Did you know...

1a) that Kristen now goes by Kristy?  Please, no matter what she tells you, she would appreciate it if you use this name from now on.

1b) that I went to hang out with her in Ethiopia last week? I ate sheep, narrowly escaped death by hippopotamus attack, and had an incredible time with her!

1c) that I also enjoy Picasa albums and have uploaded some photos of the trip for you to see here?

2a) that, based on recent evidence, in addition to following me to Africa and joining the Picasa family, Ryan Warden actually aspires to be like me in everything he does?

2b) that, despite what this photo may suggest, I did not actually attempt to knock Kristy out and feed her to the hungry hippos?

3) that I've decided to extend my time in Uganda by a couple months, until mid-November?  I've prayed and thought about it a lot, and I feel like this is what the Lord wants me to do.

4) that I am still so ridiculously thankful for all of you and miss you more than I can say?  Seriously, I recently set my screen saver to scroll through about 400 photos of the family, and I fear I may never leave my computer again because it makes me so happy to look at your faces!  I really believe that what we have is special - an evidence of Grace, really - and I want you to know that I am beyond grateful for it, that I think of you often and it gives me joy, that I love hearing from you, and that I love you.

love. jen

Stomach Parasites make Awesome Pets

So I know I dont post that much but here is what has been going on lately, I just got back from taking a mission trip to India for two weeks with the other interns and our intern director. We were in Calcutta working with a family we knew who moved there from memphis. They help women escape the sex industry by gving them an alternative means of income, we also worked in one of the Mother theresa homes for the destitute. After the original trip m and two other friends took an extended trip to visit another family we knew. Sadly we had to leave early, because one of the guys I was traveling with had his passport stolen. But no fears we al made it back, upon returning I was promptly attacked by the stomach parasite i had hidden in my body which sucked I am getting better now and will hopefully be back to normal tomorrow. anyways news on the homefront Rachel and I are still going strong, i think I might have found a house t rent next year which is great. Also, still not sure what my job will be but i have an interview on Monday with an incredible Charter School in the neighborhood about a possibe maintenance position, which would be an awesome job. So ya that pretty much sums up my recent life. Hope all of you are doing well, i love and cherish all of you.

turns out

google does it again. i have quickly decided to use picasa.google for posting pictures, it is delightful. it has a link through my i-google, a good format, large sizes to download, and yes... face recognition. i threw a couple pics from the amazing wilco concert from last week while i was at it.
check it every now and then if you want to keep up, as i fly out to cape town this thursday. this thursday, so crazy how all the momentum can shift so fast. i spent the last week studying almost every waking hour and now i prepare for travelling an amazing unknown continent for seven weeks. i'm going to miss ya'll, birmingham family. africa friends, i'll be a little closer, maybe we'll share some kindred emotions

http://picasaweb.google.com/billy211b@gmail.com

pictures...

I am testing out this picasa picture posting thing for this summer. These couple of pics are from the first time me and john went to the locust fork to kayak. It was for real. I am now hooked on the yak

Crazy Awesome Buy

Amazon.com sometimes is absolutely amazing. This week, the re-mastered version of one of my all-time favorite albums (and Rolling Stone's 2nd best album ever) is on sale for digital download for $1.99. Even if you don't like the Beach Boys or think you don't like the Beach Boys, I strongly encourage this buy. If you don't like it, I'll refund your money... and call you a damnable liar...

Pet Sounds

update on many things

thanks to everyone who has been praying for my family over these last few weeks.. many apologies that i have not updated very well. I plan to do that now. My sister went to trial last week, and they now have partial custody restored. This is good because they will continue to fight for full custody, and they still stand some sort of chance. Also they got permission to take ashton this summer to see my parents in Egypt, for about a week. They had already bought the tickets when all this came up, so luckily they were able to work it out to get that. Please continue to pray for them as the real trial will start again in June or July (which likely means the first delay of trial will be in june or july) My sister was also excited to find out that she is pregnant again. Their daughter Hailey is only 7 months old, so this was quite a suprise, but very exciting. My sister-in-law unfortunately lost the pregnancy she had, but they have decided to go on a consolation trip to Europe. So they still have something exciting to look forward to. Wow what a plethora of family information i just filled everyone in on. I love and miss you all, and i will go to sleep now. goodbye

oh my...

awesome. (click here)

can we all go next year?

