Life in the Bing

Most days I forget I live in the "hood"...I don't even think that is the best name for it anymore. But every once in a while I am reminded that my neighborhood is far from ordinary...

..Our neighbors down the street have a love for animals, all animals- dogs, roosters, emus, you name it, they could possibly have it. So it came as no surprise to me when I heard that TWELVE police cars were stopped on our street to... ... ...watch the emu that escaped from their backyard. You would think they were busting a drug deal or something, but no, they were just checking out a giant bird. The guy next door had his car hit in the meantime and could they help? no, they were not in their precinct so the local police had to be called to come to the scene.

..At the end of a three mile run when I get pretty close to being back home, I take in a big breath on a beautiful day to smell...weed. Lots of it.

..After leaving Henry in our fenced in backyard for an hour or so, I go to let him in and find that he is just chilling with his homie. Apparently we have a hole just big enough for this stray that is a pit/boxer mix to come in and keep Henry company. So all that time that I thought poor Henry was by himself, he was hangin' with his homeless friend. Sadly, Randy filled in the hole because we didn't want it to get bigger and then run the risk of Henry getting out.

..My alarm on my phone happens to be a rooster crowing, but ironically, I also hear a rooster crowing around 5:30 just outside my home. We are far, far from the country, but yet we have a rooster on our street.

..Only in a home full of African refugees would you be served dinner on a crystal plate at 9 o'clock at night (clearly I had already eaten a full meal at home), with water in a crystal goblet, by a high schooler. In the house are 10 children who are home alone because their parents work during the evenings. Following the dinner, the younger ones fight for our attention and impress us with push-ups and dance moves.

..Talking to a Somali woman I have befriended, I find that although she has four boys all under the age of 5 and has escaped from Somalia to Kenya to the U.S., we are the same age.

..The best part of our neighborhood is that children are actually seen playing in the streets! Drive through the suburbs and you will see that this is a lost art, but in the Bing, you have your choice of street ball, soccer in the park, skateboarding on the sidewalk, or just playing on the tire swing. That is the beauty of a population without the likes of video games, internet, cell phones, and all other distractions that desensitize children from the real world.

Life is good!

Twenty-six

Twenty-six. That sounds so old! It doesn't help that two days after my birthday we went to a bible study that designated age groups...Randy was in the 18-25 and I was in the 26-35! How unfair is that?!

Anyways, my birthday was a wonderful day, although our snow day came the day prior to my actual birthday. All in all, I got two half days and one full day off on my birthday week, not too bad! Randy did a wonderful job surprising me with an early birthday present. You see, Henry (which, by the way means "home ruler"...no joke, look it up) chewed my other ones which I loved dearly. Because we are pretty cheap these days, I knew I shouldn't order a new pair just because mine were chewed because, in all honesty, they could still serve the purpose of boots, just not look cute. Anyways, I came home one day to new boots as a vase for my favorite flowers, tulips! And a little note of course. Is that sweet or what?


My actual birthday was spent at Ban Thai with delicious food and dear friends. Afterwards we watched a movie and ate homemade chocolate with chocolate cake...it doesn't get much better than that!

Henry was quite loving towards me on my birthday too, giving me birthday kisses and all:



Isn't he getting BIG? Thanks to all of you (family and friends) who either sent me a card, email, or text on my birthday...it all was very much appreciated, and made me feel quite loved :) My co-workers at school (both schools actually) gave me a mini little birthday too, so I really was spoiled. My biggest splurge with birthday money? A front porch swing, which is not bought or up yet, but I will include pictures when it is. So another birthday has come and gone, geez...I sure am one lucky gal! Here's to twenty-six and whatever God has in store for me!

Girls Club Retreat

A week ago, me, four other Binghampton ladies and seven Burundi girls, ages 12-20 (I think?!) loaded up and went on a "Girls Club Retreat" to.....

NASHVILLE!!

That's right, I was a tourist in my own hometown, and my parents were gracious enough to let us all stay at their house for the entire weekend. It was such an amazing time. Not only did we get to let the girls experience new things, but we also got to know them on a more personal basis, and reached a new level of sharing our thoughts about Christ. Our theme for the weekend was "Identity", which every teenage girl needs to look at, but it was as beneficial for me as for them in terms of studying God's word and understanding more about my value as HIS daughter.

So here are the pictures (believe me, I took much more) from the jam-packed 48 hour trip.

First activity: Dance Dance Revolution....by the way, Kelsa, I nailed Speed over Beethoven still after three years of no DDRing. :)

This continued all night of course.

Then to bed...all seven girls slept on sleeping bags in the big family room, and it reminded me of my sleepovers I had back in school.


Ester.
Necode.
Sikora.

Next on the itinerary was a pancake breakfast by none other than my dad! Only one of the girls could eat two of them, and I think she was force fed by the end.
Luckily it was a beautiful day, so when it came time to watch my dad do the potters wheel demonstration, we sat on the back porch. The girls were so funny, they asked two questions:

1. How do you get a house like this? (Made my parents appreciate what they have, my dad actually taught them a little about the finances of such a purchase)

2. Where IS everybody? (In urban neighborhoods like ours, people are always out, not in the suburbs)

Ester, Justine, Katie, Deniza, Necode, and Sikora.
Ellisa, Alisson (barely), Zena, Stacy, and Jan.

If you have never watched someone form a pot on the wheel, it is very fascinating. If you have never watched someone while ALSO thinking about how God is the potter and we are the clay, then you are missing out. What a powerful metaphor/image in understanding how we can be used by God.
Starting out, we are a lump of clay. The potter already knows what he will make from this.
The clay must be centered before it is formed, otherwise it will fall apart. Sound familiar?
Next you have to open it up, the potter has to get inside the lump of clay to do this.

girls: "How you do it?" dad: "It's maagic!"

The potter then starts forming what he had in mind for the clay to become. Finally the clay is no longer just clay but a vessel to be used another way. How can you be used?

See that one random man in the crowd? That is my dad's friend from high school who happened to "drop-in" to say hi and surprised my dad by speaking up in a sea of girls.

After some quiet time, it was off to Opryland Hotel.




The girls were blown away by all of the water features and landscaping.

They thought these horses were pretty cute, so we took a break for a photo session.




Then they found this guy:

On to something else, we went to Centennial Park to see the Parthenon, and it seemed as though everyone else in Nashville was there that day.




Next was one of the best stops we made. We took them to Lovers Circle, yes, the same lovers circle where people take dates. We wanted them to see all of Nashville.

And we proceeded to ruin many a couple's romantic evening by being ridiculously silly....sorry about that.



Last of our stops on Saturday was Old Spaghetti Factory downtown...the girls were quite reserved at first, but we eventually got them feeling comfortable and had a great dinner.

Group shot at dinner.

Later that night we watched a movie and had a discussion which was really good, so good that it lasted much later than I have stayed up in a very long time. The next morning we had breakfast and then a wonderful (another beautiful day) house church morning with singing, discussion, and prayer.

Then it was so long Nashville, hello Memphis. Thanks again, Mom and Dad, for having us!