Farewell 2010

Our year in a nutshell...

We brought in the new year with four Grissoms.

The first day of Ryan's very last Truett Seminary class- a bitter-sweet idea.

Thanks to Joanne (Hye) and Uncle Cam, Ryan attended classes, I continued teaching, and Jack was able to stay home with loved ones.

Jack's first experience with snow! (And a rare occurrence for Waco, TX. This snow followed a 70-degree Sunday.)

Ryan officiated his first wedding and it was beautiful! We love Scot and Kelsey and could not be happier for them!

We know this couple from the church at Adamsville. Our fist church with the loveliest and most hospitable people! This is the only church I have ever been in where they still ring a bell to start the church service. I came to love the sound of that bell. As the tradition goes at Adamsville, a child rings the bell. As you can see no one is too young to participate. This church will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Jack's first camping trip- we were so proud! He slept on a thermorest and everything!

I finished my 2nd year teaching. My prayers stay with this school and I love and miss my teaching friends.

One of our big milestones this year was moving out of state. We have all three been Texans our whole lives (Ryan and I a little longer than Jack). We packed up and headed for the mountains!

We had A LOT of help in this moving process. We are so grateful to our cleaners, moving truck packers, box unloaders, trip companions, and encouragers. We could not have done this without you.

Ryan and I were brought on staff at Los Altos Christian Church in Albuquerque, NM. We had no idea at the time just how influential this church would be in our path to our church. We are eternally grateful to the mentorship and support of Steve and Debbie Chisolm.

Ryan served as the associate minister and I served as the youth minister. All

youth ministers wish they had a youth group as fabulous as I did!

The Mosley's came to visit.

We were invited to visit one of our favorite couples at their cabin in Ruidoso, NM. This couple is adorable and we hope to be like them "when we grow up". Yet again, another influential event that we had no idea of the significance at the time.

Jack's first plane ride! We flew back to Texas for Tepi and Joey's beautiful wedding. Congratulations again you two!

While Jack and I toured Texas, Ryan went backpacking with John and his dad in Colorado.

Ryan received his diploma! Being an August graduate, he would not have a graduation ceremony until December; I've never seen Ryan so giddy to open a USPS-delivered package.

The Meachams came to visit.

Cam and Michelle got hitched! And we caught up with good friends. We love all these people!

Our baby boy celebrated his first birthday and all his grandparents
were able to be there to celebrate!

Jack spent some quality time with cousins.

We have been praying for "our future church" since we were engaged. We have known all along that Ryan wanted to serve as a pastor in a church. We were willing to go anywhere, but our dream has always been to live in the mountains. The whole story of our journey to First Christian Church, Ruidoso unfolds as a miracle of God's timing. We feel so completely blessed to now be at a beautiful church full of beautiful people and of all places, in the mountains. We love our church already!

Remember the couple we visited in Ruidoso earlier this summer? Not only are they adorable, they are generous beyond mind-boggling reason. We found a house, but due to government stipulations, we could not purchase the home until Ryan had 30-day proof of employment. Catch 22: How can he start working if we have no where to live? The Coats graciously offered their gorgeous cabin as a temporary home for us until we could purchase our house. It gets better. The Coats told us over a year ago about Ruidoso and "this cute church that you would be perfect for". They have been hugely significant in our final destination path to ministry and permanence.

Ryan's graduation ceremony was a proud moment for all of us!

And our final family milestone for 2010: we are home owners!

We would not have survived this last year without a lot of help. We are grateful, appreciative and humbled of every gift (support, babysitting, financial, moving, listening, etc.) we received as a family in 2010. Thank you for caring about us. We feel so loved!

As we move into 2011, we are so excited about our new church family and our expanding personal family as we look forward to welcoming two nieces and a nephew!

helpful child vs. destructive parenting

Most of you know I taught middle school English to 7th graders in Waco, TX for two years. What I am about to describe does not pertain to every child I crossed paths with during those two years.

