our tradition.

Six years ago, when Jeremy and I were "just friends", we went to Atlanta for our first Braves game. I LOVEEE baseball, so at the time the present was very thoughtful! We drove to Atlanta for the day. Jeremy got tickets for me, Valerie, and himself. He planned the whole day. He even got me a Braves hat to wear to the game. It was a sweet present. This past weekend I joked that he bought the tickets for my birthday hoping that I would just fall in love with him. He replied with "I didn't hope, I knew you would."

Since that time a lot has changed. He was right. We are now married and every year for my birthday we carry the same excitement for the trip that we did on our first drive to Turner Field! We have made it into a couples tradition. Jason wasn't able to go on our first trip because he was working at Asbury Hills for the summer, but every year since he has been there with us.

No trip is the same, although we do try to keep the usuals: Ikea, H&M (poor guys), Turner Field, and occasionally Stone Mountain. I love my birthday tradition and I love spending it with my 3 favorite people!

Happy 21st Birthday, Valerie! Love you! Here's to many more Atlanta visits... one day it will include our children! YIKES! We are growing up! :)

Our 2 week update...

Some of you may know that one of my favorite verses is 2 Corinthians 12: 9 & 10. It says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." This has been in the back of my mind since we "adopted" Kiera.

Let me explain. Kiera is broken. We are broken (and goodness, did I need this reminder). It's a hard place to be because we have no control; we have "no hope", but at the same time quickly forget that we have Jesus... He is all the hope we need and more.

Kiera has been coming to work with me to use the internet to look for jobs. We have internet at home, but it's weak and limited. I thought it'd be good for her to not feel the pressure of using the internet up. The other day she came into my office and started to cry. What happened has been frozen in my memory for life.

She started crying as she talked about her situation. Her family hasn't called to check on her. They haven't even sent graduation cards… talk about putting life into perspective for this seemingly busy, preoccupied adoptive mother. As all of this is unfolding before my eyes she says something to me that my heart breaks even more to what she’s dealing with and just how broken she is. She says, "If this is what Christianity is about... I don't want any part of it." She goes on to talk about the sadness she has and confesses that she has doubted Christianity because of the people who have turned their backs on her.

I have personally been struggling with her family and she knows it. I can’t talk about it because it gets me angry… to the point that I cry. How could Christians kick a girl to the street with nothing? Why wouldn’t she doubt? I instantly knew that this is lesson God has for me.

All of the past events have kept playing in her head and she’s started to think about her life. She thought about where God was leading her, the family she has, and her living with us and the burden she thinks it is. She wasn't crying because she doesn't have a job, although it is hard for her. She wasn't crying because she doesn't have a plan... also hard for her. She wasn't crying because she doesn't have anything (remember, it was all sent to Texas and she's living out of 3 suitcases.) She was crying because her family hasn't called and she felt unloved. To me, Jeremy and I love her. We gave her a place to live, we give her food to eat and we drive her around. She has a shower, electricity, movies to watch, a washer and dryer... all of these things are provided for her. She needs to be loved. To be poured into. To be prayed for. To be guided spiritually. To be held accountable. To be a child.

When I got home that night I talked to Jeremy and what had happened. I knew eventually she would break down, but I didn’t expect to hear what I heard. Jeremy encouraged me by saying we will not kick her to the street, we will love her the way Christ loves us and she will heal. (I tell ya’, he’s a great, wise, and ever so patient husband!) I could tell he was hurt by the words, but I could also tell that he knew God was working in this.

The next day as we started our drive to work I told her I was glad she was broken. She looked at me like I was crazy and asked me why. I explained that in my experience, in my darkest hours of weakness and sadness, God provided for me. I explained that the weaker she is, the stronger Christ will make her. I reminded her that we are our best when we can’t rely on ourselves or on our talents… God fills us up with his spirit and works in ways we can’t even begin to imagine. That’s when we have peace.

Our 2 week update is a sweet reminder of how God is working in this to change our hearts and to be glorified. It’ll be a story that Kiera will be able to share with young people struggling with these same issues. Although we don’t know the outcome, we know God’s will is good and perfect. But I'm also reminded of how many people in this world don't feel loved. We go through our days preoccupied with our own problems that we forget to look around to a hurting and lost world.

