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.