Panel Discussion

Blake and I were invited to speak to a new group of foster parents at a panel discussion Monday night. It was really encouraging to see people going through training to become foster parents. I think there were at least 7 new homes represented at this meeting. We were really excited to share with these future foster families about BigHouse. They were all very receptive to us and encouraged that someone will be taking care of them as they take care of foster children. Our hope is that BigHouse will encourage more people to get involved in foster care, and that our community will support these families in every way possible. Thanks to Allison at DHR for inviting us!

Also, we interviewed yesterday with a writer for The Crimson White, our university's newspaper. It went really well and we are so excited to share our story with our school. I'm not sure when the article will be published, but I will link it to our blog!

Clothes Closet Swimsuit Drive!

The BigHouse Clothes Closet is sponsoring a swimsuit drive this spring! We will be collecting new children's swimsuits and beach towels for our BigHouse kids. We are collecting boys and girls swimsuits in all sizes.

Please help us provide a summer necessity to the foster children of Lee County. We will be collecting swimsuits through the end of May.

In Opelika, please drop off donations at our clothes closet, 221 S. 8th St., Opelika, AL 36801.
On the University of Alabama's campus, you can drop off donations at the Wesley Foundation, 505 9th St., Tuscaloosa, AL 35401.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to email me at director@ourbighouse.org.

-micah

Yesterday, the UA Department of Art and Art History, along with a couple other groups on campus, had Victoria Rowell, dancer, actress and author, come and give a lecture as a part of the Paul R. Jones Lecture Series.(more on who Paul R. Jones shortly). Victoria is also A FORMER FOSTER CHILD, and an incredible advocate for foster care and adoption. When I recieved an email stating she was coming to Alabama, I nearly fell out of my chair. I was so excited to hear her speak and I was hoping I might get to at least say hello! I emailed my art history professor, Dr. Amaki, who happened to be in charge of this lecture, and asked if I could possibly meet Victoria and share with her what we are doing with BigHouse. Next thing I know, Blake and I are at a private Luncheon with Victoria and Paul R. Jones, as well as some other professors and administrators at Alabama. What an incredible honor! We introduced ourselves to her, and when I finished telling her about my family and BigHouse, she gave me a hug! I haven't met many "celebrities", but she has to be the most down to earth, gracious celebrity there is. I gave her a brochure and my business card(which I proudly designed myself!). She signed my copy of her book(which is incredible and you should all read it!) and gave me her personal card!!! How awesome! Before we left, we also got an opportunity to talk to Paul R. Jones, who is probably in his 80's, but doesn't miss a beat. He recently gave UA a collection of art worth 4.5 million dollars. We told him who we were and a little about BigHouse, to which he replied "I'll have to come down and visit ya'll sometime, Opelika is not far from Atlanta at all." uh-OK! We told him to come anytime he wants to!

After we left the luncheon, I was so excited that we got to meet her and give her our card. I was just hoping that God would use that in the future, reminding her somehow of that couple she met at Alabama who had a big dream. Well, God is a much bigger dreamer than I am, and I know He has much bigger dreams for BigHouse than I can even fathom.

Monday evening, I went early to work the book table before Victoria's Lecture. I was just helping Dr, Amaki and paying my "dues" for getting such an awesome opportunity earlier in the day. I had already decided I was going to get a few more copies of her book for my mom and BigHouse, and I told Dr. Amaki I wanted to go ahead and buy them before so I could have her sign them afterward. She said I should go with her to the reception room where Victoria was and go ahead and have them signed. Well, ok, that would be great! Right before we walked back to the reception, my friend Lauren walked up to the table and bought a book. I asked Dr. Amaki if she could come get her copy signed too, and she said sure. We walked into the reception, and there were about 5 people waiting to get a book signed by Victoria. When it was our turn, Victoria said "Hey, I have all your info you gave me in my briefcase :)". I was just glad she recognized me from earlier. I don't really remember what happened next, but Lauren and I talked to her about BigHouse for at least 10 minutes. She asked us tons of questions, and she seemed genuinely interested in what we were doing. Then she said she wanted to come back to Alabama for a week in the fall, and she wanted to work it out to come to Opelika and help us with BigHouse- I nearly hit the floor...
She even mentioned BigHouse in her speech!

The whole day was just a GOD-THING. It is so clear He had His hands in it... At the end of the night, when I was recapping my exciting experience of the whole process of BigHouse with Dr, Amaki, she said "God is all in this thing... I don't wanna even know what kinda stuff ya'll are gonna be doing in 5 years!" Well, I am pretty sure I couldn't even dream it up!!!

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."Eph. 3:20-21

Building a DREAM!!!

