Happy Anniversary + 2 days!

Right this minute, I'm listening to my new MP3 player. Not too exciting you might think, but I'd beg to differ. You see, here's what you don't know about me (or maybe, after I accidentally posted the same video twice, you do?): I am not technologically advanced. Some might even say I'm about 20 years behind the curve.

I love to write things out - I rarely go anywhere without pen, pencil and pad. I don't care if I have a car with automatic windows (although "child locks" on the windows ROCK). We don't have cable (mostly at my insistance; Mike would love to have all of the sports packages).
In fact, a couple of weeks ago, as we were getting geared up to do some yardwork (if you know us, you know that what I mean by "geared up" is really us complaining about having a yard and how dare the grass grow) ... but I digress ... I was going to cut grass and I said to Mike, "Hey, do you have a walkman I can use while I'm cutting grass?". Well, as it turns out, there is a walkman somewhere in our house, but the real question is where. So I gave up and called my sweet neighbor, Amanda, who has two daughters (ages 14 & 12),

"surely", I thought, "one of the girls will have a walkman I can borrow".

Carley, who is 14, answered the phone and the conversation went something like this:
Me: Hey Carley, do you have a walkman I can borrow?
Carley: A what?
Me: A walkman.
Carley: A walkman?
Me: Yes, a walkman.
Carley: What's a walkman?
Me: You know, a little tape-player or CD player that you can walk around with ... like an iPod but for tapes or CDs.
(let me say here that at this point I could hear Amanda laughing hysterically over Carley's end of the conversation).

Carley: Oh. I've read about those. No, I don't have one.

How old did that conversation make me feel? Ancient. Older than dirt. It was akin to me trying to relate to my Dad's stories of growing up (picking tobacco, driving school buses, bikes with no pedals). In other words, totally foreign.

Finally, Amanda took pity on me and took the phone away from Carley.
"Brooke, why don't you just borrow my iPod?". So I did. And it was wonderful.

After cutting grass that afternoon, I said to Mike, "I think I want an iPod shuffle - you know just something I can have some up-beat music on that I can sing along to while I'm cutting grass or laying out" (because there aren't many other instances when it would be o.k. for me to tune out totally to both of our kids and my husband and other duties). Well, we did talk about it a little more, but honestly, Mike is generally the grass-cutter and I'm generally the kitchen-cleaner/task-master, so my desires for my iPod shuffle were forgotten.

Which brings us to Monday ...
Our anniversary. Seven years. Two (amazing, unbelieveable, beautiful, smart) kids, 2 dogs, 1 cat. One '95 Ford Taurus, 1 '93 Jeep Wrangler, 1 '01 Volvo, 1 '06 Durango; 2 lawn mowers; 2 severe cases of poison ivy; camping & beach trips; countless lunches & dinners; car trips & leisurely drives; music (lots & lots & lots of music of all kinds); books (enough to start our own library); student loans (& paying off other debt - together); old friends & new friends ... How do we tally the moments that combined to give us seven years of marriage? Of loving each other more as we know each other more, of knowing the answers before we ask the questions?

If you know Mike, then this makes perfect sense. He's the perfect gift-buyer, searching out the thing that will be impactful & practical. On Monday night he gave me an MP3 player to block out the world and sing-along to "brooke radio".

So far, I've uploaded 35 songs out of my alotted 900. I offered Mike half for when he cuts grass, but he said they're all mine. I've got some Buffet, Sugarland, OCMS, Josh Ridings, Lynard Skynard ... I'm saving room for some Chris Tomlin (& the like), Simon & Garfunkel, Dixie Chicks & others to be named at a later date. 900 songs seems like a lot, but it's really not - I have to be careful with my use of space ... and the songs should mean something (which is sort of another post, later).

855 more songs.
Countless memories to be made.
25 years, here we come ...

