had tiny bits of gold ribbon! And she made a little card in the shape of a heart.

Here are some quotes from her letters throughout the years!

"There is a big rejoice in Tasya and the family' life because Miss Jessi was to be her sponsor. Tasya's family are in the protection of Lord Jesus...Tasya and her family also believe that it is all because of plan and love of Lord Jesus as a good father, can make her meet with Miss Jessi, although just by letter."

"Hello mama Jessi, When receive and read the letter from mama Jessi and father Brandon, I am so happy because my first letter has arrived to you, mama Jessi. I want to thank to you very much for write back to me." 

"There is no mouse like you are taking care of. After I saw the picture of your mouse with beautiful color, I became love to see it." (after I wrote to her about our baby ratties and sent a picture!) 

"There's lot of joy in my heart because of your kindness and cares. Mommy, I would like to thank you for everything. I will keep praying for you." 

Our first picture of Tasya

"Greetings in the love of Jesus! By this letter I'd like to tell you that it was so fun to enter the New Year 2011. All family and friends were visiting each other. The togetherness can be felt among us. That's how new year on my place." 

"28 May was a very special day for me in my life because that day was my 9 year old birthday. Although it was not celebrated with candle blowing but I thank God because He is always with me in my life."

"Dear Mama Tasya is very happy to hear stories from you. The most impressive celebration for us here is Easter. We joined the Torch Parade around our small village and on Sunday on the rise of Jesus Christ we children got Easter Eggs.....Dear mama, Tasya hopes you are happy to listen to her story, because there is no interesting activities than the activity to glorify the Lord." 

"Keep praying for me so I can be smart." 

"In the holiday, we don't eat special food. We eat just the same as usual. But I still believe the Lord Jesus helps and bless our lives." 

"Tasya will pray for mama's new little cousin, Alexander, and his parents. May Lord Jesus will always look after and protect this little baby. Oh yeah, mama! There's also a premature baby born in here who was born only in 2 ounce weight but because of God's love who always looks after and protects the baby so the baby is now in 6 kgs weight within 1 year old. So mother, please don't be worried because there's Lord Jesus Christ who will look after and protect that little baby Alexander. Amen!" (Brandon's cousin and his wife had a baby a few months early in 2011- Alexander appeared on the day of his mom's baby shower! I sent Tasya and our three correspondents at the time a photo of him, and asked them to pray that he would grow up strong. Alexander is a big boy now, so smart and takes good care of his little brother Liam- and he has a baby sister on the way, too!)

"Wow, mother! Your dog is very cute. Tasya wishes she could have a dog just like owned by mother." 

"Mama, I will always be waiting for the photo of you in finding the egg when you were still a little girl. Imagine how is your face when you're still a little girl surely you are very funny and beautiful!" (That arrived after I told her I'd try to find her a photo from a childhood Easter egg hunt! After I got this letter, I called my grandma and asked her to find a picture that night!) 

"I now believe tat God is faithful and love everyone who believe in Him. It's a great joy that should be grateful every time."

"Thank you for the photo of polar bear from you. It's been a collection of polar animals for me." 

"Despite of anything, we believe that Lord Jesus is our faithful lifesaver. We are also hoping that Lord Jesus will also help mama and family. It's also Tasya's prayer for mama and papa Brandon who are very kind."

"Thank you, Bunda, for continually praying for me. Because of your prayer, I can learn to become the best." 

Our second picture of our girl

"I am so happy I could join the project and studying about Lord Jesus. I believe Jesus is the one who looks after us all." 

"In church, the Holy Spirit is very important as Holy Spirit is one in Father and Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit is source of my strength. He teaches and gives me inspirations to know God deeper. Holy Spirit also strengthens us in doing our daily work and serving God's work. These knowledge about Holy Spirit are taught by my father." (I got this letter after I started doing a Francis Chan Bible study on the Holy Spirit, and asked my kids what they knew about the Holy Spirit!) 

Our most recent photo, from the spring of 2013. 

