Team Tuohy

Nugget, 
Sweet pea we just love you to bits. This weekend we all went to Michigan for a lacrosse tournament Daddy was coaching. It was so fun to take you along and get out of the heat (107 in Dallas today little one!). Mommy struggled with some fear this weekend but it was such a sweet reminder that you are the Lord's child even before being ours and that He has you and loves you more than we could ever imagine. We are so blessed by the sweet lessons we are learning through getting such a joyful opportunity to be your parents. Here is all your updates:

Your Size: A lemon.
Your Wight: 1 1/2 Ounces.
Scripture from Daddy: Deuteronomy 4:9 "But watch out! Be very careful never to forget what you have seen the LORD do for you. Do not let these things escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren." Daddy is very excited Nugget to one day tell you his story of how mighty God is to save =)
Your Movements: You have been quiet in there sweet pea, although our updates tell us you are moving like crazy! 
Mommy's Cravings: Sweets (Daddy is LOVING this!!!)
Mommy's Aversions: Chicken. 
Best Moment: Daddy talking to you (he does this a lot now!) 
Worst Moment: Mommy got a sunburn from being at Daddy's lacrosse tournament with SPF 50 on! Oh how you are changing my body in so many ways! 
Mommy Misses: Cold Turkey Sandwiches. 
Daddy Misses: Nothing! 
Mommy Cant Wait: To see how you have grown and to feel your precious kicks =)
Daddy Cant Wait: For mommy to feel better, it makes him sad when I am sick (LOVE that guy, he is so good at taking care of me). 
Your Milestones: You are starting to grow bones, may they be strong little one!  
Other News: Mommy's belly is growing like you would not believe! It is fun to get to see it and know you are growing in there too. The fact that you are a size of a fist is incredible.

Lord, We love this baby more and more every day. We are humbled and amazed at the truth that it still does not compare to how much you love us. Thank you for 14 weeks. Thank you for all the refinement that you are doing to us and our marriage from such a sweet little one! We are so grateful for your promises and how mighty you are to save, today was a great reminder of that. Thank you for this slice of joy and may we remember always to praise you in sweet moments such as these and even more in opposite ones, regardless of our situation you are good. We love you and pray this all in your Christ's name. Amen. 

xoxo  

White Rock Lake, Dallas, TX

I officially landed in Dallas a year ago. To fathom this is crazy to me, I had left Michael and Lincoln at this point and moved to a state I had never been to all within 10 days. We have grown and changed in ways I cannot begin to describe and all we can do is thank the Lord for He knew best! We have made lasting friendships, grown our walks with the Lord, continued to build a solid foundation for our marriage and more than anything HAD A LOT OF FUN!

It is hard to believe it was a year ago I started my first job here in Dallas, but now that chapter is coming to a close and a new fantastic chapter is opening. I have learned more than I ever imagined and my mind has been opened more than I thought possible. I will sincerely miss everyone at LVLT. I was not only blessed to gain so much knowledge but also to meet a leader there like none other I have ever encountered. He is every employee's dream manager. He sets the bar high and yet is daily helping you to get there in any way he can. He appreciates and gives credit, he encourages and he takes the time to teach you thing things you question. I am beyond grateful for my chance to work with him. I will take his teachings far with me.

As I head into my new position I am excited for the challenges that lay before me. I know that I am once again beyond blessed to have the opportunity ahead. I am excited to continue learning and work for missions my whole heart believes in. The mission of Christ and the mission of community. I am thankful and humbled that the Lord trusts me with these, for I am weak but He is strong. Not to mention, I am completely pumped for the team I am entering and all the memories to be made with my new work family!

I have learned over the past year or so that life is all about paths. Weather  your path, your parent's path, the Lord's path, etc. you are always in search of something and on your way to get there. I can honestly say though, that my path has never been so perfectly fit for me as the one I have been on since surrendering it to Him and trusting Him with the results. It is difficult and sometimes full of loose cobblestones but with Him I do not fall and with Him the desires of my heart are found (sometimes in places I did not even know they existed!). Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understandings. In all of you ways follow Him and He will make your paths straight."