In my classroom, in the hallway, definitely in the lunchroom, I noticed a negative cloud of entitlement. In this place, it is not unusual for a child to be asked to help someone do something and be refused because it's not their job and you can't make them. This also applies to homework. We as teachers tried many tactics to entice the students to actually do their homework and bring it back, but as I was told on more than one occasion, if the student refuses to do what their parent asks them, why should they do what I ask them? Good question, but it's the wrong question. Why are you refusing to do what your parent asks you? What created this air of laziness and why do you think a life of nothing is better than a life of involvement? I came across an article from www.babycenter.com that I found very interesting. I have copied and pasted a few parts below:

Tool: Ask for your child's help
Age: 12 months to 8 years
How it works: Researchers know something parents may not: Kids come into the world programmed to be helpful and cooperative. All we have to do as parents is take advantage of this natural tendency. "Kids are innately wired to want to cooperate," says Kathryn Kvols. "A lot of times we parents just don't notice this because we don't expect children to be helpful."

…

Kvols says. "You're teaching your child to be helpful, which is one of the most important life skills. We've found time and again that the people who are most mentally healthy are those who've learned to be of service to others."

Isn’t that fascinating? I fully believe this is true. I wonder how many of my students when they were younger were positively encouraged to take responsibility for themselves and in turn were praised for a good or helpful choice?
I have actually sat in parent conferences (yes plural) where the parent and child had a cussing match.

In the comical and ridiculous movie “Corky Romano”, the sensitive main character tells a gang of thugs regarding their vicious guard dog, “Bad dogs aren’t born; they’re made.” While Corky’s timing didn’t bring about good results for him, I think he’s right about dogs and I would apply this to children as well. 

My son will pick up a remote and immediately point it at the t.v. Today he was loaned a few toys to occupy him while we were out and in the toy basket was a play phone. He’s not allowed to play with our phones and he doesn’t have a play phone at home but the moment he saw this toy, he picked it up and put it to his ear. 

You are wondering about my point: I am trying to prove through my own experiences that I am positive children watch us very closely and understand far more than they are given credit for. We as parents MUST model a helpful and responsible attitude. We MUST encourage even the smallest good decisions far more often than a daily basis.

I still am wrestling with a question though. What do you do when you see a destructive parent?
I have watched parent-child interactions in public that have literally haunted me. In one instance, the toddler’s nickname was “Sh*t head” and the parent was laughing about it since the kid “didn’t understand”. Another time I stood in the checkout line behind a teenage parent and another toddler watching thier “game” where the parent would slap the child’s cheek and the young boy would make a fist and punch the parent in the face.

I am sickened to think of the messages these children are receiving. So I return to my question. What do you do when you see this? I am honestly struggling with this. I feel an obligation to this child’s future, but socially I know it’s not my place. 

What do you do?

Birth of JESUS according to Facebook

My little sister sent me this video. This is a very clever modern day depiction of Mary and Joseph's story.

Hats off to...

Quite often I ponder what my life would be like without Ryan.

If you stop reading after that first line, you may be concerned for our marriage. Worry not; let me explain:
Ryan almost always takes out the trash, often helps me with the dishes, checks the mail, tickles Jack until his one dimple can't sink any deeper and he can't squeal any louder, sometimes surprises me with plans, goes back to the store to get what I forgot, carries the high chair AND tray at Chick-fil-A... the list could go on and on. It's the times when Ryan is unable to help me do these things that I realize how blessed I am. Some people don't have any one to help them at all. Much less a loving, supportive spouse.
Life with Ryan is energetic, fun, and eventful in a good way. Life without my Ryan would be difficult, exhausting, and draining. I love my son dearly to a level I never knew was possible, but there is a reason children should have two parents. After moving to a new state this summer, I have traveled back to Texas a few times for various reasons and mostly by myself with Jack. I have tasted the single parent life and I empathize.

Hats off to single parents.

