Expanding the Horizons of Our Hearts

When Joshua and I first moved to Baton Rouge we were a bit nervous about being able to find a community to become a part of. We left behind one of the most wonderful and loving support systems in Gwinnett and Atlanta where we had invested so much of ourselves. It was hard to imagine being able to welcome anybody new into our hearts because they were already so crowded with friends and family.

But God can do anything. We walked into the Chapel our first Sunday there in Baton Rouge, two shy and nervous strangers, and we were instantly welcomed as a brother and sister in Christ. The family of God is a powerful thing, and I found myself forgetting that no matter your background, your hometown, or your culture, it is Jesus who binds his family together. In October we became a part of a local community group (essentially a house church). Michael and Erica Rhodes open their homes and their hearts to us every week as we gather as a family to eat, celebrate, pray, learn, and encourage each other as we make disciples and discover more of God's character. I love our little group because we come from so many walks of life. Some have grown up in Baton Rouge, others have moved there more recently like us; some are still in school and some have been married for 20 years and have children; we have engineers, teachers, pastors, moms, insurance salespeople, and students.

Joshua and I have been incredibly encouraged through the Chapel, but particularly by this little group of people. Especially early in our marriage, we have cherished the support and prayer that come from our Baton Rouge family. It seems our hearts have learned to grow to accommodate the influx of tenants that we have become increasingly fond of. If you think about it, please pray for our little family, that we would increase in knowledge of Jesus, that our time together would be an encouragement and a refuge from the crazy world we live in, and that we would love one another well

 

We really are a fun group of people!

Reading List

So, Joshua and I- as I am sure that many of you are aware of- are huge book nerds. We both love reading immensely whether it is fiction or non-fiction, but we especially love stories. We are easily drawn into books, television shows, movies, comic books, anything that tells a good story. I think that there is something so magical about storytelling. I love the way that we were created with an imagination to be able to picture things in our heads that don't actually exist, that we have the creative ability to craft people and places and events that have never happened in a way that is thrilling, horrifying, sad, joyful, suspenseful, and inspiring. You can tell a story to teach a lesson, entertain an audience, make a point, share information, or simply touch somebody.

I wanted to share with you a story that we've been reading this past week: The Host.

It's easy (and somewhat justified) to be weary of any book penned by Twilight author, Stephenie Meyer, but I find that this novel has slipped somewhat under the radar of the crazed Twihard nation. Perhaps it's because Meyer slipped this book in during the middle of the Twilight series release, before even the movies were made, or maybe it's because this book has an older target audience and isn't sold in teen fiction sections of bookstores. Even the upcoming movie release (March 29) of The Host has been somewhat subdued, in my opinion, in comparison to the in your face every-where-you-turn advertising of the Twilight movies. Whatever the reason, I absolutely love this story. I first read it years ago when it was first released, but I convinced Joshua to open it back up and read it with me.

The story picks up after the Earth has been conquered by an alien species called the 'Souls' who inhabit the bodies of human beings. The Souls are a peaceful people as they live their lives inside of their human hosts. We follow a Soul named Wanderer as she is inserted into a host body that was part of the human resistance before the body was captured. She is supposed to search the body (that used to belong to a Melanie Stryder) for memories of information about the remaining resistance, but Wanderer discovers something unsettling: Melanie is still there. Inside her body. Wanderer and Melanie embark on a strange journey of hatred, understanding, friendship, and love as they try to adapt to society and figure out their place in the world.

I like this book more than the Twilight series because it's more story than romance. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind romance, but it bothers me when a story is written solely for the romance and the only plot devices are to add pining and angst to that relationship. I much prefer a well told story that contains elements of romance. I also think that The Host raises a lot of really interesting commentary on morality and the nature of being human. It's likely that Meyer includes these interesting questions by chance instead of design, but I enjoy them just the same. Anyways, the book can be a little slow in the middle but it is completely worth it in my opinion. You should pick it up before the movie is released in late March.


On a non-fiction side, the other book I just finished is called Your Money Counts (Now More Than Ever):

Managing finances was probably one of the areas I was most nervous about in beginning our marriage. I had never had a steady income before and never lived on a budget, paid taxes, handled medical care, invested, or anything like that. But, surprisingly, our finances has become one of my favorite areas of our life together. This book was super awesome and I recommend it to anyone learning to manage their finances for the first time (or anybody really). Dayton offers a lot of wisdom with what it means to be a good steward of your resources.

Mardi Gras!

So Joshua and I thought a lot about how we wanted to celebrate our very first Louisiana Mardi Gras season. And let me tell you, they don't mess around about Mardi Gras here in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. All of the schools in Louisiana at least have Monday and Tuesday off of school, LSU has three days off, and some schools even have the entire week off for Mardi Gras! Joshua and I were dumbfounded that it was like a real holiday here. You start seeing displays like the one below in all of the stores just after the new year.

Anyways, we thought it'd be a real bummer if we let our time in Baton Rouge pass by and not celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans, so when a few of my coworkers invited us to go along with them we figured why not. I will tell you, we had an absolute blast! Maybe I had an over exaggerated picture in my head about how crazy and sketchy the city would be, but it wasn't nearly as crowded or as risque as I thought it would be. That being said, it WAS pretty crazy still and there were a lot of drunk people and a lot of bead throwing (poor Joshua got pummeled in the head by flying plastic a few times). We arrived around 2:30pm and headed to a bar called Pat O'Brien's to have one of their world famous Hurricanes. It was a pretty neat place with two ladies taking requests and playing piano and lots of singing. We walked around the french quarter some, grabbed some delicious beignets from Cafe Du Monde, went shopping (I got a masquerade mask), had a delicious dinner, and went in search of some bar that had some drink called a 'hand grenade' (they even had little plastic grenades in them) that some of the guys wanted to try out. By then we met up with a few other guys that we work with in time to catch the parades! The floats were really neat even though the people on the floats that threw the beads all had these really creepy masks on. The first parade was 'Hermes' themed so there were a few Greek mythology inspirations to the floats, but after that I have no idea where the inspiration came from. Some seemed really random and others were trying to make some kind of political statement.

I have a few pictures below from our adventures:

 (Sorry for the poor picture quality...I didn't bring a purse to carry my camera, so I just had my phone)

 

All in all, it was a super fun night. And while it might not exactly be our scene, we are really glad that we got out and experienced the Mardi Gras craziness, and I think it will be one of our favorite memories that we take with us from Baton Rouge.

Wedding Video

Wedding Story from Erin Harkey on Vimeo.

If you haven't had a chance to check it out yet you should take a look at our wedding video! We were super blessed by Ben, our Storyteller, and everyone else on the 3ring wedding video team. It was great to get to know them, sit down and tell our story, and share one of our most important moments together. Even now, after being married for almost six months, we look back on our wedding day and everything that the Lord has brought us through and give thanks for the amazing season of our engagement leading up to our union. It was tough and very stressful time that I have no desire to ever repeat, but the discomfort caused us to lean on one another and grow so much that it gave us a solid foundation for our marriage and I would never trade that for anything!