Small Group: SERVICE; Sole Hope, January 2012

Our Small Group has decided to use the 5th week of the month (the ones that have a 5th week, anyways), and spend it doing service projects. We will meet at our normally-scheduled time, with kids, and spend that 2 hour block of time doing something for others. Our first Small Group: SERVICE was Sunday, January 29th, 2012. 

Although 2 couples were unable to attend that night, we had a great time working together, and I think we all collectively agree that doing a service night like this is a good idea. There are the logistical challenges that having this many people (and especially this many children) pose, but we had plenty of workers while three of us decided to watch kids.

While we don't intend to do this particular service project each time, Sole Hope worked well for us this go-round. The short of the project is this: You pay Sole Hope to send you a kit with instructions/patterns and you acquire the denim, material, scissors, baggies, etc. You host a "party" to cut and assemble parts of shoes, and ship the raw materials back to Sole Hope. Then Sole Hope sends them to Africa, to be sewn by locals. The shoes are then bought back by Sole Hope from these workers, and then given to children in need of footwear.

WE MADE 17 PAIRS OF SHOES. Yes, PAIRS. Isn't that cool!?!?

So, the cost of the project can vary, but here's what we paid:

-$10 for the Shoe Kit (from Sole Hope with instructions and patterns)

-$0 for two pairs of donated jeans

-$8 for two yards of fabric (bought at 50% off the clearance price at Joanne's--used for the inside of the shoes)

-$12.99 for a pair of pinking sheers (we needed more than one, and couldn't find more to borrow)

-$0 for scissors, one pinking sheers, Sharpies, safety pins, baggies, etc that we already had amongst the group

-$170 to sponsor each pair of shoes ($10/pair) that we made (that's the money Sole Hope uses to buy the shoes from the workers which they then donate to the children)

Seth's mom found these men's size 52 jeans at the resale store and donated them to the cause. (Doesn't he look good having lost all that weight!? ;-)

Thanks to a friend in our Sunday school class, we actually had 2 pairs of jeans.

the table all ready for the workers to arrive

the 'organizer' section (that's the sample they sent us as an example--part of what we got in the $10 kit)

Prior to the group arriving, Seth and I cut both pairs of jeans into usable pieces. Ripping seams where needed, cutting the legs apart, etc. We also had to cut the pattern out of the pages they came on. The other fabric you see is what we bought at Joanne's for $8.

What it looks like when you've traced pattern pieces on to the denim. (and labeled them... these pieces are all size 6)

At the far end, we had our tracers who then passed to either side of the table for cutting, down to me to organize the pieces, and cut a piece of plastic out of the milk jugs you see in the front left of the photo. Each pair has to be pinned together and labeled, hence the safety pins and sharpies and baggies.

Cesar, cutting the interior fabric.

Our tracers doing a GREAT job of getting everything as close together as possible.

Sean, also cutting the interior fabric.

Sam, cutting some denim.

The Lopez Family.

The Russ/Roberts Family. (And the babysitting dads in the background.)

2/3 of the Alisentono Family.

2/3 of the Rasoi Family.

2/3 of the Spofford Family.

A completed pair of shoes, ready to be shipped.

5/6 of the Spofford Small Group after a night of working hard. Plus Georgia Mae. ;-)

A HUGE Thank You to everyone who helped us with this project!!! To my MIL, Kim Spofford, who lent us pinking sheers and donated a very large pair of jeans. To Rob Nickell for giving our small group a pair of unwanted jeans. To everyone in our Small Group who attended our first Service Night, either patiently watching children, or having worked their fingers raw cutting and tracing the material. To Christina Childress for the idea in the first place.

Feeding into Friendships... The WHY.

The following blog post is taken from several sources, some of whom aren't Sena Spofford, but who can get the point across much better than I can.

First up: Mark Crumpler; Peachtree Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, GA.

"'And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David . . . and even his sword and his bow and belt (1 Samuel 18:4 ).'

