Fall 2008

Yes, the picture scanned a little bit crooked, but I have to say that I love this one of Brendon. This is his fall baseball picture, and I think it is one of the best ones yet.

Our family has really started trying to dive more into community. Our church's motto is "A Church for the City", and we have decided that we really want to live that out. I think the whole family has started to realize that we get more out of serving than the people we help. We can turn someones life around just by doing small things to help.

I have begun training to be a counselor at the Crisis Pregnancy Center. I am really learning alot about how to deal with this, and hopefully I will be able to give good insight considering I was a teen when I became pregnant. I am really looking forward to being able to volunteer my time to these women that are going through the crisis of an unwanted pregnancy.

Eric has begun working with Habitat for Humanity to help to home repair on houses in Charlotte that are in desperate need. Many of these people are elderly and have no one to work on their homes. It is a taxing job, and he did it 3 days last weeks. I think it absolutely beat him down physically, mentally, and emotionally. I have the utmost respect for the people that work for habitat as their full-time job.

My small group has continued to work at The Charlotte Rescue Mission once every other month. I wish we could do it every week, but since we have to provide our own food, our group cannot afford to do it that often. Brendon really enjoys the Rescue Mission, and we think it is good to expose him to those less fortunate in order for him to see how much God has blessed our family.

I have to pay homage to Mark and Heather Roberts. Over the past year, our families have become extremely close. Mark and Heather are one of the most giving couples that I have ever known in my life. Despite major ups and downs this year in their family, they continued to have a positive outlook. I really admire their passion to serve the community. I have to admit they are both partially responsible for Eric and I wanted to get more involved. They both just always seem so honored to help others. We are so lucky to have them in our lives.

I feel like we are embarking on a brand new journey. I am excited and scared all at the same time. I feel like we are really going to learn alot about others, and even more about ourselves. I am really excited about all of these projects and look forward to the growth that will come from them.