Pictures!!!

My parents let me borrow their camera to take a few pictures this weekend.
Enjoy!!

My Dad and I Saturday morning before the egg hunt at the church grew up in, my niece, Lauryn and I, and 'Team Boisvert" - my sister in law (and future niece or nephew!), brother, me, and Lauryn


Amanda, me, and Kina practicing for Saturday night (if you want me to remove this, I will!)

After Saturday night's service, I hung out with the crazy Subletts These are two of the crazies! hehe

Kina and I Amanda and I

Leanne and her man ;) my friend, Brett, and I


Dad, me, Leanne, and Mom Mom and I the precious Lauryn, and Aunt Bonnie!


The Boisvert Families!

Easter update....

Ok... ok... I finally have someone holding me accountable when I don't update my blog often enough! :) So I guess I'd better get to it!

Let me think... not too much has happened since I last updated, but I'll try to give some highlights. Shonda is doing well, though she and Vondeara are not married yet and are still living together. Ugh. I must remember that ministry is often 2 steps forward, 1 step back. Shonda says she is doing well, and that Vondeara is "respecting her decision" but I can't help but wonder how long that will last!! Please keep both of them in your prayers. They're still planning to have the wedding in May... so if all goes as planned, at least they'll be married before too long!

A little while ago I found my old journals - 4 journals full of writing, starting from about May of 2003 (when I graduated from UNC) until November of 2005 (when I came home from South Africa). Wow. I have gotten away from journalling like I used to, and that's quite unfortunate! It is amazing to look back and revisit everything that was happening in my life 5-3 years ago. God was teaching me some amazing things! When I journal, I write very honestly, so as I was reading the entries, I could almost feel exactly what I was feeling as I wrote. Gosh... I still very much miss the life I used to have in SA, though I realize it was not all roses by any means! Reading the journals (I read them all, page by page) sometimes made me sad - how I wish I could have that life back! But they also made me laugh and remember the awesome times... one common theme of my entries is me reminding myself that "God has a plan and that plan is bigger than me!" I STILL have to remind myself of that truth everyday. Why is it not yet ingrained into my being!! I so often ask God "why?" I know very well that He is in control and that I may never have the answer to all of my whys, and that's ok! He knows why, and as long as He knows, I'm cool with that. :)

As another cool update in Bonnie's life, I have a new family. :) No, my old one isn't gone, and they certainly have not been replaced, but God has blessed me with a Durham family! I've always said that I don't just want to know single 20-somethings in the church. I want to know kids, Moms, Dads, Grandmas, and so forth. Well, recently I've gotten to know the Sublett family better, and I am loving it! I knew this family before I went to South Africa. Actually, their daughter, Jessica, was one of the first kids I knew! When I joined the Summit almost 6 years ago, I started teaching the 3 year old Sunday school class, and Jessica was in my class! Amanda (the Mom) was also in choir, so I knew her from there too. When I went to SA, Amanda was one of the few people who kept in touch with me (hooray for Internet-savvy people!). When I came back though, I never really saw her that much. Funny how that happens. Well, a little while ago, Amanda started singing with the Cole Mill Road praise team! Talk about uncontrollable laughter from the get-go. I fell in love with her all over again (is it ok to say that? I hope so) and concluded that whether the Subletts liked it or not, I was going to become part of their family. ;) Since then I've hung out with the family 3 times now (not counting church), and as long as I don't get on their nerves, I plan to spend lots more time with them. The whole family is a hoot. I love being at their house because I feel like I can be myself and they're totally fine with that. They really are a blessing and an answer to my prayers. I am a family person through and through. I love my single friends, but there's not much that's better to me than hanging out with a family. I pray that as long as God has me in Durham (and as of now I think that will be a while!), I will know and love this family. I want to be around to watch Alex, Jessica and Caleb grow up. They can be my Durham nephews and niece. :) God is so good, and I can never thank Him enough for the ways He blesses me!

I hope that's enough of an update for now... I've been enjoying the last day and a half at home with my Mom and Dad, which has been so nice and relaxing. In a little bit, I'll be heading back to Durham for church. Then as soon as the last song is sung on Sunday, my roommate (Leanne) and I will be coming back to Sanford for Easter dinner with ALL the Boisvert family! Good times... :)

PS- If anyone reading this is thinking, "I miss the pictures, Bonnie... post pictures!" I say to you... you got a camera I can have?? hehe I finally got word that mine is damaged beyond fixing. Sad day in the life of Bonnie. Seriously though, if you have an old one you want to sell to me, let me know! ;)

This is what it's all about!

