hiccups

OK, so I have no excuse this time. I (Kyle) actually have two blog posts rumbling around in my head, fighting for the chance to make it onto this posting. Each idea is good (very good, in fact) and knows that it is worthy of your attention. But, they also know that I have begun to exhibit a reputation for giving ideas rare opportunities to display their wonderful talents of grabbing a reader's attention and entertaining him/her for hours at a time. So, I must choose and hope that the other idea will not fall into relative obscurity within the confines of my brain.

Well, no one said living here and venturing after God's will was ever going to be easy. In fact, I seem to recall several passages in a widely-known, 66 volume book that explain that it won't, in fact, be all rosy and peachy-keen. This is not to say, however, that we are facing overwhelming obstacles. I just mean to say that we are experiencing several annoying "instances" that threaten to rob us of our sanity. And, since I have, within the past three years, developed a slightly annoying habit of hiccuping frequently, I have affectionately begun to think of these not-so-easy portions of our new life as 'hiccups.' [caution: not finishing this entry could result in the reader jumping to false conclusions.]

Hiccup #1 - The Debit Cards
As both Genesis 2 and the Spice Girls have correctly pointed out, marriage involves the meshing together of two individuals into one. What is often missed, however, is that this meshing process encompasses so much more than...well...what normally comes to mind. Two days ago, we began to notice that we had yet to receive our new debit cards. Before we moved to New Orleans on July 5, we had visited Becca's bank (which has locations in both Birmingham and NOLA) to 1) change her name, and 2) to put my name on the account. When we got to NOLA, we went to a branch to order debit cards. After two weeks of waiting for our cards, we called the bank to figure out the hold-out. Come to find out, neither Bec's name, nor our address had been changed, which is why we have yet to receive our cards.

Hiccup #2 - The Cell Phones
Before moving, we also transferred Bec's cell phone over to my plan. Well, something was lost in translation, which has resulted in a sudden, unexplained disappearance of minutes. The further result of this cellular caper is that we no longer have any minutes (no rollover milk-minutes or anything) until July 28 (which is not good, considering all the phone calls we have had and still need to make in order to complete the moving process). It's a shame that the cellular company told me that they can't do anything about until that bill clears after the 28th.

Hiccup #3 - The Driver's License
Unfortunately, I did not realize that I was going to need both my social security card and my birth certificate in order to get my Louisiana driver's license. Since I do not quite know where my social security card is, I had to go to the social security office (which is strangely located in the Clearview mall across from the food court) to order a new one. And, my birth certificate was sadly left in Birmingham because I did not think that I would need it. So, I must wait to get my license.

Hiccup #4 - The Transcript
This one is actually funny. Bec is supposed to go into the Jefferson Parish Board of Education office on Monday to fill out all of her paperwork. She will need her Univ. of Alabama transcript and her Alabama teaching certificate. The teaching certificate actually hasn't been a problem. I praise God that, after all that we have been through to get that certificate, she was actually able to hold it in her hands yesterday. The transcript, on the other hand, is a different matter. I ordered Bec's transcript about 10-12 days ago. As of yesterday morning, we had yet to receive it. We called UA and found out that they sent it on July 15. That was 10 days ago! Then an idea popped into our heads. We called the Seminary Registrar office. Surprisingly, we found out that Bec's transcript had been sent there instead of our P.O. Box! It makes a little sense, considering the only thing separating our address from theirs is the "#261" tacked onto the end of ours. So, we went to pick her transcript from the Seminary Registrar office yesterday afternoon.

