I Can Officially Make It Public!

Michael and I have some news... no I'm not pregnant! We had to share this information with several people before we could make it public knowledge, but now I can share it with the whole world if I want: We're moving to China!!!!

We have had the opportunity for several years now to move to China and teach in a university there, but for different reasons, we have always said "no." We did the same this year, but our Father had other plans! He kept putting it in front of us, over and over and over. Applications were supposed to be sent in March. We decided at the end of May to see what could be done, since Somebody obviously wanted us to. Chuck Harle, who is the director of the China Calls program, told us that it would be impossible, but if our Father wanted it to happen, it would happen. So we sent in all the necessary paper work and waited. About 2 weeks later we found out that we have been hired by Hangzhou Normal University in Hangzhou, China. And the crazy thing is that we actually got hired before many of those who turned in their applications back in March!

My brother Kyle and his wife Rebecca, along with their team (Stan & Juliane McCorkle and Kevin Westmoreland), were supposed to be in a city about 2 hours north of us. But their jobs there fell through and they have been placed in Hangzhou as well! We are all very excited about going, and especially about being together in the same city to do a Great Work!

I will finish up my job at Agape on July 24th. That will give me one week to pack up before our lease here in Memphis is up! After that, we will spend the next 3 weeks visiting with friends and family. Then we will fly out of Dallas sometime around the 25 of August. We will be teaching at the university for the entire school year - 10 months. We will probably spend several weeks after the school year is up "surveying" different areas of Asia for when we move over there for good. Our sweet Annie will be living with her grandparents in Ft. Worth, Texas for the next year. I cry about this all the time! But it is for the best!

So, we have less than 5 weeks to pack up all of our belongings and figure out where to put everything that we're not taking! Things are a little hectic right now but we are so excited! Please remember us when you talk to our Father!

** Notice the special capitalization! We have to watch what we say, so please do the same with any responses, emails, facebooks, etc! Thanks!

Please enjoy these pictures of our future home!

This is one of the views of the campus! The building in focus is the library!

This is the Art Center at Hangzhou Normal University

Another view of the campus

The beautiful West Lake - major attraction in Hangzhou

Hangzhou cityscape

I Have a Sister!!

Kyle and Becca were joined in matrimony on June 6, 2009 - my parents' 28 wedding anniversary. When Daddy asked Kyle if they chose this date in honor of his parents, Kyle said, "No, it was just the first Saturday we were free." How sweet. The wedding was held at the Buford church of Christ in Buford, Georgia.  I had the honor of being one of the bridesmaids and Michael had the honor of being one of the officiants. Here are a few pictures from the big event!

These are the men in my life. Kyle was king for the night as evidenced by his Burger King crown. Dad was the the chef for the evening.

Chef Daddy and his assistants out on the grill. The food was delicious!

Putting on the dress! My beautiful new sister-in-law.

Michael and me right before the ceremony. He's mic'ed and ready to go!

  Waiting for the bride.

I made the groom's cake! It was stressful, but turned out to be a success!

The Hoopers

The Lessons I've Learned from "Thugs"

When I first told people in Nashville that we were moving to Memphis, they were quick to warn me of the danger & crime, and even added some scary stories to the mix. So Michael and I decided to live in Cordova - close to Memphis housing prices, but "farther away from Memphis crime." Ha. There are so many things I could say about this, but I'll leave it to another blog post. For the record, I have never felt threatened during our time here in Memphis, and I have learned a lot of lessons about stereotyping and judging people prematurely.

I have been humbled during the last two days by the things I have seen and the lessons I have learned from so called "thugs." I have been taught by my culture that young, black men that wear their pants low and wear do-rags in their hair are bad people and most likely members of a gang. I have been taught to be leary and even fearful of them. Well, they have taught me something completely different.

Last night, Michael and I went out on one of our weekly date nights. We went to a nice Thai restaurant, to the discount movie theater, and then headed over to tcby for some ice cream. We didn't arrive at tcby until around 9:45PM. There was a pizza place next door. As we were getting out of the car, a "thug" came out of the pizza place. If I had been listening to my culture, I would have been "watching my back." But before I had time to register this, this young man humbled me. A white, middle-class woman was walking into the pizza place. She was out of the normal range that manners (at least in the south) would require someone to hold the door for her. In fact, this young man was already out the door and out on the sidewalk. When he saw her approaching, he turned and walked back to the door to open it for her.

Lesson #1: Don't judge by appearance and don't stereotype!

I'll just leave it at that... I think you know where I'm going here. On to lesson 2.

Often, especially in during these hard economic times, I will pass a homeless person on the side of the road while on my way to work. I always feel guilty that I "don't have anything to give them." I will usually say a prayer for them and in this way satisfy my conscience. Besides, I have been taught by my culture that if I give them money, they will just use it on drugs and alcohol. They need to go get a job! This morning on my way to work, I was approaching an intersection. I saw the homeless man with his sign standing on the corner. As I said a prayer and began to divert my eyes, something caught my attention. The car in front of me was stopping. The driver was a young black male wearing a do-rag (another "thug"). He rolled down his window, shook the man's hand, and handed him a wad of cash. Not that it should matter, but the homeless man was a white man, probably in his late 30's.

Lesson #2: Love is not words, but action

So many of us call ourselves Christians, but who are we really? We sit in our expensive church buildings with our middle-class neighbors, feeling comfortable in our pews. We don't drink, we don't cuss, we don't lie. But do we love? Do we obey? We pass homeless people on the side of the road and think we are doing what God wants us to do by not giving them money (to spend on their drugs and booze). But we are not told to decide who deserves our love and generosity. God told one man, to sell all that he had and give it to the poor. This "thug" probably didn't have much himself. But he gave what he had to someone in need, without discretion.

"Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth." 1 John 3:18

Let's start truly obeying what Jesus says (all of it!!!) and glorifying him by loving (=serving) others, without discretion!!