Dinner with Emily

So, I don't have much time to write but I want to let you know that last night Emily and I had dinner together. I wasn't exactly excited about picking her up because I wasn't having a great day. However, here are a few things that helped me remember the joy I can choose to have each and every minute of the day.

We have solved the "car ate my cd" dilemma. Emily said she put a cd in and it wasn't playing. I looked down and fortunately Emily's hand was still in the location she put the cd. She had put the cd in just a crack in my console. It was just a space but she thought it was the cd player. Long story short, I was able to recover the cd with a few scratches on my arm. We didn't find the other one yet, but I guarantee that's where it went.

During dinner, Emily opened up about how concerned she was with her sister leaving next year to go to graduate school in S.C. I was able to share with her about what I'm learning and dealing with when people leave. I reminded her that sometimes, the "catch up" conversation or seeing someone for the first time in a while is almost better than seeing them everyday. It was sweet to hear her precious heart for her family.

Driving her home last night, I randomly (I can sometime be quite random) asked her what she thought when I said the word, "light." She replied exactly what I expected, "sun." Then I asked her what she thought when I said the word "blue." Blue brought the sky to her mind but brought the ocean to mine. We continued this "game" until I was running out of words. I looked up and the traffic light lead me to say, "circle." To my greatest surprise, Emily responded, "uhh, the circle of life." I thought she was talking about the Lion King but she also told me why she delivered such an answer. "You know, like you have God and then the Son and then the Holy Spirit," she explained. I asked her if she meant the Trinity. She looked at me surprised I knew what that word meant so we continued in our conversation about God. She told me she had been to a couple of churches but none of them she really liked. I reminded her that the same God is in all churches. I was humbled when she responded, "Duh, God is everywhere." There- That was the answer. We were able to go back to the conversation about her sister leaving to conclude that even when her sister is gone, God is still here. He is there to be with, to speak with, to play with, to dance with, to sing with... etc. I am unsure how much this comforted her, but it was a neat time and she is still amazing me with how much joy she brings to my day.

I am learning so much in this experience and I am super glad I have stuck with it even when it gets tough. So there you have it- See if Emily's knowledge can challenge you today as well. God is everywhere. Seek Him in ALL things. Seek Him in the sky, the light, the people you come in contact with, the circumstances you are confronted with, the day to day routine- See Him. Don't Miss Him. He is your joy. Choose Him, Choose Joy.

Easter with Emily

Even though Easter was on April 12, 2009, my buddy and I decided to celebrate on the 15th. I have been so so excited about spending time hanging out with Emily so I really prepared to make this time special. I picked Emily up around 3 from her house and drove to Town Creek Park in Auburn. There, Emily and I met up with many of my friends who had been invited to attend this party. The party was an Easter celebration for Emily. My friends and I set up decorations, cookies, drinks, games, eggs, and all sorts of fun. We dyed Easter Eggs, played with a kite, made candy necklaces, played Simon Says, played Pin the Egg on the Bunny, hunted for Easter Eggs, laughed, loved, and enjoyed one another. The day was so so fun! Emily had a great time! My friends love Emily and she loves them too. Around 5:30, Emily and I spend dinner together at McAlisters before I dropped her off at gym at 6. The day was so so great! Every effort I put into this party was extremely rewarded. I am so thankful for all my friends and their help. Here are the pics and Emily's commentary too! :) 

best buddys‏

From:	emilyabelk@yahoo.com
Sent:	Thu 4/16/09 7:08 PM
To:	brandyb10@live.com
	5 attachments Emily pla...JPG (64.0 KB), Emily and...JPG (56.1 KB), Emily diy...JPG (45.8 KB), 2009 east...JPG (37.5 KB),2009 east...JPG (30.3 KB)

Hi Brandy I had a wonderful time with you yeasterday. hear are my pichers from the easter party . Im sory if i got thim to you late . I have had a bisy day with track . i got first in walking and 2nd in runing long jump. i did better from last year! hear are my bunnys you gave me i will enjoy playing with thim i have them siting still anoph to take the picher for thay love moveing around like me. you wont to know what i thought of the party ? i was grate i realy injoyed it all that its hard to pick  my faveret part. I enjoyed being with your friends .  my sister got me a colage year book im shere it has some of your friends in it . if you would like to get to gether next wen. it would have to be after 12. but  if your to bisy with school thats ok i will eather call or text you and tell you how i did with Gymnastice. hear from you soon! your friend Emily Emily B.