I don't know how to put this all into words, but I'll do my feeble best. Last night Shonda, Vondeara (Shonda's fiance) and Vondeara's mom all came to the Gospel class. And to make a long story short, Shonda prayed to give her life to Christ. One thing that excites me is that this wasn't a "church" service... there was no emotional music playing or convicting sermon. It was just a class and JD was talking about our response to salvation. During the discussion part our table (providentially) didn't have a table leader and JD sat down with us. One of the discussion questions was "have you given your life to Christ and if so, when?" When it got to Shonda, she said that until tonight she would have said she wasn't sure, but now she realized that she needed to give her life to Christ and that she wanted to do it "sometime soon." JD said, "so what your saying is..." (he repeated what she had said pretty much). She said yes, and he said, "why don't we pray right now and you tell God that." It was awesome. She just prayed right there. She later told me that she was nervous about praying outloud at the table, but while she was praying she just felt like she had a heavy weight lifted off of her! After the class was over a group of us all went out to Apple Bee's to celebrate. :) We wanted to make sure she knew this was a big deal and that we were so excited for her!

While we were there, the topic of the wedding came up, and we ended up talking about how right now they're still living together and what we were going to do about that. (Cool thing is, I didn't bring it up!) I told them what a Summit pastor had told me and that was that one of two things needed to happen...1)they go to the court house and get legally married now and then have the ceremony later or 2)one of them moves out. At first they were gung ho about going to the court house TODAY to get it done (and Vondeara was all about it too, which is amazing!). Then Shonda decided she needed to think about it first and get a few things straight. Tonight she's staying with her sister (to avoid temptation) and she may be coming to my house the next few nights.

I went to visit with them tonight and let them know what I'd found out about the getting legally married at the court house. I also had to do a little research about what would happen to Shonda's apartment once she became married. She lives in Durham public housing, and they're really picky about rules (as crazy as they may be), and Shonda was thinking that they'd make her move out if she got married. So I called them today and that's not the case! Shonda was grinning from ear to ear when I told her that, and she and Vondeara said they'll go tomorrow to get his name on the lease. Then they can go to the court house and get married! :) Woohoo!!! Please pray for Shonda to continue in her faith, for people to come around her and Vondeara and support their decision to honor God with their relationship.

This is HUGE and AMAZING!!! Our God is so good and faithful to hear our prayers. Please keep praying for the work He is doing in Oxford Manor. I know this is only the beginning!

Stop the madness!

AHHH!!! Who's in a drought? There's no drought at my house. I've sucked up 8+ gallons of water today that has made it into my kitchen and my laundry room. I'm trying to remain positive about it... but I could use your prayers for that! At the moment I'm choosing to pretend my house isn't flooding and that the cabinets aren't water-logged, and I'm going to hang out with some friends. I'm quite aware that I will come home and have to suck up more water, but oh well. Such is life in a fixer-upper house!

the best feeling EVER!

I helped a kid learn to read!!!!!!! I have a part time job at Sylvan Learning Center. I always get the little kids, and back in August of 2007 we got "Bob." Bob was starting his 2nd year of kindergarten and was totally -and I mean TOTALLY- clueless. Actually, up until a few weeks ago, he still seemed pretty clueless. We'd work on a letter/sound on Monday and Tuesday he couldn't remember it. Today was a glorious day. Today Bob read 9 words. NINE WORDS! They were all "word family" words (like cat, hat, rat, etc.) and they were simple, but I don't care. He read them... not recognized from memory... I heard him sound out the word. I had tears in my eyes, and I'm not even kidding. If I'd have been alone I probably would have really cried. I made him go read the words to the other teacher that works with him sometimes. I told both my bosses. I bragged on Bob to my friends tonight at church. I am so proud of this little guy! It's so amazing to be a part of this kid's life. I helped him learn to read. I've never done that before. My kids learn pre-reading skills, and I'm proud of them and all.. but reading! Bob is reading!!!! And Ms. Boisvert is ecstatic! :-D