The Rescue

From John Parkhurst

Friends,

I would like to make you aware of an event happening this Saturday, April 25, to raise awareness and encourage the rescue of the abducted child soldiers in Central East Africa, particularly in Uganda, the Congo, and Sudan. The event is called “The Rescue” and is being held in 100 cities in 10 countries. There are already 65,000 signed up worldwide, nearly 200 in Birmingham, and over 400 in Chattanooga. For more information about the current situation as well as the event, please visit therescue.invisiblechildren.com; there is a 35 minute documentary online that is well worth watching, even if you are familiar with what is happening; also see the entry “Arrow Boys” on Jen’s blog [http://jenwilmore.blogspot.com]. The basic concept behind the event is “abducting yourself for the abducted child soldiers”. Participants will travel by foot to a pre-determined location in their city that will serve as their “LRA Camp”. There, they will remain ‘abducted’ until a person of great influence or cultural significance arrives and ‘RESCUES’ them by making a public statement on behalf of the child soldiers. Basically, we don’t go home until these designated leaders arrive. If you want to participate in the event, make sure to sign up on the website. Even if you can’t attend, consider contacting these leaders, as well as the media, and encourage them to come; there is a document on each city’s page that tells what to do.

If you are cynical about whether on not this will make a difference, watch this short 3 ½ minute video: http://behindthescenes.invisiblechildren.com/post/96932852/it-will-work-it-must

If are still cynical after watching that, watch this 5 minute video: http://behindthescenes.invisiblechildren.com/post/98392647/the-rescue-riders-are-real-together-were-free?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=willitworkemail

My favorite line is “don’t sleep through a revolution”. Seriously, don’t.

(even if you already know this will make a difference, watch the videos anyway…they’re good)

And if doing it for the child soldiers isn’t motivation enough, do it for Jen. It’ll make her life a little bit safer.

I trust all of you are doing well and I hope to see you soon.

John

Arthur Alligood CD

Hey, I hate to promote shamelessly, but I am about to promote shamelessly. One of my favorite artists has come out with a CD and I want to let you guys know in case you want to give him a chance.

Well, he's really cool. One time I bought his CD and he wrote me an email thanking me and when he sent the CD put a handwritten note with it. His lyrics rock. So deep and thoughtful. They keep on getting better the more you listen to them. He talks alot about the journey of discovering how little we know of Christ and what it looks like to walk through suffering, ect.

Ask me one day and I'll play a song for you on guittar.

Anyway, this is his third CD and they're awesome but I don't thing people are buying many and he's going to seminary so this may be his last. For the past year he has been letting people download five of the songs for free and only now has he made an actual CD to buy. The five songs are great.

If you have an extra $8 and want to give it a try go here.

That's all. I think you all are great. Super great. TTFN.

(James the giraffe lives in my apartment. He's our new pet.)

Matters of Prayer

So over the last few months i've felt very boring, nothing has changed in my job. still at atarbucks, still at fox, still in birmingham. And i was really lamenting the fact that there was nothing particularly interesting going on in my life. Well Friday was one of the most interesting days i've had in a long time, and i'm coming before you guys now, because one matter is particular could really use your prayer. I received a call from my sister Friday morning, to inform me that her son had been taken away from her by DHR (child protective services... i don;t really know what it stands for that's just what they do)
To explain more clearly, my sister married Eric over 2 years ago. Eric had previously had a relationship with another girl, with which he had a child. Both of them were pretty messes up at the time (on drugs, things of that sort) and the mother actually still is kinda messed up... but that is a whole different story. Anyways Eric had partial custody of Ashton (his son) until he was 3. Then the mother's parents filed something through court to get full custody. Eric decided to fight rather than settle, and get to see his son only every other weekend. Basically because the grandparents have lots of money, the trial took 3 years to complete, (during which time Eric had no custody rights at all, so he basically missed 3 years of his son's life) and finally ended with Eric, and my sister (whom he had married now) getting full custody, and the mother getting partial custody.
A lot of allegations were raised by the grandparents during the trial, and one of them was that Ashton's cousin Austin (who was 6 at the time) had sexually abused Ashton. So while my sister and eric had full custody they had to monitor Ashton at all times he might be with Austin.
DHR is now claiming that they didn't monitor Ashton enough, and thus took him away giving custody right back to the mother, and they're beginning a new trial.
On Monday they're goign to have a pretrial to determine what custody will be like until the trial starts again... I would really appreciate your prayers for this matter. The mother and grandparents are not Christians, don't go to church, and don't encourage Ashton spiritually either. If they don;t get any custody again, Eric and Rachael will very likely settle, because Eric has said he can't spend another year (at least) without seeing his son.
It's an awful situation, and if you could be praying for the judges decision on Monday, and that God's will would be revealed through this trial, and that this second trial would not be as long or cost as much.
My second matter of prayer is much happier. My brother Matthew, and his wife Becca are going to have their first child. I was informed by my brother on Friday night. They're very excited, as am i. Now i will be an uncle twice over, and thrice if you count Ashton.
I love you all, and look forward to our next meeting. Thank you for your prayers, and to everyone who writes on this blog, thanks for updating me on your life. I really love hearing about what is going on in each of your lives.
This post has been rather long for me.... THE END