I hope we get an update really soon! 

"I pray hopefully mom works well. You are also a hard worker. Every day you are always in the library." 

"I celebrate Easter with joyful and simple. We go to church together, we also find Easter egg. But what we are grateful for is that Jesus has won, and the salvation became the part of my life." 

"I feel sad to know that mama is sick. I am scared to hear the word 'operation' but I believe mother can get through from it just like the first operation and I believe God will give you courage and strength to have operation. I also pray that the Lord gives wisdom to the doctors and nurses, so that the operation will be going well. Because I believe what Paul said in Philippians 4:13, 'I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth.' That's why I hope mother doesn't be scared and doubt because Lord Jesus keeps faithful to the care of and to protect us all." (I got this letter while I was recovering from my spine surgery!) 

The card Tasya made when I had surgery. If you can see through the little window, it has a Bible verse, and she wrote "Good Days!"

I love my little Tasya so much! I don't get as many letters from her as I used to, but I still have a very special connection with her, and she holds a big piece of my heart.

"That's all she needs to know."

So this thing happened five years ago today. I put on the most expensive piece of clothing I have ever purchased, stood up in front of a bunch of people I feel I didn't get to properly visit with, and got married.

I have been thinking about this anniversary for quite a while. I wanted to write something about it, because writing is how I express myself, and since I spend most of my time by myself, it helps keep me sane, too (I don't care how antisocial you think you are, sometimes you need to talk.) I thought about doing something wise (ha) like "five things I have learned in five years of marriage," but I don't think I could come up with them. It's not to say that I haven't learned five things, but rather I'm not sure I could articulate five things. Or three. Or even two.

I feel kind of weird not offering up some sage post filled with Bible verses and unsolicited advice. I feel like that's what people would expect from a blog post about a "milestone" anniversary. Maybe I'm not doing that because I know too many people that are hurting, whose marriages didn't turn out how they had anticipated, or didn't turn out at all. Maybe because I'm not really sure I have anything helpful to say. Maybe because that's just not my style (the big, flowery pedestal posts, not the being helpful thing.) So instead of my original plan, which was to advise people about something I have to work hard at every day, I thought I'd do something that I'm sort of good at: tell stories. I present to you, the story of my wedding as I remember it. Glean from it what you will.

Once upon a time, I was extremely nervous. Unless you just arrived at this blog for the very first time within the past hour, you may have picked up on the fact that I am a very nervous person. I have an anxiety disorder, as a matter of fact. Panic attacks are a thing for me. And anxiety is often triggered by change. Can you think of a much bigger change than going from living with your parents and brother and having a boyfriend you see several times a week, to leaving your family and the home you've known for 17 years to live in a brand new apartment with a brand new husband? Ha! I started having more frequent panic attacks a few months before the wedding because I knew things would be changing (not because my husband-to-be made me nervous!) Now, I have learned to cope with my anxiety pretty well, and am able to get myself to do what needs to be done, even in the face of panic. But even though I can get through a situation when it's showtime, for lack of a better term, I can have some pretty intense stage fright the night before. I starred in my senior play in high school, despite never having acted before, and did perfectly well on production days and while on stage, but I FREAKED out the night before, and decided I didn't want to do it. I did it anyway, but I was a big ball of panic for the final dress rehearsal. It was the same way with my wedding. I have no recollection of anything that happened at the rehearsal, except that I wore a nice dress and Brandon wore a t-shirt. I do not remember practicing walking down the aisle, but I remember pinching myself (a panic habit) and chewing crushed ice and having to remind myself to breathe. And after the rehearsal, we had the rehearsal dinner at a restaurant I usually enjoy. I did not enjoy it this night. I spent most of the time in the bathroom, having waves and waves of panic attacks. I thought several times, I don't want to do this. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with my husband to be, but I did not want to actually experience the wedding day. I was completely willing to fast-forward through it and get right to the marriage part, if time travel was an option. Toward the end of the night, I was able to actually sit at a table at the restaurant and have broken conversations with my friends. But I couldn't eat or think clearly or enjoy myself at all. I'm thankful that I have supportive parents and encouraging friends and a stoic partner who keep me grounded and don't treat me like a freak when I'm struggling like this.