Salvation and Birthday Cake

Tonight I got to share my heart with the Oxford Manor Bible study. I missed the study last week, and was told by Brett that I missed a doozy. Apparently there was a lady there who was throwing some confusing questions out and really making a mess of the study. So Shonda (the girl facilitating the study) finally had enough and decided to tell everyone that their homework was to go home, study, and find out what they could about salvation. (big topic!) I won't go into detail for lack of time, but I have been going Bible study crazy this past week. I have been falling in love with the Bible and am just now (at the age of 26 and after serving overseas for 2 years)... JUST NOW realizing just how amazing the Bible is. I'm learning that it all goes together... I mean, I knew that, but I didn't "get it." But this week I would be studying one thing in Romans, and it would link to something in 1 Corinthians and that would link to something in Galatians, which links to something in Genesis, which goes back to Romans! Crazy. So I did my "homework" and I came ready to share tonight. It was a bit crazy at first because it was Vandeara's birthday so there were lots of extra people there and cake and fun stuff. But finally we got down to business. We were kind of all over the place for a while, but at one point I had the floor and I started talking, and I couldn't stop! I shared how it breaks my heart that the Gospel is so simple and yet we make it so hard. I shared how Christ came for us, for everyone in that room (some of whom are not yet Christians), and how much He had to give for us. I said over and over again that it's JESUS who saves us, and there's nothing - NOTHING - we can do to add to that. To make it even more amazing, one of the guys who seems to be seeking the most was sitting right across from me, and I had his undivided attention. I don't think I looked away from him for much of my little spiel. God was totally speaking through me. I don't mean that to sounds weird or like spirit possession or anything wacky, but usually I'm pretty quiet at Bible study until a point needs to be made, and I will quietly make that point. This time I was pumped. I couldn't hold it in anymore! People were actually saying "amen," "yes, Lord" and "bring it" while I was talking! Hah! Who'da thought I had it in me? Well, I have the Holy Spirit in me, so I shouldn't be surprised. :) WOOHOO!!! Jesus rocks my world. PLEASE keep praying for this Bible study and the people in it. The guy's name that I mentioned is Sha'. Pray that God will show Sha' more and more of who He is and how much He loves him. He seems to be so close, but I get the feeling that there are things he's just not ready to let go of yet. Thank you for your prayers. I'm not really sure who even reads this blog anymore, but if you do - thank you! Your prayers mean the world to me!

Oh, and on a completely different note... because of a lack of time, my wonderful roommate made Vandeara's cake for me. She started to make the cake and realized she didn't have eggs, and she couldn't go out because the girl she is a nanny for was asleep. So... she used mayonnaise
as a substitute. What in the world!? Yeah... I had no idea you could do that. Good thing her Mom is a real chef, so she knows these things. The cake was fantastic. Who knew? Thanks for the cake, Leanne!!

Genesis / OM update :)

So... I've embarked on quite an endeavor. I've started reading/listening to "The Bible in 90 Days." Yep... 90 days. I'm pretty stoked about it! I'm actually a day ahead right now... I wanted to finish Genesis! It's crazy that I've heard all these different stories before in my life, but I've never put them all together like I can now that I've heard them all in the order they happened. My one thought after reading Genesis? Dang, these people were pretty messed up! I mean my goodness... we've got denial, murder, lying, cheating, doubting God (over and over again), and I could go on. What stands out to me though, is that God's promise to these people never wavered. God didn't say, "aw man, he messed up... I guess I'll have to go bless someone else now." God knew the doubt, the pain, and the wickedness that these men would undergo. I can't help but let my imagination wander and think that God watched these men, whom He had promised time and time again to bless and make into a great nation, commit great sins against Him. How His heart must have ached. Liars and cheaters... who would've ever thought that God's plan would come about through such people as these?? But wow... How refreshing! Knowing that God can use these men shows me that He can use me too! I know you guys are thinking that I've never murdered someone, I try not to lie, and I don't really think I'm a cheater either. But man, sometimes you can't help but to come face to face with the harsh reality that you are, indeed, a sinner. I have fallen short of the glory of God. We all have, whether we like to admit it or not. But thanks be to God, who sent His Son to redeem me from my sin! Because of Him, and His grace and love for me, I can be a part of God's plan, just like the men from Genesis.

