If you're in the Houston area, you can come out and support us this weekend at our Ethiopia Fundraiser Yard Sale. All proceeds are going toward our family's upcoming trip to Ethiopia December 2-26.
LOTS of great buys in this family Garage / Yard Sale!!! Saturday, November 14, 8a-3p
All must go by the end of the day, so if you come after lunch be prepared to make a deal.
SOME OF OUR ITEMS INCLUDE:
Kids toys large and small, ride-on toys games, puzzles, clothing
22+ cu.ft. Fridgidaire Commercial upright freezer (cooling- like refrigerator- but not freezing ???) make an offer
XBOX games, controls, and DVD kit
patio furniture - 2 sets w/table and chairs
plastic drawers, frames, art, household good, kitchen items
remote control helicopter
software
Sony digital camcorderorganizer for bats, balls, rackets, etc.
sports equipment
girl bicycle (barbie)
and more, more, more…
As part of our family’s new adventure with HopeMongers, we decided to use last year’s vacation and this year’s vacation and our Christmas and combine them all into one big trip to take the family to Ethiopia for three weeks. This will be HopeMongers second official profiling trip. To help offset some of the costs, we’re having a big YARD SALE next Saturday here at our house, and we’re selling Ugandan Recycled Paper-Bead Necklaces online that Sam brought back from his September trip to Uganda.
Kind of interesting now that I think about it…we bought necklaces from women in Uganda and, in selling them we’ll be able to help orphans in Ethiopia. When you purchase these necklaces, you’ll be helping a widow in Uganda and an orphan in Ethiopia at the same time!! Pretty cool deal since you get to wear this handmade piece of art as a testimony!
So without further delay, here is the merchandise:
PETITE BEAD TRIPLE-STRAND $20, approx. 19” total length
LARGE BEAD $15, approx 28” total length
MEDIUM BEAD CHOKER $10, approx. 18” total length
MEDIUM BEAD LONG $10, approx. 36-38” total length
SMALL BEAD LONG $10, approx. 36-38” total length
MULTI LONG $10, approx. 54-57” total length
If you'd like to purchase a necklace, simply leave a comment or just hit the PayPal button on the side. Add your necklace price(s) plus the following shipping allowances + $2.50 shipping (for 1 necklace) +$3 (for 2), +$5 (for 3 to 10), + $8 (for 10 or more). Just tell me in your comment or in the comment box in paypal which necklaces you'd like (size and color, or by describing the “one” in a particular photo). I’ll ship them out the day after I receive payment. For those locally, we can arrange a drop-off time. Thanks!
I don’t think I’ve ever blogged about sports or ESPN or anything related, and I may never again, but today, I’m copying an entire article from ESPN Magazine because it warrants sharing. If you haven’t already read it, you will love this! If you have, you can share it again. Take a look…we ARE the hands and feet of Jesus.
by Rick Reilly
Melinda Wright Gainesville State players douse head coach Mark Williams in celebration.
They played the oddest game in high school football history last month down in Grapevine, Texas.
It was Grapevine Faith vs. Gainesville State School and everything about it was upside down. For instance, when Gainesville came out to take the field, the Faith fans made a 40-yard spirit line for them to run through.
Did you hear that? The other team's fans?
They even made a banner for players to crash through at the end. It said, "Go Tornadoes!" Which is also weird, because Faith is the Lions.
"I WOULDN'T EXPECT ANOTHER PARENT TO TELL SOMEBODY TO HIT THEIR KIDS. BUT THEY WANTED US TO!"
It was rivers running uphill and cats petting dogs. More than 200 Faith fans sat on the Gainesville side and kept cheering the Gainesville players on—by name.
"I never in my life thought I'd hear people cheering for us to hit their kids," recalls Gainesville's QB and middle linebacker, Isaiah. "I wouldn't expect another parent to tell somebody to hit their kids. But they wanted us to!"
And even though Faith walloped them 33-14, the Gainesville kids were so happy that after the game they gave head coach Mark Williams a sideline squirt-bottle shower like he'd just won state. Gotta be the first Gatorade bath in history for an 0-9 coach.
But then you saw the 12 uniformed officers escorting the 14 Gainesville players off the field and two and two started to make four. They lined the players up in groups of five—handcuffs ready in their back pockets—and marched them to the team bus. That's because Gainesville is a maximum-security correctional facility 75 miles north of Dallas. Every game it plays is on the road.