There are a couple of more, but you probably get the picture. I want to be clear. I do not share these with you as a means of venting. I never want to use this blog as an avenue for complaining (Philippians 2:14-16). That would waste both your time and mine. My reasoning for mentioning these 'hiccups' to you is two-fold: 1) We covet your prayers in these matters - that we would be able to work all of this out before Bec's first day of school (Aug 11); and 2) because these areas pose a great temptation. Paul urges us in Romans 12:2 to "not conform any longer to the pattern of this world." We rightly think that this pattern consists of the "ultra-sinful" practices like sexual immortality, murder and hate (Romans 1:24-32). However, we sometimes fail to consider that the pattern of this world involves anything that hinders us from seeking after the kingdom of God as our first and sole priority (Matthew 6:25-34). The pattern of our daily lives is perhaps one of the greatest hindrances to the advancement of the gospel and God's Will in America today. We get up, go to work, go to church, pay the bills, and take care of everything to ensure that we have food, clothing, and shelter. Sometimes, the advancement of the gospel and God's Will gets lost in all of the hustle and bustle of our lives. Succumbing to this temptation is sinful.

So, Bec and I ask for you to pray with all of this in mind. We want to see God eliminate these hiccups so that we will not be distracted from our ultimate purpose here. We thank both you and God in advance. Although these seem little, they could trip us up like a small stone can trip a runner and cause him to break his leg and not be able to finish the race.

Down Time

It has been a busy two weeks as we have settled in and begun this new chapter of our lives. I (Becca) cannot believe all that has happened...I already feel like we have lived in this tiny hotel room for months!

I attended Montessori training every day last week. I am thankful for the time because, although it is boring, I have been able to get to know my co-workers much better than if there had been no training! Instead of dreading those first days of school, I am looking forward to it because of the support I know I'll have. I still don't know what grade I will be teaching. I have been trying to familiarize myself with the curriculum for both grades...Either way, the things that I teach the first two weeks will be very basic and can work for both grades. Right now I am calm and not too scared. However, I'm pretty sure that I will be very nervous in a couple of weeks. We have this week and most of next week off, so I am at home alll day every day this week. Kyle and I are getting a little stir crazy...

But God is faithful. He provided a grant for Kyle's education! We have a roof over our heads and food to eat. We have already made friends in New Orleans. It is so wonderful to see his hand as he provides for us. We are trying to enjoy this two week break. Once school starts, down time will be hard to come by.

Well, that's all I have today. I wanted to let everyone know we are still alive and well! Maybe next time we will have some more interesting details to write about :)

homerun

I (Kyle) have a million things that I want to write. The unfortunate thing is that I simply cannot write them all down here. Either I would end up spending more time writing than I do actually living my life, or you, the reader, would grow exponentially in the boredom category so that you would stop reading the blog altogether. I'm not a very big fan of either of those options, so I will just share what's on my heart.

I originally wanted to write about Becca's new job from my perspective, but I'm not going to. Instead, I am going to take a reprieve from the story of our lives to share one from that of someone else. Bear with me through the whole story, especially if you are like the 90% of the Alabama citizens who do not like professional baseball. I promise the story will be worth it. And for those of you who already know the story, you can just fast forward to the next entry.

Most of you know that my absolute favorite major league baseball team is the Texas Rangers. The unfortunate thing about my unwavering devotion for this team is that they have been the epitome of mediocrity for the last 8 years or so. And by mediocrity, I actually mean really, really bad. LA Clippers bad. But alas, I remain steadfast in my devotion and continue to check the boxscores everyday to see if the Rangers happened to pull out a victory.

Much to my surprise (especially after having the worst record in the whole league at the end of April), the Rangers are actually doing pretty well. Part of this has to do with the exceptional play of one, Josh Hamilton. And it is here where the story picks up.

In 1999 (keep in my mind, that is almost ten years ago), Josh was drafted first overall by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. And there was good reason to draft him. Josh was one of the most promising a gifted young players that year. It was no-brainer to draft him. However, Josh never made it to the majors. Instead, he spent 4 years in the minors, only one of which was spent above Class A ball (class AA). Then in 2002, Josh left baseball altogether (for a period of time that last three years). Josh had both a drug and alcohol addiction, one that required several trips to rehab. Finally in 2005, he gave it all over to Christ after being confronted by his grandmother about his addiction.

