MLK, Jr. Day

When you visit the website for The King Center you are greeted by audio of Martin Luther King, Jr. This clip contains one of my all time favorite quotes. Dr. King says ... "If you want to be important, wonderful. If you want to be recognized, wonderful. If you want to be great, wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be a servant. That's a new definition of greatness. And this morning the thing that I like about it, by giving that definition of greatness, it meas that EVERYBODY CAN BE GREAT BECAUSE EVERYBODY CAN SERVE. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, (and a) soul generated by love and you can be that servant."

Wow.

Those words have been a huge inspiration to both myself and Drew. Those words are one of the things that fuel why we do what we do ... but that's something to dive into another day ...

The Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday was created to bring honor to the life that he lived and the service that drove him and ultimately ended his life. He was truly an amazing man. He was great ... because he was a servant. In that theme, SafeHouse holds a day of service on MLK day every year. We go into neighborhoods that most people pretend do not exist for the sole purpose of showing them love and friendship.

Yesterday we went to Forest Cove Apartments on the west side of Atlanta. These apartments are located directly next door to the Federal Prison. It looked like a TuPac video ... hoopties rolling by, dealers congregating on the street corners, very young children wondering around alone. I say that just to paint a picture of the neighborhood we were in.

We rolled in with our tents, mobile medical unit, bounce house, hand-up services, entertainment and groceries (compliments of Convoy of Hope). The day went off without a hitch! It was a beautiful day of blacks and whites, rich and poor, urban and suburban, young and old, police and dealers just being people hanging with people. The walls were down, smiles were on, fun was had by all. It was a fitting tribute to my personal hero, Martin Luther King, Jr.

To me, that's what it's all about ... people ... people loving and serving and just being real. I'm so grateful that I got to be a part of such an amazing day!

Hope you enjoy these pictures and can get a glimpse of why we do what we do ...

SO PROUD!!

I know that every mother thinks that their kids are the cutest, smartest, funniest, best kids on the planet ... but my really are! At least that's my opinion. But I have reason to think so ...

Today Emma rushed in the house from the bus screaming and waiving a piece of paper around. At first I was like, "Oh, No!" But once I got her to tone down her excitement and catch her breath, I found out that Emma was put on Honor Roll! She got a certificate, a medal and a coupon for a free Happy Meal ... which I think the Happy Meal was her favorite part. I'm so proud of her!! She's brilliant! She's never made less than an A on anything at school. She loves, loves, loves to read and learn. I can't wait to see what she accomplishes in the future!!!!

Unblocked

I've had a creative block for months. I haven't been writing or painting ... which is usually not a great sign for me, but I think it has been because of all the commotion of the holidays and what not. My creativity is officially unblocked! Yay! I only wish I had time to paint all the ideas in my head right now. Hopefully I will be able to squeeze out some more time to paint this week.

Report Card

I am so proud of my sweet Princess Emma. She came home with her report card today and once again she got all A's!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!

On December 30th Drew and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary! Yea us!! We are two seriously odd people that somehow managed to find each other and I'm so glad that we did. So, what do most people do for their anniversary? Maybe give each other nice gifts, go to a fancy dinner, take a vacation ... all of those sound fun, but we went a completely different route. Drew and I spent our anniversary showing 33 teenagers the plight of the homeless in Atlanta. We took them on a tour of Peach and Pine (aka Task Force for the Homeless) which is the largest overflow shelter in the city, showed them "Chicken Run" where people dumpster dive under the 5 Points Marta Station, the Abandominium that houses more than 100 homeless people and "Jurassic Park" where a large number of crack addicted homeless live.

That might sound like a crazy way to spend such an important day, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.

I will say this, for as weird and crazy as we are, we've made it this far. It's sad to say that our marriage has outlasted most of our friends marriages. I feel so blessed that Drew and I both never stop trying, and working, and striving to better our relationship. It's been a lot of hard work that has gotten us this far! I look forward with great anticipation as to what lies ahead of us over the next eight years.


Peach and Pine.


The resident volunteer dorms at Peach and Pine.


the Abandominium