And now... as a bonus for reading this blog... a little Oxford Manor update... The Bible study that Brett and I were trying to get started flopped. FLOPPED! But, get this... we met a couple in Oxford Manor who said that since they could never make it to the Bible study that we were having on Tuesday nights, they decided to start one of their own on Thursday nights. How cool is that? They invited us to it, and we love it! This is now an effort within Oxford Manor... not something that Brett and I (neither of whom live in OM) are trying to get going. So we've joined forces. The couple leading the study is young, and needs guidance. Brett and I aren't all that old and wise, but we have great leaders at the Summit who have taught us one main thing... always bring it around to the Gospel! And we've taken that mindset and are working to teach it to those in Oxford Manor as well. I absolutely love the crazy mix of people that are in this group. They're all pretty young, and they've surely got some struggles and messed up lives. But what have I learned from Genesis? It looks like they're prime candidates for God do some pretty amazing things in and through their lives! Tonight they all came over to my house for dinner. I'd post some photos... but to my dismay... someone dropped my camera on the floor and now it's broken. I was pretty bummed about that, but cool story... later that evening, the girl who dropped it said to Brett and I that something is different about us because we were the only 2 who didn't get upset with her for dropping it. We had yet another opportunity to share God's love and grace with her. Without it in our lives, we surely couldn't give it to her - praise God for His love, mercy and grace! I couldn't stop smiling tonight. This, THIS is what I bought this house for. My new friends live about 4 minutes from my house, and they now know that they are welcome anytime. I love this house, I love my new friends, and I love my LORD!

Amen & Goodnight!

back in business

Lately God has been rocking my world, and I love it! A couple of months ago my friend, Brett, and I randomly went to visit an Oxford Manor parent who was in the hospital. Ever since that day we have been watching as God slowly but surely unveils His plan for His glory to be made known in Oxford Manor. We've yet to even see a fraction of this plan, but we're both running hard after the main goal - to make God famous and to see Him worshiped in Oxford Manor! We've recently begun an adult Bible study that meets on Tuesday nights. We've only been able to meet twice so far (since once was Christmas and the next was New Years), but we're excited about it. Tonight we had a great plan for the Bible study... Brett was so well prepared to lead tonight... and no one wanted to come! The host's neighbor just happened to be visiting her and she decided to stay. So instead of using the well-planned study, we just opened up the Bible and started talking about what we've been learning lately. We covered a lot and the Gospel was clearly laid out and proclaimed! What seemed like a disappointment at first turned out to an awesome time of getting into God's Word... what more could we ask for? Both ladies seem to want to come to church on Sunday. Pray that they will go through with this desire... that God will keep their paths clear from distraction and that He will burn in them a desire to seek hard after God and His Truth!

I'll be honest... this ministry is much more difficult for me than anything I did in South Africa. Crazy how that works, isn't it? I guess kids' ministries for me were always "safe." I know kids... I know how to teach them and answer their questions. But adults? That's a whole new ballgame and I'm only beginning to scratch the surface of this new adventure! It's amazing though... I may wonder sometimes why God has me in this ministry... I often don't feel adequate or ready for it. But I know He has me here. I know this is where I am supposed to be. And WOW! What a great feeling that is! Nestled right in the middle of God's plan. There isn't a more peaceful place I can imagine.

unrequited love

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that sometimes your love seems to go unnoticed... unreturned... and sometimes downright abused. Yes, I love Durham - with all my heart I do! But Durham threw me a curve ball the other night. A couple nights ago my house was broken into and robbed. Thank the good Lord that Leanne and I were not home when it happened. They broke in through the back/basement door. They broke the door frame right off - totally avoiding the quality locks that my Dad made sure were installed the day I bought the house! Apparently the alarm sensor on that door was not working (gee, thanks alarm force!). They got away with around $2000 worth of stuff (computer, PS2, games, guitar, jewelry, CD player, DSL modem, wireless router...). God has faithfully provided love and support for us through our church, and the outpouring of prayer and encouragement has been amazing. The night it happened Leanne called some people from out SummitLIFE group. Within minutes, 2 guys from our group were there and we'd received offers to stay with people that night if need be. The next day (Wednesday) I called Kevin Cates because the door frame had been busted in and it needed to be fixed before we could close the door again. (Kevin is the guy who organized the major home repair day we had here back in April.) An hour later he and Ryan were here checking things out. They ended up not only fixing the door, but also installing a bar across the door to put up when we're not home (it was a back/basement door). The door is probably safer now than before! :) Last night, 12 young professional came over to the house to help us get our home back in order. The robbers had literally destroyed our house on the inside. Almost every drawer or basket or box that could be opened was opened, dumped out, and many times strewn around the room. Last night the YPs came with a cleaning vengeance! They cleaned (the forensics lady had dusted for fingerprints and the black dust was everywhere!), folded clothes, swept, organized, and even rewrapped Christmas presents that had been torn into (but not taken - praise the Lord). They made our home a joyful place again just by being there and cleaning with smiles on their faces! Most importantly, they pointed us back to the Gospel and were there to remind us that we serve a God who is sovereign and whose ways are higher than our ways. They encouraged us, prayed with us, and just plain loved on us! I don't know what we would have done without the Summit. How do people get through these things without a family such as this?? I wish I could get this through to those who think that they don't need, or don't have time for, a Summit Life group. Leanne and I could have never planned for this to happen, but it did. And when it did, our Summit family was right there, ready to do whatever they needed to do. Leanne and I are so thankful to have the support system that we have within not only our small group, but also the Summit in general. We are determined that God will get glory out of this! If it's only letting people around us see the joy and peace we can have even in the midst of this, then so be it. Our God is so much bigger than this! :) Today the alarm people came to check out and repair the alarm system. We also opted for a higher level of security. We have an electrician friend who is working on putting a motion sensor flood light in the back of our house too. In the end, I think our house will be more safe than it was before!

