BERRY Precious Nieces!

This last few weekends we have been so blessed to spend time with newest niece Allie Elizabeth and our 19 month old niece Ella. Such precious times......

Ella has received such undivided attention for the last 19 months of her life. There are not words to describe her sweet personality and how it makes me feel when I hear her say my name. I love her so much and I just couldn't imagine what it was going to be like to add Allie to those that I allow to dip into my love well. But as soon as I laid my eyes on her, I loved her just as much. In all these pics, Allie is not even ONE week old! Anyone on this Earth would have to admit that my brother-in-law and sister-in-law make some beautiful babies!

The boys worked on a chair covering project our first weekend we visited and Nicole and I had our own little project. A pedicure!!

Having two weekends with our Brother and Sister has been amazing. Makes us miss them so much more....and of course we miss the girls!!! Counting down till our next visit!

ALLIE ELIZABETH BERRY

Allie Elizabeth Berry....our new niece born April 6, 2009!

Mrs. Berry. wika wika .......

There are some things that REALLY get you and you NEVER forget it. This will be one of those things.......

Recently my sweet Shaquira wrote a rap for me:

I love her smile. She's so funny! Definitely my class clown at times. A precious jewel!

Fatherless Generation

We've all been told that we are seeing a Fatherless Generation grow up. This week I had an eye opening experience to just how "starving" they are for a male role model in their lives. The reality of a "Fatherless Generation" hit me in the face at school this week.

This picture is of Nigiel. Nigiel is being raised by a single mom. Dad is in prison for dealing drugs and Nigiel takes the man's role in his home for his Mom and his two sisters. He takes it serious. You can't see it in the picture below, but the string around his neck is attached to a picture of his family that he carries proudly. He is never in class without it. Nigiel is what most people, who have no clue, would call a 'street kid'. This past week I had an awesome experience with him that showed me just how much he craves male attention along with all his other male peers.

Third period is the most sacred time of my day- "Planning Period!" No children. No one yelling my name or asking me a question immediately after I closed my mouth from giving the answer they so desperately need me to repeat. I could go on and on about how wonderful it is, but that has nothing to do with the current story... John and I typically talk during my 3rd period. On Monday we were closing out our conversation and a student entered my room early. He realized I was talking to "MR. Berry", as they call him, and asked for the phone.That can be pretty scary, but he was very mature and knew exactly what he wanted. He was looking for a lunch date! He asked John when he planned to come to the school and how soon he could come and eat lunch with him. He and John continued their conversation and Nigiel hung up the phone....

His first response was... "Mrs. Berry, he sounds BIG! I'm not acting up in your class no more!"..all I could do was laugh. He and John had set a date for Friday.

The rest of the week Nigiel was on cloud 9! He could hardly wait to eat lunch with some man he had never even met before. Not only did the buzz continue from Nigiel, but many of his closest friends began asking if they could sit with Mr. Berry at lunch too.

John showed up on Friday and just the presence of a male in my classroom changed the entire feeling. He immediately began speaking to the kids, not knowing which ones are a pain in my neck daily or sweet angelic voices in my ear. It was amazing to see their responses.

Lunch was great and Nigiel was so happy. He barley ate his lunch because he was so excited about his guest.

Justin pulled me over to his table during lunch. Here's what our conversation sounded like:

"Mrs. Berry is that your husband?"

"Yep!"

"When can I get an appointment with him for lunch?"..

The buzz of John's visit hasn't stopped. I wish he could come every week, but I just can't expect that of him, nor can he squeeze it into his busy schedule every week. But there are thousands of men in this town that could give away 30 min. a week, or even a month to some boys who could seriously be impacted by their time.

FUEL

Tonight John unwrapped his vision for the youth ministry at Liberty Baptist Church in Spring Lake.

Within each of us, when we accept Christ, a spark is set within our hearts. The world and all that is within it would do anything and everything to extinguish that spark within our hearts. As we encounter intimacy and growth with Christ, our spark becomes a burning fire. John had an awesome visual for the spark and then the flame that's fueled by our relationships with reading God's Word, prayer, worship, and relationships with others,.