 
Emily playing with bubbles 2009.JPG

 
Emily and Brandy at easter 2009.JPG

 
Emily diying eggs 2009.JPG

 
2009 easter bunny flopy and her baby.JPG

 
2009 easter bunnys storing carits in eggs for winter.JPG

The Real Judge of Greeksing

I thought you may enjoy emily's take on GreekSing as well:

Hi Brandy thank you for coming and saporting me at greek sing i had fun im looking into doing more next year ! you were asking me about my opinon in greek sing this year? I wont you to tell Chatly that i sow her sarotys dance and the first to ceach  my aticion in being good! im not saying that becose of her eather. one more thing you ask about me seeing AOII  ? i didn't get to see thim i was on the elaveter . there are a few i seam to miss and that was one of thim. only sow a little of AOII  and sow 14 saroritys . I haven't desided yet how gets 1st 2net and 3erd yet . but i have narowed it doun to 5 winers .  Chi Omega , kappa kappa Gamma , Kappa Dalta ,Delta Gamma , and Zeta Tau Alpha . do you have any friends in these goups ? if so i may have something for thim.   you allso sead Best buddies beat all of the sarortys for frist place  . i  agree with all the aplse we were geting. i picked thes as jugeing i know the rouls for judeing and what thay look for ! Hear from you soon ! your friend Emily Emily B.

Greek Sing

Last night was my first experience of Greek Sing at Auburn. For those who are not familiar with this term, Greek Sing is like a talent show for all the sororities. Each group goes up there and does a dance/performance to music focused on their chosen theme. I enjoyed some, hated most, and laughed at them all. However, I caught myself nodding to the beat and singing songs which kept me overall entertained. The main reason I went to it was for the Best Buddies show at the end as if they are a sorority. Even though I didn't get to dance with my buddy like everyone else (Emily told me that I signed up too late and there's no way I could learn the difficult routine in a month :) haha), I was going to sit through this 3 hour show (6:30Pm-9:30 Pm) to watch them anyways. So, when it was time for my buddy to go on stage, I ran down and to the center to grab a chair. In the most typical soccer mom way possible, I sat their nervous, excited, and humored as I cheered and had my camera ready. The announcer introduced them by saying, "The Best Buddies dance was choreographed by a buddy herself, Emily Belk." Ohh I was so proud! As this group of about 5 college students and their buddies danced to "Summer Time" from High School Musical, the crowd responded with excitement, humility, and encouragement. It's really neat to see hundreds of my friends, classmates, and teachers support and be enlightened on the organization I spend much of my time in. Most of my friends know Emily by now anyways, so it was fun for them to see her finally perform as well. This experience taught me so much by seeing the way others can show their hearts when a group that is more challenged takes the initiative to fit in by coming and doing exactly what everyone else was doing. I ended my night by realizing the judges were totally unfair. Best Buddies should have been first place for sure!! Even though they weren't on paper, I'm sure they captured first place in many people's hearts last night.

Buddy Update. :)

Buddy Business!!

Here's an update on my best buddy, Emily.  The week before spring break I had a lot of tests so Emily and I weren't able to hang out. I was in Chicago all week for Spring Break but Emily and I met back up this week. On March 25, I picked Emily up from cheer around 6:45. We headed to eat dinner at a restaurant called Shakeys. It's a pizza parlor in Auburn. The restaurant allowed a portion of all they made to go to the Best Buddies Organization. It was fun to see all the other buddies again and get to spend some time with Emily. We talked and ate pizza. Chatty also came along for the night. After dinner, we went to Target so I could get a few things. I left Emily and Chatty in the car to jam out to High School Musical. When I returned, Emily was just a laughing and telling me all sorts of fun things she and Chatty did. They have so much fun together. I took Emily home around 8:15.

Today, Sunday March 29, I picked Emily up from her house around 3:30. Today was just a treat. We got to spend some time together at the Auburn softball game. Auburn played South Carolina. One of my good friends from freshman year plays for the tigers and had asked me to come. Emily and I were sitting there joking about foul balls. She said this game was real similar to the kickball she plays at camp. It was exciting because my friend pitched the 3-7th innings. It was a very relaxing time to just hang out with my sweet buddy. We had a lot of fun and really enjoyed watching Auburn. Auburn lost their game but we cheered loud anyways!! Hope you all had a great weekend!!! 

