Well, it’s well past time for another update, especially for the Cherished Christmas outreach. Which was a week ago. Sorry. I’ve let all our fun Christmas activities keep from writing. J So now to go back to last Wednesday night.

We had an abundance of Christmas gifts to take with us. A couple of ladies in our church made these beautiful gift boxes that each had a votive candle and candle holder, a mug with hot chocolate and coffee packets in it, and a silver jewelry watch. They were beautiful. Then the ladies from another church that have partnered with us brought a scarf/hat/gloves set for each girl. They were all different, so the girls had fun opening them to see what kind they had picked. We also took a bag of baby shower-type gifts for the waitress who recently had a baby. It was so cute, there were several outfits and toys and the waitress was caught completely off-guard and so grateful.

When we went in, it seemed like we might not be there very long. The club was pretty empty, and there were no girls in the dressing room, although 3 of them were sitting at a table talking. So we came in, and gave the dj, doorman and bartender each a Starbucks gift card that we had gotten for them. They seemed pleased to get a gift too. I love these guys, they just crack me up. They play it pretty cool, and act nonchalant, but you can tell they’re interested in what we brought for them (we usually bring them cookies or something like that) and they were surprised and happy to get a present this time. Then we started taking back all the boxes to the dressing room – there were so many! We took 15 gifts, and I think there may have been some extra. Usually when we go to the dressing room with gifts, the girls we know will come back to talk and see what we brought, but the three girls that were there didn’t come, so we decided to take some to them. Two of them I hadn’t met before, and one seemed younger than me, and she was pretty uncomfortable being around us, although she was really sweet and grateful for her gift. I think she might be new. She opened her gift, gave us a hug and disappeared. The third girl that was standing there actually used to work at the club, and remembered me from our very first visit a year ago! This month is actually our one-year anniversary doing Cherished, and this dancer gave me a hug and chatted and even remembered what the gifts we brought a year ago were. She has been working at a few other clubs and just came back to this one. We talked about her kids, and she told me she was going to be alone for Christmas. I invited her to our Christmas Eve service at church and gave her a hug. I hate thinking of these girls alone somewhere at Christmas, and she wasn’t the only one I talked to that was going to be by herself.

About this time, some of the other girls started coming in, and we got to go back to the dressing room to talk for a while. Janice (Mom) went in with me and had a great conversation with one of the waitresses, and got to invite her to church. I chatted with the other girls that were there, and the waitress who just had a baby said she was planning to apply for a job at Cracker Barrel this week, because she can make more money there. Please pray her for to get a job there so she can leave the club. She also asked me about church when she overheard me inviting another girl to the Christmas Eve service. She seemed really interested in coming and wants her kids to go to church. Pray she comes.

All in all it was a really good visit. I can’t wait to go back in January.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

So much to catch up on. I'm trying to think of all the things that have happened this month. Mostly it's been our car accident the weekend after Christmas. In bad traffic outside Dayton, we got rear-ended by a car that got rear-ended by the car behind it. The other two cars were totaled, but we were all fine and able to drive away. I was very sad though - we have only had our Escape for like a month! But thankfully, the car at fault has to pay for all our repairs and for a rental while it's being fixed. Which has steadily become a longer and longer process. We started out with an estimate of $4300 to fix it, and last week it was up to $6500. Apparently they keep finding "hidden damage" and it looks like we'll get it back sometime in January. On the up side, the rental Enterprise gave us was a brand-new Tahoe. Which I am now in love with. I really like pretending that it's mine. And it came in handy when we went to pick up a Christmas tree - we didn't have to strap it to the hood! Although I was kind of looking forward to having a Griswold moment. :-)

So tonight I felt like I accomplished a lot: I fed Joe and his friend, made Joe birthday cookies, made TJ a turkey pot-pie (with mashed potatoes and a homemade pie crust) AND gave Siah a bath. All at the same time. But then, when I went to get Siah to put him to bed, I found him rubbing baby lotion into the back of his head. Which, after 15 minutes of scrubbing with shampoo, did not come out. And on top of that, I (stupidly) used a glass to try to rinse his hair, which I promptly dropped in the tub. Where it broke. A lot. I got Siah out of the tub without cutting him, but managed to slice my finger. And then we went to finish trying to clean his hair upstairs in the other tub. Which doesn't have a drain plug. Because we lost it. :-) Finally I just put him to bed and decided to google it and try again tomorrow. His hair is so greasy. These are the fun days...

