It Could Have Been My Child!

Try as I might, I can't get the case of Trayvon Martin out of my head!

Maybe its the fact that I have a son, or maybe its the fact that an innocent child was gunned down at such an early age. Maybe its the absurdity that he was deemed a threat when his only "weapon" was a bag of skittles and bottle of ice tea. Or maybe its because as hard as I tried to ignore it this bag of skittles that sat on the floor (for months by the way) of my familyroom was a constant reminder that it could have been my child!

My friend Rai wrote a blog post that is a harsh reality for many of our black youth, especially our men today. Its a conversation we have had with our 28 year old son many times. He too has worn a hoody on occasion while walking through our neighborhood. Its a conversation I never wanted to have, but it is what it is. And its sad that even now in 2012 we have to have that conversation. My friend Pastor Stowers wrote a post that saddened me. It too is the reality in which we live!

My friend Tanya wrote a post on the subject...it bothered her that much. She asked me what I thought. I wish I could say its as simple as the fact that he was wearing a hoodie, and I know many are saying if only he had answered the questions asked of him. Its just not that simple. We don't know what happened that day, we can only guess but I believe in my heart this would never had happened if he had not been black. And I know that's a subject that makes some people squirm in their seats. Dr. Martin Luther King wrote the speech "I Have A Dream" back in 1963, a year before my birth! Its 2012 people! Its time to stop the madness. Its time to stop ignoring the elephant in the room. Racism does exist, our young Black and Hispanic men are being "profiled" each day. Some of them are dressed in hoodies, but some like my husband wear suits and ties! I wish it was as simple as a kid in a hoodie who was mistaken for a thug. Its not! And this is a subject the church can no longer ignore. Its not a black or white thing...its a heart thing! And who deals with the heart? Jesus! And who does he send out to share that heart message? Those of us in leadership.

(This is my profile picture for the week. Its been one month today since Trayvon was shot and killed. I challenge you to do the same)!

Its one of the reasons we started Blended Souls. Hatred is a SIN!!!! And the only way to combat sin is with the love of Jesus. And the only way to do that is to stop sweeping it under the rug as if it doesn't exist, or acting like it does not matter. I heard a message yesterday that blessed me...Can a Sista get a crumb? Imagine if each one of us shared a crumb (God's word) with someone we could create a loaf! Just imagine if each one of us would extend a hand, a hug, some love, a word of encouragement to someone who may not look like us (and I'm not just talking race, but gender, economic background, denominations) what a difference this world could be! And not to sound like a broken record...but I believe that message has to start in the church! And it has to start with the those of us who lead!

Sunday Mind Dump Through The Eyes of The Pastors Wife (photo intensive)

I know you all get tired of me saying...its been a busy weekend. So I won't actually say it...I'll just show you!

Thursday we headed to Richmond to meet up with our Pastor and his wife Cheryl. They were traveling back home to Kansas after spending the week with their daughter and grandchildren in North Carolina. We agreed to meet them over two hours from home in order to spend some time together just because we all love hanging out and Kansas is just a tad to far away for regular lunch dates! LOL

Cheryl and I were posing for a picture for Blended Souls Network when Nicki captured our husbands cutting up in the back! This picture is one of the reasons we changed BSN from a network for local pastor wives to a network for couples. That and the photos from a meet up Tom and Alida had a few months ago with Alma and her husband. We saw a need for our husbands to be able to get together with one another to network, share ideas and thereby partner together in their perspective communities to bring about a change in the world. Plus, I happen to think ministry couples rock anyway. LOL

Nicki has become like our official traveling photographer! LOL It was a little bit easier to part ways this time because we plan to travel to Kansas sometime this summer to meet up with Cheryl, David, Alida and Tom! Alida and Tom will be traveling home from Belize for a visit and we couldn't let them come that close to our friends home and not try to get together for a BSN Meet-Up!

After saying goodbye to Cheryl and David we headed downtown to see my baby sisters new office and the location of her soon to be new home!!! 

This is an interactive screen so that potential renters can see what's available in the building. I tried to convince Marc we needed one of these at WABC! HAHA...I don't think I've convinced him yet!

If Nicki had a job in Richmond today she would have moved in right then and there. This is her face after she found out it included a gym!

Needless to say we had a hard time dragging her away! 

I'm soo excited for my sister and my nephew, they deserve this for so many reasons that I can't even explain here. 

Saturday Marc and I had the privilege of hosting the wedding of his bestfriend (and our bestman from 29 years ago ) wedding at WABC. 

We are so happy for him and his new wife. I can't think of two people who deserve it more.

