OBAMA!

Celebrating the New Year

Here's a picture from the New Years Celebration at our house. We had guests from Congo, Togo, and Rwanda. It was a fun night (even though we did the early New York countdown.) Everyone likes to get their picture taken with Obama. : )

Happy New Year!

Peace Not War

Check out this beautiful peace anthem by my friend Kevin Prchal. The picture in the background was taken at a school we visited on our trip to Uganda this summer.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.channel&ChannelID=162653497

Today

It's quiet in the office today. I'm thankful for a handful of quiet days in December to collect my thoughts. To slow down. To breathe in Advent. It's been a long, full year. I'm grateful to all the people who have helped us get through it. Who have helped us fill it with promise. I have a lot on my mind, but today feels calm and peaceful. Today I will try to hang on to peace.

Rough Times for Refugees & Immigrants

Last month four refugee families applied to our foundation for help paying their rent so they wouldn't get evicted. Another refugee man we know lost his job and thus lost health care for his family, inlcuding his seven year old daughter and his wife who is 8 months pregnant. We used our assistance fund to make a Cobra payment of $964 which bought them another month of coverage. That extra month has now run out. A family living at Bryan House came to us asking for extra help because their kids were growing out of their clothes and had nothing warm for winter and they didn't have the money to buy them anything. Tonight I will take them shopping. Last night I got word from a friend that a little girl we met through Community 4:12 is moving to Mexico this weekend because her father got deported. The little girl was born in the US and has never lived in Mexico before. I don't know what we could do to help her. And today I received an email from a refugee friend in Kampala, Uganda asking us for help for his family as they cannot find work and they have been waiting for several years to be reunited with their family here in the US. Sometimes when you make friends with refugees and immigrants, sharing the burden of their problems can be overwhelming. But even as we wrestle with feelings of helplessness and frustration, I wouldn't trade my friendships with these families for anything. They teach me about perserverance and faith and joy beyond circumstances. I need them as much as they need me.

O Christmas Tree

Last night Rick and I decorated our Christmas tree. I know, I know. Pre-Thanksgiving is kind of early for decorating the tree, but I just couldn't wait any longer. For some reason I have an extra helping of Christmas longing this year. Anyway, the tree looks great in our front sun room and at night you can see it from a long way down the street. I love looking at the lights and it makes the darkness that comes so early now not seem so gloomy. Plus the house will look nice for my parents when they come for Thanksgiving. This year we will celebrate with our Iraqi friends: Yayha, Samira & Mirhan, and also our Mauritanian friend, Sada. My parents might also be able to bring my nephew, Royce, which would be really fun. I miss that little guy and I love listening to all his antics in the background when I talk to my parents or my brother on the phone. After this year, I don't want to go through another Christmas without a little family of my own. Hopefully I won't have to, but if I do I'm going to have to borrow some other people's children. Today Rick gets his 3L picture taken at law school. All that's left now is this round of finals, one more semester and then the bar exam. Then we'll get our lives back. Next year during the holidays there will be no studying or papers or tests. That is something to look forward to.