Parker's Heart for the Homeless

Living in New Orleans it is a sad and unfortunate reality that there are many homeless in our city. It is not uncommon to see someone on the side of the road just off an interstate exit holding a sign asking for help. I hate it. Not because I'm bothered by their looks, but I hate that I feel so helpless in helping them. I know the solution to get these people off the street and into a stable lifestyle can be a complicated matter. But that said when possible, I can do a little something to help.
Like I said pretty much anytime we get off the interstate their is someone there asking for help and this hasn't gone unnoticed by Parker. The other day we had this conversation.

Parker: What's that man doing?
Me: He's asking people for help because he doesn't have a place to live or food to eat.
Parker: Why?
Me: I don't know exactly, but sometimes people have things that happen to them and they end up without a way to take care of themselves.
Parker: We could give him our old home.
Me: I wish it was that easy, Bud, but we can pray for him. (Then we said a prayer for him.)

Last night as we laid in his bed and talked about how blessed we were to have such a nice, warm place to sleep in since the weather outside was so cold and wet. Parker doesn't usually like to pray out loud, but last night he wanted to, and he said such a sweet prayer praying for the people who don't have places to live. It just melted my heart. I pray that his desire to help others only grows as he gets older. I know the Lord will be able to do a mighty work through him.

Camp Family Update

 I have been such a terrible blogger lately. I hope to do a better job, but I'm not making any promises. I wanted to give a little update on what is going on in our life.
As of January 2, 2014, we have been in New Orleans for a whole year. This past year has flown by. Sometimes I am just overwhelmed at the fact that we are here. It's amazing to see God working in our lives. It hasn't been easy, but we have sure been blessed through all the hardships and adjustments. God is good.
Paul just began his third semester working on his M.Div. in Counseling.  He is still working as a manager at Chick-fil-a and as the youth pastor at our church, FBC Norco. Yes, he's a very busy man. I am so proud of him. Getting his M.Div. has been something that he has wanted to do since I have known him. Of course, he originally thought he would pursue his master degree right after he graduated from college, but God had different plans. It would have been less stress to not have to worry about providing for a wife and 3 children if he had gone straight from college. He sacrifices so much for us, and we are so grateful for all he does.
The kids and I are enjoying our time at home together. Baby #3 is due February 14 but could come anytime now. We are so excited about adding this precious baby girl to our family.
Parker and Ellis are growing up too fast. They are learning so much. They are best friends and enjoy playing together. Of course, they have their moments where they aggravate each other, but they really enjoy each others company.
I'm going to try to do a better job of blogging. Of course, I can't wait to make the announcement that baby girl has arrived.

Camp Family Update

I've been a terrible blogger lately. Between first trimester yuckiness, taking care of 2 kids, and having to share a computer with Paul, I just didn't get around to blogging. But I'm going to get better.

I haven't announced this on my blog, but I am expecting baby #3 due around February 14.  We hopefully will find out the gender on September 26. The morning all day sickness I had was worse this time around than with the other 2 pregnancies and lasted longer. Most of it was nausea but I did throw up many times too. I'm very thankful to be past that part of the pregnancy.

Since our family is growing, we are moving to a bigger apartment on campus. Since this will be our fourth move in under 3 years and it's such a short move, I have little motivation to pack. However, I'm making myself pack a lot of our stuff because it will make for an easier and quicker move. Paul is very busy with school, so I want to make this move as easy as possible for him. The worst part is we're moving to a 3rd floor apartment so you can imagine that alone makes moving difficult. We will be getting a great work out.

Paul started his second semester at school, and right off the bat has been swamped with lots of reading and projects. To add to the busy semester, he has been promoted to manager at Chickfila and started as the Student Pastor at our church.  He is very excited about working at First Baptist Norco. He loves working with youth, and we love our church. Paul is very busy, but he still makes time for us. We enjoyed having all the extra time with him that summer gave, but we came here for Paul to go to school.

I started homeschooling Parker. Since he's four, I'm just making my own curriculum with the help of the vast amounts of internet resources.  Ellis joins us for some of the stuff we do. There is a great homeschool group on campus. I'm really enjoying homeschooling. Although I have to admit that I haven't been the most consistent with it, but once we get moved and settled I plan on making more of a consistent routine.

We really enjoy living in New Orleans. It's such a unique place. There really is no other place like it. Home will always be South Carolina, but we have made our home here in New Orleans for now.

God provides

I know that God will always provide. He may not provide in the way I think He will, but He always shows me that He's in control and He is all I need. Isn't that what God's provision is....Himself?

