The best birthday present EVER!

.....would be to see the hospital in Haiti 
built and furnished
with donations from
my awesome friends!!!!!!!!

Here is a post about the needs of the women in the Heartline program with a CHIP-IN meter on the side to build the hospital.    (*click here)

Don't know about Heartline?       Read the story here.

We adopted Michael from Heartline Ministries in 1997.
At the time, Heartline was John and Beth McHoul.

Now Heartline is an entire organization filled with people we love and people who love God.
In fact, the Hendrick Family serving with Heartline came from Texas,
and we knew them way back 10-12 years ago when Mike was in grad school at Texas A&M.

Got an extra $20 bucks?
Can you CHIP-IN and send it to Heartline Ministries?

OR........
Do you have a desire to help in a bigger way?
Here is a link to current fund raisers going on for Heartline that you might be able to help with!

The easiest thing is to host a PURSE PARTY!
It's like a Tupperware party, you know, invite people over, fix a bit of food........
except that, seriously, you are changing someone's life by purchasing a purse.


Click here to learn about that.

A special BIG THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!
to my friend Sam
and her nursing club students
at Southern High School.
They have hosted bake sales all school year
and raised almost $1000 for the Heartline Hospital.You guys are awesome!  

Weekend get-away

(*Sat. morning sunrise from the top of Nimitz Hill)

The weekend started Friday after taking Zion to the doctor
(and getting Amoxicillin for strep-throat)

The boys helped me load my huge bags of scrapbooking supplies in the truck, and then, my tiny bag of clothes........(cause, really.......I planned to stay in my pajamas most of the time) and then I headed out to pick up Sam.

After loading up Sam's things, we were off. 
We decided to eat dinner before going to the hotel, at a Mexican place called, "Carmen's".
YUM! 

Upon our arrival and check-in,
we immediately started re-arranging furniture for ultimate scrapbooking.......
Yes,  before we even got our bags.

Here is our mess, arrangement.

We did a little scrappin' and a lot of chillin' -
eating chips on the couch, (gasp!!) 
and watching random shows
like a wedding cake reality thingy,
some local news,
some GLEE,
and Bones
Don't judge........it was relaxing!


We went out Sat. for lunch to Ruby Tuesdays and ran a couple errand with a pit-stop at YogurtLand for our "dessert dinner"
(*yes, yes we did eat Yogurt (and our left-overs) for dinner! 
Don't tell the kids!!!!!!!

Sunday morning we all met at church and then went to TGIFridays for lunch.
Back to the hotel for some "POWER"scrapping, so it looks like we accomplished something!
(why do moms have that kinda guilt?  Can't we just relax all weekend?)

ANYWAY.........we did have a good weekend and we DID get some scrapbooking done too!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there!

Sam and I are having a weekend get-away while the men folk man the kiddos.

We are hoping for some take-out, chic-flicks and some scrapbooking time,
although, we have both been so busy that we haven't packed up anything yet.

Nonetheless, it will be nice to sleep in if we want and watch GLEE if we want,
or eat what we want.........for a couple day.

Pictures coming soon.

A special HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
to my mom, Shelia Pulliam
My second mom (*Mike's mom), Marsha Pullen
my step-mom, Martha Garrison
and my grandmother, Geneva Duke

Iron.Lion.Zion

If the title of this post means nothing to you.........

then click here before you read on. 

Do you know anyone else named Melda?

I don't.

Having a different name is sometimes a lot of fun.
Sometimes, when you can't seem to get people to understand what you are saying,

not.
so.
much.

The regular list of errors include, but are not limited to:

Melba
Nelda
Imelda
Emelda
Zelda

Spelling your name becomes habit.

M
E
L
D-as in David

A

We passed this on to Zion, and he is okay with it.
Most of the time, people think we are saying Ryan.

But anytime we see something with Zy's name on it, of course, we point it out.
(A little more common for him than for me.)
Most often we see churches named, "Mt. Zion"

And then there is Bob Marley. 
(*If you are confused, that means you didn't click on the link at the top of the post - here it is again)

So here is Mike's version of celebrating Zion's cool name with a Bob Marley spin.

Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de mayo in Guam is not what it is in San Diego.

I mean, I know it's tomorrow, but still........I can tell it's not gonna be ALL THAT.

No advertisements
or signs up
or radio spots

Seriously, I love Mexican food. 

And you can call it whatever day you want,
(uno de mayo, tres de mayo, veintiuno de julio)
I don't care..........if someone is cooking Mexican food, I'm coming over!

Cinco de mayo without my girl Angel is going to suck.

She can cook. 

And she learned from the best.

This is her sweet mama. 

She made the best tacos on the planet.
(*that's not an opinion, it's a fact)

And for Cinco de mayo, we just party all week and eat tacos.

Cause after Cinco de mayo is Mother's Day
and of course, it's baseball season..........
so hitting Lolita's by the Park is a must on the way to the Padres game.

Yeah, I said it.

I eat Mexican food at the Padres games.

No, not a hotdog.

Call me unAmerican,

I.
don't.
care.

But if you haven't been to Lolita's for rolled tacos - don't judge.

Anyway, I just wanted to give a SHOUT OUT to Angel,
Kiki
Nelly-  Sha-Na-Na-Nelly
Monika
and the rest of the fam

And I know you miss your mama - especially around Mother's Day.
She was awesome and I am so blessed that I got to know her and be a part of your family.

I miss you guys!
Happy Cinco de mayo..........eat a taco for me!

HOPE

How do you give HOPE?

It's easy to give a hungry person food

Or a naked person clothes

or a cold person a blanket

or a homeless person a place to sleep


but HOPE?

Sometimes hope starts with
food,
clothes,
a blanket
and a place to sleep.

But it can't end there.

Giving HOPE involves relationship.

Investing

in someone's life

to the point

that your own life

might become

uncomfortable

Are you willing to give HOPE??

May is foster care month.  Events are taking place nationwide.
Check here for an event in your area.
Foster care is full of children who need HOPE.
It doesn't just mean that you take in a child.
There is MUCH you can do besides that, or in addition to that.

If you live on Guam,
JOIN US!!
on Sunday, May 29th at 10am
Bayview Church
to hear God's passion for these children.
And to learn about the needs of the orphan
on Guam and worldwide.

SEE YOU THERE!

(*to read other things I have written on this topic, see the links below)

The Cry of the Orphan

The Starfish Story

Touching video

Hungry in Haiti

Feeding hungry children

Preventing orphans

Pacific Island University

Pacific Island University,
or PIU as it is known here on Guam,
is the only accredited Christian university in this part of the world.

Our church, Bayview  hosted the choir to do our worship service this past Sunday.
In fact, since I have been here, they have come three times.
Every time, I am overwhelmed with the talent these young people bring.

More than that, you can just tell when someone means what they are singing.

The have a radiance that can't be described.

They believe the words they sing.

It's real to them.

Not just in their head,

but in their heart.

They have a small campus, and want to grow to serve more students.
They are looking for land to build on.
They are looking for new employees.

Do you need a job and have a heart for missions?

Come to Guam!

Check out the job listings here.

And just think about listening to this awesome singing every day at work.......