humble help...

I found this Poem in a book written by Shel Silverstien, an awesome childrens author. It's funny, because it reminded me of the way I tend to ask God for help. Just something to think about...

Help! by S. Silverstein

I walked through the wildwood, and what did I see
But a unicorn with his horn stuck in a tree
Cryin', "someone please help me before it's to late."
I hollered, "I'll free you." He hollered back, "Wait--
How much will it hurt? How long will it take?
Are you sure that my horn will not scratch, bend, or break?
How hard will you pull? How much must I pay?
Must you do it right now or is wednesday okay?
Have you done this before? Do you have the right tools?
Have you graduated from horn-savin' school?
Will I owe you a favor? And what will it be?
Do you promise that you will not damage the tree?
Should I close my eyes? Should I sit down or stand?
Do you have insurance? Have you washed your hands?
And after you free me--tell me what then?
Can you guarantee I won't get stuck again?
Tell me when. Tell me how.
Tell me why. Tell me where..."

I guess that he's still sittin' there.

...the end

my constant prayer... humble help and faithful trust to see it through.

Much Needed Update

Greetings family and friends!!
First I would like to apologize for taking so long to write to you all about what in heavens is going on in Joel and my life. We have been all along the west coast trying to keep up with what God and being in the US Coast Guard has in store for us. We have been busy bees for a while but it looks like we have finally gotten to a place where we expect to settle down for a while.
Joel has just been transferred to Alameda California, which is where we live now, and will for at least the next few years. It is quite a difference from rainy Washington, and we are adjusting well, as you can imagine. The weather here is beautiful and the scenery ain't bad either!! Sequori, our puppy is in heaven here and does nothing put run and bathe in the sun. It's nice to finally be able to make a place feel like a real home without wondering how long it will last before we have to move again. ( For those of you who don't know, Joel and I have had to move about 5 times in the last two years and are more than ready to settle down.)
It seems as though our life has finally begun to put itself together. Joel is working in a federal building downtown Oakland, which is a first for him, but he is trying to make the best of it. And as for me I plan to finally start school in the fall, which I have been waiting for for a long time. Immigrations finally seems to be picking up the pace. I also am looking to start working in a local "Crisis Pregnancy Centre", which is a Christian organization that helps women in crisis pregnancy situations get the help and counseling they need to make an informed and wise decision....one that would also be biblical (discouraging abortion). At the same time we try to make it an opportunity to share and show Gods love to these woman. I have already went through training, and am looking forward to joining this ministry. Please pray for Joel and I both, as we are embarking on new things that should challenge us and help us to grow. Please also pray that we are always trying to see and do what it is God's will us.

That's about all that is new with us, and we hope to now hear back from all of you. It is much easier for us now that we have internet, which hasn't been the case for about a year. Or even better we have a land line now with free long distance!!! So you can give us a call or send us your number, so that we can call you. We really have been missing our family and friends and would be happy to here from any of you. We would also be happy to see any of you. Anyone want to take a trip to Cali? Well now you have more reason to come.... a place to stay.

Thank you for all off your prayers and support through these last tough years. We love and cherish you all. take care and God bless.

Chantel Wright

The horrors of baby sitting...

Today I had the pleasure of babysitting my 9 yrs old brother, Ryan, and his new best friend Dakota.
It's funny how a little boys mind may think. He thinks "well my friend is over today so maybe, just maybe I can get away with a little more than usual. I mean at least this way I don't have to take all the blame. I can easily sift a little over to my good friend here."
And so we went on with the day with this kind of mentality. Pushing a little here and there. Trying to find out exactly how much big sis was going to let go without discipline.

It may seem small, but I find this kind of thing challenging sometimes. I mean I am not either one of their mothers, and I know to them that means I don't have as much credit. At least with my brother. I found out today that my opinions or requests do not matter as much as they would if I had the mom pin stuck to me. But what can you do about that? Nothing. And so you have to figure out how to not over step your boundries without being to much like a doormat. I probably spent some time doing both things today, but that what happens when a 9 year old figures out that he has grounds to test you limits. They are smarter than you think, those little boys. Well I payed for not being prepared, and spent good and long 15 minutes looking for the two critters after they had obviously put on a disappearing act just for me. And believe me...when you can't find a child your looking for in 2 minutes every minute after seems like an eternity.