We've never been rich, but being in seminary, we are very tight financially. I'm not complaining. I actually think it is a blessing. God is using this time to mold us more into the image of Christ.

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned to Paul that I'm not sure that I will be able to get everything on my shopping list because the list was getting longer and the funds in the bank were getting lower. Later on in the day, a few men from Gulfport, MS showed up on our door step and asked if there was anything they could do for us. They were on a deacon retreat and wanted to reach out to the seminary students. They prayed with us and handed us a $25 gift card to Walmart. I was able to get everything on my list when I went shopping.

Today, I had told Paul that the checking account is getting very low, so we need to be very careful until the next payday. When I checked the mail a couple hours later, we had a couple of cards with money in them. What a blessing that God provides for us financially! What a blessing that we have people in our lives praying for us and being obedient to answer God's call on their lives to lend us a helping hand! And these are not the only times this has happened.

I can't wait until the day when God has placed us in a place where we are stable enough to be able to bless others the way people have blessed us. God's blessings are beyond financial. I'm just blown away by who He is. I get what God was telling Moses when God told Moses to tell the Israelites that "I am" sent him. I am is all I need.

Throw me something, Mister!

We got to celebrate our first Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and boy, it was exciting and fun. I've never been to Mardi Gras celebrations anywhere else, but I can't imagine that anyone can do it better. If you're like me when you think New Orleans and Mardi Gras, you think indecent exposure, inebriation, and all things not meant for families with young children. However, that's not the case. Sure, if you found yourself in the middle of the French Quarter strolling down Bourbon Street, then Mardi Gras would be rated R. There are soooo many parades that are great for families, and now my children may never enjoy another parade outside of NOLA again.

Mardi Gras is a huge deal in NOLA. The carnival season begins on January 6th, 12th night of Christmas, and from that time until Fat Tuesday the evidence of the celebration is all over. King cakes in stores, aisles at Walmart devoted to all kinds of Mardi Gras decor, and houses decked out in purple, green, and gold. The two and half weeks (although this year it was three weeks because the Super Bowl fell in between) before Mardi Gras day are packed full of parades. Each Krewe has their own parade and there are a lot of Krewes.

I had the chance to go to some parades with some other ladies the Thursday before Fat Tuesday. We went mainly for the Krewe of Muses parade, but enjoyed a couple others that rolled before. The Krewe of Muses is more of a PG-13 parade so that's why I went without the kids plus it was past their bedtime. The Muses have a special throw of sparkly, decked out shoes. You have to work really hard beg a Muse to hand you a shoe and make sure that the throngs of other people around you don't get what was intended for you. I didn't get a shoe, but got some other neat throws and had a lot of fun on my girls night out.

There was a lull in the parade so people just filled the street and started dancing. I learned the wobble (I know I may be a little late on that).

 



My throws from the Muses, not including a few magnetic dry erase message boards and some doubloons.

 

 

 

 

The Saturday before Fat Tuesday the whole family went to some parades. Our original intentions was to go to the Krewe of Iris and stay for the parade that followed, the Krewe of Tucks. We ended up skipping out on the Krewe of Tucks as it was delayed for a while and made our way to the Krewe of Endymion. Endymion is a very popular parade. It has a lot of riders that send out a lot of throws. Having some cute kids and getting the attention of the riders is key to getting some good throws.

People get to the parade route and set up there spots early hours before it is scheduled to roll. Many people have retrofitted ladders with seats on top for the kids to sit in for ultimate parade watching and throw catching.

Motorized Cooler-cycle. You never know what you are going to see.

We are so going to have to get one of these for Parker and Ellis.

Ellis and I worked together to get some great throws.

Paul and Parker made a great team. Paul is such a good dad. He had some very sore shoulders at the end of the day.

This one is just for Uncle Michael.

Isn't she cute with her beads?

People were everywhere.

Budweiser Clydesdales



The parades are not just floats, but there are sooo many marching bands and other groups mixed in.

In the parades that roll at night or into the night, they have the city's homeless carry flambeauxs as a way to pay tribute to how the parades used to be lit. The homeless take tips from the revelers as they pass.

 

This guy just stopped at this man and took the spoon from him and helped himself to a bite of jambalaya. I would have thrown it away after that, but he kept on eating his supper.

Endymion has such pretty floats.

Our beads- approximately 60 lbs of them! Yes, there are some unopened bags of them that they would just chunck at you. And yes, you have to watch out because they are chuncked at you and do hurt if you get hit with them.

The toys we got- plush animals, balls, frisbees, cups. Some toys didn't make it in this picture. That's what happens when you have little ones.

