"Big J"

People come into and out of our lives every day. Some of these people make a positive difference in our lives, some a negative difference, and some no difference at all. Likewise, I do the same with the people I come into contact with. I hope and pray that most of the time I'm making a positive impact!

I work in the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business at Campbell University where I have direct contact with many of our students. Some of these students I get to know better than others - for various reasons. Many of these students have made a positive impact on my life, and most of the time they're not even aware of it.

Julius Perkins is one of those students. I first met Julius when he was introduced to me as a basketball recruit. I was immediately drawn to him because of his fantastic smile. During the summer of '07 I tutored a group from our men's basketball team in Intro to Christianity. Julius was part of that group. He was a good student and wanted to do well in his classes. That is how I really got to know him.

Throughout the remainder of the summer and the following school year, Julius continued to drop by my office and kept me posted on how he was doing academically. I challenged him to keep up with his classes and to do his best. I know at times, especially during basketball season when they were traveling and practice seemed constant, that it would have been easier for him to just not study. However, Julius persevered and did well in his classes. Every time he stopped by my office, it made my heart smile.

Needless to say, I also enjoyed watching Julius play basketball. (We call him "Big J" when he's on the court.) He plays with an intensity that is evident on his face at all times. He never quits and always gives it his all. But, Julius did not make an impact on my life because he plays basketball. Rather, Julius made an impact on my life because of the type of person he is. I had season tickets to the games, along with my mom and dad. My sister's family did not get season tickets because they weren't sure they could make it to every game. So - Julius put the Blankenship family on his family pass for most of the home games. After every game, win or lose, Julius made sure he spoke to my family, particularly Davis (my 4-year old nephew). In February, Julius, along with Kyle Vejraska (another one of the outstanding young men from the basketball team), came to Fayetteville for Davis' birthday party! I do not know many college students who would give up their Saturday afternoon to attend a 4 year old's birthday party.

I'm writing this today because Julius came by my office this afternoon to tell me goodbye. He is leaving Campbell this Saturday and is returning to Texas. His plans are to play ball closer to home so his family will be able to see him play his senior year. After he left, I was struck with the thought that Julius had brought a lot of laughter and joy to my life and my family's life. Julius is a talented young man - both academically and athletically - and I pray that as he begins this new journey that he will continue to impact people's lives with the joy that radiates from him. I hope that he will come to fully understand the depth of love that Christ has for him. I also hope he leaves Buies Creek knowing that there are people here who believe in him and love him, just for who he is. I'm one of those people!

Update on Abby

So much has gone on since my last post regarding Abby's health. She was scheduled for surgery on her ACL last week but we had to postpone that surgery, indefinitely, due to some other health problems. She developed what the doctors initally thought was something similar to vertigo in humans. Abby could barely stand up, much less walk straight. It took 3 vets to get her out of the car, and they each had to help her walk into the vet.

Well, they started her on meds for that and she pretty much needed to be either sleeping or have someone with her who could help her walk. We've been back to the vet twice since then. Her mobility and stability have gotten much better, however her eyes are continuing to roll back into her head - almost in a complete circle. It makes my head hurt just to watch. They are doing this anywhere from three to five times a minute.

Dr. Samuels is very concerned about the eye movement and some confusion that Abby seems to be exhibiting at various times. He has contacted a neurologist at State and even they are not completely sure what they are dealing with. I think right now the plan is to schedule her for an MRI and a Spinal Tap. Dr. Samuels seems to be leaning towards some sort of mass in her brain. If that's the case, we obviously do not need to do the leg surgery and I just need to figure out how to keep her most comfortable.

I'm trying to prepare myself to make a difficult decision. I cannot imagine life without Abby - but if there is a mass on her brain, I love her too much to watch her suffer. For people who love animals - pets bring a ton of joy into their lives. Abby has brought more joy into my life than I can even explain. I'm so grateful for that!

My "Best Friend"

Abby is her name. She is a little over eight years old, around 100 pounds, and we've been together since she was about 10 weeks old. Abby is a lab/boxer mix and she was free.

