We're famous!

We started out our weekend as we do many weekends, our Friday night sushi date. We have many sushi places we like to go to, but we went to our fave that I've mentioned before, Tomo. It was yummy! We had missed a couple of Fridays b/c of various reasons so it was great to get back to our routine. After dinner we went to the movie theatre to see the new movie "Fireproof" with Kirk Cameron (http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/)







If you haven't seen it, you should check it out. It is made by the same folks that produced "Facing the Giants". It presents some great lessons and a WONDERFUL message. After the movie, our names became "famous" in Austin as we debuted on The Word 99.3 FM radio in an on the spot, live interview about the movie. Being on the radio was certainly a first for me!

It's Magic...

Ok, men, this is a post you can skip over, but if any of you women out there have ever experienced fading or creasing of your eye shadow, look no further as I have found the magic solution -- "shadow insurance" by Too Faced. I was introduced to it by a lady at Ulta who highly recommended it, I have been using it for the past couple of weeks & I love it so far! It really makes my shadow more vibrant and my shadow doesn't seem to fade by the end of the day. Usually when I get ready to take off my makeup at night, it looks as if I never put any shadow on in the first place, but when I use the shadow insurance primer, my shadow looks the same at the end of the day as it did in the morning when I just applied it! I just thought I would pass on this secret that I have discovered using eye shadow primer, which many of you may be thinking "man, that girl is behind the times, we've been using that stuff for years!" Even if so, you should check out this brand because it is really magic! I haven't used other brands, but I know this one works. It is a new fave for sure!

Real Living comes in the Trials...

In my previous post I spoke of a letter that we had received. This letter was from a couple named David & Alicia that we support the ministry of for Campus Crusade for Christ. Although I have not had the opportunity to meet this couple, as I have read their periodic updates & story of who they are, I am truly amazed by their character. The most recent letter we received brought devastating news concerning their 6 month old named Mark so I write this asking for your prayers. To give some background, this couple had 2 children of their own and has adopted 2 children who are from the same mother. The birthmom has 3 other children that she cares for, one of which they recently discovered had Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy. This disease is typically passed through the mother & affects boys so it was suggested that David & Alicia test Mark, their adopted 6 month old. So, a week ago, they found out that he has Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy. See the below description of MD:

Definition - One of nine types of muscular dystrophy, a group of
genetic, degenerative diseases primarily affecting voluntary muscles.

Cause - An absence of dystrophin, a protein that helps keep muscle cells
intact.

Onset - Early childhood - about 2 to 6 years.

Symptoms - Generalized weakness and muscle wasting first affecting the
muscles of the hips, pelvic area, thighs and shoulders. Calves are often
enlarged.

Progression - DMD eventually affects all voluntary muscles, and the
heart and breathing muscles. Survival is rare beyond the early 30s.

Inheritance - X-linked recessive. DMD primarily affects boys, who
inherit the disease through their mothers. Women can be carriers of DMD
but usually exhibit no symptoms.

Mark will have no symptoms for years, but will have a certain physical death no later than his late 20’s. "Of course, this is without a miracle from God...." "...We are devastated." To say the least, this family is really struggling right now and could really use all of the prayers that we can lift up for them and their precious little boy. Just 2 days after learning of the news of their son, they had to evacuate for hurricane Ike. They returned back home and thankfully their house was fine, but Alicia wrote that, "as we drove through all the destruction, seeing all the gigantic tress laid flat and twisted metal all over the place, houses ruined, and once valuables now tossed in the trash. As I looked at all this, I knew it is exactly how I feel on the inside."

However, she says "There is one conclusion I have come to~I don’t want anyone to fear adoption because of this. Adoption is still the greatest gift of my life in giving me two precious children. Having children by birth or adoption is a great risk, but I do know that this is where the real living comes. Without risk, there is no real joy. Pain is certainly a part of it, but it is NOT the burden of now having a child with a terrible disease, it is the heart-break of not getting to have him long enough. I would adopt him all over again, knowing everything I know now."


PLEASE lift up this family in your prayers. It is a devastating situation, and these that make me think how little my trials that I complain about really are! I will post updates as I receive more information.

Devastation...

Flooding in Southern Louisiana

Many of you know about our good friends who have a child named Jude that has Mitochondrial disease. You may be thinking, "I've never heard of that disease", but it is really not as rare as you may think considering most people are unaware of it. 1 in every 2,000 children are born or will develop mitochondrial disease by 10 years of age, but many cases go mis or undiagnosed so the number is probably much higher. Jude's mom Julie has made it her mission to promote awareness of this disease since Jude was diagnosed. She has led all kinds of creative fundraising efforts for the UMDF (United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation) & has spoken at many public forums to tell Jude's story & explain the symptoms & affects of Mito. Most recently, she & her mother have devoted this past year planning & preparing for a fundraising event called "Jude's Fai-do-do for Mito" to raise money for UMDF. If you are not cajun & unfamiliar with the term "fai-do-do", as I was not, it is basically a big dance with lots of cajun music & cajun food. Anyway, due to the devastation of Ike on the town in Louisiana where the event was to be held & to Julie's mother's house in southern Louisiana, the event has been cancelled. Their energies have been re-focused to getting her mom's (& other family in the area) house cleaned up and fixed from the damage of Ike. So please pray for Julie & her family as they struggle through this trying time of devastation & the dissappointment of planning for this event for so long only to have to cancel it. Also, you can read about Jude's story on the website where there is also a link to donate to UMDF if you feel so led.

