The Coffee Cup Round Up

The last few days I've seen a red coffee cup pop up in my newsfeed.  I refused to click on the posts, but just by glancing at the titles I could easily figure out that some Christians were angry at Starbucks for declaring a "war on Christmas" by omitting snowflakes or other holiday themed pictures and instead going with a simple red and green cup for the season.  The rants kept coming and I kept scrolling. 

This morning the controversy made it onto my favorite morning news talk show.  The network shared the information I had already gathered from the brief post titles I had already seen .  In addition I learned that people are boycotting the company because of this issue.  Instead of not giving Starbucks their business, some people have decided to protest in another way. 

For those of you who have never been to Starbucks, this is how it works.  You wait in line to order your favorite treat.  The cashier will take your order and ask for a name to go with the order.  Your name is then written on your cup and you move to the other end of the counter to wait for the barista to make your drink.  When it is ready, the barista will call out the name that is written on the cup.  Some people have decided when asked for a name they will give, "Merry Christmas" as the name, thus forcing the barista to say, "Merry Christmas" when the drink is complete.  The network shared a montage of photos people posted with "Merry Christmas" written on the cups.

Seriously?!?!  Can someone please explain to me how this passive aggressive behavior shares Christ's love and the true meaning of Christmas?  As Christians we feel that a company that never claimed to be Christian, as far as I know, using a red and green cup for the holiday season is cause for uproar? 

I am all for taking a stand for Christian beliefs.  I am a Christian.  I believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and I believe that I am called to share His love.  However, I'm not seeing the love in this scenario. 

As I watched the news this morning and saw how some people were responding to this, I was wondering how we could turn this into a positive and share Christ's love with others.  Then I had an idea!!  I remembered seeing a picture a sweet man from our church in Georgia posted of empty shelves at MUST Ministries.

Must Ministries supports those in need in their local area.  Our church in Georgia supports this ministry in many ways.  Here is a link if you would like to learn more about MUST.  http://www.mustministries.org/ 

What if we don't boycott the green and red cup or pick on the barista who is just doing his or her job, but made a donation to our favorite charity when we get our caffeine fix?  So, for those of you who are still reading, here is my Coffee Cup Round Up Challenge.

1. Purchase or make your favorite hot treat.

I went to Starbucks for this occasion which is a rare treat for me.

 

This is my cup of choice.  I'm not a fan of drinking my coffee out of paper or styrofoam.

 

This is my favorite to-go cup, as I'm not even a fan of my coffee in metal.  This is ceramic.

 

2.  Figure out how much you paid for that cup of goodness.

 



 

This is my receipt from Starbucks, but it could easily be the amount you pay for your coffee at the grocery store each week.  I buy a bag of coffee for use at home each week and it costs about $6-$7.

 

3.  Take that total and round it up to the nearest dollar amount.  Then make a donation in that dollar amount to your favorite charity.  I chose MUST Ministries, as that particular ministry had been on my mind since I saw the empty shelf picture. 

 



 

In my case my coffee purchase was $5.25, so I rounded my donation up to $6.00.

 

4.  Take a picture of yourself with your beverage.  Post the picture, your round up amount and the organization to which you will be making your donation in the comments of my FB post.  I'm pretty particular about who I accept friend requests from, so my friend list isn't very long, but I would love to see each of you donate to a worthy cause and spread a little Christmas love!!

 

 

For His Glory.

 

Jody



Oh, Those Summer Nights

This isn't a very good picture at all.  I'm sitting in my car in the dark listening to Rachel's band rehearse, so that is my view.  My view may be a bit better, but this is the best the camera is going to capture.

I don't like being out so close to bedtime, but I love watching the kids rehearse.  They are such a fantastic group of young people!!  I'm a bit disappointed that Aaron and Hannah aren't in band because I think I will miss this when Rachel graduates.

Joy Cometh

College life seems as though it was a lifetime ago and yesterday all at the same time.  I attended a small liberal arts college in a little town in southern Indiana.  The school was founded by the General Association of General Baptists and at its core is a Christian college. 

 

I made several friends while attending and even though we don't see each other very often, there is something about the bond built sitting up into the wee hours of the night talking about anything and everything under the sun.  Boy, if those walls could speak, they'd have some secrets to tell.  I don't think any of us had any dark secrets.  We talked about classes and boys.  We talked about hopes and dreams.  However, I don't remember having a conversation about which one of us would pass away first.  We were focused on living.