Thank you Lord for bringing us to Dallas and giving me the job that got our family here, for you knew this is where we were to be. Thank you for the consistent provision over our lives and for knowing what we need even when we are unaware of it. Thank you for telling us no when we needed to hear it for you had something better planned for us. Thank you for the friends and family we have gained here in Dallas and the life you daily hand to us. We are thankful for you have blessed us beyond measure and we continue to see your goodness. Thank you for the past year with LVLT and all the ways you have grown me there, and from the absolute bottom of my heart thank you for this new opportunity you have laid in my path for I am beyond words for my excitement, it is a long awaited answered prayer. Thank you that you are a God who knew me better than I knew myself and your timing is always perfection. We love you so much God and thank you for your abundant blessings in our life, and more than anything that we can call you Father.

All this in Jesus name,

Amen.

xoxo







P.S. On my last day at LVLT I was honored to be thrown a "good riddance" party at Dave and Busters. What a fantastic way to be sent off, how truly blessed I am. Below are a few of the captures:

Photo Credit

I was inspired by a blog I recently read about being "that wife" that resembles a housewife in today's world. It strikes a cord that I so often battle myself. Asking myself if am I "old-fashioned"? Wondering how I can stand firm and be confident in cleaning the house, doing the dishes, making the meals, folding laundry and more in a society that tends to look down upon that. 

Thankfully I am encouraged daily by the women in my life who consistently point not only me back to Christ, but my marriage. I am truly blessed to have this- another beauty of living in community! However, on those days I just need simple truth I try to remember the following:

1. My approval/acceptance does not come from this world, but from Christ. I was just reminded of this in a sermon on Sunday- we are called to "suffer" for Christ. We are suppose to look funny and do things differently for this world is not our home -John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." If I belong to this world- I do not belong to Christ, I would rather be persecuted and look funny than to give up my salvation. At the end of the day the world has dramatically changed, however we are still held to the standard of the Word.

2. God intrusts me to use this as an opportunity to honor and glorify Him. A large part of the time these "roles" and equal submission (Ephesians 5:22-33) are why our marriages succeed. Your marriage is your number one ministry for others to see. USE IT! They will see differences in your marriage - as said before here- and when you are asked "why" it is an opportunity to lead them to Him. 

3. It is ultimately not for our husband but for Christ. By doing those things you are submitting to Christ and glorifying Him through it. This is done by taking such wisdom from proverbs and choosing to follow God's lead for what a wife's role looks like. Mike is always willing to help out when I need it or on the days I decide to be "self- righteous" but I find when I change my focus to serving God not only am I immediately humbled but I enjoy doing it even more.

4. Proverbs 31:10-33 * Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character*

  ^"A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her  and lacks nothing of value.She brings him good, not harm,  all the days of her life. She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar. She gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family and portions for her female servants. She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. She sets about her work vigorously;her arms are strong for her tasks. She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night. In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers. She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet. She makes coverings for her bed;  she is clothed in fine linen and purple. Her husband is respected at the city gate,  where he takes his seat among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them,  and supplies the merchants with sashes. She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.  She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed;  her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women do noble things,  but you surpass them all.”  Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;  but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate. "

I love this! Look at all the hard work this women does, you could totally focus on that. Instead focus on all she gets from that work- she is worth more than rubies, her husband has FULL confidence in her, she has no fear about the future but laughs and is clothed with strength and dignity. She speaks wisdom that brings glory to Christ and respect to her family, her children call her blessed and her husband praises her with words so encouraging and appreciative. I want to be this wife, truly. To have my family respected, my husband love me and my children call me blessed- there is simply no greater honor. All else will fade away but this woman will be sustained by Christ for she submits, respects and follows the Lord regardless of worldly views- absolutely goodness right there.

4. It pushes me to be more like Christ, any Christian's ultimate goal. More of Him, less of me. The great news is the Lord has gone before us and He cared enough to give us a path to be more and more like Him."These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. As I heard in an example this Sunday -  At the end of it all our goal is to chip away everything that is not of Christ- Jesus he served and submitted faithfully. Take joy that He is changing you to be more like him- for it is hard now in this world, but blessed will we be when we stand before Him.

Ultimately, I believe in the role of a wife. I truly love serving my husband in these ways because I dearly love him. Every marriage will look different, every husband and wife will have different expectations. None of that is wrong. However, for all the wives out there, myself included, who enjoy being "that wife" or strive to be "that wife" - this is just a sweet reminder for why we do it. I know it encouraged me today!

