Happy Birthday Le!

Today is my sister's 30th birthday. Happy Birthday Le! This post is for you.

A woman like my sister should be celebrated everyday, but unfortunately we don't always take the time to say what begs to be said. Le is so much more than a great sister. She excels in so many ways that I could write all day about it, but then she would never get to read this, so I will be brief. She is an awesome teacher. She is a great card player. She is a hilarious comedian. She is an unbelievable decorator. Le is an awesome wife to my bro-n-law Bob. She can cook like a gourmet chef. She runs one heck of a 400 meters. She can sew really good and make all kinds of Martha Stewart-type stuff around the house. She's really handy in the yard. Le is really smart. She is an awesome Mom to Walton, Neva, and Graham. She does great ministry in her home and at the church. She is a thoughtful and caring daughter to Mom and Dad. She sends me really funny emails. She knows how to have a good time. She can sing like an angel. She can talk intelligently about sports. She is a great judge of character (which comes in handy when she is screening potential sisters-in-law). Le excels in many other areas as well, but like I said, I won't go on all day.

Le and I are only 16 months apart, which means it won't be too long before I too get old (scary). Growing up, we were always involved in a lot of the same activities and were always playing together. I remember always wanting to be like her, and always wishing I could do the things she did. As a kid, Le would always learn or accomplish everything first, but then, like a good big sister, she would always teach me. I learned so many things from her, from riding a bike to naming the Presidents. She even taught me to drive before I was legal! When I was six, Le told me about Jesus after she had accepted him, telling me that she wanted me to go to heaven with her and Mom and Dad. I was always trying to follow in her footsteps, and that was usually a pretty good place to be.



Being siblings very close in age made Le and I very competitive with one another, and drove both of us to be better. I still remember us racing down the hill to our house, running uncontrolably fast but not wanting to slow down and let the other one win. I also remember the high expectations of every teacher that had previously had my sister in class. We were so competitive that on long car trips we would tickle one another's feet and try to see who could hold out the longest without laughing.

Le and I have always been very protective of one another, at times with comical results. I remember once in middle school (when she was bigger than all the boys) she threatened to beat up a neighborhood kid who was messing with me, and he wisely left me alone. I also remember in high school getting in a few scraps to defend her honor. It has alwasy been commom knowledge that I don't put up with sister jokes.

I thought she was crazy when she decided to get married at 20, just when I thought we should be pursuing other craziness together on the UK campus. Turns out, she knew what she was doing. She was aiming for the right kind of success, and she has found it. While I was running around looking for "fun" and trying to make a lot of money, Le was building a loving home, a beautiful family, an effective ministry, and even a little business on the side. She realized what was important, and once again, she taught it to me.



If I stopped here, it would be a wonderful picture of the awesome person whose birthday we celebrate today, but I would be skipping one big part of the story. Many people can say how much they love you, but it is rare to see love demonstrated the way my sister has shown her love for me. Six and half years ago, my kidneys failed and I required a kidney transplant. My sister (who not surprisingly was the best match) insisted that she be the donor. Despite being told of the possibility that she would not be able to have children, Le went through the surgery with me and gave me one of her kidneys. She put her life and her dreams aside to take care of me and mine. After the surgery, I found myself acting a lot more like her. At first I thought it was because a part of her body was inside of me, but I realize now that it was because once again I wanted to become all of the good things that I see in her.

I have been blessed to have Le as my sister, my friend, and as an example to follow. She has always been there for me, loving me, encouraging me, sacrificing for me, being honest with me, and showing me the way. We have celebrated the best of times together, and she has been there during the worst times, crying with me and even making me laugh. I am so thankful for the relationship that we have and for all the memories that we have made, and I look forward to more together in the future.

The highest compliments are the ones paid to us by those who know us best. I know Le's strengths and I know her faults, and I know God could not have given me a better sister or friend. In 30 years she has accomplished more than most do in a lifetime, and she has begun to build a legacy that will long outlive her. She understands the meaning of success, and like a good teacher, she is not only achieving it, but she is showing others how to do the same. Today, on her birthday, I celebrate Le's life, but even more so I celebrate the way she lives it, and I thank her for showing me how to live mine.

Happy Birthday LE! and many, many more
Proverbs 31:29-31

Thing that make me smile

I have never been one of those people that believe good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. If I had ever had those fantasies in my head, 28 years of life experience would surely have changed my mind. However, some days things happen that assure me that despite the fallen world in which we live, there is plenty of good going around, and sometimes it makes it to me. I would like to share two experiences that have recently made my day.

About a week ago I set off on the bus to take a short trip across town to a climbing gym. I have been getting more involved in rock climbing, and I occassionally practice at a local gym. I hopped off the bus near my destination and began walking down the street. I heard someone behind me and turned around as a young woman lightly grabbed my arm and held out a 20 peso bill (worth about $2). I couldn't understand exactly what she said, but I knew that I must have dropped the bill and she had picked it up and chased me down the street to return it. I wanted to say more than just "Thank you" but I was so surprised that she was gone before I could get anything out besides "Gracias." It was a very little thing that really made my day. There have been several times I can think of where I have done similar things, but to have someone do that for me was special.

Last night I was once again rock climbing, this time at the wall we have on campus. I finished my final climb just before they turned the lights out at the wall. As we began putting the equipment away in the dark, I realized that one of my hearing aids was missing. It must have fallen out of my ear while I was climbing. I immediately asked everyone to help me look for it, and to please be careful where they were stepping. I showed them what the other one looked like, and within a minute or two my buddy Tom the Aussie had found it right under where I had been climbing. As I thanked Tom and put the hearing aid back in my ear, my mind was suddenly flooded with memories from a fall day many years ago when I was in elementary school. I think it was in third grade. We had been at recess, running around on the playground that was covered with a thick layer of freshly fallen autumn leaves. As we prepared to go back inside, I noticed a kid named Chris was crying. Chris had a slight speech impediment which was probably caused by the fact that he couldn't hear very well. He wore the big hearing aids that fit behind his ears, with tubes running into his ear. It's no big deal for me to wear state-of-the-art hearing aids that are so small they can barely be noticed, but kids used to make fun of Chris for his. I asked him what was wrong and he struggled to tell me and some other kids that he had lost one of his hearing aids. Our teacher came over and we all began to search through the leaves for the hearing aid. I remember thinking that we would never find it in the huge piles of leaves, but after a few minutes I ran my hand through a pile and when I pulled it out the hearing aid was in my hand. I remember how grateful and relieved Chris had been, and I remember making a new friend that day, but I never knew how he felt until today. For some reason I cried thinking about Chris and about how kids treated him and finally being able to realize how much those hearing aids meant to him. Knowing how expensive hearing aids are, and how much more expensive they must have been twenty years ago, I thought about his parents getting them for him and how much he just wanted to be able to hear and speak like everyone else. I said a prayer and thanked God for these little things, and for how He uses them to teach us, and I said a prayer for Chris Pennington, wherever he is right now.