Nicki was one of the photographers at the wedding and caught some great caption shot. Including this one of Quisha and I cutting up! LOL

Congrats Russell and Gloria!

We kept Nicki fairly busy this weekend. She was our traveling companion, on the spot photographer and today she was my chauffeur to church. Marc gave us permission to slip away today to visit a BSN sista's church. Pastors Ray and Nakia were celebrating their fourth anniversary as a church. The speaker of the hour was Pastor Janeen a women of God that I have long admired (she's also my cousins pastor). Her message "Can a Sista Just Have A Crumb" really hit home. She talked about the importance of extending a crumb ( a word from God) to everyone you come into contact with. And that if each of us just extended a crumb...then we could create a loaf! And we all know what you can do with a loaf! 

I did finish a small project for the house this week before it got interrupted by life! Remember the two end tables for $15.00? Well how do you like the finished project?

Its been raining since I completed the first one so her mate will have to wait tell later in the week. By the way....for the first time in a long time my calendar is actually empty for the entire week! Not sure what I will do with my self (and not sure how long this will last) but I'm going to try and enjoy it while it last!!! Have a great week everyone!

Sunday Mind Dump (through the eyes of the pw)!

Guess who showed up this week? And for the first time in my life I actually witnessed the birth of a baby that was not my own. Its an experience I will never forget. Neither will my oldest daughter Quisha who assisted with the birth. Nicki on the other hand left the room the minute the doctors and nurses showed up. Now of course we can't seem to keep her away from Nic! Marc said he and Nicoleus will have to have a talk because his birth took precedence over everything else this week (at least for the women in the family)! LOL

I am thick in the middle of planning our family's reunion. This week several of us have been posting photos on our family facebook page. From the looks of it fashion/modeling was in my blood at an early age. Yes, that's me with the off shoulder dress combing my hair...then again in the arms of my cousin sporting the white sunshades!

Apparently I picked up this gift from my mom! I'm not surprised she had white gogo boots! My mom has never fit the typical "mom" role!

Friday night we attended a benefit concert for Love and Hope Ministries. My girlfriend Pam is on the board and invited us to attend. A few of the ladies from WABC attended. We really had a great time.

I even made some contacts for Blended Souls.

Several of my WIT sisters were in the house!!!!!

Today we presented our newest leadership team members their certificate of membership, a WABC cup filled with candy, info card from Marc, a WABC pen and a ministry brochure. Marc also equips each member of the leadership team with a Legacy Bible (so they will all be on the same page). New members receive the same cup (and the goodies inside). We are working on a welcome packet for visitors that will include a sermon dvd, and a few other goodies we are not sure of yet.

This afternoon Marc and I took several of the Young Adults at WABC out to dinner. I took my camera in with me but forgot to take pics. Every once in a while its actually good to take a break from behind the camera and just enjoy the moments.

We have the wedding this weekend of Marc's bestfriend, and a meet up with our good friends the VanBebbers. Its been a busy week, wish I could say we will be chilling for a while but you can never be sure what adventures will happen around here at a given moment....so stay tuned!!!!

Monday Morning Ramblings

Its been a sick free weekend!!!! Friday Marc, Nicki and I met my mom in Williamsburg to check out a venue for our family reunion that will take place this summer. Can you guess who is the event coordinator? LOL

Afterwards we hit a few of the outlets looking for items to decorate the tables with. Our theme is a Family Garden...where you plant seeds of love, hope and faith! Notice the words on the stones? Now I need to find love...lol. The Family sign (picked it up at Big Lots) goes with another one that says welcome. They will be on our registration tables out front. That's also the place where our t-shirts will be along with our programs. The mini terra cotta pots came from the dollar tree and will hold candles. I'm also looking for moss, potted plants (fake of course), butterflies and lady bugs. A few lanterns and garden tools spread throughout the room and stones sprinkled on the table with the centerpieces. Each one hopefully a little unique from the other. I have to do 15 tables! I also found a cute caterpillar at a Tuesday Morning but I'm not sure where it is at the moment! LOL

The sacks I got Sunday afternoon at a thrift store. They will hold the potted plants that will go on the tables at the reunion. I will either tie them with ribbon or some raffia (they were 49 cents a piece). The planters are for my front porch (at least that is what I'm thinking at this time). They are ceramic and were a $1.00 each!

The beach theme items are for our Women's Weekend workshop at WABC in May! Our theme is "Seaside Escape"....where women bask in God's presence! I'm so excited about this theme, its a kit from group publishing. They have the best women's ministry resources and the entire retreat comes in a box with almost everything you need for a retreat. Best part if you have a small budget this retreat can be done without having to bring in a pricey speaker. We have used their retreats on two occasions at WABC and the women who attended loved it. Most of these items also came from Big Lots. I'm looking now for some mason jars that will be filled with sand, seashells and special message that the women can create and take home to remember the weekend!