So friends, please pray for us and for God's glory to be shown through all of this. Both of us are pretty strong about all of this, but there are definitely jumpy moments when we hear things and notice that we are a little more on edge than we thought we were. There will be moments when it will be easy to let fear get the best of us, and I really covet your prayers in this area! There's not much that's more personal than your home... I keep thinking about the fact that people were here... in my bedroom! I have to make a conscious effort not to let those thoughts get the best of me.

I think it is very interesting that JD's sermon on Sunday covered the topic of fear. The sermon was based off of Psalm 27. The first point JD made was to acknowledge your fears - to realize that bad things might happen. The second point was to use your fears to be a messenger to show what we care most about. The one thing David (the writer of the Psalm) wanted was to see God's face. This is what Leanne and I want - we want to seek and know God more though this. Also, JD made the point that David did not feel victimized, even though in the world's eyes he had the right to! Leanne and I could feel like victims... our home was broken into and valuables were taken. More than the valuables, our sense of security was robbed. But you know what?? The Bible says to consider it pure joy when we face trials of any kind (James 1:2)! So praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Leanne and I truly believe that we are whole heatedly seeking God in our lives right now, and if this is what happens as a result, well then... bring it on!

Well, I need to be getting some sleep. "I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me." Psalm 3:5

More Home Repairs!

Yesterday I think my roommate thought I was crazy. I looked at her and said, "you know, I'm kind of excited that something is broke in the house and that I get to fix it today." Ha! My how things have changed over the past year and a half. Lately things have been going very smoothly for my little old house. A couple of nights ago though, I noticed that my bedroom was strangely cold. On Saturday I finally investigated and found out that the duct connected to my bedroom had fallen down. So basically, all of the air that was supposed to be going into my bedroom, was going into the crawl space - not good! My friend, Brett, and I tried to fix it right then, but we couldn't get the duct to come up far enough (we did however, have to tape a hanger to a broom and fish out the duct from the hole in my floor!), and we had to get going anyway (to the Christmas tree lighting! but that's another story:)). So, after church on Sunday Brett came back over and we worked some more on trying to get it to come through the hole in my bedroom floor so that we could attach it. (The house is built so that you can't get to the underside of this duct from under the house.) We finally managed to get it up through the hole, but then we had to made a Lowe's-run to get a piece we needed (I can't remember the name of it). Eventually we were able to attach the duct, but then we couldn't get the grille back over the hole! Oh well... at least now the heat is coming into my room! Guess I'll have to get Dad back up here soon so he can help me fix the rest of it. Is it crazy that I actually enjoy this kind of thing now? I like trying to figure out how to fix things! How funny...

a long lost love...

I know... I know... it's been forever since I have updated. There's a lot I could write about, but to spare you, I'll focus on one thing for now. Last month I rediscovered a long lost love.... CAMPING! Since October, I have been camping 3 times - once with a friend, then with my family, and then we went camping for Leanne's birthday! Too bad this love was rediscovered as the weather is finally turning cold! There's just something awesome about getting out of the house... away from television, computers, and radios... away from NOISE! (well, unless you go with a lot of friends like the last time I went) Don't get me wrong - I very much enjoy the comforts of home and my comfy bed! But every once in a while it does a body and soul good to get away from these comforts and spend time outside in God's beautiful creation! And nothing can replace the cozy feeling of being around a campfire with special people. :) Hopefully I will go camping many more times in the future!