And the next day, I got up, felt pretty serene, went online to watch a video on Youtube, which I had planned to do basically my whole life (before I knew about Youtube, I was going to watch it on VHS.) The musical segment "Somebody's Getting Married" from Muppets Take Manhattan. That was my internal soundtrack for the entire day. I went to the salon with my mom to have my hair and makeup done. It is the only time anyone else has put make-up on me (a professional, anyway) and she shrieked toward the end of our appointment because she realized she had never put any foundation or powder on my face, because I didn't need it. And clear ivory skin is literally the one physical attribute I have going for me, so I am allowed to tell that part of the story without you thinking I am bragging, thank you very much. I felt happy and pretty as we drove to the church and made it inside, and I pulled my pretty princess dress on over my pajama shorts (not even kidding- you do not need fancy undergarments under a wedding dress) and chilled out in the dressing room while my "attendants" (two bridesmaids and a maid of honor) sat with me and ate from the chicken nugget tray my parents had purchased. And we did some pictures in the church lobby (the Christmas decorations were still up!) and then went back into hiding until time for the ceremony to start.

I remember waiting outside the chapel with my dad, who was sick that day, and I remember my entrance music cut off a little early because everyone was waiting at the altar area for entirely too long. We played orchestral music from the Lord of the Rings soundtracks as our guests were being seated, and the grandparents and parents were seated to a popular piece by Yo-Yo Ma (which some relatives swore later was actually Ave Maria, but I assure you it was not. I knew it as "the song from that credit card commercial, and also the one episode of 'The West Wing.'") And then, for my turn to walk down the aisle, we played a piano arrangement of "Your Song" by Elton John, which was from the second volume of the Moulin Rouge soundtrack (one of my favorite musicals, and that was the only good song on the second CD.) Upon arriving at the end of the aisle, I turned to my dad and gave him a fist bump, because he was sick but also because my family is not made up of "huggy people" (not everyone is!) And everyone laughed, which was good. And a pastor friend of ours, who used to work with my mom and has known me since I was very small, prayed for us, and then we had the ceremony. And once again, our lack of musical preparation made an appearance, because we had to cut the communion song short ("Divine Romance" by Phil Wickham, in case you were wondering.) And some more words were said, and we kissed, and then we got to stop standing in front of everyone. We left the chapel to the music from the throne room scene at the end of Star Wars, because we are nerds.

After the ceremony, we were not allowed to go eat, which I was very ready to do (I knew that eating before the ceremony would be a mistake, so I just looked at the chicken nugget tray instead of partaking in it.) We had to take pictures. My family is made up of several people (including longtime family friends.) My husband's family is made up of many, many more people. For our "formal" portraits with family, attendants, officiants, and everyone else who might have been in the building, not a single shot is perfect because not only was the photographer taking pictures, but so was everyone else who happened to have a camera. The photographer had to ask several times for people to stop, you know, talking to us while she was trying to work, but I'm not so sure anyone heard. Or cared. Everyone was happy and excited and wanted to use their cameras, after all. Then Brandon and I had to take a few more pictures by ourselves, and we were allowed to go eat. Yay!

Weddings are all right, but receptions are my favorite part. We did not have any dancing at our reception, because that is not Brandon's thing, so it worked well for us to just have the reception at the fellowship hall at church, where music was allowed, but dancing was not. I don't care about receptions because of the party atmosphere, I care because of the food. I love reception food. I could never have a full meal served at my wedding because then there would be no place for tiny sandwiches or itsy bitsy meatballs on sticks. And I totally admit to judging the weddings of family and friends based on whether or not they have tiny sandwiches and other petite foods. By the time we got down there, all the meatballs were gone, but there was some other stuff left- including pinwheels (tiny circular sandwiches), which I considered the star of the show. The cake was just an expensive, edible centerpiece. Everyone clapped and was happy when we arrived, and we then spent the next hour and something walking around saying hi to everyone. Still no eating! We passed by the food, and thought about the food, but we had people to see. Everyone wanted to get home.