There is a powerful moment in the forging of friendship between David and Jonathan. We are told that the soul of Jonathan was 'knit' to the soul of David. That's very nice language - but we don't really know what that looks like. We can't see souls being 'knit.'

But the storyteller goes on to describe something we can see. Jonathan gave his robe to David, and then he gave him his sword. If we back up into the story to 1 Samuel 13 we learn that no one in Israel had a sword except Saul and Jonathan. When the typical Israelite was called to battle he went to his tool shed, wrenched the blade from his plow or found his axe. There were no blacksmiths in Israel. The Philistines had a monopoly on the iron market, specifically to deprive the Israelites of good weapons for war (1 Sam. 13:19-22 ).

When Jonathan gave David his sword it was much more than a mere gesture. Maybe Jonathan had more than one sword. We don't know. What we do know is that among the Israelites, swords were very rare. Only the King and his son had one. And when Jonathan gave his away, he made himself profoundly vulnerable to David.

Friendship grows best in the soil of trust and vulnerability. Friendship by definition calls us to entrust ourselves to someone else. We commonly speak of this as "opening up." We experience that vulnerability by what we share - a piece of our story, an honest opinion. We don't literally hand over our sword, but we feel like we've given away something that could come back to hurt us. And the truth, is we probably have. But apart from trust and vulnerability we have acquaintances, not friends."

Next up:Dr. John Townsend, "How to be a Best Friend Forever"

"In these situation, friends are more like what I would call "companions." That is, they are people you are close to, but the purpose of the relationship is more about going through life with someone, floating down the river in a connected state. There is a true closeness here and a lot of good exists in that attachment. But what is missing is that companions don't really impact our lives; they are on the periphery of it. They may be a sounding board and someone to talk with about what's going on at home and at work, but there is no real "ask" or "give" involved. They are not central to the decisions and choices we make in life."

Lastly:

One of my goals for this year is to feed into friendships. Intentionally. Those that I consider 'Friends' rather than, to borrow a term, 'Companions.' Life has plenty of companions, and that is fine, but I'm interested in feeding into those who do impact my life. Who do ask things of me and of whom I ask. And not in a tit for tat way. I want to ask and know that though it might be a hindrance/bother/something to that person, that they will do it with a glad and willing heart because they know I'd do the same. I don't want to worry that they're keeping score of how many favors I've racked up.

I feel like 2010 was the Year of Being Pregnant. A surprise that took many, many months for me to come to grips with. And then 2011 was the Year of Becoming a Mom. A transition that took its toll on me in myriad ways, some different, and some the same as in 2010. And now that I'm in 2012, I finally feel like I can come out of the cave I've been living in. I'm ready to give of myself to my friends. I hate how much 'taking' I've been doing over the past several years, and this goal is a goal of righting that. For my friends. For those that have been giving to me over the years without so much as a hint to the tally of favors. You know who you are. There's a sword coming your way. Be ready for it! :-)

2012 Goals

If you read this post, you know that in our house, we make New Year's Goals, not Resolutions.

Well, as is true most years, I have a lot of goals this year. We have a lot of goals this year. But this post is primarily about my goals. The ones I have set for myself specifically. Some of which might involve Seth, but many of which do not. 

Here's my list:

-feed into my friendships in intentional, overt ways

-make Small Group (the group as a whole and the members as individuals) a priority above most else

-go on a Girl's Getaway weekend with the bestest BFF ever-in-the-world

-get pregnant

-spend more 1:1 time with Georgia at the park

-buy a new laptop
-finish reading through the Bible (I'm doing a year plan, having started in December)
-figure out what's up with mine and Austin's digestive systems

There are more. Many more. But only these will be shared in this setting.

Do you have Goals for 2012? Do you mind sharing one (or more) with me? I'd love to learn what's important in your life right now. And hey, maybe I'll like it so well, it'll give me an idea to add to my list!