As a follower of Christ we are to help others FUEL their fire so that it continues to burn with passion. A passion for a deeper understanding of our loving Savior and his desires for our lives.

What or who helps FUEL your fire? Have you thanked God for them lately or better yet shared with them that they help FUEL your fire?

What things keep your fire from burning to it's fullest capacity?

John challenged the kids with this very question. After small groups, they came out to a big bonfire and threw those things in the fire, praying that God would remove them and allow their fire to be FUELED it's fullest capacity!

At Liberty, we are praying to be that FUEL. To join together with parents & volunteers to keep the FUEL on the fire within the hearts of students.

2009....

We entered the new year with so many new aspects of life that we just weren't sure what the next few months would be like. Not only was I about to start my first Middle School position, but we were in a whole new world as far as ministry was concerned and were experiencing the strains of not knowing if we could handle the pressure of 2 mortgages.

For weeks we went through people looking at the house, making low offers that we just couldn't afford to accept. We would just look at each other and not know how the end was going to turn out, but had faith enough to know God would provide. God had a plan and before we ever had to make 2 payments He amazingly provided a woman and 2 kids who needed a place to stay desperately. We actually knew her and trusted the idea of the set up! What a relief!

Early into getting my feet wet with Middle School, I realized how difficult it was going to be. A group of 99 kids that had no idea who I was, why their other teacher left and they had expectations for me to keep everything just as she had it! It was hard. I was dealing with inner city "street" kids for the first time in my life. It was heart breaking to hear some of the stories that they tell about not knowing their parents, of parents in prison for drugs, and on and on. But I have grown to love them. There is never a dull day! I don't have pictures of every class, but here's a couple of my classes. Some days 45 minutes just isn't enough and some days one more minute and I might strangle half of them! In my 2 short months there I've had kids arrested for marijuana and tazed for beating kids up! It's just a different world than Boone or Wilkesboro!

Shortly into January we were blessed to see snow again! It even got us out of school for 2 days. I never imagined I would have a snow day here! It was so cool to hear some of my students talk about how they had never played in snow like that before! I couldn't believe it. We stayed in for a few days, because we learned quickly that people here have no idea how to drive with white stuff on the roads.

John has stayed very busy with both worship and youth ministries to be responsible for. I have been the proudest wife watching him grow and really love serving with a group of people who have a passion for God! It has been so cool to see how God is using him to lead worship. He's really loving it and he's doing such an awesome job! We have missed the close relationships we had with our students in Boone. It's so hard to leave kids that you've invested in for so many years. But God is beginning to allow us to develope relationships with the students here. I'm excited about a few trips that we have coming up that will allow us time with them one on one without so many "church" responsibilites.

In February we got away for just John and Pepper time! It was so awesome to set aside that time for us. John surprised me with a night at the Westin Poinsett, the place we stayed on our wedding night and we went to hear Apostle Ron and Hope Carpenter from Redemption for their marriage conference. It was also a fun time with B & Coley! We haven't had time with just them since the summer. We were able to see how much Ella has grown and Allie too! She's about to come into this world in April and we are so excited to get to see her.

Here's some cute Berry Family pics:

Recap on the end of 2008!

The past four months have passed like a whirlwind. I'm amazed that God has brought us through so much transition so peacefully and with such amazing provision.

In October we decided it was time to take a huge leap of faith and accept a position in Spring Lake with http://www.libertybaptistchurch.com. I was able to blog about our first nights here. It was adventurous to say the least. I was very uncertain about our decision as we traveled down in an RV for who knew how long. Living day in and day out in a little 28 foot RV would challenge any persons sanity not to mention a marriage! But by God's grace we made it through sane and stronger. It is definitely something we will NEVER..I repeat...NEVER forget. It is also something I really would not ever want to do again!