From here, he began to work his way back into baseball. Eventually he made his way to the majors last year (2007), and only played a small portion of the year. He was traded this past winter to the Rangers. This is his first year to play an entire professional season...ever. He leads the league in RBI and is considered by many to be the top candidate for the American League MVP.

Yesterday, and this is the cool part, Josh participated in the Home Run Derby (a competition to see who can hit the most homeruns). The day before, Josh shared that before he was reinstated back into baseball (2005), he had a dream that he was participating in the Home Run Derby at Yankee stadium. When he was done batting, he was interviewed with a mic in his face. Now, fast forward to the actual derby yesterday. Josh was batting last. By the time his turn came, the leader had 8 home runs. Josh came up to bat. He hit homerun after homerun until he had 28 total homeruns for the first round...shattering the previous record of 24. He more than tripled the second place guy. It's pretty amazing considering the guy he chose to pitch to him is a 71 year old man (Clay) who used to throw batting practice to Josh and a bunch of other kids in Raleigh, NC. When he was drafted back in 1999, Josh promised Clay, that he would use him as his pitcher if he was ever invited to the Home Run Derby. As Josh walked away with the entire stadium (it was Yankee stadium, by the way) chanting his name (that's right, New York Yankee fans), he was interviewed on the field with a mic in his face. He was the only player in the first round to be interview like that. At that moment, Josh chose to give glory to God.

Unfortunately, Josh did not win the whole thing because of a rule that says the two remaining players will start the third round at 0. He was probably tired from the first round. But, as the derby ended he was approached with the mic again. And at the moment when he lost, he chose to give glory to his "Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for giving [him] the opportunity."

Everyone knew it was Josh's show. Even the guy who won felt bad and undeserving of the award. In three rounds, he didn't even hit as many homeruns as Josh hit in the first round. But I'm okay with Josh losing. How often does someone get the opportunity to speak the glory of God's name to millions after losing an event. Josh did. That is a rare privilege in a day and age when people scoff at references to Christ by an athlete who has just won an award or the championship. They say, "God, if he even exists, doesn't care about baseball or football to the point where he helps Christians win." And to a certain extent, I will agree with that. I'm not sure that he does. But, I know that my God works everything so that the glory of His name is spread to the masses. And in that losing moment, Josh Hamiltion made himself less with his defeat, and made Christ's name greater to the masses. To God be the glory for the transformation and sanctification that has taken place in Josh's life.

The Job

God is blessing us and affirming our decision to move here every day! I (Becca) went to my job interview Thursday morning and was offered a job. Right there. On the spot. I couldn't make the decision without talking to Kyle , so I told the principal that I would call her that afternoon with an answer. After going to my second job interview that afternoon with the RSD, Kyle and I sat down to make our decision. We could find no reason to say "no" to the job. So... I have a job!

I will be teaching 4th or 5th grade (it depends on whether or not a few students pass or fail summer school) at Washington Elementary School in Kenner, Louisiana. My understanding is that the kids come from low socioeconomic homes. The school is going to teach using the Montessori method (which basically means hands on learning with more concentration on success as an individual, rather than simply making the grades). I will still teach the "regular" way because my students are older and not accustomed to Montessori. However, I will be expected to integrate Montessori materials into lessons.

The staff has only 4 members who remained from the previous year. Other teachers chose not to stay because of the Montessori training, etc. The staff is also fairly young, with several teachers having 5 or fewer years of teaching experience. I am one of 3 first year teachers. I already love my co-workers! They have amazing personalities and keep me laughing constantly. I was excited to learn that one of the 4th grade teachers' husband is also taking classes at the seminary. We were able to get to know them a little better at the staff cookout last night.

God is taking care of us. He is faithful to fulfill his word. He told us to go, so we went. He has provided shelter, food, and now a job and friends. We are more thankful than words can express.