I am going to bed now.

Cherished Thanksgiving Outreach

I can't get over what a great night we had last night with our Thanksgiving outreach for Cherished. Every month, I go in there thinking that this is going to be the night that is kind of discouraging. And I buck myself, "It's been a long time since people were standoffish, you're overdue for a less-than-encouraging visit, so don't worry about it". And every month, God surprises me. But this month especially.

This month was the first time we've ever served a meal at the club, and I had talked it up during our October visit. Then the week before, I took a sign to put on the dressing room mirror, letting the dancers know that we would be serving a Thanksgiving meal, and they were welcome to come even if they weren't working. And though we brought a lot of food, I anticipated not having many more to feed than those that happened to be there when we showed up. Some wonderful women from the local Baptist church partnered with us this month (and probably will continue to!), taking care of half of the full Thanksgiving meal that we took. They were a huge help and I'm excited to see this ministry become bigger than one church, and just be about christians loving people.

I took my mom with me for this visit, and I wondered how the staff and dancers would react to her. She's the first person to do a visit with me that is over the age of 25, and I've heard from other ministries like ours that the dancers really respond to older women, partly for the maternal feel and because there is no immediate "competition" factor. It went great. The men didn't seem to know what to do with her, and kept their eyes on her like she was going to burn the place down, :-) but overall it was great. Soon after we got there, while we were bringing in the food, we overheard a girl I didn't recognize ask where the dressing room was, and realized it was her first night. When we took the small gifts we had brought back to the dressing room, I got into conversation with a few girls I knew, and met another while the new girl, "A", absolutely latched onto Mom. "A" opened up about how she came to be there, shared about her personal life, and how she didn't really want to be there, but didn't know where else to get a job that could support her and her children. She and Mom had a great conversation and Mom gave her her phone number. Please pray that she calls Mom soon, and nothing keeps her from it. She really seems to need friends, community, and wants a different job.

After talking for about 20 minutes, we all headed back to front of the club where the food was set up, and "D" (the dj) approached me with a pen and paper in his hand. I was apprehensive when he started quizzing me about whether or not we were representatives of a church, or ourselves, what the church's name was, who the head pastor was, his number, etc. He was writing everything down, and I was convinced that we had somehow crossed a line and offended someone and they were going to google the church and investigate further. :-) But then he started saying how much it meant to have us come and do this, and that he knew there were a lot of people from our church involved, and he wanted to thank the pastor of a church that produced people like that. It led to a great conversation about God and church, and I got to invite him to church and am excited to talk to him about it in the future. It's so sad how many people out there are walking around with hurts from churches and people who might have meant well, but did more damage than they knew. Please pray that "D" comes to church, or just gives Papa a call.

I can't explain how much I love these people. Thank you for your prayers. I can't wait to get back there for Christmas!

Ca-razy

My hormones feel totally out of control. And I come from a woman who believes you shouldn't ever use hormones as an excuse for bad behavior, but thank goodness I have a sister going into the nursing program to tell me I'm not crazy - just pregnant. :-) Just this morning, for example, I felt the urge to cuss out my phone when the rubber case caught on my hair and pulled one out. Both today and yesterday I felt alternating urges to cry or scream out of frustration when things didn't go my way, or when Siah misbehaved. Because he is 2. Which he cannot help. By 8:15 last night I was pouting and wanted to go hide in my room. It's pitiful.

Another example of the super-fun hormonal surges I've been experiencing has come in listening to the radio. I'm one of those christian radio snobs who doesn't like to listen to K-LOVE because it's too soft and sappy. Do we really need to listen to "I Can Only Imagine" or "Butterfly Kisses" one more time? Hasn't that train left forever? But lately even listening to some of the songs on Air1 has me tearing up. I'm starting to cry in my car listening to the "There Goes A Hero" song, sobbing to myself, "Jesus really is a hero." Then I'm laughing at myself. Don't get me wrong, I kind of like this. I don't want the salvation story to get stagnant, and I kind of like having a lot of emotion about it, because sometimes it's hard not to take it lightly when you've grown up in church. I just hope after this baby comes that I chill out a little bit. Because I'm feeling like a whack job right now.