Why did everyone want to get home, you ask? Was it because we were silly enough to have our wedding on January 2, and everyone was cold and wanted to return to their warm, cozy homes? No. It is because well after we chose our wedding date, the National College Athletic Association announced that the University of Kentucky would be playing the University of Louisville in basketball that day. If you don't understand what a big deal that is where I live, I am not going to take the time to explain it. I will just say that two years ago, when Louisville played the good team in the final four, all eyes of the national news networks were on us. And they were not disappointed. Two elderly men got in a fistfight at a barbershop, and that made its way to the CNN homepage. Couches were burned in the streets. We are interesting when it comes to college sports. It's inescapable. So much so that several good friends (ahem) who had RSVP'd to our wedding were suspiciously absent during the ceremony- and more were missing from the reception. I know what they were up to because a.) I'm not stupid, and b.) after the reception, while Brandon was listening to the end of the game, I was on facebook reading the status updates from said friends who were quite obviously watching the game.

So many nice and lovely people came to our wedding though, and I really enjoyed talking to them all at the reception. Our photographer had to leave by a certain time, so she took our rings and did some pretty shots around the room while we visited with folks. In the last 30 minutes that we had the room, we finally were able to sit at the beautifully appointed head table that had been prepared for the wedding party, which basically went untouched until it was time to break it down. We scarfed down some food (I think that was post cake-cutting!) and took home some leftovers for dinner. And speaking of cake-cutting, we didn't practice that either, so when we actually got up there, we really didn't know what to do- except I knew that the knife had to make its way into the cake, so I kind of took over. We didn't botch it too badly, I guess.

The last few things I remember about the day were lots of hugs from family, the last ones to leave, and throwing on my old leather jacket (what passed for a winter coat at the time) over my princess dress, and venturing out into the main lobby of the church just as people were beginning to arrive for Saturday night services. And someone stopped us to say congratulations and tell me I looked pretty, even though I felt the tiniest bit dumb wearing that jacket over my dress. A more coordinated and financially blessed bride would have probably rented some kind of pretty winter cloak, or something. I don't know.

And I squeezed my big dress into my new husband's comparatively tiny '96 Corrolla, and off we went into the sunset. And on to Disney World the next day.

I hope you've enjoyed my rambling reminiscence. The wedding was fun. If you're reading this, we're probably friends now, and I wish you could have been there. I owe you some tiny sandwiches sometime. : )

Please indulge me for a few moments longer as I share some of the pictures from the most important day of my life so far.

When I had my trial run for my hair, the stylist asked if I wanted glitter hairspray. What a stupid question. We need glitter hairspray every day. 

This was the second dress that I tried on, and the first dress that I tried on that wasn't a cheap tulle concoction from a skeevy prom shop. 

My handsome husband. He looks so young! And this was one of the last pictures ever taken of him willingly. 

My lovely in-laws. From left to right: Stephen, hubs, Mark, Denise, Anthony, and Jonathan. All of the boys are about three feet taller now. Well, Jonathan is taller than Denise, but Stephen is probably taller than Anthony, and I think Jonathan will be the tallest of all. Seven feet, minimum. 

I don't remember posing for this, but I don't remember being weirded out about the photographer lying on the floor, taking pictures of my feet, either. It was all a blur. 

From left to right: my maid of honor and best friend since 8th grade-ish, Kelli; my sister from another mister, Jess; and my cousin Melissa, with whom I grew up. I'm now going to tell you that she's a doctor, because it was a very hot topic when she got her PhD, and I enjoy teasing her about it from time to time. 

My beautiful momma, hiding very well the fact that she is trying not to cry. I picked out her outfit. And her hairstyle. 

Fist bump. And the crowd went wild. 

I like this picture because it is candid and I look very happy.