I applaud you for waking up this morning and starting your day knowing it probably wouldn't be easy. I applaud you for every bit of encouragement you offered your child when you really didn't feel like talking. I applaud you for cooking dinner. I applaud you for squishing the shopping cart into the handicap stall in the Wal-mart bathroom because there was no one else to hold your offspring (yes nature calls single parents in public too).
You are an unsung hero.

Slavery in 2010

http://blog.sojo.net/2010/11/26/underwear-for-a-cause/

“the systems of our world ought to reflect the ideals of our faith; that being, to love and respect the people who grow our food, make our clothes, and work in so many different ways to provide us the things and services we use every day.”


The above blog explains very well a wonderful rising trend. This fair trade trend embodies support of a cause much bigger than high fructose corn syrup; this is people's lives. As we have checked ingredients at the store trying to make healthier decisions for what we put into our body, we have also tried to buy fair trade. Did you know there are actually more slaves in the world today than there were in Abraham Lincoln's time? All kinds of slaves: mostly women and children but also men enslaved by sweat shops, prostitution, brothels, blackmail, other humans who have purchased them- yes, purchased. This is solidly heart breaking. Did you know that sex slaves will be brought in for the super bowl? IN DALLAS? Yes, there is slavery in Texas. It's worldwide. It's nauseating. 


Here is another website about the awful facts of slavery today. I highly encourage you to read and pray. I have copied and pasted a few quotes from this site below the link.

http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/

The slaveholder acts swiftly to take complete control of the child’s life. Passports, birth certificates, national identity cards, and any other documents of citizenship are stripped from the child’s possession. The child is kept closely guarded and locked in a room when not accompanied. Even if escape were possible, the child has no money, probably does not speak the local language, and does not know to whom he or she could turn for help. Given their past experience, slave children would not instinctively trust public officials or the police.

The slaveholder also generally manipulates a relationship of financial dependence with the child. Basic life necessities like food, clothing, and shelter are charged to the child’s “account.” Until that money is repaid, the child is obligated to continue in the slaveholder’s service.

Slaveholders will buttress these social controls with the constant threat of violence. Almost all trafficked children will testify that they were victims of an extreme act of violence within the first forty-eight hours of their abduction. Whether through rape or brutal beatings, slaveholders use violence to imprint their dominance. In the logic of the trafficking world, a terrified child is a compliant child. The slaveholder therefore will never let the child slip out of a state of terror…  If a client ever complains that the sex slave was less than accommodating, swift and brutal punishment will be meted out.

What if this were you? Forget that, what if this were your daughter?
We must do something.

PRAY.

Perhaps through prayer, the Lord will enable you and I with ideas, information, abilities, to advocate for the broken spirits of these forgotten children of God. These children and people have souls like every other human being. They are not less because of their origin, language, age, color, faith background, or because they are strangers. Please, fight for them. Pray for them. Pay the extra money for fair trade goods and ensure that the hands that created this product received what is fair so they can support their family. Raise and donate money to a cause already seeking to free those in bondage and expose the hidden world of slavery. Share your ideas with others; shed light in the darkness.

Check out this website http://www.transfairusa.org/content/WhereToBuy/
Google: fair trade, human trafficking
Look for these symbols:

Fair trade UK

Fair trade US

Fair trade certified

Fair trade federation

Holy Moly! Kraft, you must be kidding!

I recently contacted a few of my past favorite companies through their "Contact us" section on their websites. I was not rude or tacky, but I informed them that we have eliminated high fructose corn syrup from our family diet and which means I have stopped purchasing products like Yoplait light yogurt, Kellogs Nutrigrain bars, Honey Maid graham crackers, V8 Splash, etc. My purpose in contacting these major companies was to be a voice for natural in hopes that other people may do the same, followed by changes in processed foods for the better health of the overall consumer. That being said, each company wrote me back with a similar gist: appreciative of my feed back but no immediate plans of changing their recipes. Still, I was a little surprised at the response from Nabisco, Kraft. Feel free to read for yourself below. The enlarged print was my doing to draw attention to the statement by the company.

Thank You for Contacting Us!

Hi Kristyn,

Thank you for visiting http://www.nabiscoworld.com.

