History is Made Today

I was fortunate enough to be able to watch the inauguration ceremony today and felt extremely proud to be an American. How many countries have a peaceable exchange of power and the freedom to vote for our leaders? I am also extremely proud to be in a country where a black man has risen to the highest office in our country when just 100 years ago we were still wrestling with slavery. I have been in prayer this weekend and throughout the day for our new president and will continue to do so throughout his administration. My vote is irrelevant at this point, and I choose to obey the Lord and pray for our country and our leaders. I am also thankful to have had a president for the last eight years that is a man of character who has a soft heart to toward the Lord. I think he's getting a bad rap right now, and history will remember him more favorably than he is spoken of now. God bless America!

Less Baseball This Year

It's been a few years since I won the Crossroads women's fantasy league and retired from fantasy baseball (even though I'm still bragging about it), but I have continued to enjoy baseball. I've been frustrated over the past few years though with players always moving; it makes following a team not as enjoyable and even difficult. I understand all of the reasons, but from a fan's point of view it's disheartening. This week though was a major blow to Braves fans. It's hard to believe that Smoltz will no longer be with the Braves.

Anniversary Trip

We thought these were a great bargain on craigslist but ended up being the worst deal we've ever gotten.

Listening to a jazz band while sipping on our drinks (we're the only people in the Big Easy drinking water and Coke).

Yummy!!!

Scotch (how our friends in Brazil pronounce his name) on Bourbon.

The most enjoyable part of our time in the Superdome. (Scott was in the bathroom crying during this part).

A quick drive to the beach. Hurricane damage is still evident. 

What can be worse than Alabama being destroyed and Brandon not able to get his license because his selfish parents were out of town, driving through a hail storm on the way home.

We did have a good time and some laughs in spite of all of this. 

Bear is here!

Bear moved in yesterday and is doing great. He missed his mom last night, but he's off to a good start today. 

Scott and I also got a delayed Christmas/anniversary gift thanks to craigslist. More on that in the next post.

Happy New Year to all!

Out Little Artist

Brooke made several gifts for us this year. My favorite is the reindeer wreath; I love it!

Merry Christmas!

We're wishing everyone a merry Christmas and hope you've had some time to reflect on God's love for you. 

Having been convicted this year about helping the poor, we decided to celebrate Christmas a little differently this year. After speaking with a few friends, we came up with a few ideas. I had also come across a movement last year among some believers and churches that was along the lines of what we were feeling. Check out www.adventconspiracy.com for more details. So how was the Barber Christmas different? First, we have limited the amount of presents. Honestly, all five of us have more than we need. We did have some gifts, but this was not the focus. (I found a free dog for Brooke; see the picture below). Second, we gave each other a gift that did not require money. Brandon gave his grandmother the gift of doing some computer work and instruction for her; Scott is cooking dinner once a week for me in January, etc. This was a lot of fun and very meaningful. Finally, Scott and I gave each of the kids some money for them to use to help the poor. We gave a few options like www.worldvision.com and www.dalitfreedomnetwork.org   on how to spend their money. We're praying that they, and we, will grow in our desire to help those who have less. 

Our prayer is that all of us will focus less on ourselves and more on those in need. Please pray for us as we struggle with what this looks like in our daily life.

Just in case you were out of the loop, the two oldest Barber children are kinda the bomb.... they even have some killer pj's