This all started when Faith's head coach, Kris Hogan, wanted to do something kind for the Gainesville team. Faith had never played Gainesville, but he already knew the score. After all, Faith was 7-2 going into the game, Gainesville 0-8 with 2 TDs all year. Faith has 70 kids, 11 coaches, the latest equipment and involved parents. Gainesville has a lot of kids with convictions for drugs, assault and robbery—many of whose families had disowned them—wearing seven-year-old shoulder pads and ancient helmets.
So Hogan had this idea. What if half of our fans—for one night only—cheered for the other team? He sent out an email asking the Faithful to do just that. "Here's the message I want you to send:" Hogan wrote. "You are just as valuable as any other person on planet Earth."
Some people were naturally confused. One Faith player walked into Hogan's office and asked, "Coach, why are we doing this?"
And Hogan said, "Imagine if you didn't have a home life. Imagine if everybody had pretty much given up on you. Now imagine what it would mean for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you."
Next thing you know, the Gainesville Tornadoes were turning around on their bench to see something they never had before. Hundreds of fans. And actual cheerleaders!
"I thought maybe they were confused," said Alex, a Gainesville lineman (only first names are released by the prison). "They started yelling 'DEE-fense!' when their team had the ball. I said, 'What? Why they cheerin' for us?'"
It was a strange experience for boys who most people cross the street to avoid. "We can tell people are a little afraid of us when we come to the games," says Gerald, a lineman who will wind up doing more than three years. "You can see it in their eyes. They're lookin' at us like we're criminals. But these people, they were yellin' for us! By our names!"
Maybe it figures that Gainesville played better than it had all season, scoring the game's last two touchdowns. Of course, this might be because Hogan put his third-string nose guard at safety and his third-string cornerback at defensive end. Still.
After the game, both teams gathered in the middle of the field to pray and that's when Isaiah surprised everybody by asking to lead. "We had no idea what the kid was going to say," remembers Coach Hogan. But Isaiah said this: "Lord, I don't know how this happened, so I don't know how to say thank You, but I never would've known there was so many people in the world that cared about us."
And it was a good thing everybody's heads were bowed because they might've seen Hogan wiping away tears.
As the Tornadoes walked back to their bus under guard, they each were handed a bag for the ride home—a burger, some fries, a soda, some candy, a Bible and an encouraging letter from a Faith player.
The Gainesville coach saw Hogan, grabbed him hard by the shoulders and said, "You'll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You'll never, ever know."
And as the bus pulled away, all the Gainesville players crammed to one side and pressed their hands to the window, staring at these people they'd never met before, watching their waves and smiles disappearing into the night.
Anyway, with the economy six feet under and Christmas running on about three and a half reindeer, it's nice to know that one of the best presents you can give is still absolutely free.
Hope.
Thinking of the shootings this week at Fort Hood and Orlando and praying for the victims & families has my mind shifting around to the pain and tragedy that is everywhere in our world…sometimes next door, sometimes just down the highway, and sometimes miles or even oceans away…no one eludes heartache. And, if I can’t hold on to the sovereignty of God through things like these and know that he purposes our pain, then what else do I have? _____________________.
I think Chuck Swindoll says it well,
“God’s redemptive providence is always at work, even through the most diabolical schemes and actions…So, take heart, my friend. God is in full control. Nothing is happening on earth that brings a surprise to heaven. Nothing is outside the scope of his divine radar screen as He guides us safely home. Things that seem altogether confusing, without reason, unfair, even wrong, do indeed fit into the Father’s providential plan.”
“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.” – I Timothy 1:17
After my sweet friend Erin, lost her cousin to a tragic accident (leaving her husband and newborn daughter behind), I heard her pour out the following song of praise to the Lord. Oh, what an offering to hear! I pray it blesses your heart.
Rita Springer - Worth it All
I don't understand Your ways
Oh but I will give You my song
Give You all of my praiseYou hold on to all my pain
With it You are pulling me closer
And pulling me into Your waysNow around every corner
And up every mountain
I'm not looking for crowns
Or the water from fountains
I'm desperate in seeking, frantic believing
That the sight of Your face
Is all that I need
I will say to You
It's gonna be worth it
It's gonna be worth it
It's gonna be worth it all
I believe this
It's gonna be worth it
It's gonna be worth it
It's gonna be worth it all
I believe this
You're gonna be worth it
You're gonna be worth it
You're gonna be worth it all
I believe this
You're gonna be worth it
You're gonna be worth it
You're gonna be worth it all
I believe this
well, nearly two years ago…we started this new family blog…wide open air…
When we chose that name (via Dr. Seuss), it was because we knew that God was asking us to venture off into unchartered territory and we had no idea what would lie ahead. In blogging, we hoped to be able to share our journey with you as it unfolded.