We were in the process of trying to sell a home in Boone and find a home in Spring Lake. It's a great time to buy a house, but a terrible time to sell and we had no idea how God was going to work this one out, but of course he came through once again. One day in November I receive a call from a school in Fayetteville that wanted me to interview for a position in 6th grade. Anyone who knows my teaching history knows that last year I taught 5th grade and was less than enthused with the attitude that seems to develop in those preteen years. I was less than thrilled about the idea of a 6th grade room but went to interview. After talking with all 4 principals I decided that I should just take the position. 45 min. classes, teaching Comm Skills and Social Studies (both non test areas for the state of NC), and 2 planning periods! Why not....sounded like a breeze compared to Elementary Schools where I had to teach everything!! It was going to be a challenge, but more to come on that. After receiving the job that put us having 2 incomes and what we needed to live and pay two mortgages (not recommended by the way) and before Christmas we had an offer on a home in Spring Lake and a home in Boone! We were completely trusting that God had brought us here for his Divine purpose and would work it all out.

One week before Christmas we closed on the home in Spring Lake and headed to Boone to pack up all our belongings and empty our wonderful home at 400 Knollwood. That was a bittersweet time. Being in the mountains and back in what felt like our home made it difficult to leave and difficult to want to pack up. We were blessed by our new church with the ability to hire a moving company and I highly recommend it to anyone moving! It was so much work to pack it in boxes but to not have to load it and move it was HUGE! You don't realize how much stuff you have until you box it all up and begin to collect it together! I never imagined we would fill up this big truck when it arrived, but when the last pieces were being put in, they were running out of room! AND WE DON'T EVEN HAVE KIDS!

We love our new home. It's the first time we have lived in a neighborhood where we could really see our neighbors and their houses are close enough to ours that we know where our yards meet. We really don't see our neighbors much though because they are all military families and I think some of them are gone.

The holidays were wonderful with our families. But we were so exhausted, that we really didn't take that many pictures; Unheard of in the Berry home! But here are a few snippets of precious Ella! We're never short on pics of her!

2008 closed with amazing provision from God. We could hardly wait at that point to see how we would adjust to a new home, new church, new friendships, and for me a new classroom!

We're on the Adventure of a Lifetime!

OK so we have started our adventure officially! We got off to an earlier start then we had originally planned because things just fell together. The picture above has our old house on Knollwood in the mirror.

Now, I note that we are on an adventure because you will not believe how God has worked out so many things for our good. He has been in complete control.

Now as we decided to come to a new place, I imagined that I might have to pack up all my belongings and move everything into a new home.I would be completely overwhelmed with unpacking boxes at this time.

BUT...that just wasn't God's part of the plan at this time. We are currently RVing it around Spring Lake! YEEEHAAWW!! We are the redneck of the redneck and really we are loving it! Not loving it because we are in a tiny 28 foot RV with the two of us, a dog and a cat, but because we can see God's amazing hand on us as he sees our faithfulness to wait on HIM.

We arrived in Spring Lake on Wednesday and had done some research about the different areas where there were RV parks that might could house us for a month. Now going into what most call Fayettenam is much different than anything we have both experienced. We are not in a place where we can leave our car door unlocked, let alone our house like we did in Boone. Safety has to be questioned now as we go out and make decisions about where we would stay. So the first one is just miles below Fort Bragg on Bragg Blvd. Now to John and I we just didn't think anything about it. Now when we tell people at the church this story you can just see in their eyes that they want to say..."well I could have told you that." This place off Bragg Blvd. was sketchy! There was no way that we would have slept at all that night. So we headed over to Fayetteville's busiest area off of Skibo Road and drove down this little road in what looked like a neighborhood. I kid you not- at the end a man had an RV park surrounding his little brick home. NO joke. we were parked RIGHT BESIDE his house. I took pictures because I knew that even to say that, it was hard to believe.

The next day, I had my melt down. I balled ya'll. It was pitiful. And bless poor John's heart. Being the fixer that he is, he just didn't know what to do. But moving is stressful and I had just held it in as long as possible. I knew God had told us to trust him and I knew that he was faithful, but I needed some stability. I needed to park that RV in some place where I would feel safe and as comfortable as you can possibly feel in a little RV. John headed straight to find a place with a guy from church named Rob.The Bentley's, a family that in no way is affiliated with the church, have some land with thier own 5th wheel on it. (That's a massive RV.) They choose to live in it and be free to travel where ever they want to. Well Rob knew that they had some hookups for RV's in their yard, but knew nothing about them. So they decide to just pull up in their driveway and tell them the situation and guess what? GOD PROVIDED AGAIN! They were like sure. You can stay here. How 'bout $5.00 a night???I couldn't even believe it. That's everything. Water. Power. everything! $5.00 a night.

