It's A Boy!

No, I'm not pregnant.

Here's the story.

Almost a year ago, I was feeling a "nudge" towards sponsoring a child somewhere so I started praying and researching. Then I started hearing about the group Compassion International and my interest was peaked. I felt the "nudge" leading me in their direction, but have always been a little skeptical about bogus organizations who pad their wallets while children are still starving. Then I went to Compassion's website and read about them (and about their integrity and their commitment to not only help children physically, but most importantly to tell them about the love of Jesus), and started going through the beginning stages of sponsoring a child thinking I would probably not go through with the whole process - you know, the whole "I'll do it later" mentality.

Then I saw his face. I knew the "I'll do it later" mentality flew right out the window. I had to sponsor him. Right then.



This is my Compassion child. His name is Nevine, he's 14 years old, and lives in Eastern Nairobi, Kenya. Both of his parents have died, and he lives with his stepfather. He lives in a grass hut with a brick floor. He loves school, football (soccer), and swimming.

I knew that God had put us together for a reason. I completed the process and have been his sponsor ever since. I have received 3 letters from him and he is a pretty good writer. He asked us to pray for his school exams coming up. He also told me how much he weighed and asked for the weights of everyone in my family - which made me chuckle, because he definitely doesn't know the American rule - "never ask a woman how much she weighs". He sent me a picture of himself swimming in a nearby river, which is on the refrigerator next to my daughters' pictures.

I knew going into this that the money would help Nevine and his family. I knew I would enjoy reading his letters and learning about Kenya. But I had no idea how blessed I would be through this process. I would love to meet him one day and squeeze his face in person. I don't see a trip to Kenya in my future, but then again, I never saw myself sponsoring a child, either. I've definitely learned that God doesn't make His plans according to my calendar. And because his plan for me and my family include Nevine, I won't ever count out a trip to Africa.

Coming up soon, I'll be volunteering at the Compassion booth at the Michael W. Smith concert in Birmingham on Oct 19. I hope that many many people will hear about Compassion through his concert and that children all over the world will be sponsored because of it.

If you are going to the concert, stop by the booth and say hey! And while you're at it, think and pray about sponsoring a child.

Why, Yes, I'm a Little Quirky. Ok, A Lot Quirky.

My bloggy friend and real life friend Annie wrote a post describing 6 quirky things about herself. Then she challenged her peeps to do the same. Since I'm TOTALLY quirky (not always a good thing) I'm definitely following along.

Ladies and Gentlemen, my quirky list.

Ahem.

1. I count stairs. If I'm walking on a flight of stairs (up or down), I'm counting them. I have 2 flights of stairs in my house - one has 16 stairs and the other has 14 stairs, a landing, then 2 more stairs. If you watch The Amazing Race, one detour last week was to crawl up a huge flight of stairs and then answer a question at the top in order to receive your next clue. The question was, "How many stairs did you just climb?" The guys, of course, hadn't counted and had to start over. I woulda cleaned up on that one.

2. I refuse to blow my nose. Ever. I hate it. I actually think it doesn't help, because on the rare occasion that I have blown my nose, it feels stuffier than before I blew it. My husband knows I'm REALLY sick if I'm resorting to blowing my nose.

3. I hate ketchup and mustard. Actually, I can tolerate mustard, but ketchup grosses me out. I don't like marinara sauce, spaghetti sauce, or tomatoes in stuff (sandwiches, salads, etc.). I, however, love tomatoes plain.

4. I eat M&Ms in even numbers. If I grab a handful of M&Ms out of a dish I will put one back if I have an odd number. But only if the dish is mine at my house. Ok, that's not a true statement. I will put one back anywhere, anytime. I ain't scared.

5. I'm a sucker for all things school supply/office supply related. I have a babysitter who keeps my girls one day a week while I run errands/get haircut/grocery shop/go to doc/sit in my car and listen to something that's not "Dora the Explorer" and I have to make myself avoid an office supply store. When my discipline fails, I spend way too much money in Office Depot and then I kinda feel guilty while I draw pictures with my new 24 pack of multi-colored sharpies. Ok, so maybe I don't feel that guilty because HELLO, it's a 24 pack of multi-colored sharpies.

6. The other day, I bought the most fantastic pair of trouser jeans EVER at Talbots. And they didn't even have to be hemmed, which is saying a lot, because EVERYTHING I own has to be hemmed. Thanks for the short genes, mom & dad. I know that's not a particularly quirky thing, but I thought I'd share the knowledge with all my peeps. You're welcome.

Now, list your quirkiness on your blog and leave me a comment so I can go read them. It's fun to take a breather and laugh at yourself. I know I have chuckled at me today.

Have a fab day.

Yes, Yes, I've Been Slacking.

It's been one whole week since I posted anything. That's a record for me. Sorry about that. Lemme give you a little glimpse into my week.

1. Spencer took a new position within his company. He loved his old job, but the travel took him away from home about 2 nights a week. The new job will allow him to be home more, and is in a division of the company that is looking like where the future of the company is heading. So all in all, it was a great move. There's a "home study" period of time required in the job, so he has been home everyday for 2 weeks. I can't tell you the last time he was home for 2 weeks straight, so the girls and I have really enjoyed spending a lot of time with him.

2. My TiVo was replaced with a new TiVo. Our house has a really complicated home theater system (put in by the family who built the house) that requires an audio visual company to come in to our house to reprogram everything anytime we make a change. According to DirecTv, our old receivers were out of date and needed to be upgraded (for free. Yesssss.) which meant the A/V company had to reprogram our house. It took them 5 whole days. And it's still not 100% done. But for 5 days, I had 3-4 men in my house from 8-5. Annoying? Yes.

3. I found a scorpion in my bathroom. In my bathtub to be precise. I seriously considered selling the house. I hate roaches, because they are dirty and gross, but scorpions are pure evil to me. I think that fear came from the movie Clash of the Titans. I used to watch it when I was a kid. In one scene, tiny scorpions walk through the blood of Medusa and grow to the size of horses. Then Perseus (played by a VERY young Harry Hamlin) has to fight them with a sword. But their stingers kill a few men in the fight. I have chills thinking about it right now. The thought of scorpions make me shudder. Ugh.

4. It's Homecoming tonight for the football team Mary Emma cheers for. Yes, 2nd graders have homecoming. I volunteered (shoot me next I volunteer for something this big) to make posters for the football players. This consisted of making a poster for each boy - 18 of them - to be hung on the fence during the game. I am an artsy/craftsy person, and a perfectionist when it comes to stuff like that, so it has taken me FOREVER to finish these silly things. I finished them last night.

5. Spencer was playing golf Wednesday and threw his back out during a swing. He's an injured man. Nuff said about that. Get what I'm saying?

6. Spencer and I went to the Auburn/Tennessee game Saturday. Without kids. That was awesome. However, Auburn looked horrible. Spencer is an Alabama fan so Auburn's struggles thrilled him to no end. Then we got home in time to watch Alabama KILL Georgia, so his day was pure perfection.

I promise to be more diligent in my blog updating. I'm sure you can all understand a crazy week.

See you all tomorrow with hopefully some more witty stuff....