Compassion Children

The last weekend of August, I had the opportunity to volunteer with Compassion International at a Beth Moore conference in Charleston.  

I was soooo excited to go and get to serve in this way.  We have come to love Compassion and our sponsored girl, Gift, over the past 2+ years since we started sponsoring her.  

During a worship song that I snuck into the auditorium for.

There was something special about being at a conference with 9,000 (mostly) women worshiping God and learning more about Him.  It was also very special that the conference planners know that giving is a huge part of worship.  They had opportunities for people to give to other great organizations like Samaritan's Purse as well.  The worship leader shared about his heart for Compassion, how he has gotten to meet one of his sponsored children and how sponsoring a child helps him teach his children about perspective.  They also showed a video of lives who had been changed as a result of the ministry of Compassion. 

After that section of the conference, we were very busy at the Compassion booth.  We got to help ladies find children with the same birthdays as their child, or children who were in a certain part of the world, or who had certain physical traits.  It was very special.  After my second shift, I learned that there were about 400 children who got sponsored that weekend... wow!  What a blessing!  

a small portion of the available children

But my mind was truly blown by just how many children still need sponsors.  Sponsors in places like America, where people pay $60 to go to a conference for 10 hours.  Sponsors who probably get to go on trips and eat out at restaurants while there are children in other places of the world without the basics.  We're talking basics, like regular food and clean water.

Click on this picture to be taken to the Sponsorship Page.

 

I'm not judging.  I'm just challenged.  I'm asking:  How do we balance the blessings we've been given with the needs of many in this world?  Would love to know your thoughts on this.  I am well aware that there's no one-size-fits-all answer.  What does Scripture say, and how does that fit into our modern-day culture?

I've been in a VERY similar hut.  This was not just for show.  It's reality for a LOT of people. 

Seriously... I'm asking. :)

Everyday Life

Awhile back, I asked if anyone has questions for us in this unique season.  My friend Kristen responded that she wanted to know more about our everyday lives.  Since one of the main purposes of this blog is to journal and preserve memories... I thought it was a great idea.  So, here goes. 

Mom keeps us well-stocked with yummy creamers. Great way to start the day.

Mondays... If Matt opens, he gets up around 6:15 and gets to work by 6:45.  If he closes, he sleeps in and goes into work at 11:00.  Sometimes, he goes in for another shift in between.  He usually takes Nala (and now Zoe) out before he goes to work.   I usually get up around 7:30 (or sometimes 8:00 or 8:15) and get to work by 8:30 or 8:45.  Matt doesn't eat breakfast.  I eat breakfast on the way to work and drink my one cup of coffee (thanks to my Keurig!) throughout the morning.  At work, Matt checks animals in and out of the vet, calls owners of pets to schedule appointments or remind them of their appointments, weighs pets, gets them their medicines, and does LOTS of other things to stay busy.  He comes home for lunch, which varies depending on when he goes into work.  He takes Nala and Zoe out during lunch and chills for a few minutes then goes back to lunch.  

Matt with the girls.

I usually eat lunch at work (used to eat what the chef for the childcare center made, but now I take my own since I'm doing Weight Watchers).  Mondays I usually work on updating the church's website and processing sermon videos to post online.  Depending on what's going on at the church, I often have lots of other projects going on.  

Once we both get home from work, we figure out something to do for dinner. If one of us planned ahead, we took out some meat to make.  If we didn't think it through ahead of time, we will make something from the freezer.  :)  Monday evenings, we usually watch tv shows from the night before online.  Usually, it's Amazing Race and/or Celebrity Apprentice, but they're both on a break right now.  One Monday a month, I do a Book Club with our neighbors through Cares.  

Tuesdays... (Normal daytime).  After work, we usually have a family dinner at Dad & Gail's.  They usually keep out niece, Hailey on Tuesdays, so the whole family converges on their place for dinner.  It's one of the many perks of living in the same town as family.  After family dinner, we come home and tend to the pups then spend time doing things around the house.  And sometimes, we will watch a show together. Bachelorette online currently.  (Of course, this depends on whether or not we can pickup free internet or not.) 

Wednesdays... (Normal daytime).  Since a couple of weeks ago, I stay at work late on Wednesdays and meet Steven at a Weight Watchers meeting.  After weight watchers, we have dinner with Matt. 