I plan to update more in the near future... I promise!

something to remember when I'm a "seasoned" teacher

Yesterday was a very long but awesome day. I, and my amazing assistant ,started bright and early in our classroom. We labeled, organized and speculated. We also had 4 parent teacher conferences - 2 of which were in Spanish! God has been so good in helping me remember words. One of the Moms (who is doing well in learning English herself) told me I have a good Spanish accent. What a wonderful compliment!! Then, a little later in the day, one of the other pre-k teachers and her assistant came by to see if we needed any help setting up our classroom. They were so wonderful. To be honest, they didn't "do" much... we'd already done a lot, and I'm still horrible about doling out tasks on the fly. They ended up putting up paper and border on our 3 bulletin boards, which was VERY helpful, but the lead teacher, Cindy, ended up doing more than any other teacher I've met yet. She told me many things she liked about the classroom. Then she asked me how I handle center time. After I explained it to her, she looked at her assistant and said, "We are going to do that!" (And today when I saw them again, they said they'd already made a chart like the one I use:)) Wow. To hear a teacher, who has been teaching for many years, say that she is going to use my idea made my teacher ego soar! I had some issues last year with my new supervisor telling me all the things she didn't like about my classroom, and not much at all about what she liked. I felt like I was a great teacher, but she made me have some doubts. Well, I've been finding my nitch the past couple of days. I like where I am, as a teacher, right now. I kind of have that "new teacher" excitement still because I've really only taught for 1.5 years, and I'm finally where I've wanted to be from the beginning. But, I'm about 4 years older than a brand new teacher would be, and I have a little bit of life experience under my belt. ;) I'm new enough that I've still got some "fresh ideas" to try out (and tell others about apparently!), but experienced enough to know about some things that work and don't work. So yeah... the past couple of days have been great. And I definitely need to remember when I'm a seasoned teacher and meeting young, doe-eyed teachers... find an idea they have, and adopt it! And be positive positive positive! Oh... and at our pre-k meeting today, Cindy was appointed as my "mentor." Hooray! The Lord is good, and His mercies endure forever! :-D

Mi escuela nueva!

*My new school!*

Ok, so after enough "encouragement" from my mother, I'm finally going to update you all on what's new in the life of Bonnie B! The biggest news is that I am finally teaching in Durham Public Schools. Since college (4 years ago!) I have wanted to teach in Durham. My whole vision when I came home from South Africa (gosh... almost 2 years ago now) was to "be" in Durham... live in Durham, work in Durham, and go to church in Durham. I always thought it was more difficult to invite people to come to church when it was pretty far away! By the grace of God, and in His true fashion "just in time," I got a call from the pre-k coordinator in Durham Public Schools. She called me the Sunday before I was to start teacher workdays for Orange County! It was a crazy, whirl-wind week, with me changing my mind every other day about what I wanted to do, but in the end, I knew it was finally my time to teach in Durham. There are some perks to Orange County's program that I will miss, like shorter days for the kids, a bilingual teacher in the room, and 3 adults in each classroom. I'm having to brush up on my Spanish, but yesterday I learned that I am capable of calling Spanish speaking parents and coordinating parent/teacher conferences! I was pretty psyched that the parents and I could communicate on the phone... maybe just in short, kindergarten sentences, but it's better than nothing! :) Maybe not having a bilingual teacher will be a plus - I'll be forced to relearn everything I used to know. I typically don't handle changes well... I know they are inevitable, but for some reason, they always catch me off guard. So the past couple of days have been somewhat difficult as I've tried to get to know some of the teachers, learn the policies and procedures of a new program, and reorganize my life around a new schedule. But the stress will be worth it I think. It may take me time to adjust, but I know I am where I am supposed to be for right now. And now... I have a whole notebook of salary and benefits papers staring at me, and they're not going to fill themselves out. Time to get some work done! Thanks for checking in...

finally painting!