Many of you have asked how you can help. I ask that you simple pray for us.  I want Kiera to know what it’s like to feel loved and to know she’s loved. So please just pray for us as we experience Christ in this whole situation! And I want to challenge each of you to pray for God to show you someone to love. I can guarantee you there are people all around you who just need someone to listen to them, to hug them, or just to tell them they are loved.

just a little change...

I’m sorry for not posting a lot this semester. Things have been busy at work and in our lives. I’m sorry! I hope to be able to post more through summer. With that being said there is a new person I need to introduce you to! She has been on the blog before, but our lives have taken a turn and I want you to know her!

Before I introduce you to her, I need to explain a little bit about what God has been challenging me with the past 2 months. At the beginning of the year, January and February(ish), I was struggling. I longed to be going on a mission trip, going back to Uganda, doing something other than sitting in an office. I was starting to resent my job because of the late nights working, struggling with different things about my job, and not spending much time with the hubs.

At Easter my pastor gave a message that encouraged me. He was explaining to us that we read the bible, we see the gospel, we celebrate it and then we stop. We don’t take action unless it’s what we want. (That last part was really my paraphrase, but it’s what I got out of the sermon.) I began to think about my life and challenge myself to find Christ where I was, whether in sitting at my desk talking on the phone for hours or meeting with students. I started to see God all around me and my heart was changing.

Through these past months He has been reminding me to invest in people, invest in their lives, spend time just loving them. How quickly we, or maybe just I forget, how we can be Jesus to people by loving them the way he loves us! I knew a change was coming. Every week we drove away from church and I told Jeremy “God is preparing us for something.” Little did I know what that would be.So… meet Kiera.

Right after graduation

Some of you know her and some of you do not. I met Kiera 4 years ago at Columbia College. I helped her come to Columbia College because her counselor at the time (my lovely friend in the pink) was out on maternity leave. She was one of the very first students I helped in my job. After the started CC she began to visit me and we would engage in conversations about everything, including Jesus. I have seen her grow into an incredibly, lovely Godly woman. I have cried and rejoiced over this girl and what God has done in her life over the past 4 years. It's been a blessing to watch!

On Saturday I had the priviledge of watching her graduate from CC. Without thinking, I went through the day like a normal graduation day: watching her walk across the stage, grab her diploma and bible, meeting family and friends. I couldn’t have been more proud. We went to her dinner and that’s when our lives changed. Not to make it sound dramatic, but it kind of was.

What you don’t know is that Kiera has had a tough life. I’m able to share this with everyone because she allowed it. I think it’s important to know how God works when we don’t expect Him to. After our dinner Kiera was literally left orphaned in the parking lot. The family she was with decided not to take her back to Texas where they lived, where she had bought a ticket to go and sent all of her belongings. This happened in front of a few of Kiera’s friends and other family members... and me. No one took a stand for her and I instantly knew that this is what God had prepared me for.

The reason for this post is to have your support through prayer and because I think you should know what’s going on in the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Dickerson. We call her our daughter. I even took her to a birthday party and explained to the children that she was my daughter and introduced her to my mom, her Lela. Our goal? To show her the grace, mercy, and love that Christ has showed us in our lives and to follow Him through all of this… after all, this is what He had planned for us!

Meeting my mom

I can’t imagine living the life she’s lived. If only you knew more of it. This is just a small dose of what Kiera has been dealing with in her 22 years of life! I told Jeremy the other night that we grew up poor, but God has surely put my life and his life into perspective by knowing the life Kiera has lived.

 So now she lives with us. This is why there was no Africa, no mission trips, and the message that God was preparing us for something different. We are trying to get her on our feet and accepting this obvious call from God to be her caretakers. 

We didn’t expect this at all. We hope that you will pray for me and Jeremy as we care for Kiera. I hope you'll join with us in praying for Kiera as she adjusts to this new life and seeks to understand where God wants her to be. I joked with Kiera that when I prayed over our dinner Saturday, and I prayed about God guiding her every step of her life, I didn’t realize it would mean her next step was into my home!

We love you, Kiera! We are excited about what God is doing!