It has been a while

So...a lot has happened since my last post but then again..nothing really has happened. One friday night while I was home, I was talking to my dad about grad school and taking the GRE (Graduate Record Examination). I decided to sign up to take it on that Monday. I didn't study and yet managed to make an 1100. I guess this is a decent grade but I don't know what the graduate schools that I am interested in are looking for. Currently, my favorite choice for grad school is the University of New Orleans. Supposedly they have a really good early intervention program because they work with a local hospital and they have good funding. Also, I would only be an hour away from Lagniappe. :)
I have now been in school for a week. I am already overwhelmed but am trying to believe the gospel. It is taking a lot to get Best Buddies going for the year. Best Buddies has been taking up more time and effort than school. We have over 60 Buddies with intellectual disabilities then their College Buddies and extra students who do not have their own buddy.Managing 130+ people is a little overwhelming at times.
I'm enjoying my classes so far. I am taking history of social welfare, severe disabilities curriculum, educational media, and practicum. I am learning a lot of interesting things like how to make my own web page, different issues that have affected social welfare laws, and strategies to use when working with children with severe disabilities. It is awesome to be excited about school and I hope it continues through the semester!

Let the games begin!

I decided to throw a party in our pool house to celebrate the olympic opening ceremony. We invited the Boykins, Morgans, and Mary Morton to come celebrate with us. Annika and Sarah made olympic rings out of paper plates and torches out of construction paper and cellophane. Our menu was a chinese theme including: fried rice, stir fry with dog (tastes like pork), PF chang's lettuce wraps, fortune cookies, and Dissident's death by chocolate for dessert. Annika and Sarah helped me make a playlist for our party and one of their favorite songs on the playlist was the Chariots of Fire theme song. We were playing the song when Griff and Annika decided they were going to play soccer in slow motion. (If you haven't seen Chariots of Fire...Casey....then you probably won't get the video. Go out and rent it now!)

We also held our own olympic pool games (water wrestling, water polo, synchronized swimming, and synchronized diving). Cobi, Tanner, Eli, and Corey were our synchronized diving winners.

Six flags is invaded!

I finished my summer classes and now have about a week and a half until fall classes start. Woo Hoo! I met the family in Atlanta to use up our return passes to six flags before they expire. As we were walking into the park, we ran into our old friends from Community, the Griffith's. It was so fun seeing them and how big their kids are now. It made me feel so old to see these kids that I used to babysit that are now almost as tall as me. Wow! Here are some of our pictures from the park:




Thursday, was Katrina and Corey's first day at public school. They were so excited and said they had a good first day. I got to take them and my other brothers (the Boykins) to school in the minivan. Corey seemed to know a lot of the kids in his classes and Katrina had fun meeting new people. One of her friends said she looked a little lost but Katrina looks lost at home too so that is nothing new. :)
Below (left to right): Tanner, Yates, Cobi, Corey, Katrina, Seth

The special education department at Auburn is mourning with a dear friend, advisor, and professor Kelly Brumbeloe who recently lost her husband to a rare form of cancer. Her husband, Sam, began having health problems in Septmeber 2007. His health declined rapidly in January 2008 and he lost around 30 lbs by March 2008 when he was admitted into the hospital for about a week. They ran a number of tests to figure out what was causing his pain and declined health. They finally ran an MRI of his brain and found a mass. Sam was sent to UAB to see more specialists who could determine whether the mass was a vascular malformation or a tumor. Sam spent about a month at UAB and had numerous tests and scans run throughout his stay. Sam returned home in June but continued to get worse so he went back to UAB for 1o days then after more tests, returned home with a hospital bed, wheelchair, and home nurse. The doctors said that there wasn't a definite answer but that they thought it was PNET (a rare cancer) but it was definitely cancer and definitely malignant. By this time, Sam had lost close to 70 lbs. They started radiation but didn't see much improvement. This last Wednesday, Sam was moved to a residential hospice facility here in Auburn where he passed away this Friday. Sam and Kelly have 2 young children together (a 4 year old boy and a 1? year old girl).

Please pray for this wife and mother as she grieves the loss of her spouse and father of her children. Pray that God will wrap his his arms around her and comfort her as she continues through life with her children. Pray for their children, that they will be able to remember their dad and the good times they got to spend with him. Pray that they will grow up with a close relationship to their heavenly Father.

Hebrews 13:5- "...God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'"

I had tears running down my cheeks, soaking my shirt as I listened to this boy remind me of the gospel. It is neat to see how God speaks to us in unexpected ways.

Twenty-one!

My 21st birthday was this past Monday. I didn't get to do much celebrating since I was at the Best Buddies Leadership conference in Indiana and in a plane for most of the day; so me and my roomies made plans to go celebrate in Atlanta this Friday. Although, while I was in Indiana, some of the girls I met there, found a birthday banner and candles, made a makeshift cake out of pieces of banana, and sang to me at midnight. They were so sweet!

