This is a shameless plug for the family...but one that could save some lives! Please read this... and share the links with anyone that you know!
I often talk about my sisters, or my nieces and nephews... but rarely do I mention my step-brothers. Mostly, it is because they are all a *few* (ahem) years older than me... and were already out of the house and off to college when our parents married. But what I lack in "face time" for them here on our family blog, I make up for in enthusiasm about all three of them!
I am blessed to have three of the most incredibly talented step-brothers... and today I will mention them all briefly... and talk about one specifically.
Andy is the oldest - and is a minister of music in a church outside of Chicago. He and his wife Susan are both extremely gifted and talented signers. Andy has an incredibly beautiful voice...it moved me to tears at Jamie's wedding... and even more when our grandmother passed away and he sang A Capella at her funeral. In addition to his voice - he is funny, smart and full of integrity. He has two children... and his "baby girl" just began her first teaching job right here in Lexington!! Where does the time go...?
Joey is the middle child... and as ALL MIDDLE CHILDREN...is funny, fun-loving, easy-going... oh, wait...I am also a middle child. Maybe I am a little biased. ha ha. For many years, Joey was a Minister of Education at a Baptist Church in Norman, Oklahoma. However, now he works for Oklahoma Federation of Families for Youth and Children's Mental Health. (or "OFF" which is soooo much easier to say.) He is also a gifted writer, speaker and photographer. More about Joey, later. He and his wife, Jenny have two sons... and yes... they are all grown up, too!
Finally there is Jimmy. Jimmy is the youngest, and lives outside of Houston, Texas where he works for a museum. To say that Jimmy is intelligent, gifted, artistic... these statements would all be accurate - but they can never truly portray just HOW gifted, intelligent and artistic Jimmy is. When I was a little girl, I wanted to BE Jimmy. He can look at something and draw it, with unbelievable detail. He and his wife, Allyson have 4 children - and although they live far away and we haven't been able to spend much time with them... the few times we have been together I have been impressed by how incredibly sweet they are!
So there you have the "men" of the family. They are all incredibly talented... and their accomplishments overwhelm me. I am very proud of them, as is my step-father - their Dad.
In recent years I have had the honor of following the blog of one of my step-brothers, Joey. I have mentioned it from time to time on my blog...he is an incredibly talented writer... and the photos that he used on his blog were all his own... taken on various outings, mission trips and just family vacations. His photography is as impressive as his writing - and the combination of the two is breathtaking. In going through the photography archives on his blog, I naturally fell in love with all the photographs he had taken on his recent Mission Trip to Guatemala. I asked him if he would care for me to download a few pictures to use in the kids' bedrooms. When Joey was in town later that month, he left me 3 CD's with over 750 photos that he had taken while in Guatemala. It took me over a month... but I narrowed that down to about 30 photos. When you come for a visit, you can see some of my personal favorites displayed throughout the house! They are a huge source of pride for me, since I can say that Joey took them...but they are also a source of pride for the children, that know that those photos are from "Their Guatemala".
Most recently, Joey went on a Mission trip to Ghana. I heard about it on Dad's birthday. Mom and Dad were on their way out to Arizona to take Tabitha home and stopped in Oklahoma to visit Joey and Jenny. It was close to Dad's birthday, and Joey was showing Dad a book that he had recently published about the trip that he had taken to Ghana. The trip was taken with the organization, HIS Nets.
Joey traveled with this group to Ghana, and distributed treated mosquito nets to the areas most susceptible to malaria. The photos in this book were from his time spent there. Once he returned home, he spent time reflecting on his trip, and compiled those photos and thoughts into a book. It is a BEAUTIFUL book. (It made a GREAT birthday gift for our Dad!) The wonderful thing about this book, is that all proceeds from the book will be donated to HIS Nets. Didn't I tell you that Joey was awesome? I love reading his writing... I love looking at his photos... it was so amazing to get to see them all brought together in one book.
"BUY A BOOK - SAVE A LIFE".
OK. So that is my shameless plug for Joey and his book. You can read more of Joey's writings on his new website. In the meantime...Christmas is less than 4 months away. Think about giving a BOOK this year... and in the process... help to save some lives!
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