SRFCMB - #3

Suzanne's Reasons for Continuing My Blog

#3 - "My Ministry"

The "my ministry" bit is a direct quote from Suzanne, but I'm kind of hesitant to call it mine. I've been putting off writing this post about Cherished just because I want to make sure I express myself well - particularly because I have no idea who all reads this and I want to be sensitive (which I'm not always the best at!) But to give you a little background, last December a girlfriend and I were talking about the Christmas outreach the Vineyard was about to do, and causes we were passionate about, and I told her about a woman in L.A. who had started a ministry to women who worked in strip clubs. The woman who started it had been a dancer, and wanted to find a way to let other dancers know that they were loved unconditionally by God. So she started going to clubs with little gifts and notes that just read, "you are loved". I read an article about her, and her group (called Treasures) in a magazine years ago, but it always stuck with me. I told my friend I'd love to do something like that, and she asked why we didn't. So we did.

After getting permission from the management and great support from our church, my friend Amanda and I started going to the local club once a month with small gifts and notes of love. We just wanted to go in and tell the girls they're loved. No strings attached. And for a long time, especially when we met someone new, the first thing she asked was, "What did I do to get this?" I know we kind of weirded some of the girls out for a while, but they seem to have accepted that we're just "those church girls" that come in once a month and bring a gift and talk for a while. It's been great to get to know some of the girls, and the staff as well. We've also taken baked goodies for the guys (the dj, doorman and bartender) from the beginning. We're not trying to shove church or God in their faces, but to just show them love the way we think Jesus would and did when he was on earth, and still does through his people. The goal of this ministry is not to change anyone, because only God can do that. We just want them to know that we, and He, love them. And if they want to talk to us about church or God, that's a bonus.

I'm not sure what I used to think about strip clubs and the people who worked there. Mostly I just didn't. It was a place that just didn't exist in my world. But I can't explain how much I love the girls I've met and see when we go to the club for our visits. I very quickly came to understand that they're people just like anyone else, and are no more or less sinful and lost than me. The only difference is that I came to a point where I was done trying to live my life the way I wanted, and decided to give up and surrender to Jesus - because he seems to love me and even like me a lot. And I know I don't even understand a small piece of his love. But if he could know the worst parts of me that I've kept hidden, and still want to come to where I am and be in a relationship with me, I want that. I need that.

Anyway, we're really excited because this coming month for our visit, because we're going to be serving a Thanksgiving meal to any of the staff at the club who come in. I really can't wait, and the girls I talked to at the club last month were really excited about it, so I hope it's something we continue to do. It's been so fun to have some of them open up more and more as we continue to visit them. At our last visit the DJ told me about his girlfriend, and pulled out his phone to show me her picture, and when I told the girls that I was pregnant, they were so excited. Everyone is always very grateful and excited to see what we've brought and I think they know that we really love them. And that's what we care about.

SRFCMB - #2

I now invite you to join me in part two of our series,

Suzanne's Reasons For Continuing My Blog

#2 - Josiah

So today was NOT a fun Josiah day. Actually, it started out great. In fact, overall I've had an amazing day. There was some great news regarding the Cherished ministry (which I will divulge in SRFCMB Part 3: My Ministry), I had to go take my new ride to get the horn fixed - because road rage requires more than a verbal beatdown of stupid drivers - and they gave me the CUTEST Volvo coupe to drive until it's fixed. I hope it takes a long time. I might start finding things wrong with my car so I can drive all the cool cars they have on their lot. THEN, I went to go get my hair cut and colored, and found out at the end of it that someone had anonymously paid for it ahead of time!!! I totally cried as soon as I got back to the hottie car. Plus, I love getting my hair done because it's more fun Stephanie time. I went back to my parents' to hang out for a little bit, and Josiah was super-cute with his drumming, which Grandpa immediately put on facebook.

But then.