Thursdays... I love Thursdays.  For the last couple months, I've been meeting with some ladies and studying Beth Moore's James.  I rush home to straighten up my apartment.  Ladies start coming over around 6:30.  We usually start with snacks and catching up.  Then we discuss the homework and watch a video.  I haven't been great at keeping up with the homework, but when I do it, it's always on time.  And even just the teaching videos that we watch on Thursdays are full of wisdom and encouragement and challenge.  Plus, it's great to spend time with these new friends and learn about how God is at work in their lives and pray with one another.  A lot of times I crash after Bible Study.  While I'm doing this, Matt is usually working on school stuff or Cares stuff. 

Fridays... I have a love/hate relationship with Fridays.  When I get into work, my coworkers and I have a devotion from Experiencing God.  Then we have breakfast together, and my day gets crazy after that.  Preparing worship media, sermon PowerPoint, sermon notes, printing the weekly newsletter, updating the website, and LOTS of other stuff.  Thankfully, my coworkers help with this a lot.  But still, lots of Fridays, I work late.  By the time I get home, I'm exhausted and like to do nothing. :)  

Worship media.

Saturdays... Saturdays are usually filled with Cares events-, planning, shopping, or actually doing them.  And sometimes we do things with friends.  Sometimes we go on walks, but we call it "looking for alligators".  Which we see often.  There are several who live in the big neighborhood we live in.  I love alligators... from a distance.  Housework. Laundry... more laundry.  

An alligator Matt saw recently.  But not in our neighborhood.

Sundays... Church. Lunch at Grandma's with the family.  Hang out over there for awhile.  Home for housework.  We used to have Community Group on Sundays, but we're taking a break from that for awhile.  Gives us more time to do a better job at Cares.  We look forward to joining back with Community Group eventually.  Also on Sunday nights, we have Family Movie Night.  This is at Mark & Steph's house with them & Hailey, us, and Steven.  We watch Cupcake Wars until Hailey goes to bed, then we pick a movie to watch.  It's usually pretty late by the time we're done with that, so then we just head home and get ready to start the week.  

Movie Night.

Of course,  every week is different.  We try to find time to spend together.  We spend time loving on our dogs.  We go on walks. We go to the dog park.  We cook and bake.  We hang out with friends.  We watch movies and play games.  We have friends over for dinner & games.  

Most weeks depend on Matt's schedule.  He works 4 days each week and spends the other days doing housework, working on Cares stuff and working on school.  

Each day is also affected by our ongoing wait for our baby.  Each day, we pray and hope and wonder.  Will this be the day our lives will change forever?  

In the meantime, we wait.  And go on with everyday. :) 

Questions?

So... what questions do you have for where we are these days? 

Most of my intention for this blog is to keep in touch with family & friends, but it's also going to serve as a memory-keeper for me.  It's a good place for me to record things in our lives. 

Keeping the two things in mind, what would be good ideas to blog about?  

Thanks for your feedback!

Our Profile Book

We made our profile book almost a year ago.  Some things have definitely changed, but we can't decide whether we want to spend the $ to update it or not.  

This will be given to expectant moms (and possibly dads or other family members) who are wanting to choose the family to place their child with.   We have 4 copies.  One for each office in SC and one to be mailed across the country to families who may find us online.

Here's the preview of our book.  What do you think?  

Meet Matthew and Tricia by Matthew and Tricia | Make Your Own Book

Currently...

I’ve seen this posted a bunch over the last couple of months.  Trying to kill some time before the championship game, so here goes... (I took mine from Kristin.)

Right now I am…

watching:  Nothing but will soon be watching the aforementioned game.

eating:  Just finished a plate of nachos.  My go-to home-alone meal.

drinking:  Crystal Light Lemonade.

wearing: new pjs my mom got me for my birthday (thanks, mom!).

avoiding:  trying to figure out how to fix our vacuum/Cares expenses/bills.

feeling:  overwhelmed yet thankful.

missing:  good friends.

thankful:  for God orchestrating my job to become full-time with benefits.

weather:  up and down but nice today. had the sunroof open in the car and windows open in the apartment.

praying:  about how God is going to grow our family, about loving our neighbors

needing:  A maid and time in the Word. (I'll copy Kristin on this one!)

thinking:  about Valerie & Zebediah's upcoming wedding.  lots of details to still work out.

loving:  My new Kindle, Matt's new car, Nala, and being a Cares team (most days). 

You?  What are you up to?

What do you think?

This is Discipling from The Foursquare Church on Vimeo.

Blog Headers

I can't seem to find a blog header that I love. Or maybe I just like changing it around. I changed it again yesterday, then took some time to look back on all the different headers. Interesting:

First one I created. Before this, we just had the one in the regular design.

Second one during the last couple of months in Thailand.