Last night was my celebration with the roomies in Atlanta. We left Auburn around 5pm and arrived home around 2:30 am; it was a blast! The night started out at the Atlanta Aquarium for live music and drinks. Then we headed to a cute little restaurant called Murphy's and a jazz club dowtown next to the Foxe theater called Churchill Grounds. It was so nice to hang out with my roomates and get away from school.

Its ok that I'm not ok

Yesterday was one of those days where everything seems to build up to the point where you have 2 choices. 1) you can have a meltdown and become depressed or 2) you hand it all over to God and say "your will be done". Being the broken sinner that I am, I opted for choice #1. It felt like the world was against me and I could do nothing right; I was drowning and nothing could save me. Sometimes it is good to have a little cry but I dwelled on everything that was wrong and on things that I could not change. My advisor is moody and it is a rare occasion that she is in a good mood, thus making my life miserable; I can't fix a broken relationship; I am trying so hard to make a difference and there are so many obstacles holding me back. Why can't life be easy?! My thought was, "God, I am trying to do good and show your love...help me out here!". I felt like I had a right to get the easy path out.

Today, God has pushed me to the point of having no other choice than to hand it over to him. It is amazing the peace he has given me. I was reading from My Utmost for His Highest for July 22. The topic for the day is Sanctification. Some of the verses they reference are the following:

Matthew 10:34 (NIV)

"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword."

Luke 14:26 (NIV)

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple"

1 Corinthians 1:27-30 (NIV)

"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption."


I read the first 2 verses and I was like, you've got me there God. I am miserable and can't see the purpose in all of this. Now what? Then I got to the 3rd verse...duh...it is in my weaknesses that he is made strong. I need to hand it over to him because I can't do it on my own. I know all these things but why is it so easy to forget and so hard to do? He has freed me from myself and my works! I am His and can rest in Christ and his holiness! Thank you God for reminding me of your glory and power.

Family

This is my family! Ok, so mom and dad aren't that old, but you get the picture. I love them dearly and have come to appreciate them more and more over the past few years. It is fun watching my siblings turn into real people. They are growing up and forming plans and goals for their future. I love bragging about them and telling my friends how weird my brothers and sisters are!

Often I am asked "how many brothers and sisters do you have?". This is probably one of the hardest questions for me to answer. The struggle is 1) do I take the easy way out and say "5" or 2) do I risk it and say "6". (Risk probably isn't the appropriate word but because I am not eloquent with words it will have to do.) There is always the chance that even if I do respond "6" they will not ask "what are the ages?". If they do ask, I can sometimes get away with saying "I am the oldest and the youngest is 9 and everyone is about 2 years apart". It usually is not hard for me to talk about Rachael but it is the response that I get when I tell people that she was killed in a car accident that is hard. It creates an awkward situation for all. They don't know how to respond and I don't know how to ease their discomfort.

Anyways, this is all on my mind today because I miss her. I go home and am jealous of the close relationships that my siblings at home are able to build because they live together. I had that once...Rachael and I would lay in our bunk beds at night and talk about everything. She would complain about girls at school that got on her nerves and the drama that surrounds them and I would do the same. Then we would talk about our latest crushes and how dumb boys were. Not to say that everything was perfect because we had tough times too. This may sound silly, but I even miss fighting with her about her getting into my stuff or never cleaning the room. She was so stubborn and most of the time I just wanted to yell at her but she was my best friend.

All this to say, it is bittersweet to see my siblings become closer. My favorite thing is to see Jordan looking out for Katrina. Putting it mildly, Katrina is very naive about how boys think and what her actions say to guys. Recently, mom was telling me about some boy that kept calling the house late at night to talk to katrina. Katrina claims they are just friends but she talks to him at all hours of the night. I have tried explaining to her that that is not what friends do and mom has talked to her too, but it was awesome to hear Jordan say that this guy better stop calling or else. He has also told her how she doesn't need to be talking to guys on myspace and facebook that she does not know. It is neat to hear him look out for her because it is a different Jordan than when I was living at home.

Sarah is a spit fire. She won't take anything from anyone, especially if you are related to her. She is a snuggler and loving when she wants to be, and she has seemingly unlimited patience when caring for other people's children.

Corey is the cutest little freckle faced blonde that I have seen (totally unbiased opinion). He has the whole west coast surfer look going for him. He also has a "girlfriend" and thinks he is so big and bad. I still see him as a little boy but he is growing up faster every day.

Annika is the most tender hearted of them all. She told mom that she was going to stay home when she grows up and take care of mom and dad when they are old. Also, when I asked her what she wanted to do when she grew up, she said that she wanted to be a veterinarian and that she couldn't stand to see animals hurting. She is very emotional and can't watch certain movies without crying. I remember watching Charlotte's Webb in the theater with my family and Annika and I looking at each otherwith tears in our eyes after Charlotte had died. Dad laughed at us of course. :)

This is my family. We are broken and in need of God's grace. And I love them!