The Ghost of Christmas Past

OK. It's almost a month after Christmas. Everyone's decorations are put away, and now it's just dreary and cold; the snow is mainly brown and full of asphalt and dirt. So thinking back to when the snow was actually festive, and when we couldn't wait to put on our coats and gloves on for the first time, I've whipped-out some of my favorite pictures of Christmas 2010...

Kara

Here.

In honor of my 13th anniversary, I've dug through our family photos and chosen a few of my favorites. 

Happy Anniversary, Tim.

Can't wait for the next 13!!!

The above picture was the very first picture ever taken of us together. We were chaperoning a youth trip to King's Island, which is ironically just around the corner from us now. I was in college, and Tim was my pastor. I'm so thankful that our life together has always revolved around serving Jesus, even from the beginning.

These were our engagement pictures in 1997.

Here's the big day! January 10th, 1998.

We've lived a lot of life in 13 short years...

The above and below pictures were taken in Tim's office at Good Shepherd Baptist Church in Scott Depot, WV. Those were wonderful years at that church...

This picture was on one of our anniversaries. 

This was at a Valentine's Banquet at Good Shepherd.

Tim and I have worked about a thousand vacation Bible Schools!

This was when Tim and I were on our way to chaperone a prom at Poca High School, where I taught.

This picture was when I was a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding.

This was when Tim and I were dressed-up for one of Terrie Hannah's wonderful dramatic contatas.

We've had graduations....

Marshall University 1998,
Kara's Bachelor's Degree

Luther Rice Seminary 2000
Tim's Masters of Divinity

Liberty University 2003

Tim's Masters of Arts in Religion

Liberty University 2006

Tim's Doctorate of Ministry

We've had babies....

Christopher Alan
8 lbs, 10 oz.
May 2002

Our first moments as parents...

Do we look terrified, or what?!

John Walker
9 lbs., 12 oz.
July 2004

Anna Jean
At 8 lbs., 4 oz., she was the "runt" of our litter
August 2007

We've traveled....

Outer Banks, 2000

Aruba, 2001

Niagara Falls, 2001

It has been such a great life together!

I'll conclude by dedicating the lyrics to my favorite Rascal Flatts song...

And I wouldn't change a thing

I'd walk right back through the rain

Back to every broken heart on the day that it was breaking

And I'd re-live all the years

And be thankful for the tears

I've cried with every stumbled step that led to you

And got me here

Right here.

I LOVE YOU TIM!!!!

Happy 13th Anniversary to Us!

This monday, January 10th, is our 13th wedding anniversary!!! To celebrate the occassion, we got a sitter for the kids (thank you Mike and Kathy!) and headed to Jeff Ruby's Waterfront. The Waterfront, located on the Ohio River at the Pete Rose Pier, is considered one of the nicest restaurants in Cincinnati. I can honestly say that dinner was one of the best times we've ever had together....

The food was SOOOOO good!!!

This was our view of the city, although my camera couldn't really capture it. Our view was spectacular. To the left is Paul Brown Stadium, where the Bengals play. Near it is Great American Ballpark, where the Reds play. There are various buildings in the middle - Proctor and Gamble, PNC, Macy's, and the tallest one on the right which is light blue is the new Western & Southern building that is not quite completed. To the very right is the John A. Roebling bridge, which was designed by the same man who did the Brooklyn Bridge: it's an exact replica. I wish you all could have seen how beautiful the city looked in person!

After we had finished our dinner, they brought us this signature dessert that they make with one candle and two forks for us to share in celebration of our anniversary. The dessert was delicious: my favorite part was the gold cocoa powder that was sprinkled ontop of the brittle that made the dessert look metalic. Our dessert was on the house.

Jeff Ruby's Waterfront is in the theme of Southbeach, which was a lot of fun but highly ironic considering how icy cold the Ohio River was that night! There were giant palm trees outside, Miami-type lighting inside, and a Cuban band playing beach music in the piano bar. Even though our table was by the window on a bitter January evening, heaters at our feet made us feel like it was July in the tropics! We hated to leave and make the freezing walk to our car, but inevitably our evening had to end.

CPBC Food Pantry

For the last 2 years, I have managed the food pantry at our church. (If you want a really amazing story of what started my venture into this ministry, read my story at the bottom of this blog...) Since today is the kick-off of our 2nd annual Clough Pike Baptist Church Food Pantry Souper Bowl, I am dedicating today's blog to pictures of our Christmas basket delivery in December. This was when we packed and delivered boxes of groceries to 36 needy families in our community.

In retrospect, I laugh at how many times I looked at men holding heavy boxes of groceries and said, "Stand right there for a minute while I take a picture of you!" (The boxes were too heavy for me to even lift!) I guess anyone who knows me, though, knows how much I love my pictures; so it shouldn't have surprised anyone that I was asking for that!

Did I mention that the boxes were too heavy for me to carrry? I have no idea how Serena Graham (below) was carrying that! There were 2 hams in the bottom of that box, along with lots of heavy cans of soup and fruits and vegetables and raviolli, cereal, stuffing, spaghetti sauce and noodles, peanut butter and jelly, instant mashed potatoes, gravy, canned chicken and tuna, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, bread, butter, and milk.

Most importantly, every box contained a Bible and a plan of salvation.

So here's my story...

In August of 2009, our family was coming home from lunch at a friend's house on a hot Sunday afternoon. At the corner of Clough Pike and Shayler Rd. (only about 1/4 mile from our house), we saw 4 children (ages ranging from about 5 - 10) sitting in a yard close to the road at a table that was full of little toys. The table had a sign posted to the front of it that read "Yard Sale." Because it was so very cute, we simply had to stop! We were pleased to discover that some of the toys they were selling were Rescue Heroes, which were action figures that our boys liked. So we bought some. The kids in that yard were SOOOO excited to see us break-out the 2 $5 bills to pay for the action figures, and they placed our money in a beach bucket that had been serving as their money holder all day. Ours were the first dollars they had received: they only had a smattering of change in their bucket up to that point. We left.

I looked in the rearview mirror as I drove away, and something hit me very hard as I saw those 4 children - whose faces were red and sweaty from the heat -wave tiredly to us as we pulled away. Something was wrong. I went home and put my own children down for a nap, and tried to relax myself. But I couldn't stop thinking about those children. A nagging question lingered in my mind (I would later believe this nagging to be from the Holy Spirit): What were those children going to buy with the money they were working so hard to earn on a scorching summer afternoon? I got in the car, drove back to the house on the corner just in time to see the 4 kids packing their remaining toys into a box.

I called to them, "Do you have anymore toys I can buy?" They excitedly began getting out their wares and attempting to sell them to me. I looked at them and leisurely asked, "So....what are you going to buy with the money you make today?" The little girl who was about 8 looked at me and said, "Food. Mommy lost her job, and our money in the bank is all gone and we don't have anything to eat ." And then she got the BIGGEST smile on her face, pulled out that $10 I had paid them earlier and said, "But it's OK now! 'Cause we can go to the grocery store tonight!"

I was shocked and speechless. I gave the children everything I had in my wallet and rushed home to tell Tim the story. Tim called our deacon chairman and arranged for some financial benevolence for that family, while I called the lady who had been running our church's food pantry. Unfortunately, she had given-up the food pantry ministry, and the church now had no more food.

God worked in my life at that moment and showed me that I - who knew absolutely nothing about handing out groceries to strangers - had a calling to run a food pantry. So 18 months later, God has taught me and trained me how to do this wonderful ministry, and it has grown! Because of those 4 children whom he placed in my path, our church served close to 500 people in 2010: praise the Lord!

Kara