One sweet friend, Angie, was diagnosed with breast cancer years ago.  Today she went to be with Jesus and she is worshipping at the feet of her Lord and Savior.  She married the man of her dreams and they have two beautiful daughters. During those late night talks, Angie often talked of her love for Mike.  He was the reason she came to the school we attended.  She attended a different school her freshman year and transferred her sophomore year to be with Mike.  They were married the following summer.  Many of us traveled back to their home in Michigan to attend the wedding. 

There are two words that come to mind when I think of Angie.  First is "joy."  No matter the circumstances she had a joy about her.  There was a certain sparkle in her eye when I first met her and that sparkle never left.  As she battled the cancer, and she did fight, she often posted pictures.  There were pictures of her with her girls and other family and her face just showed she was happy to be with those she loved.  But she also posted pictures during some of her treatments and she still had that expression of joy, love and happiness on her face. 

The second word that comes to mind is "strength."  She was not going to give in to this disease without a fight.  She went through the original diagnosis, surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation.  During the course of treatment she was a teacher and principal.  She fought low platelet counts all summer that prevented chemo and then came the results that the cancer had spread once again.  When school started this fall she had stepped down as principal because the treatments had taken their toll, but she was not about to quit.  She took a job as a reading teacher.  Her sister, who is also a teacher, posted a picture of the two of them on their first day of school.  She kept on keeping on until her body just would not cooperate.  She dug deep and found a strength I don't think the rest of us even think we possess. 

I met her oldest daughter when she was about one year old.  I never met her youngest daughter, but watched them grow up through Christmas cards and then Facebook.  I'm sad because they had to say goodbye to this remarkable woman too soon.  But I'm sure they know better than anyone the legacy she leaves behind.  They will mourn, but I'm quite certain they know the source of their mother's joy, Jesus Christ and his love flowing through her.  It is my prayer that His love and peace will carry them through.  Joy cometh, dear girls.  

Work Wanted

Hannah has been asking me for ideas of ways she can earn money.  I cracked up when I found these signs hanging on her bedroom door.  Too bad she didn't post them before all of our company came through.

Cousins

Crystal, Brandon and the kids came to visit this past week.  We had a wonderful time visiting, exploring and laughing at the kids' antics.  They all get along as if they have been together on a regular basis their entire lives.

We had dinner waiting when they arrived on their first night and since that day happened to be Father's Day, we had a cookie cake to honor the two dads.

 

Aaron and Darian are two peas in a pod.  Their mannerisms and personalities are eerily similar.  We recreated one of our favorite pictures of the two of them.  The one on top is probably about eleven years ago.  They were good sports and played along long enough for us to snap the recreation.

We also recreated this picture that had all the kids except Gabey.  I was surprised that they were all very cooperative and even had fun with it.  Rachel helped pull clothes out of the closets to find something similar to what the kids were wearing in the original photo.  I happened to have overalls from Halloween for Amaya to wear.  They sure do fill a couch now.

 

A while ago Gabriel posted a picture of a bridge in Louisville that he thought was really cool.  When I saw it, I knew they needed to see the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

 



 

 

I'm open to any excuse to go to the beach and having company here is a perfect reason.

The beach was a new experience for Crystal's kids, but once they warmed up to it they all loved it.  The first time Gabriel got knocked down by a wave and sucked in a little salt water I think he thought he was going to die, but he rallied.  We almost lost Brandon out to sea, but with some encouragement he managed to make it to shore before the lifeguard had to dive in.  Ha!  Crystal bought me my very own caramel corn when we stopped for beach souvenirs.

 

 

Even though Gabriel told me he didn't want to learn anything while he was on vacation, we walked around historic Yorktown, 

We went on a dolphin tour and saw tons of dolphins. 

Gabey was declaring it fun before we even left the dock.

 

Crystal and I took three of the kids to Fort Monroe.  I think it is a really interesting place.  My kids have been there several times and are less than thrilled.  We also walked along the beach after touring the museum so they could collect some shells.

 

We thought it was funny that the doorways in the fort were tall enough for me to walk right under, but everyone else had to watch their heads.  Gabey could still get by, but he will catch up with his siblings soon enough.

The very first morning the boys started the day with a Nerf battle that really continued throughout the entire week.

The rest of us started off with breakfast.  Alexis was very proud of herself for figuring out how to make her own fruit and yogurt parfait.

Someone, I think Crystal blamed me, thought it would be a great idea to have all the kids play a game of Apples to Apples.  They had fun, but it got a bit long.

They also spent some time playing the wii,

riding bikes and playing at the park.
 

Crystal and I joked that the kids were like locusts when it was time to eat.  We would have food set out on the counter and they would swarm and devour.  We later decided that calling them piranhas was a more accurate description.

This is what it looks like when a gazillion kids are in and out of the house. 