It was time for Josiah's checkup. Just a checkup, but I knew he was going to have to get some shots. Now, I made a key mistake going into this appointment. Maybe two. 1) I allowed them to schedule our appointment smack dab in the middle of naptime, thinking we could get through it no problem. Rookie mistake. 2) I underestimated the memory of a 2-year-old. Josiah was great when we got to the clinic, he flirted with the receptionists, watched all the kids in the waiting room, and even followed one little girl around the lobby for a little bit. Adorable. He even did ok in the exam room, until the nurse came in and started trying to mess with him. I'm convinced he remembered getting shots from a nurse, because he didn't want her anywhere NEAR him. He cried through every minor check she had to do, the worst being when he had to lay down to be measured (36 inches). I could not figure out what the problem was, and kept trying not to keep telling the nurse he was overdue for a nap, sounding like a mom desperate to not be misunderstood for having a difficult child. :-) I do not have a difficult child. But I'm sure they all say that. The one thing I can say is that I really like our doctor, and she is super-quick with the eye and ear checks. And the nurse was very understanding, and tried to do what she could to make Siah more comfortable, which was nothing. We ended up getting the flu vaccine, which we did with the nasal spray. I actually did that so he took it a little easier, but then we had the shot, and our first finger prick. Very sad. He kept screaming, "OW-WEE" and I felt so bad for him. Especially since after the finger prick we had to force what seemed like a liter of blood into this little tube. It took forever. But we lived, and God provided a book about trains, which made the extra five minutes we had to spend in the waiting room at the end go by quickly, and tearlessly.

Now Siah is taking a nap, and I am happily relaxing with the computer and some Nickelcreek.

And I did not vote.

I think I will not go to hell, and the country will be ok until I do next time.

SRFCMB - #1

Well, as my wonderful cousin points out, I have totally abandoned this blog, and it might be time to pick it back up again. There's been so much going on lately, I think there will probably be a few posts in a short amount of time to catch the blog up. :-) I think I'll do a series called "Suzanne's Reasons for Continuing My Blog". I like it.

Suzanne's Reasons for Continuing My Blog #1: New Baby

I'm so excited to be pregnant again! We had been trying for several months, and every month I had my period again I would get frustrated at God and then wonder if he was giving me a taste of what the friends I pray for have been going through. Then I would go through this silly cycle of "I'm so mad at you, life's not fair/Please don't be mad and make me wait longer because I have a bad attitude!" Sometimes I'm so ridiculous, I crack myself up.

How I knew I was pregnant (other than the obvious): I was in the kitchen, thinking I might be pregnant, so I deserved to eat as many of the BBQ potato chips as I wanted. Now, I can usually polish off at least half a bag of these chips before I realize I'm full, which is why we rarely buy them. So I open the bag, eat about five chips, and then decide I'm really not that hungry for chips. I'm hungry for... vegetables? So I get out the frozen veggies, and I'm watching them boil and it dawns on me that I'm either crazy, or I'm pregnant. I also noticed that my chest was getting bigger, and as God has never answered that prayer without including a pregnancy, I decided I was most definitely pregnant. (I sincerely hope no men read this blog. I apologize if there are.)

I will say that the nausea with this one hasn't been so fun. It's not that is unbearable, or that I'm even sick all the time, it just will randomly hit me. So I'm just telling myself the other horror stories I've heard about women who were throwing up all 9 months and needed to go the hospital to get hydrated. I'm really glad that I'm a stay-at-home mom and can take a nap when Siah does. That has made life a lot easier. I have taught Siah that there's a baby in my belly, and he likes to pull my shirt up and say "hi baby!" then he pulls it back down and says, "Ni-night baby!" I'm just hoping he doesn't think I ate a baby. Mostly because he doesn't seem phased at all, and if he's ok with me eating babies, we have a parenting problem.

Life has definitely been more interesting in the last 2 weeks. Siah seems to have gotten into the "terrible two's" full swing. I hate calling them that, because he's not terrible, just two. And crazy. Yesterday we were riding in my new car (yay!) with Aunt Julia and all of the sudden from the backseat we keep hearing "Siah, NO. Siah, NO. Siah, NO." It was hilarious, but I felt terrible! Why can't he parrot "I love you"? On top of that, the day before he had gotten down one of his books, and as he turned each page he said, "I said No. I said No. I said No... The end!" We're just at that age of pushing boundaries, I guess. So I'm trying to watch my tone, as I can't stop saying no when he's misbehaving. But I can try not to yell, or be super-impatient or snappy.

Well, I'm sure there will be a lot more interesting (hopefully) stories to tell throughout this pregnancy. For one, I haven't been to jazzercize for the last 3 weeks because I didn't have a car when the Aztek finally died, then because when I did have an opportunity to go, I felt sick. So I'm going to try to go tomorrow morning before my women's small group. It should be interesting. I'm anticipating needing to stand and just march in the back at some point. :-)