Ohh... Emily was in FL this weekend for a gym competition. She won first place, got a trophy, and got a medal. She is also in the middle of creating the dance routine for Greek Sing. She is a very busy girl. 

emily journal 3

Before I start the journal on our last adventure with my Best Buddy, Emily, I want to tell you about this emblem. This is the best buddy emblem they use across the states for this program. If you would like to know more about the program or the involvement in your areas, go to www.bestbuddies.org

Ok- So, Journal #3

Last night, February 3

I picked Emily up around 4PM from her house. We decided to just come over to my house for the night. She brought her DVD, Cheetah Girls, and some music. I had to do some homework so I just let Emily sit beside me and watch the movie. She knew all the lyrics to the songs and dances. I was sad that I wasn't much fun, but thankfully my roommate Chatty filled my spot. Chatty has continued to be such a blessing for me when it comes to hanging out with Emily. I think it's easier when I have someone else to help out. Chatty encouraged Emily to show us so new dance moves. After teaching Emily how to "Scrub the Ground," Chatty and Emily danced together. It was definitely a sight to see to say the least. My other roommate, Katy came home and we ordered some pizza. We watched American Idol and ate pizza with some other girls that came to my house. I took Emily home around 9 or so. It was a good night. There wasn't too much interaction but I think just spending time together is really what this buddy system is all about. To give Emily a shout out- She won first place in the cheer competition this weekend in Atlanta. She was very excited about it! Well, that's all I have for now but we will be hanging out again soon. Some things you may could pray for as I continue to seek Him in this relationship and His vision for me in this organization: patience, patience, patience, calmness, security, Emily's health issues, and love of course. These are the things that I'm really struggling with and hope with His help, I can continue this friendship. Thanks for reading. Have a great week!!

emily-journal 2

Here's the update with my Best Buddy-Emily

On Wednesday I picked her up from cheer leading at 6. It was so fun to see Emily and her friends doing cheer. They have a whole team through Special Olympics and they compete on the weekends. In fact, Emily competes this weekend in Atlanta. I picked Emily up and headed to our long awaited Best Buddies Event. She has been so excited about this night full of karaoke and dancing. In fact, on the way to the place, we jammed in the car to some of the songs she wanted to sing on stage. When we arrived, I quickly realized how popular Emily is. Everyone knows her, loves her, and accepts her. She's just so fun and full of excitement. I met many of her friends and previous buddies. It wasn't ten minutes since our arrival that I turned to see my buddy already on stage posed and ready to dance. As everyone else was gathering and getting some snacks, Emily was putting on a show. She danced her self-choreographed dance to the Cheetah Girls. She was awesome, and all over the place. She definitely got the party started!! She was the first of many fun dances and performances done by all the buddies. Here's a video of one dance, the Cha Cha Slide. Emily is in the pink shirt.

After Emily had quite the night dancing and singing away, I took her to get some ice cream at TCBY. There, Chatty (my roommate) met us to fellowship over some cookie dough and peanut butter ice cream. Chatty is really good with Emily so I love getting together with her. Emily told Chatty of all the events of the night and then I took Emily home around 8:00.

Thursday-

Emily's mom and sister were both busy Thursday night so I picked her up from her Creative Dance class at 6:30. Did I ever tell you that I have some of the most AMAZING friends? My friends, Rachel and Becca Beers, Lindsay Westlake, Lauren George, Cullen Johnson, Richard Lang met up with us at Laredos for dinner. Emily may have been a bit overwhelmed, but she really enjoyed getting to tell my friends all about her favorite dances, her activities and her favorite Disney actors. I was so impressed with the way my friends accepted, loved, and ministered to Em. From Cullen's conversation about love and dancing to Lindsay's about Greek sing-I really enjoyed watching all my friends in their differences fellowship and enjoy dinner. Around 8:15, Emily, Rachel, and I jammed all the way back to Emily's home. Before she got out, Emily lost her favorite Cheetah Girl's cd in my car. I'm not sure where it went. We have checked the floor, her belongings, the console, but no c.d. has been found. Of course, this is a big deal but I really don't understand where that dang thing went! Maybe Emily is right, the car got hungry-ate her cd.

