Moving moving moving… kittens!! (aka Weekly Photo Challenge: Future Tense)

Sooooo basically this entry is a duo. The first picture is my legit phone/instagram cuteness overload pic:

http://instagram.com/p/XQ_nfZqiGr/

If you don’t understand why this screams future, we can’t be friends. Just kidding. We can be friends. It means future to me because it’s new life. These cute babies were born last Thursday (3 days old now) in the freezing cold. My family pulled them from under the porch (while holding Mama Box Cat back) and moved them to the enclosed porch area. Now they have a space heater and everything ;)

Each kitten has an entire life ahead of it. Even the runt, who was pushed out on Thursday night, has a chance to grow up. I sat with it and rubbed its back until it squeaked and followed my finger back to the group. Friday, it was pushed out again, but I did the same thing and Mama Box Cat finally accepted it and now all four of the little babies are in a great big wad :D

This second picture is not my own. It was borrowed from my friend, Amy.

Passport to Kenya!

I don’t know if you have noticed my African Children’s Project (ACP) postings lately, but there have been a lot of them. My friend Amy and her husband Jason have been the main source of ACP excitement. This passport represents sooooo much future since they are relocating to Kenya to oversee administrative things and construction on site. Talk about total life change!! They have to sell their house (for sale here), raise support (support them here, I’m doing it), pack their two small kids up and move halfway across the world, then build a house and learn a language. Ummmm future much? Heck, yes!

I love the story of this future though and I’m sooooooo extremely blessed to have my time, energy, thoughts, money, and hopes tied to it. I just couldn’t help but love the story and people! And so here’s the story I love to share:

My friends, Jason and Amy are moving to Kenya. But they aren’t going to take over and run things for people. They are going to invest in the community and help orphans from the AIDS/HIV epidemic find forever families. When they get to Embu, Kenya, Jason and Amy will begin building a two story house, paying the local construction groups to build it. They first floor will be devoted to the orphan families and the Yons (Jason and Amy) will live on the second. The idea is that they will seek out a couple or a mother that is willing to adopt several children, then move them into the first floor, and help them become adjusted and well blended as a family. Next, when the new family is ready, construction on a new house will begin, using local workers again. This house will be just for that family and when finished, that family will move in, leaving the first floor of the Yon house empty. Then Jason and Amy will seek out a new couple or mother and start the entire process over again.

The goal is that the orphans find a family that will allow them to be children and grow up with a future. They will go to school instead of working to keep their siblings alive. They will be loved instead of lost. They will get an entirely different future. Now that’s worth posting about!!

You might wonder what happens after several families come together on site. I did too. My friend Melanie (founder and director of the ACP) told me this: “Oh my! I would LOVE for us to be there!! When that does happen, my hope is that those families will run the site on their own, and allow us to move to a different area and do this all over again. That’s my goal, man. And praise God, we’ll get there.”

You can read Amy’s story here, if you want. It’s pretty amazing. No, really. I get goosebumps from it.

Oh yeah, and Weekly Photo Challenge rocks. Just sayin’. Now here’s a bonus Mama Box Cat photo. Why? Because I love her.

http://instagram.com/p/PXeHWrqiFC/

Okay, two bonuses. Sheesh.

http://instagram.com/p/Sx-5LFKiIF/

A Heart Cause: African Children’s Project

The African Children’s Project (ACP) is a cause very close to my heart. I’ve mentioned it before several times. It just means so much to me and we have an event coming up! If you’re in the Charlotte, NC, area like me then come join us on May 11th! We’re having a 5K and Wild Child Fun Run to raise money for the ACP. My friend, Keri, and I are raising money for them in this time before the race. We have 82 days until the race and we need all the help we can get!! Click here to help Keri and here to help me :D

The African Children's Project

Love.

So here’s a bit about why I love this cause :)

1. I love the purpose. Giving orphans a home and a family, not to mention a sense of belonging, value and purpose. Who doesn’t love that???? Actually, I don’t want to know who doesn’t love that. I just want to know if you like that.

2. It’s not some unknown person that might be, sorta maybe doing something. I personally know the founder. She’s my friend Melanie and she went to Kenya last November to oversee getting water to the site. She is doing something. I’ve seen the financials too and the money is going where it should. This is me volunteering last fall:

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Meaning.

Now for the reason behind the fundraising goal of $5924. I like numbers. Being an accountant, some people might go so far as to say I’m a bit obsessed. Well, it’s true. In my crazy obsession, I like my numbers to have meaning. The first 5 is for the month of May. The deadline is May 11 because that’s when the race is. The 924 is for 1 Corinthians 9:24. It says “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” It inspires me to think about the potential every person has, especially the orphans about to have families. The potential to be more than just one of the crowd. To be excellent, to live with purpose, to be more than they ever dreamed possible. -sigh- So much meaning!

The African Children's Project

Purpose.