More of the throws. Notice the light saber, Parker's favorite. Sadly, it has already broken. We also got a t-shirt that's not pictured. You never know what you're gonna get.

Not all the beads are the generic kind. There are some special beads and these are what we got.

 

 We were planning on taking in some parades on Fat Tuesday, but since both cars were broken down and Ellis was sick we watched some of the parades on tv. We had so much fun. We look forward to many more years of celebrating the carnival season in New Orleans.

Family Update

I just wanted to give a little update for our family and friends far away. We are pretty much settled in. Boxes, with the exception of a few, are unpacked. Things are put in a place, and our home is livable. I still need to go through and really get things organized, but that will come with time.
  After the first couple of weeks of rainy days, we finally were blessed with some sunshine. The weather has been amazing, 70s and sunny. Therefore, we have spent a lot of time outside playing. I figured the home organing can wait until it's raining or during the hot and humid summer days, so for now will soak up all the lovely weather.
   Paul started classes last week. He's taking 3 classes, all psychology classes. He has a lot reading to do and memorizing. If he's not in class, he's working. If he's not working, he's studying. The psychology stuff is new to him since he was a Youth Ministry major in college, so he's working really hard. Things are going well for him at Chickfila. At some point in time, he will be able to move up into a management position and will be able to use the skills he learned as a manager before we moved. He is learning how this store works and getting to know the people he works with. He's even seen some of the NO Saints players come through.
   Parker also started "classes" last week too. There is a home school group on campus, and they offer classess like P.E., art, storytime, and science for the young ones. They also go on field trips once a month. Parker has been really enjoying them as well as Ellis who gets to tag along (they have something for younger ones to do, too).
   I have started working for First Baptist New Orleans for their Wednesday night's child care. I will also have the opportunity to provide childcare for their women's Bible studies and other special occasions. I'm so excited about this because it provides us with a little extra income, and I get to bring the kids along with me.
   We have enjoyed getting to know the families around us. We have all made friends and enjoy the great community here on the seminary campus.
   The city of New Orleans has a lot going on with Mardi Gras and the Super Bowl. We are so excited about being part of our first Mardi Gras. Paul actually has Mardi Gras Day (Fat Tuesday) off from both work and school. It's so crazy that the whole city shuts down. Everyone is off. The schools are closed for the whole week. There have already been parades going on, but we haven't been to any yet. I finally ventured out and drove on my own. I didn't go anywhere I hadn't been to already, but I'm just so proud that I did it.
  We are so thankful for all the prayers that have been made on our behalf. Keep them coming. It's hard being away from family and what is familiar. But that being said, it is exciting to be here, living on faith as the Lord makes our way. It has quickly began to feel like home.
 

What I've Learned So Far

Life is a learning experience. We are constantly learning. However, when we face big changes, it seems that our learning experience is brought to a whole new level. Because of that, I've been learning a lot of new things and I decided to share some with you.

1. Moving 600 miles is a lot of work and it is very helpful to have wonderful in-laws coming alongside to help. (Thanks Arden and Elise! We couldn't have done it without you.)
2. Even though you get rid of a lot of stuff before you move, you still have too much stuff.
3. Pocket shoe organizers are wonderful little organizers and space saving solutions.
4. Seminary families are wonderful. It is such a great community. When we pulled up with the moving truck, people just came out and started helping unload the moving truck.
5. I'm going to have to learn to love washing dishes. With no dishwasher and little counter space, washing dishes after every meal is a must.
6. Changing timezones even just with one hour difference is not easy especially for little bits.
7. New Orleans may just be the new Seattle. It has rained or been a misty, cloudy day almost every day since we have been here.
8. Waiting in line a while to check out at any store is the norm.
9. I really kind of like living in an apartment. I like being able to hear children playing outside and seeing people walk by.
10. I've never been so excited about getting plastic beads. I'm excited about going to the Mardi Gras parades. I never thought that I would be a part of Mardi Gras in NO, but I've learned that it's not all like what you see on tv.
11. I'm going to have to learn how to drive in city traffic. I still have not braved driving on my own, but since Paul is starting classes in a week, that will soon change.
12. I've learned that when classes start it will be like kissing my husband goodbye until the end of the semester. Please pray for Paul and for us as Paul works, goes to school, and studies and for us as we adjust to having only small amounts of time with him.

I could sit here all night and think of more things that I've learned, but I'm not going to bore you. Thanks everyone for your prayers! I can't put in to words how much it means to us for people to take the time to lift us up in prayer.