feeding children everywhere

yesterday, i had the opportunity to volunteer to fill food bags for children in ghana, africa. one of my coworkers asked if i would be interested in going and it took all of 0.2 seconds after reading the email to join in with a resounding YES!

i had never heard of feeding children everywhere before yesterday, but i must say they have their system down to an art. and when we were there during our lunch break to fill bags, they were already at 60,000 bags for the day (and counting!). i took a few pics while we were filling (quite the challenge since i was responsible for pouring the veggies in and handing bags to the people weighing them...and couldn't miss my turn or i'd throw the system off).

anyway, moral of the story is that i love what this organization is doing and i hope you'll make time to volunteer and serve somewhere this week. there are so many needs around us waiting to be met if we'd only open our eyes (but that's another topic for another day). i always walk away encouraged with a renewed perspective, and i trust that my efforts will be a blessing to those receiving the final product.

step 1: secure bag under funnel (thanks for the demo, Libby!)

step 2: salt (and some other stuff that i never figured out)

step 3: veggies (my station)

step 4: lentils

 step 5: rice

bags ready to be weighed 

 

bags are sealed and ready to send!!

amy, lisa, libby, and me. aren't the hairnets classy?

bekah

live unashamedly :: laugh uncontrollably :: love unconditionally.

maybe random isn't so random

have you ever had one of those moments in life where you just sit back and shake your head in disbelief? not the kind of head shaking that comes from witnessing someone act a fool, but the kind that comes when you KNOW the Lord was gettin’ busy? i’ve had several of those moments in my 25 years of life, but more in the past few years than i can count.

my most recent one came last thursday via facebook. yes, God cares about social media. i'm 100% convinced. a friend of mine that i hadn’t talked to in 5 years posted on my wall. we met the summer of 2006 when we both worked at kanakuk (k2) and kept up briefly afterwards, but since we lived nowhere near each other and she didn't work at kamp again, we fell off the face of each other's earths so to speak. [disclaimer: i didn't purge her during my many facebook "friend" purges because i really liked her and figured it was okay for her to know my business 5 years later].

well, turns out she’s been living in lakeland, fl [read: 30 minutes away from tampa] for the last 2.5 years. i had no idea she was there because, like i said, we haven’t talked in 5 years and i hadn't thoroughly stalked her in a while.  the last i knew, she was still in indiana which is nowhere near florida. obvi. that being said, once we knew we were 30 minutes apart, we didn’t waste any time and met up for dinner saturday night since she was free and i was headed back from orlando and lakeland is on the way. thank you facebook for aiding in this communication and planning process.

i just have to say that the Lord knew i needed those 3 hours with her. we haven’t talked in 5 years. God has done some crazy things in both of our lives during those 5 years. heck, He’s doing some crazy things in both of our lives now. we’re both in similar phases of change right now and it’s crazy to see how the Lord moves! he knew we could be irons for each other again, and encourage each other as we walk through the changes in front of us. i mean, as we sat on laura’s couch and talked after dinner, my heart was full, refreshed, challenged, and encouraged. what a blessing to have her back in my life! i have a feeling i will be keeping the pavement between tampa and lakeland hot. and i’m okay with that.

ready for the hoedown party at kamp (laura is to my right, your left)

last night at kamp '06

watching tennis together in '07

so grateful to have Laura back in my life. and here's to the Lord being awesome and once again blowing my mind with His timing. :)

bekah

live unashamedly :: laugh uncontrollably :: love unconditionally.

grown men, makeup, beads, and booze

yep, that's how i spent last weekend. with grown men. in makeup (and costumes). catching beads. and drinking a little booze. i know what you're thinking, but i was the driver. duh! me = responsible one. three of my carolina teammates came to town (+1 friend) and we enjoyed a little gasparilla fun in tampa (read: mini mardi gras, florida style).

no one made a complete fool of themselves, lots of beads were caught (without flashing), there was tons of laughter, and we re-lived some fabulous carolina volleyball memories. bring it on. any day of the week. i love my teammates and i've missed having their hilarity in my daily life.

here are some pics to recap the weekend, so enjoy living vicariously. :)

papa taylor treated us to a stone crab dinner the night before...yummy, but too much work for too little food!

country club the night before, yacht club the morning of. i could get used to this!

the pirate ship ready for the invasion.

prime example of grown men, makeup, and costumes.

lisa clearly kept every bead thrown at her. i, however, passed most of mine off to christie (see below).

steph, LT, kate, chris, and me. time with teammates is priceless!

for the rest of the carolina vb family that didn't make it down, you were dearly missed. 

bekah

live unashamedly :: laugh uncontrollably :: love unconditionally.

unc > everybody else

well, i couldn't help myself. after last night's slaughter of nc state's basketball team by our bench, my little tar heel heart is swelling with pride. which of course is only enlargened (is that even a word?) by this lovely little article. yes, nc state, you are not our rival. maybe 30 years ago, but not anymore. nice try. thanks for playing, but you're not the lucky winner.

so, on that note...

