Community Effort

July 20, 2013

The Big Day finally arrived. For months, preparation for this even has been underway by so many different people. The training I received through the years of my childhood and teen years was brought back to life. The once used task of wiring flowers resurfaced. The memories of things I wished I had when decorating a reception hall blew in as I loaded my car. The whirlwind of the day took force as everything that had been so carefully thought through appeared with the help of so many hands.

While decorating for a friend’s wedding in North Carolina, I couldn’t help but remember all of the great wedding preparation memories for the Westbrook, Watson and Adams weddings in Michigan – the birthplace of my wedding knowledge.  Marcia and Judy, I gained a new understanding of what it felt like for you as I found myself surrounded by flowers waiting to be assembled into a bride’s bouquet just 12 hours before they were to be carried down the aisle.  I found myself grateful that the process of planning and preparing for a wedding was a community event where I could be involved along with everyone else who was willing to lend a hand along the way, even if it meant blisters from hot glue gun burns or sticky fingers from floral tape. Looking back, I realize how the community aspect of those experiences played an important role in shaping my life. I can only hope that I find opportunities to advocate that model in the future. 

So, I take this moment to thank Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy for letting me walk along with them through this process and understanding that, in my head, helping with both hands in any way that I can is the only way that makes sense.

 

The Three Sephtoneers

July 10, 2013

4:50am: I receive a text from my brother-in-law. The mid-wife has been called.

Note: With a girl and a boy already in the Sephton house, Hilary and Mark decided not to find out what the baby was until the first time they met face to face. My money was on the baby being a girl.

10:20am: It is almost time to push

Realization: I understand what it was like for the fathers back in the day when they weren’t allowed to be in the room for delivery.  

11:36am: Baby Girl!!  

Emotions: Relief that the wait is over, excitement that all went well, pride in my sister for making it through another home birth, satisfaction that I was right about her being a girl, and a wave of love ready to poor into my new niece, Eva Catherine. 

Servolution

July 4, 2013

Each year, the day that celebrates America’s independence serves as a landmark. Like pulling out a stake and hammering it into the timeline of my life, I always seem to be able to file away the events and great memories of July the 4^th. Last year, I was celebrating in the small, off-the-beaten-path town of McCarthy, AK. This year, I took a different approach to the holiday traditions.

The Servolution campaign has official begun.  The revolutionary idea that the gift of Christ’s love is free with no strings attached has inspired a list of events and projects that will come to fruition this month.  Changing oil in cars for single mothers, serving meals at the Durham Rescue Mission, creating a welcoming and safe atmosphere in the city’s pregnancy support services, and handing out 10,000 glow sticks at the fireworks event at UNC.

With my increased availability, I stepped into the moving current. One among many, I went to work attaching cards to glow sticks before they were passed to those entering the stadium. Before we knew it, our supply was gone and we had none left to offers those that approached us.

When the lights of the stadium where turned out to start the fireworks, there was a small moment in time when the only light filling the stadium came from the 10,000 glow sticks dispersed through the crowd. What seemed like a unique avenue to reach out to others reminded me how the little things do matter-- how a small light can pierce the darkness.  I don’t always see the effects, nor am I always paying attention.  In many moments my perspective seems the most important. I am thankful for these moments when I am reminded who’s view really matters.