The shoe mess got to Brandon one day and he matched all the shoes and lined them up.  That lasted until our next outing.  Ha!

One important moment we should not forget is Crystal's introduction to my favorite movie, A Few Good Men.  I'm not sure if she enjoyed as much as I do, but she was a good sport and played along.

As all good things do, this visit had to come to an end.  I fed them one more time and then they were off.  I think this is a cute picture of Darian wearing his backpack and eating at the same time just before getting in the car.

It was nice to spend time with them.  When we are in Evansville, our visit is often cut short due to trying to work in visits with everyone else.  We will most likely be back in Georgia before their next visit, but we are already planning fun things to do.

Mamaw's Visit

My mom flew out all by herself for a visit.  She prefers to drive and have someone come with her, but coming alone worked out well.

 

She made it in town on Saturday afternoon just in time to join us for Aaron's birthday party.  He decided he wanted to have a couple friends over and have a water gun fight.  We invited Doug, Shannon and the girls to join us for pizza.  Brian and Cynthia happened to be in town, so they were able to join in the festivities as well.  Aaron's actual birthday was on Tuesday, so Mom went with us to see the new Avengers movie.  Aaron chose Golden Corral for his birthday dinner.  It isn't my favorite place, but it was his birthday.

 

Mom wanted to take the kids shopping, so we went to the mall one day.  The kids scored some clothes courtesy of Mamaw Annie.

Hannah and I took her to the beach one day where we saw tons of dolphins playing in the surf.  I usually see dolphins when we go to the beach, but not as many or as close up as they were that day. 

We decided to try out a dolphin tour.  It was amazing and we will be taking future company on the tour.

 

While we were on the boat, Mom said she didn't have a profile picture on Facebook, so Rachel took a picture and made it Mom's Facebook profile picture for her.

 

After the tour, we had lunch at Waterman's.  We had not been there before and really enjoyed it.  We had water view seats and actually saw more dolphins playing in the water.  

Mom wanted to walk around and take the kids into some souvenir shops.  

 

Rachel chose a shirt and Hannah found a dolphin wind chime.  Aaron's souvenir was not what we had planned.  He scored two hermit crabs.  The pets in this house now out number the kids.

Last Day of School

We finally made it to summer vacation!  Today was the last official day.  Hannah and I finished school just over a week ago and Rachel only had to go two days this week due to exams.  Aaron was the only one who had to power through.  He is now a high schooler. 

Aaron, Hannah and I went to Ben and Jerry's for our traditional last day of school ice cream celebration.  Rachel chose to go out to lunch with a friend.  Her loss because it was yummy!

 

We are ready to jump into our busy summer.  We have company coming several different weeks and will be doing a little traveling.  

The Crazy Uncle Brought His Wife

It is no secret how much we loved our church in Georgia.  The people there became like family to us. 
One day in our Sunday School class at Mountain View, I made the comment that church family is just like real family.  There are people you love to see at the family reunion, but there is always that one crazy family member.  Without missing a beat, Cheri said, "Is Jim the crazy uncle?"  Ha!  Well, that title stuck and I jokingly call him the crazy uncle.  He owns it!!

So many people at the church were quick to welcome us into the church family and offer a hand in shepherding my kids.  Jim and Cheri were definitely in that group.  Cheri welcomed us into classes right away.  Not long after we started attending Mountain View, Jim was setting up for an outdoor picnic at the church and needed help.  I noticed him tell Aaron to come with him.  Jim turned to me and said, "I'm taking him."  That was the moment that I knew we had found our church home.  Jim was taking Aaron under his wing just as he had so many other kids in the church.  It has been almost two years since we left Georgia and we still miss our church home.

I was thrilled when Cheri asked if they could stop by for a visit on their way through town.  Holly took to Mr. Jim immediately.  She even tried to give him her denta-bone.  She hides those from us!!  We walked down to the neighborhood playground where Hannah spotted a pair of bald eagles.  Jim took some great pictures which I don't have.  We came home and had dinner and visited until it was time to take Aaron to Boy Scouts.  It feels good to know that our Georgia family thinks about us and misses us enough to stop by for a hug and a hello.

Elmo travels everywhere with Jim and Cheri.  We were of course happy to see him, too!  The kids still have a couple days of school left, but having Jim, Cheri and Elmo stop by was a fabulous way to kick off our summer!

No Longer a Junior

Hannah finished up her sixth year of Girl Scouts by bridging from Juniors to Cadettes. 

Ms. Mary helping her out of her Junior vest

 





 

Ms. Becky helping her into her Cadette vest

 



 

Hannah is third from the left in the green shirt