The African Children's ProjectThe African Children’s Project is about doing just that. Injustice is to be stopped. Now for some specifics:

The Run Wild 5K and Wild Child Fun Run is a race to benefit children who have been orphaned as a direct result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa. All proceeds will be used to support and maintain a community based, permanent home in Kenya that provides compassionate, holistic, long-term care for orphans in a family-oriented environment. In this home, children who have been marginalized not only live lives free of exploitation and abuse, but within the context of “family” are enabled to regain a sense of belonging, value, and purpose. Join us for a competitive run or a leisurely walk and positively impact a child’s life in a way you never dreamed possible.

The African Children’s Project is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization. All donations are tax-deductible.

Click here to visit the race site :) AND click on the side button above to donate! :D Or you can just click this picture:

Donate here!

Now aren’t you ready to help?

If you want to know more about the ACP, you can visit their facebook, twitter, and website. I hope you grow to love them as much as I do!

Here are some photos from last year’s 5K :D

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Melanie handing out an award.

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Getting ready to run!

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Annnnnnnndddd they’re off!

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Together even in the finish :)

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Daddies are more than welcome in the Fun Run :D

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Smiles all around :) :) :) :)

I’m soooo excited to be a part this year!

Picture story book thingy mah bop. Whatever. I want one.

Soooooooo I have been inspired to make a picture story thing with a lego character and scenes. I don’t know what the story will be about. I don’t know what the character will look like. I don’t even know if it will happen. But I want it to. Seems like an adventure to me, yes? Yes.

This photo was my inspiration:

http://instagram.com/p/PlK74KPOFb/

Yes, that is Harry Potter. *sigh for awesomeness* Yes, that girl is my awesome friend. Her name is Katie. You just have no idea who you’re missing out on. If you were extra stalkerish, you could visit her at her blog though…. ahem…. My Eternal Voyage. I only suggest this for her awesomeness.

The Hue Hue Hue Man

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I told you two weeks ago that I had a Subway napkin story to tell you and this is it. If you haven’t noticed I have a category called Misc Self Entertainment. I just like to entertain myself and others. It’s an effective way to practice creativity and keep smiling. Basically, I like just to smile :) I drew the first picture and Anna added what you see in the second. Every picture represents a change of hands. First me, then Anna, then me, then Anna, then me… you get the idea. Here’s the story! Continue reading

Heart Disease

I know this girl, she was doing fine
At least she was for a time
She tried something new or so she thought
And heart disease is what she caught
Hey! She is lost and all alone
Out in the unknown
She doesn’t know what to do

I’ve seen it happen tons before
But never this close to my heart’s door
I cannot do a thing
It hurts to see Continue reading

Kene’s Birthday Poem

It was my friend Kene’s birthday a couple of weeks ago. We met in freshman year of college and have been friends for almost five years now. He loves fashion and family. He is the most up-to-date person I know on anything/anyone famous. He is obsessed with the Sound of Music and once told me that he wishes he could be adopted by Julie Andrews. Every year we write dramatic birthday messages and celebrate little known holidays (Eliza Doolittle Day on May 20th). It’s just the type of valuable friendship that inspires creativity :)

A Few of Your Birthday Things

Candles on cakes and lots of good wishes
Bright camera flashes and warm tasty dishes
Nice birthday packages tied up with strings
These are a few of your birthday things Continue reading

Life on Becker… Kinda sounds like a drug

The last six months have been filled with Becker classes and grad school. I graduated in June though, so all that’s left is to finish up Becker. I’ve taken and passed FAR and AUD, taken REG, and all that’s left is BEC. Finally!!!! The wonderful end is in sight :D My next and last exam is August 8th and I can’t wait to get it over with. They (the people explaining CPA study effort) weren’t kidding when they said that it would consume my life. It definitely has. Friendships have ended. Family stress has increased. Dates have been avoided. BUT it’s all almost over!!!!! Hooray!!! All I can do is thank God for giving me passing grades on my exams and in my classes. I can do all things through Him and that had been reinforced over and over again in the last six months. Sigh of relief :)

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Storms of Life

A storm rolls in with booming pain
Slashes of hope drive me insane
The gales of feeling toss me around
Tug me up, then slam me down
The winds soon cease, but the rain pelts on
Seeming to say, “All your friends are gone.”
Just as I think it will never end
The sun pops out and good times begin
My so-called friends again appear
But fair weather is why they are here
The sun shines bright, the grass is green
I forget that life can ever be mean
But the leaves soon whisper, “The air grow cool,
A storm is brewing. It will be cruel.”
I think to myself, “Not again.”
“I cannot go through this without a friend.”
The wind is screeching, drops begin to fall
My fair-weather friends are gone after all
I stand in a field and scream at the sky
“I cannot go through this! I would rather die!”
Someone appears, umbrella in tow,
Comes over to me and answers: “I know.”
He raises it up, up over my head,
And asks with a smile, “Would you rather be dead?”
I say not now and ask for his name
He replies “It is Jesus and I will never change.”
He sticks right beside me through fair weather and storms
When I’m happy and joyous and when I mourn.
~2004