Saturday I spent almost the entire day with my girls. We started the morning at a rummage sale in support of one of the ladies from our womens ministry team. As usual I ended up picking up something related to event planning. Honestly who can resist a brand new (still in the box) fondue pot? LOL Guess party planning is just in my bones. The rest of the day I spent time with the girls in the baby section of Target and Walmart! Quisha had a good time laughing at Nicki and I. She has three godchildren and a Big Sister with a child so she is use to being in that aisle. But this was foreign to me, and most definitely to Nicki. The girls had decided to wait until after the baby shower to see what our cousin may still need. I think they might have gone a bit overboard but was it was still fun. I saw all kinds of things that were not available twenty some years ago when I had my babies! Including something called butt crack creme! OH My!!!! We had dinner together that afternoon and then went over to my cousins apartment to see the nursery and put all of the stuff the girls brought in the baby's room.

Its been a while since I was able to capture a Sunday Best photo of all of us (again minus TJ who refuses to take pictures and who could care less about what he is wearing..lol).

This week we have our Girls Nite Out event (which is a double blessing because we will be attending a benefit concert at our adopted church), and Sunday evening Marc and I get to hang out with the Young Adult Ministry. We also have to squeeze in a quick trip to North Carolina to meet with our pastor and his wife who will be there visiting their grandbabies.

And that folks is my life as you see it. Its sometimes hectic, occasionally frustrating but never a dull moment! By the way if your a ministry wife you might be interested in Kelli's link up party for ministry wives

Sunday Mind Dump (through the eyes of the PW)!

Finally a normal weekend (well for us at least...lol)! Friday night Marc and I attended my monthly Minister Wives meeting. I set at the table with some very seasoned PWs. There was a lot of talk about using your gifts and not letting anything stand in the way when God calls you to minister to his people. I did very little talking but a lot of listening. I love learning from others and know when its best to just sit and be Mary!

Saturday we celebrated my little cousins baby shower. "Gee" is the first of the c-unit to have a child. As our girls get older they are experiencing many changes but thankfully they have remained close as a group. 

My aunt did a wonderful job on the cake. Who needs to go to a baker when you have the best cake maker around in the family?

The mother to be!

My cousin did such a great job with the shower (as a matter of fact I told her how proud I was that she had learned so much from me...lol). She is going to make a great grandma (or meme as she wishes to be called...lol). I find it funny that she is becoming a grandma before me...I am going to love teasing her. 

Love the fact that our family and friends formed a circle and prayed! 

The rest of the c-unit (cousins)!

After the baby shower we packed up and then headed to another celebration. My great aunt celebrated her 91st birthday yesterday. She even came across two bridges to attend her great, great niece shower! Don't ask what my mom is doing in this picture.....I think she did a gang sign or something! SMH

My auntie and three of her four children. After last weeks shenanigans I was just happy to be spending time with family. That to me is the best medicine!

Today we welcomed three new members to WABC! Marc's message today was Since God Can't Fail, Then I Can't Lose. I told him he should have called it I Can't Lose With The Stuff God Uses!!! LOL I have to say his message stepped on my toes.. He talked about the importance of being content in whatever state you are in. That God cares about the condition of your heart, that its important to not get discouraged in ministry. To do your job with joy. It definitely effected me and gave me the encouragement I needed in ministry, especially relating to Blended Souls. Its not easy to connect with churches in this area especially when you mention the word diversity. I understand...it's a hard discussion to have but I truly believe its needed. What has been encouraging is the fact that I have been approached by others outside of the area. Its amazing to me that we have connected with couples in Belize, Canada, Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Kentucky just to name a few! Crazy I tell you...truly God ordained and having nothing to do with me. Which is how it should be.

Speaking of ministry (and Mexico).....I'm so proud of my oldest daughter Quisha. She is going on here first ever missions trip to Ensenado Mexico (partnering with Yugo Ministries ). Please be in prayer as she has to raise $1700 by May. This is a first for my family as none of us have ever been associated with missions trips.

Well thats it for this week. I have a lot of catching up around my home after being out of it for a week. I'm doing my best to eat correctly (it was hard this weekend with the shower and the birthday celebration but I tried hard to stick to the veggies and the fruit)! The hardest for me is breakfast because I am a breakfast lover!!! So if anyone has any suggestions I will take them as long as you don't suggest oatmeal or cereal. LOL