They said they would only be playing at the house across the street, but when I looked a little later there were no critters to be found. It was time to get the bike and start tracking. I Looked every where before I remebered, my mom told me about a girl Ryan developed a crush on that lived about two blocks away...and wouldn't you know the critters were in site. Not even that lasted, since they saw me coming and dodged behind the cute girl. I'm sure there heads were spinning to figure out who to blame this time. KNowing they were both in trouble they were in "good boy" mode all the way home, which was very pleasent for me actually. For the first time my position as the babysitter mattered. We got home, had a good chat about letting me know where they are at all times, picked a punishment together (although I only gave them two options), and on we went with our day, but not before both boys wanted to call their little girlfriend to tell her she was still being crushed on, and that their getting in trouble was definately not her fault...
It's funny how even at that age boys will try to protect the cute girl, and sacrifice themselves.

All in all it turned out to be a pretty interesting day. One that I wouldn't want to do again, but none the less learned from. Days like today keep me in check about what it may be like to be a parent, and how much credit the deserve for putting up with not days but years of this kind of stuff. Well heres to you mom. Good job. Thanks for giving me an example of what a mother can be proud of. As for me... I know having kids are in my future...but after today I'm glad we aren't rushing into anything Joel and I are still learning about.

Anyway toodles!! It's good to be back.

Happy Anniversary To Us...

Can you believe it!! The day has come. Joel and I have now been married for one full year. How crazy it feels when this day actually comes. The funniest part is that it feels all to long and all to short at the same time. I sometimes think to myself that it feels more like Joel and I have been together forever, and other times it feels like only weeks.
Weel it is an incredible day. A reminder of the commitment we promised each other 365 days ago. In fact at this time in the morning I was getting my make-up done and only 2 hours away from walking down the isle.
It's so surreal to be celebrating my very own anniversary. I have wished many other close couples a happy anniversary, but never thought that it would be my turn this early in my life.
Wel it is wonderfull, and gearing up for the next wonderful year of our lives together, Joel and I are very thankful for the great year we have behind us. The ups and downs, the tiffs and the romances, the tears and laughs, the struggles and answered prayers. Thankful for our families, our friends, and most importantly our wonderful and ever faithful God. We have learned and grown so much not just individually but in our relationship too. And everyone around us conttributed. Really looking back and thinking about this past year... We really were blessed and blessed again by God's love and the love of our family and friends. Thankyou all for being there for us, and for making us feel as lucky as we are.
Here's to another wonderful year with my very best friend and love of my life. I love you Joel. May our life together always be filled with such amazing memories and friends and love.

p.s. And what are we doing for our first year anniversary you ask? Well today is "Superbowl Sunday"... so I'll give you one guess. Yep, thats right!! We are going to a friends superbowl party. Actually I am really excited, surprisingly enough. My favorite team, the Seattle Seahawks are playing and they have never maed it this far.. so I am pumped. GO SEAHAWKS GO!!! They have to win for my anniversary.

prayer request...

I haven’t been praying much lately. my relationship with God has been a little rocky, but I guess it is never 100% solid either. I haven’t been praying much lately, and it seems selfish of me not to because I have a billion and two things I could pray about. I’m not sure why I haven’t and I guess I aughta pray about that too. I’m not sure where to start. I am always wondering if in order for a prayer to be a prayer I have to say Dear Lord in the beginning and Amen in the end. Or can I just think about all one billion and two things and send my thoughts up in one big fragmented conversation? Because that I have done alot of. I don’t think that counts, nor do I really think it should. Because every one of those things deserve alot more from me than that. I wish I knew what keeps me from praying more often.

I should just stop wishing and wondering and just start praying huh. I have always had problems with consistant prayer. I’’m working on it but I know it will take some time.