At first, we believed we would be adopting children from Ethiopia and this would be an outlet for that process, but as November 2007 rolled around and we found out we were expecting baby Thomas, plans quickly halted. At that point, I felt stumped…how do I share such uneventful happenings as NOT adopting but having a biological fourth? It was a shift in gears that left me feeling stripped…what is this, God? I thought we had a plan working here called “the Henrys are adopting!” What am I suppose to do now? How am I suppose to talk to other people who are passionate about the world’s poor and orphans? What am I supposed to say? “We thought about adopting once, but then we just had another one out of the ol’ oven?” Seriously! I felt a little lost and upset…
Took some time to really process, but it turns out that having our hearts open to adoption was only a fraction of the puzzle God is putting together. I haven’t written much good blog content over the last year because we’ve been in such a transition, and because of the scope of people that sometimes check our blog (trust me they’re few :), I had to be careful about what I shared, when. So why blog when you can’t even say what’s really going on in your life? Exactly my problem this past year!
But now…well now is a different story. I’m free to share! Wahoo!
The first thing is that since Sam came home from Ethiopia last October, he’s been up to something…a new philanthrocapitalistic business known as HopeMongers (more on that elsewhere). Around February of this year, he realized that God was calling him to leave his near 10 year career with Microsoft, but he had to transition out slowly and methodically in order to maximize our ability to LEAP from steady career to entrepreneurship. It was a dream becoming reality, gradually, and then ‘Bam!’ It started to take off, and people actually believed in us and actually gave us money (whoa!) and then Sam took the first HopeMongers profiling trip to Uganda in September, and zoom-zap, here we are officially out of the corporate world and into the frightening new land of non-profits and entrepreneurship.
As I said at the beginning, “…we knew that God was asking us to venture off into unchartered territory and we had no idea what would lie ahead.” It’s been an amazing and wild ride. And God is so much bigger than my puny ideas of how our family will fit into His work of justice in the world. God is ever-present, ever-faithful, and ever-creative in the process. And we are stoked to be on this journey together as a family. Keep us in mind, in prayers, and when you have a minute, go checkout HopeMongers: MicroGiving for the World’s Poor and the End Poverty Cooperative. You won’t regret it!
oh yeah…almost forgot the cat’s costume :) compliments of Madeline and Lilly, of course. And notice how pleased the cat looks…
Our Halloween was all treat this year. We started with a goody-box sent from Pawpaw Jerry & Grammy; saw firefighters, cool animals and got tattoos at the Farmers’ Market Fall Festival; and carved pumpkins. After trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, we passed out candy to the later trick-or-treaters and watched, “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.”
Crazy Teeth
Gummy Eyeballs
For Will’s 3rd Birthday, we celebrated at the Renaissance Festival this year. He loved it and said his favorite things were riding the elephant and getting a sword and shield, but “I liked the whole part!”
Happy 3rd Birthday Super William! We love you more than all the cupcakes in the entire world! :)
My friends are Running for Hope in November in Richmond, VA. Do you run for hope? If not, you can still help...
from Brandi's Blog Living Freely: How Far Will You Go?#links
Friday, September 25, 2009
How Far Will You Go?
I want to introduce you to 3 guys today. . .guys that are proving that they will go to ANY length to see kids fed. Kids they may not even know. . .kids who are starving halfway across the world. Ok, let me introduce these crazy fellows.
First. . .you have Bob Mudd.
Bob is the COO of Children's HopeChest. If you look up "straight and narrow" you get a picture of Bob! He is the organizer, the consumate professional. He left his job as the head of a very well performing telcom business to be the COO for HopeChest. Could you see him dressed in a skirt? Um. . .your answer is NO.
The picture is Vince on the left and Bob on the Right. . obviously. . that's me in the middle :-)
Vince Giordano is next. He's the director of Outreach and Partner Relations at HopeChest. Vince is Mr. Macho. . .he's a black belt in kung fu. . .MMA fighter kind of guy (yes, I had to learn what mma stood for :-) He also has multiple tatoos (am I allowed to tell that, Vince?!) Right now, we tease that he's Mr P90X work out guy. . .yeah, not the kind of guy you picture in a pink tutu, right?