Devastation seems to be the theme in those lives around me lately, whether due to natural disasters such as hurricane Ike & Gustav, loss of family & even children unexpectedly, or diagnosis of illness among adults & children we know. So through all of this I have been pondering over how God works through these devastating events in our lives and I read a letter this morning from another of our friends who has recently been devastated (I'll post later) who wrote "I do know that this is where the real living comes. Without risk (or trials or challenges), there is no real joy." (italics added by me) That is so the truth & exactly what God teaches us:

Romans 5:3-5 .... "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love." (New Living Translation)

Over & over in the Bible God speaks to & through His disciples & prophets using examples of joy admidst trials & hardships & He promises to always "...work for the good of those who love Him..." (Romans 8:28) So if you are facing trials, challenges, risks & devastation right now, be joyful admist it, even praise God for it, knowing & trusting that God will bless you & bring you joy on the other side of it!

River Trip 2008

This is part of the Frio River where we float to and take out at.















We stayed at dad & Jim's new cabin in the Mountain Valley area of Concan called 'Boondocks' -- they also own Casa Del Sol so click on the link & check 'em out for your next family gathering! There are great views and is so quite & peaceful out there sitting out on the porch and gazing at the beauty God created. Every now and then a deer will wander by. We had a relaxing weekend.














I have to admit that I did not take any pictures on the river or with us in them this year so I stole these 2 from last year. It is always a great time floating the river. This year the water level was not quite as high, but was still good floatin', great relaxin' & lots of laughin'. There are no cares or worries in mind when floating down the Frio!














My brother fried up some catfish & Jarrod provided some famous Catahoula fries to go along with it on Saturday night. We had enough to feed an army! We had some friends over from the cabin next door and chowed down. Our good friend Bryan Hoy's birthday was on Sunday so we brought out some cupcakes that we had brought with us from Cupprimos, one of our faves in Austin, and burst out in song to celebrate his 33rd year! We did fit in some football watching & poker playing while we were there. Even the rookie poker player that I am managed to beat up on the guys a little, but in the end Jarrod & Jim were the last ones standing (I was snoozing by that point as I think it went until 1am in the morning). Jarrod & I drove back on Monday, but took a different route up through Fredericksburg. It was a beautiful drive. We saw lots of wildlife & rolling hills. It was a great end to the weekend. However, when driving through Fredericksburg, I could definitely feel a magnetic force wanting to pull the car off to park & go shop in all those cute little stores!! That'll have to be another trip!

Picnic at Arboretum

Last week I had a picnic lunch with Jo Neel & little Ellie in a park at the Arboretum. It was lots of fun to get out to enjoy the nice weather, catch up with Jo Neel and watch Ellie laugh and play in the park. She especially loved sitting on the bull statue! Jo Neel is a friend from A&M that I have reunited with now that I am living in Austin. They moved here not too long ago so she has been super helpful in giving me tips about Austin. We went to church with them a few weeks ago and joined them for some ultimate frisby out in Barton Springs Zilker Park that afternoon with their church group. I was not that good, but was told that I made a goal and that was all that mattered. Jarrod says all that matters is that his team won! (We were on separate teams)

Working on the House

We've been working away trying to get everything in its place in the house. Our first purchase for the house was some beautiful new office furniture so that I don't have to work off the kitchen table anymore. The furniture was hand made in Guatemala and Jarrod pointed out the other night that I have quite the ecclectic office -- Guatemalan desk & credenza, painting of Italy, a chair, side table & rug from Bahrain, and a painting by a family friend of some mountains with a water feature below it. This past weekend we were able to get a lot done including: staining the concrete on the back patio, halling off as many boxes as we could to the recycle center downtown Austin(where all the crazy longhorns were getting ready for their game I might add - my eyes were strained from all the burnt orange!), Jarrod trimmed all the tree limbs (so they'll grow straight up he says) & set up our new garage organizer while I changed out the hardware on our cabinets in the kitchen and did lots of loads of laundry. In the middle of all of our work, we were able to take some time out to try a new church that we really liked so we'll try it again. It is the closest one to our house that we have been to so far and we had a really good feeling about it. We also went to a cookout at our neighbors house that was a great time getting to know lots of people on our street better. They are all super nice and so welcoming. Seems to be a pretty tight knit community so we are excited about that. We had some great fajitas and of course Jarrod told them as we were leaving "I'll come over anytime as long as you feed me." I wonder what he is saying about what he gets at our house! hmmm! (Actually, we also went to the grocery store on Monday for a stock up and I have cooked every night this week - shocker!)

Look at the huge laundry room we have!! It is amazing!