Our consumers' safety and health are our number one priority, and we would not allow ingredients into our products that we believe would not be safe for consumption.

Experts agree that there are no nutritional differences among regular sugar and high fructose corn syrup, and the body uses all types of sugar in the same way.

We use high fructose corn syrup because of its stability, consistency and functionality, as well as its cost.

Kraft offers consumers a wide range of products to suit consumers' needs -- some contain sugar, others high fructose corn syrup or non-nutritive sweeteners, such as Aspartame - and these are clearly listed on the product's list of ingredients for consumers' convenience.

If you would like to read more about HFCS, please visit the International Food Information Council's website: www.ific.org

If you haven’t done so already, please add our site to your favorites and visit us again soon!

Kim McMiller
Associate Director, Consumer Relations

Click here to watch this juicy juice commercial. Makes me smile every time!

Dying safely

*Inspired by a quote from Shane Claiborne.

Just a thought-
Why do we try so hard to arrive at death safely?
I never thought about it like that before.
Do you think we miss out in the meantime?
I know I tamed up a little when I fell in love with my husband and I became safe when I became a mom. I wouldn't be true to myself though if I only lived by trying not to die. I didn't used to be a fearful person, but I am wondering if I have become one. I don't plan on buying a motorcycle today, but I am self-searching.
What would you do if you weren't trying to be safe?
Not for the sake of being dangerous.
Honestly, what would you do if you weren't held back by the fear of death?
What an exciting day dream for today!

Arnold Family Update

It's hard to believe...

We have semi-moved to Ruidoso, New Mexico! We will celebrate our full move when we are holding the keys attached to the house with the "for-sale" sign covered by the "contract pending" sign in the front yard of the house with the stylish, red front door. We are currently "suffering" in the meantime in the cutest cabin I've ever seen, so generously supplied by Dr. Bob and Lynn Coats of central TX.

It's hard to believe...

How blessed we have been in this process of finding a permanent home and church family. From the Coats' cabin that just happened to be available for our complete take-over and occupancy for over a month, to the very first phone call from the pastor search committee from First Christian Church, Ruidoso. It feels as though the planets have aligned and the universe has created a domino effect of events falling right into place. Forget thanking our lucky stars, we are praising God for answered prayers and thanking God for our many blessings while asking God, who are we to be so blessed by you?

It's hard to believe...

Ryan was employed by P.F. Chang's for approximately three weeks. The day he went looking for a service job, he walked out the door and we both felt beaten. We threw a little party the day he was able to quit the restaurant industry last year and to go back to waiting tables after finishing his masters and accruing that much more debt made our world feel scary and uncertain. (My stress blog was written during this time.) Our budget was so tight, we didn't even order lettuce wraps with his 20% employee discount, yet Ryan diligently dressed in his black ninja uniform daily and went to work because it was the only thing he could do as we earnestly prayed for our future. Within three weeks, he was preaching in view of a call before a lovely congregation who voted that day to bring him on as their new senior minister. All this is less than a month.

It's hard to believe...

Ryan and I used to day dream together in our 600 sq. ft., bug-infested, non-insulated, duplex of a first home located in inner-city, Waco, TX about living in a small mountain town. Honestly, what are the chances of that dream coming true for a young family still in seminary so far away from any mountains at all in more ways than just distance?

It's hard to believe...

How much we love our one-year-old son. I don't know which part is more unbelievable: this great love we feel, or the birthday party that already happened!

We are so thankful this week as we count our blessing. We are thankful for:

* The Coats' for providing us not only a beautiful place to wait for our home, but temporarily a second vehicle!
* All the prayers. We know word of our family and hopes as we have been in the search and call process traveled (mostly through our moms) and we are grateful to all who heard our story and remembered us in prayer.
* First Christian Church Ruidoso! Our new church home. We have been so welcomed already and we appreciate everyone who has offered to help us through this transition. Especially Paula, Bob, Terri, and Bart for watching Jack while we house hunted. You made finding a home quickly possible!
* The generous gifts we received. You know who you are. While we were without a salary, we were not forgotten. Thank you so much for your generosity and consideration!
* Extended family. We will miss being with all of you this Thanksgiving day but we will see you soon and are thankful that you not only understand why we will not be home for every holiday anymore, but also support this life! Each future visit will be even more special.