The Job Search

It's my (Becca) turn for an update...and what a busy two days it has been for me. I'm learning to balance being a good wife with finding that all important job! Yesterday morning I woke up with that determination that I sometimes get. I just HAD to do SOMETHING to get a job. So, I made a phone call to the Recovery School District. The RSD is a district of schools that were already in terrible condition before Katrina hit. After the storm, the state of Louisiana took over the schools and began looking for the best teachers to staff the schools. Many of the students in this area (the heart of New Orleans) come from families living below the poverty line. The students have bigger concerns than school, and therefore are performing below grade level.

So I left a message with the appropriate person and sent an email to that same person, hoping to get some sort of response over the next week. I also decided to send an email to the Jefferson Parish contact that I made at the job fair in April. Just a few short hours later, I decided to check my email. I was shocked to find a response from both parties. The RSD told me to come in Wednesday morning to take the basic skills assessment, and the Jefferson Parish contact told me that we had never met...oops!

I sent the email to the wrong person!! I was embarrassed enough that I decided never to try to work in Jefferson again...haha. Well, an hour later as I was cooking dinner, my phone rang. It was the lady that I HAD met a the job fair (Ms. DiCarlo). It turns out that I accidentally emailed her superior, and her superior sent the email to Ms. DiCarlo. After all of that confusion, Ms. Dicarlo told me of some schools in her district that were hiring, and offered to pass out my information. She told me that I would be contacted by the principals withing the next few days.

This morning I took the test (I passed), and over the past 5 hours have recieved phone calls from two principals and the RSD representative. I have two interviews tomorrow, one at 9am and one at 12:30pm. My third interview is Monday at 9:30am. I can't believe the rate at which God is throwing interviews in my direction! I am excited and nervous. Hopefully I can keep my head on straight tomorrow during the interviews.

I appreciate prayers!! Pray for me tomorrow and over the next few weeks as I seek a job and try to make decisions.

Sacrifice

Kyle here. Becca's in the kitchen/bathroom cooking dinner, so I thought that I would write. Our experience in New Orleans has been interesting, to say the least. God has already been teaching me so many different things. After a long couple of days of loading furniture onto a uhaul truck, driving 6+ hours, and unloading most of it into a 10X6.5X9 unit (trust me, it's not that big), we ventured to Metairie (reminds me of what it would be like if Hoover, AL and Buckhead, GA got married and had kids...of course, you will have to excuse the absurd personification) with my family to grab some much-deserved dinner. As we said goodbye to my family and began to make the trek back to our hotel room, I couldn't help but feel a certain degree of uneasiness. Becca and I come from a very upscale area in the state of Alabama. And as a certain best friend of mine reminds me from time to time, where we lived in Birmingham is only as old as we are. That's 24 years, which is not a lot in city years. So, everything is new and state-of-the-art and rather spacious. And a lot of rich people live there...even if they don't think they are.

It couldn't be more different in New Orleans. We live in an area where, less than a block away, there is a shopping center that has been abandoned since Hurricane Katrina hit in Aug. '05. Just go a few more blocks, and you will see the abandoned Wal-mart, which happens to be one of the first sites you see as you head down I-10 into New Orleans. In fact, the closest Super Center seems somewhat out of place. Getting to it requires driving through what reminds me of the urban version of a ghost town (my guess is it has been this way for about three years) or an urban desert that all of a sudden gives way to a mirage-like giant of a grocery/retail store. And yes, it even has palm trees. Needless to say, we are in the heart of the city. In fact, it's not just any city. It's New Orleans, which as I have been reminded within the past month, has a certain dark reputation coupled with its hurricane devastated past.

