On the first day of Christmas...

I celebrated with the girlies in our youth group. This youth group is an outreach program of Greenwood's Hispanic center, "Esperanza in JesuCristo." Adam and I have such a burden for "his people" -- the Hispanic/Latino cultures both here and abroad.

Adam and I have been leading this youth group since September and we have seen the Lord's blessings upon this effort. We had 6 kids show up to our first meeting and we're now running around 16/17 per meeting! Not only that, but the kids (the girls especially) first treated me with some suspicion and wariness (I don't blame them; many Caucasian people in this country haven't exactly put out the welcome mat for them, legal or not!), but now, I can honestly report that my girlies trust me and look up to me as their friend. I just hope I can make a real impact on their lives...be in prayer for me (and Adam) as we seek to put the Lord's stamp on their hearts. Just tonight I had a couple kids tell me nonchalantly that they don't know Jesus. I don't know if they saw the heartbreak on my face at that. I truly love these kiddos and I long to see them succeed and grow and blossom into outstanding American citizens and Christians.

Anyway, tonight we had our Christmas party. Adam took the boys and I took my girlies, first to McDonald's (seriously, they begged me to take them there for dinner!) and then back to my house for some arts and crafts time. We made Christmas tree ornaments with felt, glitter glue, sequins, jingle bells, and ribbon. We had a lovely time of talking and laughing and relaxing.

time for another plethora of randomness post

• Apparently, I'm popular in Florida. I started using a StatCounter for all the hits to my blog, and Florida, you're leading the way. Thank you for your patronage.

• This week is Thanksgiving. I'm going to be writing a post about this holiday. Fair warning: it won't be what you expect. Hint: I'm not a big fan of Thanksgiving, even though this is the equivalent of heresy in some circles.
• I love my husband. I don't say this often enough on my blog! But I do have to brag on him for just a second...on Saturday morning when I finally ventured downstairs to start some laundry, I found a huge bouquet of a dozen white roses on the kitchen table. I don't remember the last time something made me gasp, but that's exactly what I did. Such a surprise...such a sweet man. Our marriage has had its share of ups and downs this year, but we are in a very good place right now and I'm so blessed. Thank you, my love.
• I've re-injured myself. I am extremely bummed about this. Last night I went to pick up my almost 15-pound baby nephew in his almost 2-ton infant carrier (okay, I'm exaggerating obviously, but goodness, those things are HEFTY!), and something...happened in my back, right where I'd herniated a disk 2 months ago. It wasn't a pop or a snap or anything dramatic, just a searing pain right through that disk that shot jolts of follow-up pain up and down my leg. I paused, hoping that I'd just moved wrong and it would go away, but alas, as soon as I moved, I realized the pain was baaaaaa-aaaaaaack. I gave in and took a Vicodin last night (this is a big deal because weaning off of Vicodin was pretty awful last time around) and thankfully, I do feel a little more mobile and less crippled this morning. Here's hoping I've just aggravated a tender, still-healing spot and not herniated the disk again.
• Our Hispanic youth group is growing. On Friday, we had 17 kids show up to the Esperanza center. Adam and I are both excited and very nervous/overwhelmed by this; God is blessing this ministry in an abundant way, but we are beginning to realize that our resources (helpers, space, budget, etc.) really need to grow along with our attendance. We would appreciate your prayers!
• The Colts lost last night. We're no longer undefeated. This brings a surprising amount of sadness to my heart. This is the curse of being any kind of sports fan.