In His grace,

One of the wonderful ladies in my community group, Kristin, found this devotional called Jesus Calling and after a few she sent out for all of us to read I fell in love with it, it was the only devotional I had come across that spoke "directly to me." It made me feel as if I was truly with God hearing Him talk to my heart, in a way that is similar to reading through the scripture and stumbling across that passage that was clearly put in your path for that day. Yummy goodness.

So on a search for the book I went and ended up coming across the Jesus Calling App and thought it was a brilliant idea to have it so downloaded it to my nifty iPhone and am encouraged by the ability to have it at instant access. There is definitely something about opening a book in the morning sipping a cup of coffee (especially when God's Words are in it) but unfortunately I am of the generation that likes immediate satisfaction (working on this!) and this app does just that- I can share it at any point in the day or re-read myself! All about this!

Today's devotional was so sweet to my soul. More than that though I loved getting to exchange the simple text with Kristin about how good it was- giving me another opportunity to watch the Lord speak into our lives and friendship. Part of living in community is getting to "do life together." It was so small but awesome this morning to watch this devotional strike me and then hear from Kristin that she as well loved it. It lets us encourage each other and share in the same truth. I love this kind of stuff. 

I then sent it off to a sweet friend and my hubby and decided that it was one of those that everyone should get to soak in. So.... here it is, in all its goodness- hope you enjoy:

KEEP WALKING with Me along the path I have chosen for you. Your desire to live close to Me is a delight to My heart. I could instantly grant you the spiritual riches you desire, but that is not My way for you. Together we will forge a pathway up the high mountain. The journey is arduous at times and you are weak. Someday you will dance light footed on the high peaks; but for now, you walk is often plodding and heavy. All I require of you is to take the next step, clinging to My hand for strength and direction. Though the path is difficult and the scenery dull at the moment, there are sparkling surprises just around the bend. Stay on the path I have selected for you. It is truly the path of Life.

If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand. - Psalm 37:23-24

You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. - Psalm 16:11 (NKJV)

Seriously now... what an awesome God. It gives me chills to know we can actually delight Him, it gives me strength to know He selected this path, for as much as I may not understand or always think it is great, He selected it which means there is a divine purpose behind it, Glory will surly come. It gives me hope for the days I will dance on the peaks, and more than anything I tear up at the thought that He, an almighty God, will forge a path TOGETHER with me, Erin Tuohy, with all my sinful ways. Simply love. I am encouraged to cling to Him for that is all He requires and to see those sparkling surprises that are yet to come. How great is our God.


xoxo

Photo Credit

Our goal every week is to write about a verse that is changing our life as we memorize it with the context and meaning into our hearts. I will admit I have been "scripture crazy" recently- I just cannot get enough of His truth and all He promises to and for us. For week one I wanted to do one that is so dear to my heart.

“Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand" Jeremiah 18:6 (NIV)

In Context:
 ¹ This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ² “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” ³ So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. ⁴ But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.  ⁵ Then the word of the LORD came to me. ⁶ He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. ⁷ If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, ⁸ and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned" Jeremiah 18:1-8

The potter was making a pot but he discovered a flaw. Possibly the potter allowed his hand to slip, knocking the pot off center on the wheel. At any rate, the pot was damaged. When a pot has been damaged, the potter does not throw away the clay,  the potter remakes the pot into another vessel.God said that just as the potter can use the damaged clay, He can make something beautiful from the ruins of our lives. (Commentary from C. Littlefield & J. Mallory).

How wonderful that our Lord knows we may slip and be damaged from His perfect plan due to our own sin or our life circumstances, but that does not mean He leaves us. Instead, He simply reshapes us into a new perfect plan in His wonderful and caring hands. He never lets us go.