Dear Lord, I am so thankful that you are greater than me. Amen.

I've been a stranger

I should apologize to all of you who have, in the last 2 months, come here to check for ... well anything...a blog...update...anything. I haven’t been doing to well with that lately. I guess you could say that I have been distracted or busy oror most likely just plain lazy.
The truth is that there has been many times that I have sat staring at the screne waiting for that something...anything to appear. There just hasn’t been a time when I felt my thoughts were worth your time to read. On the other hand I can think of many times I would have given anything to express my thoughts, but somehow was found with out the tools to jot it down. Don’t you hate it when that happens? I also have a bad memory, so when it comes time that I am at home again with the computer at hand I always forget what it was I wanted to say.

Sometimes I think that wondering whether or not you as readers are actually enjoying what I am writing distracts me from why I started a blog in the first place. Which was just to write about anything and about myself. I hope that I can always be truthful and honest with you and with myself in my blogs. And with that said I think I will be writing alot more, about even the things I thought you may not be interested in. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even get to know me better.

Settling in...

This is Port Angeles, and on the end of that "spit" is where the Coast gaurd station is that Joel works now.

This is a closer look at what it has to offer...



I have been meaning to do this for a long time now, and don't know why I have been putting it off...and then the move came, and so...Update

Joel and I are doing well. I'm not sure if you guys have been keeping track but our first year Anniversary is coming up on the 5th of Febuary. Ahh!!! Crazy huh!? I can't believe how fast the time goes sometimes. And also Jan 1st is the anniversary of our official courtship/dating too. So we are going on three years of seeing eachother now. Where does the time go.
But I guess I should talk about how our year has been. Lord knows that we have been repeatedly blessed throughout this year. It has been a wonderful, growing, changing, loving time in both our lives.
I can't even begin to tell you what life brings to you in your first year of marriage. I mean life brings you new things every year regardless, but I have never learned so much about myself than I have in the past year. It is all scary and wonderful at the same time. Joel always tellss me how being married has brought him closer to understanding the great love of God, and I know he is right.
For the past 10 months Joel and I have been From over stressed, to over joyed, to overwhelmed and back again, with this whole Coast Guard life. Having things never be clear, never knowing exactly what we are doing where we are going, and when it is all going to happen is a world we both have had to get used to. It can be really hard, but God has shown and proven himself to be watching over us again and again. This life we are living can make it hard to trust Him, and we have both struggled along the way, but at the same time it is impossible not to.
Personally it has been hard for me because of the constant uncertainty of it all. I have always been able to map my life around something that I know is for sure. And in this case there is no for sure, and so I am unable to map anything...and in which case I have mapped almost nothing for myself in this last year except to be with my husband, and to try and get this immigrations situation worked out, which has been a complete disaster from day one. I have to be honest and say that the moving around, and further from all of you has got me into a bit of a loneliness slum the past few weeks. I realize that until I am able to stay in one spot for a longer period than the Coast Guard has allowed me so far, it is extremely hard to make friends. I also reealize how much I desire to have people such as yourselves around me. I feel I am in dyer need of finding someone here that I my form (even to a small degree) a spiritual acountability/sisterhood with. Trusting in God with everything else, and seeing the results has brought me some incouragment on this as well. However I feel I need prayer on not letting myself get to discouraged, and to push myself to make friends where ever I can and not to just wait around for them to come to my doorstep, which is what I fear I do a lot of.

Aside from that and terribly missing my family I am perfectly happy. My husband is such a wonderful man, who loves me way more than I deserve and makes me feel gorgeous everyday. And I of course love him more than words can express, and I am so thankful that we have each other. Although I have been missing the closeness of your friendships, I have to also say that Joel has become my ultimate best friend in the world, from which I can hide nothing from and trust everything with.

Oh yes, and Port Angeles is beautiful. I love living among the mountains. They are incredible. It is so quaint and small townish here, it so reminds me of living in Huntsville. What great memories I am reminded of. I think I'll like it here...