We are out in the country with space for Caroline to run around. No wierdos around and we are safe. Their family all lives around there and they are just country folk who love people. The next day the Bentley's packed up and headed to Florida for 20 days and told us to enjoy the place!

It has been wonderful and God is teaching us so much about his people and those that have a heart and a passion to serve. It is refreshing. I can sense a new season for us in ministry. One that we would not have been as grateful for if we hadn't come out of a desert to the oasis. We have been cared for and loved like we have never seen. The people at Liberty live the Word out with their words and their willingness to serve not only those that come into the church, but those in position in the church. God has really blessed us and we are grateful and not taking one moment for granted. We have been fed. Given money. Showers in big boy and girl sized showers!! Encouragement and love.

I'm sure more will be coming to the blog about Spring Lake and this great adventure!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Goodbye to Boone

In 1999 John graduated from East Henderson High School and after a visit to Appalachian State University, decided to come to Appalachian as a preferred walk on. In normal people lingo he decided to come and be a practice dummy as he would say.






In 2000 I graduated from Mount Airy High School and after a visit to Appalachian State University decided to follow my dream of becoming a teacher and thought it best to fulfill that at App State.


We have both been here since, and decided to stay when we were married in 2003!

Now, in October 2008, after much prayer and wrestling, we have decided our time is up here and that God is sending us off this mountain on a tremendous journey. Just the journey to this point has been amazing. Seeing God work in our lives to change our hearts to his desires--it has been a privilege.




As we started working at Greenway, we became very close to alot of kids. We knew we wanted to be here for at least 2 more years to be able to see some of our first kids graduate from high school. But those were our plans and not God's. However, we weren't willing to listen to a change in direction until May. When I didn't get a teaching job for next year and we had difficulty making all our finances match up as we needed to, it was as if the Lord was telling us that he wanted our undivided attention. Now I know that some might say that He should have had it all along, but often times we get things in our mind and we want our plan. We're like little kids who want something so badly that we aren't willing to see what is being handed to us in another direction if we would just pay attention....

We began praying for direction. We prayed to be stretched, taken out of our comfort zone and to be placed in the absolute center of God's will. We felt like we were being told it was time to make a change. A change we didn't plan to make for a while but it was time to be obedient.


As we embark on this adventure, it is a bit scary, but we are walking completely by faith. It's exciting to see God's hand on our lives and to know that we are where we should be. It has been hard to deal with reactions because not everyone understands surrendering to God's will. But we love in all situations and know that some day God will reveal this type situation in the very lives of our young people. Our goal has been for them to be able to look back on this time and be able to say that they saw through us how we were faithful to the call and then will be able to better understand as they do the same with their own lives.


We will always have wonderful memories of Boone. We have been blessed to see the lives of many young people changed. We have watched them grow and experience so much in their lives. They have been our children and for everything that we thought we taught them, they have taught us so much more! I can't count the number of tears that I have shed through this process from sadness to fond memories, but I know that we are doing just as Christ has called us to do and I have to have faith that he will continue the work he has started in these young people with the next youth pastor.

A Mini Vacation!

BEACH BUMS!!! Plain and simple that's John and I. We have fallen in love with the beach and it was so hard to come back! We finally pulled ourselves away from the pool around 4:00 yesterday afternoon to leave at the latest possible time to get back into Boone just in time to go back to bed.

When we arrived on Thursday night, this was the view from our awesome house that we were blessed with!

This was our house that we got to stay in for the 5 days for a super reasonable price!

On Saturday we went to a sports bar and watched LSU kick Apps. butt, however it was fun to hang out with everybody and eat some good Philly Cheesesteak!

As Hurricane Gustov approached the waves at the beach got much bigger than they had been.

Fun Times.....can't wait till the next trip!