hello to those who read….

this is (for the record) my first “scheduled” post….of hopefully many….maybe it would be easier to edit pictures and write all in one sitting for the week…hmmm…well, then again maybe not because then you catch only one mood for the whole entire week…(it’s been a long one…entire week…the whole thing….long)…

there are several moods that seem to be most prevalent these days and you can probably tell distinctly what they are just from the temperature of the post…insert hmmmm….life right? part of abiding…most certainly….

so i am finally getting around to telling you what i hinted at the other day. i am planning a girls’ weekend…one for hostesses and representatives & a few others (bloggers and photographers, and those that are just plain neato) that the BBTN team and I have not all met…girls that we work with repeatedly or share life with to some degree and do not have the priviledge of knowing them in person…girls that are not from Birmingham or even very close…

so i am excited to introduce each of them to you in the next few posts….9 women that will tickle you to pieces to meet here…beautiful, strong, talented, with a wonderful common thread…we all love the Lord with all of our soul and might….

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself…” Luke 10:27

so….the invites are out…the girls know who they are as we have been corresponding… i can’t wait to introduce them to you all….

so more coming on all of this…introductions….pictures….and a whole lot more pictures…
this, to me, is a great way to meet some of the BBTN girls in the southeast and others that you just can’t miss ….
stay tuned…

all of my love
p.s. i have so enjoyed those of you who have chosen to delurk!! what a treat in my inbox….

hello to those who read..
a little lighter than the last two posts…
while i don’t want to name the place….check out this hairdo.
my first question is really? my second is seriously?
while it was a fun experience as a treat for KM’s birthday…..hmmmm

this trip ended with a sweet whisper….

“mommy, i need to tell you a secret.”….. “i don’t think i like my hair”…

a little later….  “why is my hair crunchy?”

after editing i had to add a picture of a happy mia…

be back soon….

all of my love…

hello to those who read…
i really wanted to post two days in a row….my last post and then this one….but it just didn’t work out that way with traveling and spring break….enuff said right? the point is that this post will present quite a contrast from my last one…
but first this…..meet some of my people….
thiiiisssss gggguuyyy….my brother

you have met before….yep his hair is longer and kept much better than mine….hmmmm…

but he owns valeo….they do my websites and host my blog all on their lovely servers…they are a brilliant and very good at marketing and web design….best part tho….if you need anything (really) he can do it (he is smart…and he has programmers….)

well and matt….meet matt….hi matt

he is finally (smiling matt, smiling) working on the blog buttons for socializing…yay!!
….he even put grass and polka-dots on the buttons….look right…join facebook pages for updates….fun stuff…

he hates having his picture taken obviously (new information to me) and honestly acted more like my brother on this visit than my brother did….”cut it out” if i recall the sentiment….or “stop it”…not sure which, i had just left the hospital and had the camera going for about 6 hours….welp, he got in the way ….and maybe he knows all too well where those pictures were going to go…..

HEY MATT!!

jamie shoots weddings and understands light really well….what a treat to be in the same city to talk about something other than servers…so we quickly chatted about cameras inbetween conference calls (SOOOOOO glad you could work me in jamie!! ) so fun to get a hug from my much-taller-and-smarter-than-me-entrepreneur brother…..on a tuesday….

oh and speaking of special people….this one!? i have known her for 27 years….she has helped our family for that long and i get kinda teary thinking about her….Izetta….THAT is a long time to know someone other than family…she is family though. she sat on the front row at my wedding….family…

so here is the part that i have been honestly very conflicted about …. maybe you will understand, maybe not…but here is a stab and if nothing else enjoy the pictures…

amelia’s birthday was probably one of my favorite days…for so many different reasons….for closeness to a friend, for gratitude to my Savoir for the blessings of health and life…and for a breath of fresh air out of town…a wonderful day…but hard at the same time…

i had this conversation with bebek this morning and my DH the other night….we will not be having any more biological kids & probably 2 will be the fill of our quiver….so the conflict came when seeing a biological child born into a wonderful home and then visiting what might as well be the complete opposite just down the street….i followed my mom into an area of town where we were most certainly not the norm….a dangerous & very lost world not far away from where i witnessed a welcome party like almost non other….

i watched my mom, led by the Holy Spirit, love on teenage girls who are single, who have just had babies…. they live with someone in the their family and attend a Bible study where they are shown the love of Christ and taught basic lessons. ones that we take for granted….the worries of the children there include food, clothing, shelter, and love. so i followed and went to take maybe the only pictures that they have of their children…..maybe….

so i left broken over the gaping hole between the two cultures and the sadness set in….

but what i settled on to comfort my soul is that we each know our cultures well and Jesus didn’t intend us to be isolated by our cultures when sharing the love of Christ. he calls us to go to the ends of the earth and that doesn’t mean kenya always….it means frayser in memphis, and east lake in birmingham….it means not caring if there is a natural cultural barrier and trusting God to do what we cannot fathom….

i watched my sweet mom cross barriers ….and love on girls who needed every bit of what she knows how to give….food, a hug, lack of judgement, and Christ’s love….

my kids were with me on purpose because i want them to know and be saturated in what it means to be compassionate and better yet be led by the Holy Spirit to respond….i want them to understand it not because i told them but because they saw it and they too were called to be compassionate….and that means learning that the only toy one might have could be a tube of lipgloss….that hit home…
and so i share….

all of my love to my precious mom and my people….

hello to those who read….
humbled beyond words from what happened today…the opportunity to be alongside of bebek & her husband david as she brought amelia claire into the world….amelia follows some special births…but this one takes the cake…3 boys and then precious little amelia…..whom bebek wants to nickname mia….
please do not copy these pictures as always….
i prayed that God would “handle” today in a big way and he most definately protected and blessed….he definately blessed….

here goes …
(shot in black and white for those who care… f1.4 with several different shutter speeds….mostly slow enough to gather lots of light but fast enough to be clear while being handheld…)

and sam was there….

all of my love to this new little one and my people….

hello to those who read….
just a few words with more later…spring break week ahead…hmmmm….
but for now….mia’s idea of “perfectly beauuuuutiful hair”……

be back soon….
ok new commenters…don’t forget your new trick here….it was great to “meet” those that i didn’t know read….it was kinda like a friend reunion in my inbox….what a treat…keeps the juices flowing around here to be sure….
a hello back to those of you i have not seen in awhile and a welcome to those who are new friends…
all of my love to my people, especially bebek as she will deliver tomorrow…..