We hosted a group from UA's Wesley Foundation over spring break. They worked on the house, re-vamped the clothes closet, and had a kids camp. The week was incredible. Thanks for all the prayers! There are some photos from the week above. We got tons of work done! We also had the opportunity to introduce the students to foster families in Opelika. Meeting the families and playing with the kids was a great experience for our group. They were able to see first hand the families their contribution to BigHouse would help.

Hannah Sewell led worship each night with Seth and Matthan Brown, and we had speakers from our community as well. A big thanks to Stan and Kelly Cox and Michael and Angie Brown for being INCREDIBLE all week. They helped with food, speakers, work on the house, and talking to the students about their lives as foster parents. Also, a huge thanks to Alexia Frazier and Kathy Ward for providing us dinner and sharing their own insight into foster families. The Fraziers have fostered OVER 500 children!!! We were also thankful to have the support of Lee County DHR! Thanks to all the directors and social workers who came to the cook-out and to see the house. Jan Burke, Carolyn Hunter, Sheila Godfrey, Yolanda Ratchford, Allison Foster, and many others who came to support BigHouse. We are really proud that they want to help us!

We are also excited to work closely in the future with Shane Kyles and The Way ministries. He came and shared his experience with our group, and his vision for helping those in the Lee County area.

Many others contributed to our trip by providing meals for the group. Michael and Ellen Melnick, Jill Long, Denise Hankins, Leann Tyer, Tiffany Cook and her Sunday School Class, and the Foster Parent Association. Others who helped make this trip possible are Jeff and Lisa Skinner, Jason and Lisa Smith, Susan Rudd, Pam Coxwell, Terri Neighbors, and Britney Finley. A special thanks to the Confirmation class at First United Methodist Church in Opelika for volunteering to help at our clothes closet during their spring break! Tim Gore and Victory Designs, we LOVE our T-shirts, and will hopefully be needing many more in the future! A big thank you to Opelika High School, for allowing use of their gym floor to sleep on, as well as First Baptist Church for letting us use their youth building each night! 

I would also like to thank others who helped us working on the house! Roger Broom, Megan and Adam Dimon, and Kara Leigh Pritchard all came and pitched in during the week. Billy Smith, a professional painter, not only volunteered his knowledge and expertise to help us with the painting, he spent many hours that week at the house stripping doors and molding. A big thanks to all of them!

I am also incredibly grateful to our friends at the Wesley Foundation! They gave up a relaxing spring break to come and work at BigHouse. They are so supportive of our dream, and it is clear through their actions! Thank you all for believing in us and wanting to be a part of it! 

Spring Break is coming soon!

Wow- I can't believe it is almost March!  We will have a group from the Wesley Foundation at the University of Alabama coming to help with the renovations during their spring break.  I am really excited to share the dream God gave us with so many of our friends. 

During the week, we will have worship each night and a speaker. Please pray that God will use this time to really speak to our group. Our goal is to strengthen the relationships our group has with each other and the Lord. Our "theme" for the week is about realizing and building our God-given dreams.  We greatly appreciate our friends giving up their spring break to help us realize our God-given dream.  

We are focusing on Ephesians 3:20-21, "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever, Amen." 

What a powerful verse! How appropriate for BigHouse and spring break. I love that He can do more than we even imagine, because, it seems so often we put Him in a box.  Honestly, three months ago I could not imagine the plan God had for BigHouse; I was hoping to find a hole in the wall office where I could collect some clothes and donations and help a few families. He had much greater plans- Plans for BigHouse to have a BIG HOUSE, where children can feel safe, loved, and comfortable. A place for foster families to receive support; physically, financially, and especially emotionally. Wow- God had much bigger plans!  And just as Paul told the Ephesians, TO HIM BE THE GLORY!

Pictures of the future BigHouse

This is the future BigHouse! Just a couple pics of the before! We can't wait to upload the after pics!

BigHouse has a BIG HOUSE!!!

Wow, alot has happened since June.  BigHouse is now an official organization!  We are working with our accountant to get our 501c3 tax status for non profits.  We hope to get this status later this year, the process takes around 6 months.  We are also working with the owners of the historic Frederick house in Opelika.  The house was moved from downtown Opelika to Andrews Rd. 8 years ago, and has been empty since.  The house was vandalized, so we are currently working to restore the house and prepare it to be the new home to BigHouse.  We will have workdays many Saturdays this spring.  Let us know if you would like to help clean, paint, do yardwork, etc.  

Our goal is to be up and running by August, so we can start our after-school programs with the new school year.  We want to offer tutoring, as well as art, dance, music, drama, and sports lessons.  We will need many volunteers so if you are interested in being involved please let us know!  We will also have opportunities to volunteer on a monthly basis too!

Thanks for reading our blog! We will try to update it more often than every six months!!! 

Keep us in your prayers! 

 

blake and micah