the kids wanted to try on my reading glasses today, and so I let them…
then Lilly and Will wanted to practice taking pictures with my camera, and so I let them…
Lilly took these pictures of Will & Mommy
then Will took this picture of Mommy
So, today I'm letting Ben take over my blog and share his thoughts from church yesterday. I have so much to blog about but have had little time and in a way I feel like I still need to process it all. Anyway, here are Ben's thoughts:
Today we visited the village of Kapelabyong and participated in their worship service. This village was started as an Internally Displaced Persons camp (IDP camp) as the people fled from the brutal attacks from Joseph Koney and his “Lord’s Resistance Army”. The tactics of the LRA include capturing children age 12-16 and forcing them to commit acts of brutality while plying them the narcotics. Though Koney has been forced out of the region, the community continues to suffer from drought, poverty and attacks from the Karamojong. The Karamojong are a nomadic tribe that has frequent raids into the surrounding communities to steal cattle. These physical attacks by both the Karamojong and the LRA usually involve rape and the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Despite hunger and violence, the people of this village worshiped and praised God with a fervor and passion unlike any I had ever seen. As we pulled into the village the children surrounded the bus. Quickly we were escorted into a large hut. Crouching to enter the hut, I peered into the dark hot room at a myriad of faces. As my eyes adjusted to the room we were seated on a dirt stage in front of 125 people who had come to worship. The children’s choir sang with a purity of voice that I have not heard before and after a amazing message by Vince Giordano the members of the church came forward for prayer.
I have prayed for people many times and this was in no way a new thing for me, or at least I thought. I began to touch the shoulders and heads of children and widows and my tears began to flow. As they came forward I used the only Ateso word I knew, “yoga” which means “greetings”. I have never before prayed for so many people, or people in such dire circumstances. But it was the language barrier that most profoundly impacted me. As they pressed forward many times there were visible illnesses and injuries that needed prayer but most often it was just a person with their own private burdens and fears that they could not communicate to me. As I prayed, the impressions that God would put in my mind were completely foreign to me. I interceded on their behalf and after 45 minutes of constant prayers for over 35 different people, I was spent. My legs felt like jell-o and my heart was broken. I stepped back from the front of the stage.
It was then that Pastor Sam, the pastor of this congregation of hurting people pulled me aside. He directed me to a woman who appeared to be in her 60’s. I now know that is unlikely that she is that old; it is the wear of a very difficult life that prematurely aged her. As Pastor Sam translated for us, she began to tell the story of her two sons that cannot attend school because of lack of funds and her third son who has died. Her sons have gone four days without food and due to the drought it is unlikely that there will be much of a harvest. Without access to education her fear is that the boys will have no future to speak of. Her son that had died had been captured by the LRA and forced to be a boy solider. In the LRA, the children that cannot keep up as they trek through the bush are killed. The leaders don’t kill them, they have the stronger boy soldiers do it. This causes fear in the remaining boys and continues the dehumanization of the new murderers. I wish that it was a single bullet to the head, but sadly the leaders do not want to “waste” a bullet on them so they are latterly hacked apart by the other children. This is the type of inhumanity that has so often left me looking for God, lost and confused.
After years of forced soldiering on behalf of the LRA, her son received the same brutal death that he had likely inflicted on others. As her story ends, she looks at me with expectant eyes and says “will you pray for me?” I think they call this an “OH GOD moment”. How can I bring anything to this woman that can be of any help? I do not have the $1800 it will take to give her sons the future her other son was deprived of, and what possibly can I say to her that can be of any meaningful comfort. In that moment, God must show up because only He can intervene into her pain. We prayed. Pastor Sam translated. Our shared tears needed no translation though. I do not know if she experienced the presence of God in the same rich and satisfying way that I did, but I will have to trust him.
I am glad to tell you that the day also had a few stunning moments of hope. After we left Kapelabyong we visited the home of Joseph Eloto. Joseph works for Chidren’s HopeChest and is the on-the-ground contact to the communities that we have been visiting. Joseph has a large family and many extended family members who live with him. After a wonderful meal cooked by Anne, Joseph’s wife, we met John. John is Ann’s nephew. 4 years ago he had been captured by the LRA. He spent just under 2 years with the LRA before he escaped. Eventually he ended up living with Joseph in an amazing family and is currently getting an education in mechanical engineering.
One of the people on our team asked John “Do you know Jesus?” His initial reply was short, “yes indeed”. He later said that it is only the power of Jesus that can help people who have suffered and caused suffering like he has. As I sat in the room with this boy of 19 who is likely a mass murder, I was acutely aware of God’s redeeming power. With that hope in my heart, I think again of the woman who desperately wanted prayer. The power of a God who created the sky and took time to know my name is not to be doubted or trifled with.
Posted by Amy at 2:00 AM 
….here are my four cuties doing their Classical Conversations school work and being adorable.
and here is my solution for keeping all our curriculum pieces working for as long as we need them to…this adorable personal laminator for less than $20, and you buy laminating sheets at $12 per 50sheet pack, which turned out to be much cheaper than paying the office store $60+ for a one time deal with these cards…I may go nuts and laminate everything.
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