We are not much for PDA, but I really like this picture.

I think I was instructed to look at him with a lot of love. I was trying not to laugh. In a good way. 

One of two times my husband has worn a suit. He will be buried in basketball shorts and a high school gym t-shirt. 

I love this one even though I sometimes think the shadows make it look like I have hairy arms. 

I'm not exaggerating when I say that this is one of my favorite wedding photos. I didn't even ask for it. Kelly, our photographer, just borrowed our rings and went about her business without our knowledge.

This one is very plain and kind of stark, but I do want to point out that we had a snow-themed wedding. The bows on the pews were made of sparkly Christmas ribbon and hand-made by my dad. I wore a snowflake necklace and earrings from my grandmother,and she didn't know that I had purchased very similar looking snowflake necklaces for my bridesmaids in after-Christmas clearance the year before (we had a 2.5 year engagement!) And I found these embossed paper snowflake boxes online somewhere, and stayed up several nights putting them together and filling them each with three Hershey's kisses. 

This is another one of my favorites, and I have a printed copy in a snowflake frame somewhere in my house. Please don't ask me to find it. It would take a while. 

Brandon had no preference about the cake. We thought about getting dad to make it, because he has made a wedding cake before, but it was stressful and we decided it would be better to have a stranger do it, so they could stress about it. I just had a vision of a simple cake with polka dots of icing. The baker asked lots of questions about other stuff, but I just wanted dots. And I love how it turned out. Oh, and it was sturdy enough to support the rather heavy Precious Moments figurine on top. 

The cake table. 

This one looked neat. Those flowers were at the head table we didn't sit at. 

Groom's cake, obviously. "What do you want it to look like?" "Chocolate." The baker had UK and U of L designs in a binder in her shop. We made the right choice. 

If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see that the vase has a silhouette of Cinderella and Prince Charming. 

The serving pieces and toasting flutes had Cinderella's carriage carved in them. I have no idea why we *needed* the toasting flutes, since I was pretty sure we weren't going to have a toast (and no one in my family drinks anything stronger than Mt. Dew) but there they are. And now they're in my china cabinet. 

And they lived happily ever after. Or they're working on it, anyway. : ) 

Compassion Joys: December

I pretty much forgot about doing a Compassion Joys post for December, since I did the year in review post earlier! So here's what we are thankful for about December, specifically. : )

Letters!

This month we received 14 letters! We heard from Said, Elisha, Anahi, Eduardo, Sandier, Brenda, Sharifa, Prayer, Tasya, Reine, Jayid, Carlos, Mishel, and we *finally* got our first letter from Michel in Colombia!

Birthdays! 

Our little guy Sandier turned 6 on December 28! Happy birthday, Sandier!

Sponsor-versaries!

I've recently started keeping track of the anniversaries of when we received our sponsor kids. On December 2, we celebrated 1 year of writing to Patricia in Brazil, and on December 27, we celebrated 2 years of writing to Mary in Kenya!


Photo Updates!

This month we got new pictures of Reine in Burkina Faso, and Juan in Bolivia! Juan's new photo arrived within two weeks after we received him as a correspondent. He's officially our first kid with glasses! : )

New Kids!

Early in the month, Compassion announced that a company had decided to sponsor 1,000 children in Kenya, and they would all need correspondents. I sent a message with my requests, along with requests for my mom, our friend, one of my friends from the Tanzania trip, and I passed along the info to Brandon's cousin so she could become a first-time correspondent as well! As the month ended, we had almost all our requests filled. I received five new correspondence kids (out of six) and my mom got her boy (she's still waiting on a girl!) We are so excited about our new family members. Meet our girls....

Christine (13)

Gloria (8)

Motempa (17)

Nkoyio (16)

and Rose (11)!

As a neat bonus, Gloria, Nkoyio, and Motempa are all at the same center! I hope that Nkoyio and Motempa are friends, and they can look out for little Gloria. : ) 

December was a pretty good month! I'm excited to have all these new young ladies in our family!!