Summer & Fall of 2009

Rest of 2009- Most of 2010.

Late part of 2010 and early 2011.

Just a couple of months during 2011.
The tagline seems cheesy.

This one is almost too simple. But I can't settle on a 'tagline' that I love. I'm weird.

Well, at least I thought it was interesting. Give me some feedback. What do you think makes a good header?

Christmas Photo Shoot

Valerie has a good friend who has started doing photography. If you've seen any of Valerie's fun 'Diva' pictures, they're done by Melissa Breeland. I love her stuff because it's so different.
Well, she is getting started in her business so did a special of holiday photo shoots for $35. Matt and I got to do it on Wednesday night. It was fun but a little bit awkward as photo shoots normally are. We had some cute outfits for Nala, but she didn't cooperate very well. She was a little distracted by the new environment and the dog that she could hear on the other side of the studio door. :) Anyway, wanted to share this video that Melissa made of the best pictures. I think it's cute though there are a couple of pics I would have left out. What do you think?

Matt and Tricia 2010

And I'll put some of the fun pictures up. Which one do you think should be the Christmas card picture? If you are local, you should definitely check Melissa out! She's super fun and easy to work with... and makes it as comfortable as possible.

Celebrating Christmas

Got this on Kristin's blog, and I thought it would be fun! Needed to do something besides RandomPhoto. :)

How I celebrate Christmas (if you care):

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Egg Nog is good in small doses. Already had some on Friday night when decorating the Petersons' tree. Hot chocolate is better, if done right.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Mostly sitting out, unwrapped. But sometimes some of them are wrapped. Santa is also GREAT with stockings (at all homes).

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? I like white better, but colored lights are fun too. I think we had colored mostly growing up. Matt likes colored.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope.

5. When do you put your decorations up? After Thanksgiving. Usually sometime around now. Haven't gotten the house straight enough for it yet though.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? My Mom's baked goodies we deliver to friends & family.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Well, my favorite 'holiday' memories involve Thanksgiving because we always did it with my Dad's family and then also did Christmas with them on Thanksgiving night. We usually got money or new jewelry or purses that we would use going shopping the next day as a huge family clan. I will think on this one more though...

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I honestly don't remember. I think I was in 5th grade, but I didn't tell anyone for awhile because I wanted to keep it real for my sisters.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? YES! Growing up, we always used to open ONE on Christmas Eve, then it went to 3, then finally ALL of them. Matt and I do Christmas Eve with my side, so we always do all of our Tyndall gifts on Christmas Eve.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Only had one since being married so far, but we did it with lots of our family coming over to help decorate, and I thought that was lots of fun. :)

11. Snow! Love it or dread it? I like looking at it, but I don't like being out in it. Well, maybe for a few hours, then I'm over it.

12. Can you ice skate? Haven't in a really long time. Last time I did it in Thailand, but I didn't enjoy it. I enjoyed watching my students much more.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? One of my top favorite gifts was a video camera that my Dad got me. The same year, he got my sisters a keyboard and karaoke machine, so we have hours & hours of me video taping us all doing karaoke. Fun memories to look back on!

14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Special time with family. Reconnecting with friends. Lots of songs everywhere about Jesus. Reflecting on God sending His Son to us.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? see #6

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? My Mom's Soup & Salad party. (Which we need to plan!)

17. What tops your tree? A star.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Both.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night (Point of Grace version is a favorite)

20. Candy canes: Yuck or Yum? Yum. But I can usually only take one per season. (Completely agree with Kristin!)

21 Favorite Christmas show? Elf.

22. Saddest Christmas song? ???

23. Christmas cards: love or hate? LOVE!!!!!! And I love refreshing the pictures on my refrigerator. PLEASE send me your Christmas cards. And give me your address so we can send ours too.

'Gift' of Compassion

We recently started sponsoring a little girl in Thailand through Compassion. Her nickname is Gift. We got a letter from her recently and are so excited for how we can be part of her life. A small sacrifice of $38/month is totally worth being part of how God is working in this little girl's life. Do any of you blogging friends sponsor a child through a similar organization? How do you keep in touch? What works well?

5am: Thoughts on Blogging

So... I've just spent 3.5 hours catching up on blogs. I love blogs. I follow lots of blogs. Some people's who I don't know who are maybe friends or relatives of friends. I follow more 'public' blogs designed for lots of readers and not much interaction. I follow blogs of friends I still consider friends though I may not have talked with them for years. It's nice to feel somewhat connected. Tonight, no joke: I laughed out loud, cried, had heartache, was perplexed, challenged, amused, intimidated, encouraged, and entertained. Among other things.