I write all of this to preface one idea that, at that very moment in the car on the way back from Applebee's, God began to use in order to radically change our mindsets toward lifestyle ministry. In all of the prayer and thought that went into deciding to come to New Orleans, I never once was intimidated. On this night, I was both intimidated and, truth-be-told, scared for the very first time. It was out of this fear that we both starting taking notice of the huge sacrifice that we were making. And as I have been careful to describe to you, the assumption that is often made (us included) is that our area of Birmingham is a ton better than our new home. We thought to ourselves, "Of course it's a huge sacrifice to give up living and working in that upper middle class area where our families are just down the road along with the huge subdivisions, high quality schools, and 1,000+ member churches that have flourishing student ministries." And then it hit us. As I thought about how different suburban Birmingham is, I thought about how it has to be in the top 1% of nicest areas to live in in the world. In other words, it's the exception, not the norm. And then I thought about the many followers across the world that are giving up their lives and their families (forced separation) to advance the gospel. Some spend years in prison, pastor churches whose buildings are burnt down regularly, or watch as their spouse is killed right before their eyes. That is sacrifice. Giving up living in the top 1% of the world pales in comparison, even if it is where my family lives.

I want to be clear. I am not bashing the place that served as my home for the past 1o years, nor my family who currently lives there. After all, it's located in the most unchurched county in Alabama, and they need Jesus just as much as poor people do. I am merely saying that in the grand scheme of things, our "sacrifice" is small, including living 5 hours away from our friends and families. And we are glad to make it. We love New Orleans. Every bit of it. And we are excited about what God has for us to do here.

Matthew 10:37-40
"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. "

$40

It's Day 1 in New Orleans. After a restless night's sleep filled with ambulance sirens, honking horns, and blasting radios (all of which are affectionately now known to us as "drive-by's"), We have settled into our living arrangements on the campus of New Orleans Baptist Seminary. Well, it's not quite on the campus. It's on the Seminary-owned property that is across the street. And, I say living arrangements because we are living in the Seminary-owned hotel while we wait for an apartment on campus to become available. Meanwhile, we take comfort in the barbed-wire fence just outside our front door.

Yesterday was a long day. We arrived in NOLA around 3:15pm. The storage unit turned out to be surprisingly small...but with an incredible amount of patience and talent, Kyle and his dad managed to fit all of our belongings into the...closet. Meanwhile, Becca and Kayla found the hotel and checked in...too bad they weren't expecting us. It was also a shock to Bec to discover that the hotel room did not come with any linens...no towels, pillows, sheets...etc. It was quickly decided that a trip to the store was needed, since we do not own king size...anything. Nevertheless, we eventually moved everything to its new home.

Today we did some major shopping to make our hotel room more like home. After a quick lunch, we headed to Bed Bath and Beyond to spend our FAVORITE kind of money...gift cards! We searched the first floor of the two story store (that's right, 2 floors) and could not find the linens that we needed, so we headed to the escalator...wondering how we would get the cart upstairs. Did you know that there are escalators for carts too?? That's right, but the sign is sure to point out that you should take the child out of the cart first...

So we finally found the king size sheets. We found the cheapest set, which also happened to be the ugliest set, grabbed some pillows and a few other items, and headed for the check out line.
The total amount to be spent on linens was $40...much to our disappointment. That, combined with our other purchases, was sure to wipe out the remaining gift card money. However, when we stepped up to the register, the cashier discovered that one of the gift cards had more money on it than we thought. $40 more.

It may not seem like much in the grand scheme of things. But in a time when we keep leaning on God's assurance that we are truly obeying his Will for our lives, it was nice to recognize God's hand in our crazy new life. We had an unanticipated need. And God provided.

God called us to New Orleans. We have no doubt about that. He knows what is in store for us. Tomorrow is a misty road to our eyes. We cannot see past right now. But our Father who knows all things will provide for us according to his grace and mercy. He wants to bring glory to His name through our experiences here. That is why Kyle came up with the idea of this Blog. Through this journal, we can share our joy, laughter, pain, and fear. We can tell everyone who reads this who God is to us and what He is teaching us.

Pray for us as we follow in His steps.


James 4:13-15
"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.' You don't even know what tomorrow will bring--what your life will be. For you are a bit of smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes. Instead you should say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'"