One thing Emily is teaching me is to really enjoy life. Everyday this friend has multiple activities lined up that she thoroughly enjoys. Dancing, singing, bowling, writing-She does what she enjoys. And, rightly so. She deserves to do things-life is too short not to enjoy it. As do all of us! It's strange to think about how much I really enjoy the things that consume my daily life. Emily really gets the importance of living life to the fullest and experiencing each new day with joy. She finds things that make her happy and people that accept her, love her, and desire her presence, and sticks with them. She brings encouragement to me as I encounter her positive attitude and challenges me in our weekly dates.

The Introduction-Journal One

emily.

For the rest of the semester, I will be using my blog as a journal about my daily experiences with my new Best Buddy, Emily. Best Buddies is a service program where a college student is paired up with a mentally disabled person and spends at least once a week with them and enjoys companionship through email, phone, and group gatherings. I decided to do this through my love of people and felt the Lord really lead me straight to this organization. I believe He will show me the significance and teach me to better love difficult people. With that said, the process to meet my buddy was as fast as lightening. When the Lord is in on what you're doing or planted the idea in your head, He will direct it completely. I didn't think I would meet my Buddy until the group event this Wednesday. How little did I know that my buddy just couldn't wait. After about a week of constant text messages and emails, my buddy and I set up our first official date- Sunday dinner, January 25,2009.


My roommate, Chatty, and I met at the house to go over our feelings for the next 10 minutes. We were both a little nervous about this dinner. My Buddy had already called to make sure we wouldn't get lost and she scheduled us to eat at her favorite, McAlisters. I plugged her home address in the TomTom and before ya know it, Chatty and I were parked in her driveway. In the next 30 seconds, my world would be overwhelmed.


First Sight- As I looked to the house, I saw the front door slightly open about 5 inches. I turned to Chatty questioning if she saw it, and then as soon as I turned back, I saw Emily. Dressed in a blue jacket and a toboggan, this sweet new friend slowly made her way to my car. I got out to say hello and in no time we were on our way listening to her CD's she brought and speechless at her singing and dancing. She loves some Hannah Montana, Highschool Musical, and Ashley Tisdale. Our conversation covered her favorite things to do and favorite music and shows. When we got to the restaurant, I helped her out of my car as she took my hand and walked with me to the front door. Emily spotted what she wanted on the menu and I agreed to the same. As the three of us sat at our dinner, here are some of the highlights:

-Emily printed out her entire schedule for me with numbers of contact people, and location of activities. The girl has the most packed schedule I have ever seen. From bowling to gymnastics, cheer and creative dance, this girl is active in everything Special Olympics offers.

-Emily has been in Best Buddies since it started, 18 years ago.

-Emily suggests I write down my schedule so she can arrange our Best Buddies activities.

-Emily gets emotional talking about past buddies who didn't uphold the expectations.

-Emily holds my hand most of the dinner

-Emily whips out her hand held video camera to show us a video she recorded of Ashley Tisdale's dancing on T.V.

-Emily tells us she loves horses. In fact, she can ride them bareback.

-Emily is a mess.


The car ride home was really fun. Thanks to Chatty, Emily really enjoyed herself. She was dancing and singing to her Cd's while me and Chatty echoed with "yeah!" and "ohh mmm..." and anything else we could get in. I was so overwhelmed that I couldn't even open up with her. I am so thankful that Chatty was there because she was really good with her. Emily is really great but has a whole lot of expectations for me so I will soon set some boundaries. I really am excited to get to know her though. She is so precious and I can already tell has an amazing heart and is very similar to my children from daycare. I know the Lord is going to really teach me alot thru my new Buddy. I just pray that I can be a light to Emily as well. She really touched me when she described her Best Buddy bracelet that said, "I See YOU." She said it means that your buddy sees past your disabilities and weaknesses and accepts you for who you really are. It really made me think about my Best Buddies. I am so thankful for so many friends that I can call Best Buddies too. I pray that I can do this for Emily and that we will all be encouraged, strengthened, and changed as the Lord does his work through my relationship with my Best Buddy, Emily.


Matt. 25:40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

1 John 3:18 "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."

John 13:34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."