Prior to Abby, I had always been more of a Bassett Hound fan. Mark bought me one around our 2nd anniversary. We named her Lu and I loved her so much. She moved with us from Linden to Manteo to Siler City. It was in Siler City, on Christmas Eve, 1999 that she was stolen and we never saw her again.

It was not long after that when we picked Abby out from a litter in Asheboro. About that same time, we also told my family about my husband's addiction and his time in multiple rehabs started. I had lost Lu, my life was in complete chaos, but I had a new puppy to love.

Abby has been with me through some of the darkest days of my life. When I would come home to an empty house, she would be there. While I know she didn't understand, she always listened. She would gently lay her head in my lap and look up at me with those big brown eyes and every so often she would give me a kiss.

Abby has also provided some frustration and anger along the way. She is a Lab and Labs do like to chew. Thank goodness they grow out of it. She should be a very spiritual dog - she ate one of my Bibles! One day I came into my tiny house in Pittsboro to find feathers everywhere. She had totally destroyed my favorite down blanket. When my family moved me back to Buies Creek - we were still finding feathers! She has eaten books, entire loaves of bread, bags of candy, and generally anything that looked or smelled like fun. Now I can laugh about those things, but in the moment they were not quite so funny. Usually she would be sitting in the middle of the evidence trying to look innocent. She also likes wood. Between her, my sister's dog Moose, and my parent's dog Bart, they pretty much destroyed my parent's side porch. My dad has replaced enough rails on that porch to probably build ten new porches. I'm convinced that my parents are saints because they still love Abby.

Currently Abby and I live in a small, one bedroom apartment on a farm in Lillington. She has lots of room to run and we like it there. I love coming home - she's always waiting on me. There's never a time when she's not excited to see me. Her tail wags constantly. We love to take walks and Abby loves to ride in the car with the windows down. She also loves to chase her full-size, chewed up, basketball - a gift from her dear friends, Jeff and April.

Recently, Abby has had a rough few months. At the end of February she had four masses removed from her stomach. They were not malignant. Then Monday night a week ago, she was running and a yelp like I've never heard before came out of her body. She instantly stopped and one of her back legs went limp. I got her to the doctor and it turns out she has a torn ACL. She is scheduled for surgery next Wednesday. Until then, she's on pain meds and I'm trying to keep her calm and comfortable.

I guess I have to realize she's getting older. I know she's just a pet but she is like family to me. I also know the day will come when I will either have to put her to sleep or she will die on her own and when that day comes I will be grateful to God for giving me such a loyal pet and friend. I think God shows his love to us in so many amazing ways. There have been numerous times when life was falling apart and I was crying out to God with tears running down my face and I was so lonely. Abby would walk over and just sit beside me or put her head in my lap and in a way I felt it was God reminding me that I wasn't alone. Thanks Abby!

Open My Eyes

I must admit, sometimes I think I'm a little naive about all that goes on in this world. Today I read an article about teenage runaways and how their numbers are increasing. I knew that there were runaways, but probably, like much of the world, I've not come face to face with it, so it just hasn't affected me. The realization of that fact disturbed me.

This article gave some astounding data and focused in on the National Runaway Switchboard, a 1-800 crisis hotline. In some cases they are able to direct teens to shelters such as Safe Place, a national organization that is mainly sponsored by United Way and private donations. I began to wonder if there was some place in Harnett County for a runaway to go. Now, I have not done extensive research here, however, what I have found is that as far as Safe Places go, they are located in Charlotte, Gastonia, Greensboro, Raleigh, Sanford, and Winston-Salem. I also discovered that in 2007 the National Runaway Switchboard handled 176,609 calls. Of those calls, 4,269 of them were from North Carolina.

For a teen who is fleeing a dangerous home situation and has no place else to go or for the pregnant teenager who's parents have just thrown her out of the house and she lives in Erwin, North Carolina, her options are limited if she does not have transportation. My heart broke as I read the article. No child should have to grow up in a dangerous situation and likewise, no child should lose the love of their family.

I am so blessed to have come from a family that is full of love. I never doubted my parents love for me. Even when I went to my family with my now ex-husband to share with them the life shattering news of his addiction, I watched my family exhibit love and forgiveness towards him that can only come from Christ. I do not know why my sister and I were given such an amazing family, but I am grateful to God everyday that I grew up in a family where love was never withheld and forgiveness and grace was freely given.