GO HEELS. GO AMERICA.

bekah

live unashamedly :: laugh uncontrollably :: love unconditionally.

one up

when people ask me what my biggest pet peeve is, i never have an answer. seriously. but i always think of plenty after i leave the conversation. naturally. so, the other day when i came across one that definitely peaks in my top 3, i thought i should make it known to the world. don’t say i didn’t warn you.

the classic “one up” comment

you’re going on a trip to Fiji? “oh, i was just there last month and got a private tour of the islands. girl, it was fabulous!”

i dropped 4 pounds this week! “that's awesome. i dropped 6.32!!”

hey, look at my new iPhone 4S. isn’t it awesome? “yeah, i love mine. i’ve already ordered the iPhone 5 too.”

i have had such a productive day. “me too. i finished 38 things on my to-do list already and it’s only noon!”

okay, i think you get my point. humor and all. but it’s annoying. and not only is it annoying, it’s belittling and rude. i honestly think most people “one up” others without realizing it—by thinking they’re adding to the conversation and chiming in, but in reality they’re stealing the spotlight from someone else yet again. rude.

i’m learning more and more to bite my tongue. not everyone needs to know my opinion or experience on every topic. off-hand comments will do more damage than good. is it really that hard to bite my tongue and settle for a comment more like, “wow, i’m so excited for you. that’s awesome! you'll have to let me know how it goes!!” no, it’s not difficult. but too often, i hear myself and others “chiming in” to the conversation only to steal the joy and “one up” everyone else.

no one likes to be "one upped." rude. don’t be that girl. or guy. 

bekah

live unashamedly :: laugh uncontrollably :: love unconditionally.

i guess i'm just old fashioned...

i wouldn’t normally call myself old fashioned, but i was reading an article recently that described the changes that have taken place in the short time from my parents’ generation to mine. i’m sure the changes from my generation to that of my children’s will be even more drastic given the crazy drive of technology and all things digital these days. some of the things that look like they might be replaced as technology moves forward are some of my daily staples. that being said, i guess i’m old fashioned. and i’m okay with it because all of these things i love are wonderful, and i will continue to use them and love them as technologically primitive as they may become.

Writing Checks

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Reading Books

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Snail Mail and the Post Office (not the self-serve machines)

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Watching TV Shows on a TV (instead of online or Netflix)

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Sending Faxes

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...so here's to being awesome and being old-fashioned as long as possible. 

bekah

live unashamedly :: laugh uncontrollably :: love unconditionally.

life gets in the way

it's inevitable. when you move away, you lose touch with some people. doesn't mean you love them less. doesn't mean you don't miss them and wonder what they're doing. but it happens. life in another city, state, or time zone steals your time and attention.

that being said, Kevan, Paula, and Sarah fall into that category for me. this family was like a second family for me in high school. i would leave school and go eat their food and watch their tv before volleyball. i took trips with them. i love love love this family. so when i packed up and went off to Chapel Hill and then Branson and now Tampa....well, life in another city got in the way.

but the good news is that i was able to sneak in a lunch date with all three of them while i was home for Christmas. the Sis came with since she obviously knows them too, and we had ourselves quite the little reunion laugh session. caught up on all the news i've missed, talked about Sarah's wedding that i also missed, and how Kevan is getting old. ha!

anyway, this family holds a special place in my heart and i'm so grateful that they continue to be a presence in my life as such an encouragement and needed dose of laughter.

Paula, the Sis, and Kevan

 Sarah and the Sis

live unashamedly :: laugh uncontrollably :: love unconditionally.

better late than never

so what if it's january 10th and i'm just now posting more of the pics i took while i was home with family. yeah, life's been a little nuts. and i was actually spending time with my family while i was there. not blogging. enjoy the photo post. i'll get caught up eventually. just not today. :)

sis loves her some christmas tree.

so when dad said we had room for a 7 footer, we clearly pictured 8 feet trees in our heads. hence the measuring tape.

someone loves the fluffy kind...

sniff test.

don't be fooled. it was a mom photo op. i did nothing. 

i just love her.

really glad this one was here again this year. he came in handy with all our tree issues later on.

safely home and undoing the tree to get it in the house.

the boys doing work. 

obviously my role was to document this new tradition in the making. and to make sure the tree was properly centered and vertical from all angles. tough work i tell ya.

...and we lost him.

bekah

live unashamedly :: laugh uncontrollably :: love unconditionally.