Also, everytime I spend an extended amount of time reading blogs, I go back and forth between wanting to blog more and giving up blogging altogether.

Anyone else know what I mean?

Nighttime Activities

I'm getting bored with my nighttime activities. From anytime after 11:30 pm when I get home from work until 4 am which is the latest I like to stay up, this is how I normally fill my time:

Facebook Stalking (and Farmville playing)


Blog Reading (and sometimes writing)


Acquarium observing


Nala snuggling (okay, this one I'm not really tired of)


and TV watching


I think I should start reading. Or something else. Any suggestions?

Grad School?

My Facebook status currently says: Matt and I may or may not have applied for grad school last night. Got some interesting responses already:Well, we did. Not sure if we're ready to spill all the beans because let's be honest: Matt and I can be pretty fickle people, and we tend to jump into things pretty quickly.

Where did this come from?
1) Matt loved teaching in Thailand and really thinks it might be what he would like to do as a career, as scary as it sounds to commit to a whole career.
2) If he does decide to teach, he needs to get certified.
3) He would want to teach overseas again.
4) If he is a teacher overseas, I would like to go with him.
5) It's easier for him to get a teaching job overseas at a school which will hire me too if I also have a teaching degree.
6) Though teaching in Thailand definitely had it's wonderful moments, it mostly drained me and I thought I didn't want to be a teacher anymore, even that's what I thought I would want to be from middle school forward (besides a wife+mom!)... BUT we think if I have training and more prep time, I will probably feel more competent and enjoy it more.
7) We have to do something we love and that makes a difference for eternity.
8) Recently, I got a letter from one of my fourth graders that made me cry and I had one of those "ah-ha moments" when I realized that though it wasn't always easy, it was a place I saw God working.
9) Aimee was a teacher, and in her shortened life, there were sooooo many lives God used her in as their teacher, who have come to know Him as a result. Pretty inspiring!
10) The application was free, and we'll only be charged if we actually enroll. ;)

What may be the result?
-Masters of Teaching, with concentrations either in Elementary Ed, English Ed, or Special Ed.
-Majority of coursework done online but 3 classes on campus.
-Nationally (and Internationally) recognized teaching certification for the both of us!

Now what?
1) Finish the applications. (Transcripts to be exact)
2) Get financial aid, LOTS of it.
3) Get started. It's only 12 classes, but they all have to be completed within 5 years.

What do you think? Really.

And, it probably goes without saying, but we'd really love your prayers for this next (possible) step and for financial aid to work out because we are not sure if we will follow through if we have to take out student loans.

Baby Fever!

I think it's official that I have caught 'baby fever'. For a couple of months now, the sight of friends' babies' pictures or notes about them or mostly anything related to babies either results in joy, or an ache in my chest, or tears of some other kind. It's not a sad kind of baby fever, but an expectant one. When will it be our turn?

Today, my mom texted me about whether I knew anyone who wanted a hand-me-down highchair and booster seat, and I wanted to be like, 'well, I'll need it eventually'. But I didn't want to be selfish about something that may be several years away or may never happen. Instead, we claimed it for our closest, first-baby-producing friends, the Severes. :)

We are definitely in the stage of life where there are more babies than brides and expectancies than engagements. Lots of friends ask us regularly when it will be our turn. We're definitely not opposed to the idea, but I, personally, find myself very concerned about what other people will think. Especially because we do not 'have it all together' in several areas of life right now.

Don't want to get too personal, but I would like some of your thoughts on some of these thoughts.

1) 'If you wait until you have enough money, you will never have kids.' The ol' cliche.

2) What is really considered 'trying'? Just no contraceptive, being super intentional with timing?

3) Jobs/childcare: how much do you consider these things before 'trying' (whatever that means)

4) Mom's pre-conception health. Obviously, I'm overweight, and this concerns me. I have gotten clearance from my doc, but I still have concerns. I find myself comparing myself a lot to pregnant women that I see. (Did you know there's a tv show called 'overweight & pregnant'? --I haven't brought myself to watch it yet, but my sister says every woman on there is different.)

5) Finding out the gender. Matt and I disagree on this issue in a HUGE way. (I think this is something we could decide on later, but what do you think?)Look forward to hearing your thoughts! Feel free to respond on here or by email. And please feel free to be honest as well. That's the point of this whole thing. :)

It's a Good Thing Nala Knows Jesus...

... otherwise we would have to subscribe to the service in Zack's blog.

Seriously, this is either very, very funny OR very, very, very, very sad.
Which do you think?

