The Nature of Hope

What is it that you hope for? I know my youngest son is hoping for a kindle for Christmas. Paul hopes that we will be able to afford college for our kids. Well...I guess that's not really a hope. Affording college is somewhere between a prayer and something you plan for. You can't plan for a hope. When your hopes are met, it is usually from an unforeseen source, and in a manner you can't control.

As we head off for our week of service work in the Dominican Republic, I am almost giddy with hope. My brother-in-law often says that the poor Haitians who live in the sugar cane work camps, called bateys, know that when the big yellow school bus filled with one of the work teams hosted by the Maranatha Baptist Church rolls in, their hopes are about to be fulfilled. Their prayers are being answered.

What an awesome privilege: to be and to bring what someone hopes for. My hope is to meet and succeed the expectation of their hopes by bringing joy, full hearts, and compassion along with the food and medical supplies we bring. I am humbled to even have the chance.

My deepest thanks to all my friends, family, neighbors, church family, extended church family, etc., who have prayed for and contributed to the Frenches having this adventure in any way. I am deeply grateful. We covet your prayers for good health this week. And we are eager to share stories with you all when we return.

To God be the glory for the week that's ahead.

Skinny Jeans and Fairness

If you have met my eldest, you know why we call him Big T. He has grown 6.5 inches in the last year. From afar, he looks like a double stick popsicle with a head. Skinny jeans are all the rage with the youngins these days. For T, they are a fashion necessity. If he wears normal jeans, they look like bozo pants.

In anticipation of returning to school, we cleaned out T's closet to see what still fit from last year. The answer: nothing. Skinny jeans go for about $50 full price at Kohls or Zumiez. I was bumming.

The Scottish in me took over, however. I found one pair of skinny jeans for $19 at Marshalls, and another pair on sale at Kohls (for which I also used a 30% coupon) so I paid only $25. Now I felt victorious.

However, now that I am back at work, laundry isn't being done with the frequency it has been over the summer. So after many squabbles and seemingly endless bickering, I was back at Kohls with another 30% off coupon.

This was the end for Hayden (who only got one pair of skinny jeans). His invisible, proverbial cork popped and out came, "Mom, that's not fair."

At this point, you might be thinking, "Why is Jenni bothering to blog this story?"

The events of the last 24 hours have been extraordinary. My husband and my puppy were attacked by a German Shepherd. My hubby is fine...went to the doc, was given a prescription and, other than a little soreness, he's recovering fine.

My puppy Brutus, on the other hand, hasn't fared so well. He is a twelve pound yorkie-dachsund, and cuter than that renowned bug's ear. The attack has left him with a 10-12" cut across his entire back. The vet described the injury as "what it would look like if you tried to pull a stuffed animal apart not by the seams." It is absolutely tragic.

I have really been struggling with my anger and grief over the situation. I am an admitted dog freak. And have been since I was about 8 years old. Brutus is an innocent creature. He has never harmed anyone or anything. He didn't deserve what happened yesterday.

That's when it hit me. Fairness is a man made concept. It is an ideal, not reality. If it were real, then my friends on Batey 50 in La Romana (photos above) would have a house as nice as mine and as much food to eat as I do. My friend Samantha wouldn't have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, but rather two healthy knees like my boys. Little Macey King wouldn't have battled cancer (and won, by the way) numerous times before she turned 10, while I sit here at 45 still chugging along as healthy as an ox. There is no question, life isn't fair.

What dawned on me is that fairness isn't a God-given gift, but I do believe that justice is. Justice is eternal and not of this world. I am hanging on for that.

Back to School Musings by Paul

This post is by my guest blogger, who also happens to be my husband, Paul. 

Today always reminds me of this old Staples commercial. Classic! And funny because it rings true (at least a little bit) with every parent I know.

Anyone with children has experienced it: Toward the end of the summer, our kids begin to sit in front of the TV a little longer … they bicker a little more frequently … they miss their friends from school.  It’s time to go back. We all know it in our gut.

And yet, there’s a sadness to the first day of school. It signals the end of the relatively carefree days of summer. ANOTHER summer gone. We’re 8 months through another year. Where does the time go? Our kids are growing up way too fast! Is it possible that next year I’ll have one in Middle School and one in High School!? It just doesn’t seem possible.

This snowball of a thought process is why this time of year also puts me in mind of eternity. Call me weird … it’s just how my mind works. To borrow from another commercial: Life comes at you fast. I find it scary to think about just how fast life moves. It’s like that line in the song “Fireflies”: “I’d like to make myself believe, that planet Earth turns slowly.” But it doesn’t. It moves fast. Really fast. And so, I lapse into this momentary sadness and it threatens to envelope me. But then something else takes over. It’s a kind of excitement. In fact, it’s why I don’t hate going through this whole thought process every September.

You see, the first day of school – in the midst of the separation anxiety I’m feeling from missing my kids – also reminds me to take stock in what’s important in life. For me, it becomes another opportunity to stop and appreciate my family and friends and, more importantly, to re-energize my faith. To thank God for His many blessings and to think about how, in return, I can bless others in His name. This is why I’m here … why I exist. And, so, in a way not intended by Staples … I do indeed count this as the most wonderful time of year.