I will leave you with a picture of our mountain compliments of google. We will have more pictures to share of our new home as soon as we find our camera.

May you and your family experience the rich blessings and presence of the Lord this week.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Fear and Pigs

I don’t think the person who sent me this email reads this blog. But in case you do, please do not take my opinion of this forward personally; thank you for the inspiration.

I recently read an email suggesting if “we” (Americans) bury a pig where a mosque is to be constructed, then the soil would be contaminated thereby thwarting the evil construction plans. I have a few problems with this.

Problem 1:

Animal Rights activists would have a field day all over you for killing a pig for the purpose of annoying another religion. They are hardcore. Let’s just say the rest of the world would be highly entertained for what PETA would consider justice done to you for hurting an animal.

Problem 2:

I am a Christian. I believe Jesus left us examples to follow of how he would have handled situations. The common denominator seems to be love. As far as I can tell, Jesus never tried to make anyone look stupid so he would look smarter. He never protested other religions to prove he was the answer. Jesus spent time with people so they would KNOW him.

I often fail, but I try to filter my motivations by love. If love is not the reason for my choice, then perhaps I need to rethink this.

Erin Edwards, a good friend from college, used to always remind us, “God’s bigger”. She is so right. God is bigger than me, than America, than anything I think I can protect God from.
I do not need to burn a Koran to protect the Bible.
I do not need to protest a mosque to protect the Church.
I do not need to curse Islam to protect Christianity.
God is bigger!
None of these actions would even make it through the filter; there is no love in the background! There is fear. If I believe God is bigger, I do not need to fear. I have not been given a spirit of fear. I will not act on a spirit of fear.

Problem 3:

The most troubling line of the afore-referenced email is, “Americans, put on your thinking caps and let’s find a solution to this problem of a spreading menace to the American way of life!”

The “menace” mentioned is Islam.

Due to the apparent rallying of Americans, I have a feeling that the same person who wrote this email also says they believe in the constitution. If that is true, then they must honor freedom of religion.

What if…

(Insert any voice that disagrees with me for the italicized portion.)All those Muslims should just stay in their own country and stop interfering with our American ways and leave my Christianity alone. (This was the gist of the inspirational email.)

This fearful person has missed something. Unless this person is in missionary training to go into Muslim countries with the gospel… do you see where this is going? This person claims to be a Christian, but instead of furthering the gospel, they are misrepresenting it. The incredibly small percentage of foreign missionaries will statistically allow me to guess that our email writer is not in missionary training. I’m not attacking them for that, I am suggesting they use a different lens.

What if…

Instead of running in fear from other religions, we lived out our faith. What a blessing to have America integrated with so many world cultures to celebrate! Dear email writer, do you realize that if you were living like a loving Christian rather than a hateful one, perhaps this fictitious enemy may recognize your “love filter”? Not your “duty filter” where you only go to church because you have to, but your love filter; the motivation by which you live your life and open your mouth to speak or compose your emails.

Do you realize that you don’t have to travel abroad to represent Christ world-wide? By living like a Christian in America, we are globally spreading the gospel. Or globally making the world hate Christians. I could disassociate myself from Christians and Americans alike by calling myself a North Central Western Hemisphere Christ Follower. But what would creating another term solve?

In Conclusion, LOVE. 

Family Anniversary

From our first family picture to what we have become in such a short year,
we can only repeat, we are so blessed.

Thankful.

Our prayer for our son:

May we
Grow in every way as a family,

Teach you by example,

Love you unconditionally;

May you never
Be afraid of losing our love or
wonder if we are proud of you;

May the Lord

Bless you and keep you.

Happy 1st Birthday 

Jackson Forest Arnold!