2011's books

Most people know that I'm in a book club (I have been for over 2 years now), and as a result, I'm constantly getting asked for book recommendations. I decided to compile a list of books I've read (some with my book club, some without) over the past year. Here goes...

Treasuring God in Our Traditions,  Noel Piper

The New Dare to Discipline,  Dr. Dobson

*Gone With the Wind,  Margaret Mitchell

*The Story of the Trapp Family Singers,  Maria von Trapp

Stay Home, Stay Happy,  Rachel Campos-Duffy

Excuse Me, But I Was Next...,  Peggy Post

*Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul,  John Eldredge

*Bringing Up Girls,  Dr. Dobson

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child,  Marc Weissbluth

*Room,  Emma Donoghue

Babywise 2,  Gary Ezzo

Summer and the City,  Candace Bushnell

What Southern Women Know,  Ronda Rich

*Pride and Prejudice,  Jane Austen

*Drowning Ruth,  Christina Schwarz

*Twilight,  Stephanie Meyer

*New Moon,  Stephanie Meyer

A Place of Yes,  Bethenny Frankel

Waiting for Daisy,  Peggy Orenstein

*Eclipse,  Stephanie Meyer

*Breaking Dawn,  Stephanie Meyer

*Freakonomics,  Steven Levitt

Bringing Up Boys,  Dr. Dobson

SuperFreakonomics,  Steven Levitt

*Before I Go to Sleep,  S.J. Watson

*The Hole in Our Gospel,  Richard Stearns

*A Christmas Carol,  Charles Dickens

On Becoming Pre-Toddlerwise,  Gary Ezzo

Habits of a Child's Heart:,  Valerie Hess

Looking back over that list, I'm surprised and delighted! 29 books?! Man, I love to read! It's definitely my #1 hobby (as evidenced by the amount of time AND money I spend on it).

The books that stand out as being my top favorites from the year are "Treasuring God in Our Traditions," "The New Dare to Discipline," "Gone With the Wind," "Pride and Prejudice," "Waiting for Daisy," "Superfreakonomics," and "Before I Go to Sleep." I don't want to go into a review of each book on here because it would make the post much too long, but if you have any questions about any of the specific books listed above, feel free to ask and I'll tell you what I thought!

*=books I've read with my book club

The Spofford Christmas Season, 2011

Here is a selection of photos from our 2011 Christmas Season.

First up: pictures from our annual delivery of cookies to everyone on our street.

All the packages of cookies and stack of cards ready to deliver.

3/4s of the Delivery Team. ;-)

2nd: Our broken tree. And it's only 5 years old!

3rd: We went to see The Trains at Northpark. (We forgot the camera so all the photos are from my phone. Sorry for the poor quality!)

 4th: We got THE strangest card in the mail. From Atlanta to Chattanooga and ended up in Dallas. ???

5th: Christmas Eve. Presents Time as a family. This is after service and dinner with Nonnie and Gramps. His main gift is the wagon you see in some of the shots. It wasn't wrapped, so there aren't any pictures of him opening it.

He wasn't feeling very well, so this smile is a bit deceiving of his mood.

little drummer man

I can't remember, now, where Seth and I read this book for the first time, but we HAD to get it for him when we saw it for sale at Costco.

pop-up Noah's ark book

We read this story together right after opening gifts.

 6th: Christmas morning we go to Nonnie and Gramps'. Even Georgia comes with us!

I'm glad I got a smiling picture of him, but he was pretty much a disaster the rest of the day. Georgia is visible on the left side of this picture.

"Board books! My favorite! Thanks Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Spencer."

I think I was more in awe of that outfit than Seth was. And certainly more than Austin was. And I love that Nonnie and Gramps got him "L is for Lonestar." I'd already bought him "B is for Badger."

Little People, Noah's Ark

You know what they say about kids having more fun with the box the toy comes in? Well, does that count for the father and uncle of the gift receiver? ;-) Poor Austin...

Best picture of the whole day!