After living in this house for about 14 months, I'm finally painting! Tomorrow morning, bright and early, I am waking up to go buy a few forgotten supplies. Then I'm going to paint the downstairs. What once was purple, will become a lovely pale yellow. I can't wait to see how the lighter color will brighten up the room! I'm excited to be at a point where I can start to do some "cosmetics" to the house. For the past year I've done nothing but fix and repair... There are definitely still some repairs that need attention, but they can wait. This little house deserve some pampering. ;) I got thinking the other day about how this house represents my life. I absolutely adore this house... even with its flaws (some minor, and some MAJOR!). It was in terrible shape when I bought it. It had sat empty for at least a year and a half. I had to clean from top to bottom. There were spider webs, bugs had taken up residence, and the whole house smelled of mildew. The water heater was on its way out, and decided to bust the first time we used it, the refrigerator died within 2 weeks, the heater/air conditioner has malfunctioned 4 times (at least), the kitchen flooded multiple times, the floor in the living room was caving in, and I could keep going... (really, I could!). There have been days when I simply wished for one week without something going wrong! So much has been done to this house. Today a friend of mine, who has heard about the house for a year now, but never seen it, came by for a visit. She came in and said, "what a cute house!" And my response was, "Yep, I sure do love it. I've had to do a lot of work on it, and there's still so much left to do, but it's mine, and I really do love it." :) You know... I can imagine God saying that about me sometimes. I was a mess when He bought me. He had to clean me up from head to toe. He's always having to clean up my messes and fix my broken pieces. I'm feel like there are some times when He wishes that I could go one week without something going wrong. And yet, He loves me. I am His, and He Has already taken care of every problem that may come my way. Nothing surprises Him. I can almost imagine Him chatting with the angels and saying, "There's my Bonnie. I sure do love her. I've had to do a lot of work on her, and there's still so much left to to, but she's mine, and I really do love her." :)

vacation #1

I'll keep this short and sweet for the moment... the trip up here was long, but uncomplicated, which is good! Friday night we just chilled out at the hotel. Saturday morning we headed over to my aunt's house and then went to a family member's 50th wedding anniversary. It was nice to see family, but what I was really excited about was seeing my friend, Melissa! We worked together in South Africa and have stayed in touch since we both came back to the States. My parents drove me to her house Saturday evening. After they left, Mel and I had dinner and then went to Dennis and Nikki's house. The plan was to just go to this one store and then hang out. Well, when we got into the car, Dennis said, "let's go to Chick-fil-a!" Now, the closest chick-fil-a in Toledo, Ohio (and we were in Michigan). So... we went to Toledo (about an hour away). Random, but fun! :) We went to Lifeway Christian Bookstores first (apparently there's not one of these close to Melissa either). Randomly, we saw a guy that once came on a mission trip to South Africa. Then we went to chick-fil-a, which made Dennis a very happy man. Everyone but me (the one from the South) got a big ole cup of sweet tea. Dennis is from Michigan, but I swear he thinks he's from the south... it's funny really. After that we went to Cold Stone (mmm...) and then went in search of a Wal*Mart. We finally left Wal*Mart (when they closed!) at 11:00 and headed back to Michigan. Fun times all around... I haven't laughed as much as I did in those few hours in a very long time!! Sunday morning I went to church with Melissa (her Dad is the pastor). After church she had to take me back to my aunt's house for the family reunion. We made a short stop at one of the coolest stores EVER called the Flower Factory. They have really cool, really cheap home decor stuff. I wish I had more money and more time to spend there, and I wish we had this store in NC! Oh well, a good reason to come back to MI. :) Finally, we arrived at my aunt's house and Mel and I said our good-byes. The reunion was a lot of fun. Lauryn (my youngest niece) was adorable, and such an entertainer. And it was great seeing my cousins again. One of them is an elementary school librarian, and after talking to her, I am seriously considering going to grad school for library science! It's something I've thought about before, but now I'm more motivated to actually pursue it... we'll see how that goes once I get back home and settled into real life again. Now I'm back at the hotel and ready to crash. Tomorrow we head for Kentucky! (Thanks for the tip Jessica!)

Have a great week, and thanks for checking in!

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

Hope for Durham!

Today was the first day of the Summit's "mission trip to Durham" aka Hope for Durham. I'm so incredibly blessed to be part of a church that knows that we must love our city if we want to see her changed into a place where God is worshipped. Today I helped out at a place called the Agape Corner. It is a Christian boarding school right in the middle of the roughest area in Durham. (I'm not exaggerating... the street the house is on was recently designated as one of the top crime hot spots in Durham.) Anyway, Todd, my partner in crime, and I spent the day priming and painting a couple places in the house... one of the them being the laundry room WHILE they were doing laundry!! Talk about HOT! I'm pretty sure it was cooler outside! :) All was well though. I got to meet Todd, who is in the orchestra at the Summit. I always enjoy getting to know people that I normally wouldn't talk to much at the Summit. Anyway, here are a few pictures from today. I can't write too much... I need to finish packing! Friday morning I leave to go on vacation with my family. We're going to Michigan, where I not only get to see my family, but I also get to hang out with Melissa!!!!!! (I worked with her in SA.) Then we're travelling through a couple states and will eventually end up in Tennessee for a wedding. Hooray for vacation! :)

Ok, here are the photos...