I use to wonder what it looked like to God, our lives, how did He know all we were going to do with free will/live through - even the bad- and still have this perfect plan. It is because He is sovereign and constantly making something new and beautiful out of slime and mess. I often find it helps to put my name in versus such as these when I am in those quite and weak moments as it tends to sink deeper, "Like clay in the hand of the potter; so are you in my hand,_____________" mmm just the thought of being in his hand warms my soul and comforts me.What a truth that can free us from shame and inadequacy, from feeling as if we are not ever going to be good enough again. That is a lie and the truth to that is God is always using our story for it is His story, He does not allow those to end without some form of good. We don't need a Sunday afternoon, or a birthday or a New Years Eve to have a clean slate. He is already on it, wiping that flaw smooth and creating His masterpiece that is even better now than it was before.

Lately our world has relied on soaking in scripture and leaning on God to answer our questions (as it should always be). We have such a blessed life, but it is not without trials. If our life is easy peasy I would seriously question whose hands we were in =). This is not to say our lives should not be full of goodness and joy, I am just a firm believer as children of Christ living for Him that if we are not doing something to make the enemy tick, we are probably also not doing something that brings glory to our heavenly father. Think about it...

So today, we wanted to share some of the sweet promises that we are holding on to for they alone are truth. It is funny how I have struggled my entire life since becoming a believer to memorize verses, until now. When you need those sweet promises, and turn to those sweet promises daily- they penetrate your heart and are engraved there forever:

"The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still" Exodus 14:14

"The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing" Psalm 34:10

"Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10

"Look at the nations and watch- and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told." Habakkuk 1:5

"Trust in the LORD with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all of your ways follow Him and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" Philippians 4:13

What sweet sweet promises are these. Man, Exodus 14:14 "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still" how truly beautiful is that. Right now as Team Tuohy battles through some heavy stuff from my childhood this is huge for us. So often I find myself wanting to go to battle for my heart and my feelings, for what happened but I do not need to. As long as I am living with Christ, He will go to battle for me, I need only to trust Him in that and let Him do His works. For as it is promised in Habkkuk  His works are far better than anything I could believe, even if I were told. This sweet promise I am soaking in daily. I know the Lord has a plan for my life, my life verse since I was saved was Proverbs 3:5 which tells me this. However, I have still always wanted to push forward and plan our life; deciding where to go and what to do trying to sprint this race He designed to be a marathon. I can say with full confidence He is preparing us for something with all we are going through right now, I don't know what and so we wait with an open heart for whatever He is doing here, we only want His will to be done and are guarded of making it something of our own. As I told my sweet girlfriends the other day, I welcome that plan with giant open arms and so therefore I welcome all this yuck that it takes to get us there because I believe our God is good and I know He will do things with our life that are far greater than we can even begin to fathom. How he loves us....Until then we continue to hang onto these sweet sweet sweet promises full of love in hopes that we are constantly being changed to be more like Him along the way.

Have a blessed day sweet friends!

xoxo

The Flying Grape

Meet the newest edition to Team Tuohy- The Flying Grape. When We moved back from the UK last year we were lucky enough to still have my trusty Trailblazer waiting patiently for us. It was all we needed and was working out great, until Michael got his new job and his coaching job leading us to be headed in completely different directions. Got to love the lack of public transport in America (not that I was a fan in England, call me crazy but it scared me!). So we went on the hunt for a new car. Seeing as we are blessed to have relatively no debt we were nervous about making the jump to a monthly car payment (We are really pushing to always live off of one income so that we are as prepared as we can be for whatever tomorrow may bring!). On the flip side however, we could not find a used car in good condition for our price range. We spent weekend after weekend looking and Tuesday after Tuesday being encouraged by our foundation group to just hang in there. It was totally God's will for us, as He had a great opportunity in store for us right around the corner. A month of carpooling and craziness later an amazing couple from our church asked if we were still  in the market for they were ready to sell their old Honda and could not have been sweeter about the terms around selling it to us. Seriously, it is hard to not believe in a God when everything fell into place as it did. It was not necessarily what we had been looking for, but it was exactly what we needed and we are forever grateful for the opportunity that He placed before us. If you are patient and let His will be done, it is amazing to see how good it gets! The best part is that we are in love with this car, it is our first big purchase together, both names on the title and debt free. Every day I get in it I am grateful for each mile it drives me and reminded of the true goodness that the Lord has in store and the amazing things He had done with our life together. Our hearts are constantly changing and it is so exciting to see how great His plan is, it has been so far and always will be better than we could have ever imagined.

Whoop Whoop to many more years in The Flying Grape!