Rice Bowls

Let’s first take a trip back in time …

A year ago (May 2008)

I was at the Angie & Ben’s house, enjoying the End-of-Year YoungLife All-Area Worship Time. Really, Mike & I haven’t been hand’s-on with YL since Ella J was born, but we’ve been privileged enough to be included in some of the Sunday evening worship times. This was one of those times … A group of us was hanging out in Angie’s kitchen, either getting ready to fill up our plates with yummies from Salsarita’s or sort of cleaning up/milling around. On one side of the kitchen, I was talking with a couple of friends about how my time with the Barnets had sort of naturally run its course and I was looking for something part-time that would allow me a similar sort of freedom in scheduling.

On the other side of the kitchen, Katie was talking with another group of friends about how she was excited that Rice Bowls had increased enough to allow her to hire someone part-time to act as Campaign Liaison. In that funny way that He has, God allowed someone to overhear snippets of both conversations — enough to know I was looking for part-time work and that Katie was looking to hire someone. The next thing I knew, Katie and I were involved in a conversation about Rice Bowls, specifically how it had changed over the last 18 months, the vision for where God was taking the Rice Bowls ministry, and the needs that Katie and the Board of Directors had prayed about & talked about. A few short days later, Ella J & I were having a lunch interview with Katie … and then, here I was.

Back to the Present …

It hardly seems possible that 13 months have gone by since I joined the “team” here at Rice Bowls … a team that’s comprised of myself, Katie (Director of Program Growth) and Kathy (our accountant), as well as the ladies who take phone orders and those who work in shipping (ensuring that Rice Bowls find their way all across the United States), our Board of Directors, and (most importantly) our partners (churches, schools, businesses, neighborhoods) around the U.S.

Over the last 13 months …

• Rice Bowls has grown from having five (5) Orphanage Partners and about 150 children (from June to December of 2007), to supporting over 30 orphanages and more than 1000 children in 2008-09.
• Two of our Board Members (Dodd & Richard) were able to visit some of our orphanages in India during the Fall of 2008 and from their pictures and videos, a friend of ours (Ben) put together this great video which features music from another friend & Artist Partner, David Walker.
• Right now, there are more than 700 Rice Bowls Campaigns in various stages (waiting to give out their bowls, collecting their bowls, counting change from their bowls, waiting on those last two bowls, or writing us a check!) and more than 50,000 Rice Bowls have been shipped.
• Rice Bowls has been featured in the Greenville (S.C.) magazine, and has had ads in Relevant and Rejoice! We've even had a couple of blurbs in newspapers in Missouri, Georgia & South Carolina.

God has moved in big ways this year for our small nonprofit, opening doors, moving mountains and showing us everyday that His plans are bigger and better than anything we could imagine. I am humbled to be united with this group of people here in Spartanburg, S.C. and across the United States and across the seas India, South Africa and Haiti who want to see God’s plans come to fruition.

I'm baaaaaack!

Well, it's been awhile since I've blogged about ... well, anything ... so it's time to get back in the swing of things again. This Spring has been a super-busy time for us. DJ is playing baseball (playoffs are this weekend & I'm not sure if we should be praying for a win or a loss!), Ella J is walking & talking up a storm - it seems just in the last couple of weeks that she's repeating every, single word that we say (although "dog" is her favorite, followed by "where Mike?"). Aside from baseball, which DJ alternately hates and loves, we've been to Clemson, SC to see a baseball game (which was rained out) and to visit with friends (Casey & Martha Ann ... all I can say about that is Thor Hyerdahl). We've been to Pigeon Forge, TN to camp with Michelle & Jason & Jamison & Macy & Julie & Brent & Jacob & Nate & Ann Marie & Todd & Ashlyn & Jake & it was so much fun, even if we didn't get to do s'mores because it rained cats & dogs - at least the kids got to enjoy the pool. We just got back from St. Augustine, Fl where my cousin got married, which was beautiful - even the part where walking to the car from the Casa Monica (about 3 blocks) meant walking in several inches of water. And we're reading Genesis to Dylan, which means talking about why there are no pictures of dinosaurs in his kids NIV Bible (and that's what God meant by "faith like a child" - I'm convinced!!).

So, I'm posting a few pics and hopefully, I'll be back soon with something important to say ... ha.

Hope you all are enjoying the last days of school and getting ready to enjoy some time at home or away from home (vacations ROCK!) with those you love ... keep me posted.