Yard Sales: Love 'Em or Hate 'Em?

Last weekend, most of the Tyndall girls plus some friends did a multi-family yard sale at Mom's house. We missed the deadline for advertising in the paper, but we posted it on Craigslist and put up some major signage. We had a great amount of people come through, and the yard sale brought in a total of $750. Totally worth it.

But I did find myself wondering if it was worth it during the preparation time. You know, hours of sorting through things and figuring out whtat would sell. Hours and hours of labeling and pricing the individual items. Since it was multi-family, we had everything color-coded and priced so that we could keep track of everyone's individual profits.

And while we were at it, we went ahead and sorted all the clothes by sizes, then had the rest of the yard divided up into departments: linens, household, sporting goods, photo albums, wall decor, knick-knacks, furniture, etc.

It did my heart very good to hear so many remarks on how organized our yard sale was. We even had one person say that it was the most organized yard sale they'd ever been to. They might as well have given me a giant hug!

So, the hours and hours of prep, the very late night and very early morning, and the sorting and packing up afterwards: is it all worth it?

For me--yes! It is very good for my soul to get rid of stuff. Though I don't do it often enough, it's a very cleansing process. It might be awhile, but I'm already looking forward to the next one.

What do you think? Yard sales: love 'e or hate 'em?

That means comment, people! :)

Need some suggestions...

So, here at my new job (which I still love!), there are internet blocks in place that prevent me from checking email, getting on facebook, and other fun activities. Sad but understandable.

Since we are mostly in a classroom environment right now, I find myself in need of some online reading material. I CAN access my blog and other blogs on blogger and wordpress. And I've spent a lot of time on blogs of friends...and their friends. I even have some other friends from work sharing in my fun.

Here's my request: Blog often! AND leave commets when you do read posts...AND (most important right now), please leave me a comment with suggestions of other sites/blogs that I can visit. (thought I may not be able to get to it, I will try!)

Thanks!!!

P.S. I have some posts written but I'm waiting to be able to go somewhere with internet so that I can add pictures. There are a couple of fun recent updates to come!

"I hate Mrs. Tricia"

It happened today. I was starting to think it would never happen. I thought that IF it ever did happen, it would be from Seven... with whom I have a strong love/hate relationship.

But it was from one of my favorites. Gasp!

We were grading workbooks in English class today, and we went through everything with no mishaps, which is slightly unusual. As the kids were passing back the workbooks to the correct people, Manna walked up to me. She said, "Look what is in Karoon's workbook."

I glance down and see: "I hate Mrs. Tricia. She is so mean and ugly and fat." Whoa, buddy! "Karoon, can I speak to you outside please?" I take the workbook.

I found the page, which was not a page they have done any work on. I showed it to him and said, "did you write this?" He hesitated. I didn't want to believe it, so I was hoping that he was trying to decide whether or not to tell on one of his more rowdy friends.

"Yes." He looked down. (My chest tightens as I thought about what this meant... do they all hate me?) "Why did you write this, honey? What did I do to make you hate me?"

"You made me run laps in P.E. when I didn't even do anything wrong." What?!? You hate me because I made you run 2 laps in P.E. one day? "Well, Karoon, there was a reason that I made you run laps, but even if there wasn't, would that be enough reason for you to hate me? Hate is a very strong word."

He hesitated again. "Karoon, this makes me very sad. I'm so sorry that I did something to make you so upset, but do you really mean that you hate me?" "No, Mrs. Tricia." "Well, because I can agree that sometimes I am mean, and I will even allow you to say that I am fat and ugly... but I cannot accept you saying that you hate anyone." He is getting really fidgety now, and I was wondering if I should explain to him that Jesus tells us if we hate someone, it is like we are killing them. I didn't explain it.

I explained that I love him and the rest of the class, and it makes me very sad that I did something to make him hate me. I explain that he had to run laps because he was not listening to directions in P.E. class. Did he remember that now? Yes, he did. Then, I said that I was so sorry for causing him to be so mad at me. Then, he started crying and said sorry. I said I was sorry too, but I told him it was very disrespectful for him to write that in his book. He apologized again, and I forgave him and hugged him.

We walked back into class and continued on as normal. After school, there was a note on my desk that said:
I am sorry I made you sad.
I am a bad student.
Your student, Karoon

Noooooo! I don't want him to label himself as a bad student. It's like he missed the whole point. I wanted him to feel responsible but genuinely sorry. I didn't mean to heap guilt onto him.


Any suggestions from parents and teachers? Obviously, I have a lot to learn.