Well. Michael and I have officially been married one year and six months. Every time I say that I have to laugh a little as I hear that child in me saying "I am three and a half!" or even the adult now "I am five foot one and three quarters!" There is something about that extra half that makes a difference. When I was talking to a friend of mine this week about plans for the weekend I said we were booked up Saturday as we were being dorks and celebrating our anniversary. She kindly responded "Not dorks, sweet!" which led to my response of admitting it was only the half way anniversary mark. "Okay, dorks, but still sweet!"

It got me thinking though and the more I thought about it the more I realized that in today's world that extra half really does mean something. To easily people are divorcing left and right and choosing to put themselves first, thinking they "just don't fit" or believing they are not like those couples who have made it 25+ years (shout-out to the in-laws!!!!), they convince themselves they just are not meant to be.

Let me tell you something, marriage is not easy, it is a full time job which takes most of your effort and on some days can drain you to the pit. Michael and I have gone through high waters and back discovering just how trying those moments can be -I know, your thinking it hasn't even been two years, but you would be surprised all we've fought through, hence the name Team Tuohy- and we are no different than any other couple. The piece that is different was in the simple choice we made on that September afternoon that divorce was simply not an option. The moment it becomes an option, you have set yourself up to fail. Think about it, if you knew it was impossible, would you not work a heck of a lot harder to push through it so you were happy and not miserable? I sure would, I sure do.

 Marriage is about selflessness, it is about choosing daily to put someone else before yourself. That can be a hard pill to swallow, especially if you go into marriage not knowing how selfish we all truly are on our own! Which leads me to the ultimate single reason we are here today to celebrate. It is only because of our sweet sweet Savior who is teaching us daily what marriage is suppose to look like, how to be selfless. My favorite verses of scripture regarding this are found in Ephesians 5:22 (NIV) "Wives, submit to your own husbands as you do to the Lord" and on the flip Ephesians 5:25 (NIV) "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." Wow, as a wife that is huge!

As Michael and I study these scriptures among others it is amazing to see God transform our hearts for one another, to know that God created marriage as a physical symbol of Christ loving the Church, that is a lot of love right there to be seen between husband and wife. I know I sure feel loved when its like that. Just like it is amazing how responsive Mike is when I submit to him and let him lead our family. He feels respected and in turn loves me well. There are still trying times and of course we need to daily fix our eyes upon the Lord to stay strong in each part of this, but there are also those tender moments that are such sweet rewards and such eye opening times to how much we are loved by our Savior.

In today's world one year and six months is definitely worth celebrating, as is one day. That is one more day we get to feel the joy of this truly blessed thing God created for us, and one more day we get to glorify Him by being present in it. I once heard that your life may be the only Bible someone ever reads. I pray that when people see our marriages, that is exactly what they are getting a glimpse of, Him and His love.  Happy Anniversary to each one of you out there that have said "I do" and continue to say "I do" each day. May you all go celebrate tonight and praise God for whatever number you are at while loving your spouses well. As for Team Tuohy, Drive In here we come!!!!







 Some goodies from the engagement and wedding!

So today we became Teem Tuohy on Facebook. Yes, I can spell, but they do not allow Team so Teem it is. It has come after a lot of talks and thinking about what it is to actually divorce proof your marriage versus not divorce proofing it. The word first came up when he was talking with his guys and it got me to think harder about what that would look like. So naturally I began thinking of other "proof" words such as water proof, fire proof and child proof and what they meant. Let me explain... hang in there with me it is a bit long winded. So if you have a piece of paper and it is sitting on your desk, you would never intentionally walk over and dump water on the paper, you would usually assume you are responsible and that it is not a likely thing to happen. Now, if you were to water proof that piece of paper you would consider the important piece of paper worth protecting no matter what, yes, it is still unlikely you are going to spill water over the paper. However, you are preparing for the unlikely to still happen; you laminate it, you store it away, you keep all water within a safe distance and you are proactive with it. You assume that one day water is going to be spilled or possibly spilled all over it and you want to be prepared. Same with kiddie locks... you can assume your child cant open the door, crawl to the stairs get into the cabinet and do nothing until it happens and it is too late, damage done. Or you can prepare with child locks, gates and stoppers. Never assuming your child is bad or going to disobey you put preparing for the worst case scenario. You see the point, and this is not to be a panic mode event of always fearing the worst, just being commonly prepared. Michael and I don't have a "facebook" problem, in fact trust in social scenes is an area we strive in, but to assume that no other evil factor will ever enter a "safe" area would be wrong, it would be irresponsible of me. As a wife, I want to know my marriage is not just solid and there, prepared for my ideal plans, but that it is actively being looked over and ultimately divorce-proofed. There is enough we already cannot proof or prepare for, so those areas that we can, why not. Why not choose to specifically protect, laminate and put stoppers in every area of our marriage we can? I know I will be thankful when that water spills and we just wipe it off and move forward, or even not seeing that flood for we avoided it first. So here is to "Teem" Tuohy and the facebook collision!