I can not imagine what these teenagers must face every day. There's no way I can come close to comprehending what they must feel when they leave home or when they are thrown out of their home, with no other options. These are some of the homeless on our streets. We can not ignore them. I can not ignore them.

Young people in our society need adults who will love them. They need someone to believe in them and to encourage them. I know that I can not correct the problems of the world. But I can make a difference in Bunnlevel. I must open my eyes to the world around me and make sure that I am an instrument of God's love. If Christians, one by one, around the world would do this, it would make a difference. We must find a way to reach those who are on the fringe and those who are already on the streets. As Christians, we must find a way to offer these teens Hope and Love and introduce them to the One who already loves them, just as they are.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Sometimes I think people don't have any idea what this word means, and if they know what it means, they just choose not to practice it.

I know I said in my last blog that I was not giong to write about baseball every time, and that is true, but today's blog will contain a reference to a baseball game. My topic here will be respect, spurred by the events of a baseball game. Let me set the stage.

March 30th was opening day for baseball season. The Washington Nationals were also opening their brand new stadium and the team they were playing was the Braves. This game was the ESPN Sunday Night Game of the Week. Throwing out the opening pitch was President George Bush.

As President Bush came out from the Nationals dugout, he was greeted with applause. Then through the clapping, I began to hear some booing. Now, I am in no way assuming that everyone should like or approve of all that George Bush is doing or has done. What I am saying is, he is our President and as such deserves respect. I do not believe booing our President at a baseball game makes a statement, other than one of complete irreverence.

Prior to the game, President Bush spent some time in both the Braves locker room and the Nationals locker room. While in the Braves locker room he spoke with back-up catcher Bryan Pena and short-stop Yunel Escobar. Both defected to the United States from Cuba. Pena is in the final stages of receiving his citizenship. Each of these young men spoke of the great honor it was to get to meet President Bush. Pena commented that he did not know all there was to know about being a Republican or a Democrat, but that he was grateful to America and thankful for his freedom.

As I read the above mentioned article regarding Pena and Escobar, I couldn't help but wonder what the players were thinking as they were lined up along the third base line. What was going through their minds as they stood with the rest of the Braves, watching President Bush throw out the first pitch? Were they as embarrassed as I was to hear the boos overshadowing the cheers from the crowd?

My Favorite Day

Today is Sunday, March 30th and it's my favorite day of the year. Not because of the actual date, but because of what is happening today. It's the official start of baseball season. I know the Red Sox played Oakland in Japan this past week - but that was in Japan, so I'm not really counting that as the OFFICIAL start of baseball season. Today's the day.

From the time the World Series ends in October, this is what I look forward to. Well, actually I begin counting down the time until pitchers report to Spring Training, until the remainder of the team reports, and until Spring Training games actually begin. Then I count down until the beginning of the season.

I've been a die-hard Braves fan from the early 80's. I've pulled for them through their worst days (and there were many) and celebrated as they began their reign atop the National League East from 1991 to 2005!

This season brings with it mixed emotions for me. Tonight when the Braves take the field, they will be without their longtime, outstanding centerfielder, Andruw Jones. While over the past few years he has not contributed much offensively to the team - no one can argue with his defensive skills. Jones spent twelve seasons with the Braves and after the first two years, proceeded to win ten straight Gold Glove Awards. He never fails to amaze in centerfield! I think tonight's lineup will seem odd being Andruwless.


As sad as I am to be losing Andruw, Atlanta is gaining back one of my longtime favorites: Tom Glavine. He pitched in Atlanta from 1987 until the end of the 2002 season when he signed with, of all teams, the New York Mets - ugh! This season, he is back home, in an Atlanta uniform, where I believe he belongs and will retire.


Regardless - most of you are not huge baseball fans and I promise not to write about baseball every day. This blog was started for my writing class in Divinity school and I had to begin with something - so this was it. Baseball is a huge passion of mine and I have high expectations for this season and hope to be writing about a Braves World Series in October!