The end of Ignorance

I remember my life before I acknowledged poverty and genocide and murder and corruption. I remember how easy it was to sleep at night and to turn off the news and to turn my head when injustice was being done. Then the day came that I suddenly acknowledged the pain of the world, the brokenness that abounds in every corner of the globe. What was my life before this realization? I was blissfully ignorant and perhaps sometimes I long for that ignorance again. The fact of the matter is that I cannot now be blind to the world and I cannot now say that I will live in any manner of the ''American dream" as it is so known and sought after. My American dream will happen in years to come as I first teach children who no one else will love, and it will continue as I bring children into my family who do not look like me and who have experienced things that no one should ever know. My family will live in Africa and we will be the refuse of the world, no white picket fence for Ben and I. Rather we may be shot at and we may not live in peace and without fear but the call of this life is not to live safe and not to live comfortable; it is to live without abandon and without reserve. In a few years we will abandon our nice apartment and comfortable jobs with a cereal aisle as long as the eye can see for a life much less safe and much less conventional. Truth be told, ignorance is not bliss because deep down the suffering of the world is in each of our hearts, we may be able to ignore it in our minds but our hearts can sense things that we never imagined to be so.

How I ruined Oliver's Summer

So I take the dog to Petsmart and asked them for a summer cut, when the woman says 1/2 inch I say yes without another thought. Unfortunately 1/2 inch makes him completely naked, I am embarrassed for the dog and I know that I have officially ruined his summer. Poor Puppy!









This is the before picture and above are the after pics! Someday he will look cute again

Crazy Jobs

I just want to know why it is that when you see a child who is screaming in the grocery store we always assume that it is due to poor parenting? One of the kids that I have recently begun working with is severely autistic and when people see him running or hear him screaming they automatically think that the child has been raised poorly. In truth we have lost all sense of tolerance for what is not the norm. These kids have problems that go way beyond parenting and way beyond the comprehension of any individual, why can't we being to tolerate and understand that some people live and think differently. Autism is a strange thing and the more that we can understand and tolerate other people the better we will be at supporting.

Well, we are winding down on our last few weeks of school and boy are we feeling it! It seems as though each day has another challenge especially with all of these big projects that they give right at the end of things. With summer fast approaching is difficult to concentrate on anything but weekends by the pool and vacation time.

Ben will continue to teach over the summer and I will be working with Hadley Rae nearly every day, I will also be taking summer classes, so the promise of finals is not nearly as enticing for me. Luckily the summer will bring some relief since at the beginning of June we will be traveling to South padre Island for some relaxation in the sun.

It is hard to say at this point when either of us will be done with school, I am pushing the envelope so that we can start our family! We are truly blessed to be able to attend school and seek careers that we choose because of our educations. What an amazing time to be middle class white folk!?

Coming Home

Tomorrow Ben and I will begin our trip home. This comes as a relief because we miss our puppy and our bed but it also comes with great sadness. It is an amazing feeling to wake up and see a castle out the window. It brings you into a fairy tale when you see the beauty and history that so surrounds our lives.

I spent a great deal of time being reminded that there is more to this life than what we see or know, so much of today talks about living in the here and now but I cannot imagine the rich pleasure that would be missed if we did not acknowledge our history or bask in the promise of a future. Seeing castles and minsters provides us with a glimpse of beauty that surpasses what this age has known or will ever know.

Going home will be difficult but Ralph Waldo Emerson reminded us in his writings that we cannot abandon our lives even when we take leave of them, our troubles follow us where ever we go.

Finding my own Neverland

As I search my heart I find more and more places where joy has touched me and where love grows. Each day provides a reason for a smile, a reason to share the love and blessings we have been given. Being filled is much like living in a Neverland, each day and each moment is undiscovered, nothing is "same old same old" because each opportunity and experience provides new insights and new ways to glimpse the spirit of God.

Oliver Twist

Meet Oliver Twist, the newest edition to our little family. We made the decision on impulse and even though we are sleep deprived we still think he is a wonderful purchase.