Update: Facebook would not allow - but good food for thought- look out for a Michael & Erin Tuohy Facebook one day in the near future!

I came across this post on Facebook last night with this Kutless video, it is beautiful and so aligned my heart with Gods. So this morning during my quiet time I listened to it again and it just put my heart at peace once again. Something they say in the interview of the song is it is based off the the fact that "you don't realize Jesus is all you need, until that is all you have." So true. When we went on a mission trip as a family years ago to Juarez, Mexico I remember going down thinking we would help change their world and make it a little brighter and faithful to Jesus, what I was not prepared for was how they would change my world. They have faith like I desire to have, they rely on Jesus for their next meal, next paycheck, next everything. Their entire world can be going wrong and they still have faith and still are faithful servants. Could we say we would be the same, I do hope so. Enjoy this video and get right with your Savior who loves you and longs for you to need him and solely him.

I have this book called when God winks at you by Squire Rushnell that I absolutely am in love with. I got it at the airport years ago when waiting to pick my mom up after her flight had been delayed. It's a cute little book full of stories referred to as "God Winks." Stories of basically coincidences - if you can call them that- that give you the warm fuzzies inside. Well today I had a  God Wink myself, and I thought it was perfect to share as our first post to this lovely new site of ours :)

Last night Michael and I went to a place called Mercy Street in West Dallas. It is a mission right smack dab  in the middle of the projects. We had heard through our church, Watermark, that they had a mentoring program there where you could mentor a child. So being as we both love children we decided to check it out. We headed there having no idea that 15 minutes west of us where one road turns into another that the living conditions changed with that road in such a drastic measure. Already we knew there was a need. Then God jumped in :) - Michael and I walked into the building and  this sweet love of a little boy stood off the couch and melted my heart with his smile and shook both our hands before walking past us to continue on with what he was doing. Let me just tell you, right then and there I was a goner, my heart had been stolen by this child of God's. As Michael and I walked away he could see it written all over my face. I mentioned how much he reminded me of my baby brother who is so dear to my heart and that how could two boys look so much alike to me somehow and have the same loving mannerisms but be living in such drastically different lives. I just couldn't seem to understand- it did not seem fair.

Now, for any of you who know me well know that it is not uncommon for me to get suckered in by a child, homeless man or the elderly but this was something completely different. Never had a child been on my heart like this one. I watched as they finally sent him home late that night, as he seemed to want to stay right there forever, and my heart sank- how badly I wanted to just hug him or tell him how beautiful he was created.... but I did not get the chance. Michael and I left and headed home and before bed we did all we could and we prayed for him. The next day I sent an email to the organizer of this program about some forms we needed to send in and simply just mentioned that the boy that was there when we walked in was so sweet and how excited we were.

Here is where the wink gets cool - he sent an email back to me with a picture of him saying how much he has wanted a mentor and has not been able to find one. REALLY. I was in awe- I was positive he would have been swept up and loved on my somebody already. But no, God with a divine intention had placed this child on our hearts for a reason. We could have walked in a minute later when he was outside playing or I could have simply left that last line from my email - but no it was all orchestrated for more. Don't you just love it when that happens. We sure do.
Until Next time...



UPDATE: We officially have been mentoring Calvin and a little girl names Sydney now since the end of October. We feel so blessed that God finds us worthy of being in these children's lives and love spending some quality time with them! We will keep you posted along the way!

Calvin and Family!

Sydney and Family!