Horizontal Lighting

This evening we had a pretty great thunderstorm in Durham. As I was driving to Bible study, I saw something I haven’t seen in a very long time: horizontal lightning! Usually I love storms while at home, and hate them while driving, but this time I didn’t care where I was. You see, the last place I saw horizontal lightning was in South Africa. For my last year in SA, I lived in a really nice apartment with an awesome view. Whenever it stormed, I could see the lightning for what seemed like a hundred miles. Johannesburg is somewhat known for their spectacular lightning storms, and I had the perfect view from which to admire them. I’ve never really understood why I like storms so much, but maybe one reason is that they remind me of just how big this world is, and how much bigger our God is, who created it all, and holds it all in His hands. Lightning is a huge and magnificent power – how much more powerful is our God!? It makes me feel so small, yet so comfortable to know that the same God who created the lightning created me as well. I am comforted to know that God has a plan for me – a plan greater than He had for even that huge bolt of lightning that I witnessed today. I am forever wondering what that plan is, and I’m always trying to stay one step ahead of God… trying to figure out His will for my life before He’s ready for me to go there. I wish I had a simple answer to the question of how to stop doing that, but in all honesty, I don’t! (Any advice is coveted!) I try to take one step at a time, but it’s so difficult at times. Just when I start to feel comfortable here, in Durham, in the wonderful life I’m living, I reconnect with a South African friend… we talk about life in South Africa, what I’ve been missing, and what I’ve been doing here. It’s always nice, but this time she told me about this teaching possibility in South Africa. The chances of things working out for me to do what she was telling me about are slim to none, but still… it made me think about it again. It makes me wonder whether I’ve been doing the right thing here in Durham. I mean, I bought a house for goodness sakes! Talk about having strings attached to Durham. And not just any house, but my special little house… I can’t just up and leave! This is what happens though… I’ll go weeks, months even, without missing SA, and then out of the blue - WHAM! – my heart is aching again to be back there. But… the lightning tonight reminds me: God is in control. He’s got it, and I can trust Him. When I want to question what God’s will is for my life, He has already told me in His Word. “He has shown you, oh man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8 Lord, help me walk.


Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

update on Brian

Good news!! It looks as if my 11 year old nephew passed a kidney stone... crazy. His kidney looks to be fine now, and last I heard they were planning to send him home this afternoon. I think it's bizarre that yesterday the doctors said it looked like his kidney was failing, and now it's fine. LOTS of people were alerted to his condition yesterday, and LOTS of people started praying. I believe God heard those prayers on Brian's behalf! I'll update again if anything changes. Thanks for praying!!

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

Pray for Little B!

He'd probably kill me for calling him "Little B" in a public sphere like the world wide web, but he'll get over it. ;) A couple weeks ago Brian had appendicitis. He had to stay a bit longer because his appendix burst during the surgery. Well, last night (Thursday night) he went back to the emergency room (in Sanford) because he wasn't keeping anything down (including the antibiotics they had him on from the appendicitis). Well... in all honesty, I can't report things exactly, but the run down, as I know it, is this... Brian only has one kidney (apparently he was born that way). The "good kidney" is now having issues. This morning I heard it was failing, but when I visited him this evening, they weren't sure about that. I'll probably have to wait till tomorrow to learn more. They transferred him to Duke because they couldn't do any more for him in Sanford. So, he's in my neck of the woods now! Please be praying for God to make it known that He is with Brian, as well as with his whole family. Jamie (his Mom) is so tired of hospitals! And I'm sure Little B is too. Pray that God will give them peace as they await reports from the doctors. God is good, and I know He is with them!! Thanks!

Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81

Hooray for being appreciated!

It's so nice to be appreciated! This week is "Teacher Appreciation Week." It happens to come at a perfect time. :) It's the end of the year, and it's easy to think that no one cares (especially the parents) about what we teachers do. But this week has been nice, to say the least. :)