Happy 2013!

(I apologize ahead of time for the bad formatting)

Looks like I was right about my total inability to keep up with this thing. I appreciate those of you who have asked about it...sorry I'm so bad at maintaining it. I'll try to be concise, but those of you who know me well will know that's no easy feat for me :)

Since I last wrote we have....

Welcomed baby Luke Nehemiah Hawthorne into the world.  I was blessed enough to hold him when he was just about 12 hours old and hear the rousing story of his entry into the world. Knowing Chip, I would expect nothing less. As you can tell, in just a few short months he has really grown  into himself and I continue to be so excited about the amazing and unique little man his parents and God will mold him to be.




























Since I last wrote we have...greeted the holiday season with St. Augustine's famous Nights of Lights.
For those of you who have never seen it...it's really worth the trip. Our lights all over downtown are featured as one of NatGeo's top light displays in the US.

Since I last wrote we have...celebrated a unique and special family Christmas at Riversend in St. George.  We had the special treat of  Aunt Ann and Dougie joining us from Germany and none of us could remember the last time we had the whole family together for the holidays.  It was such a sweet time that we're all really thankful for.  For me, it felt way too short since I only got Christmas Eve and Day off and was thoroughly depressed driving  5 hours alone on Christmas Day. But such is life.  Being a grown up is stinky poo poo (as my mother would say).

Since I last wrote I have...wrung in the new year with my first experience shooting guns.  Turns out I wasn't so bad! I hit the bottle right off the stand my very first time and hit at least 3 or 4 skeet! I had pretty great instructors though so I probably can't take the credit. Our friend Kaley has a family farm house right outside of Tallahassee where we rode 4 wheelers, chatted around a porch, chatted in a hammock, chatted around a bonfire, and chatted in a moonlit hot tub under the first starry night sky of 2013. Basically there was a lot of chatting.  Good company makes that ok.

Since I last wrote our dear Henry Flagler had his 125th birthday and Flagler did it up right! Yesterday they opened up the college as the old hotel it used to be.  They had locals dressed in costume sharing the history with onlookers, string quartets in the old music balcony in the dining hall, and our favorite part...photo booths featuring a photo-bombing Henry Flagler.  It was a beautiful day and turned out to be a really pleasant adventure.  

 We had heard that at some point they were giving tours of the forbidden 4th floor and we had just missed them.  Zach seemed especially disappointed since he had never seen it.  Since the entrance is through the girls' dorm it was easier for girls to sneak up there during their dorm days (which I did) but not so much for the boys.  One of our group was still friendly with one of the security guards though so he took us up there for our own tour! It was so exciting.  And even though I had already seen it, it was way more beautiful seeing the view during the day time.  And I think my favorite part was hearing the security guard tell us about it.  You could tell he was really loving showing us this special place, that he loved his city and was proud to have this attachment to it. It was really precious. And also a good reminder to remember what a blessing it is to have experienced my college years in such a beautiful and unique place.

 So that brings us to today...basically.

I had all these grand ideas of telling you all about the 20 year old mother who cried when I told her it wasn't too late for her to turn her life around and thanked me for saying those words to her.  But I found out after that she was lying about her new job and had just picked up stripping and tested positive for cocaine even as we were speaking so it's possible she was just working me over since she found out her case was being transferred to me.  Even if she was, I don't regret telling her that...even if she doesn't believe it and even if it makes me seem like a big softie to all my co-workers.

I had this idea of telling you all about how God's been teaching me what it means to believe that people can be redeemed and what it means to live like I believe that's true. But I'm pretty tired after figuring out how to get all these pictures in so I guess you'll just have to ask me about it if you really care what I think about that.  I wouldn't be offended if you didn't.

Instead, I think I'll just leave you with these super cheesy Christian lyrics that struck a chord with me this week at work and my favorite picture of the week.

Love from sunny Florida...in January.
Caitlin

Jesus, friend of sinners, we have strayed so far away.
We cut down people in your name but the sword was never ours to swing.
Jesus, friend of sinners, the truth's become so hard to see.
The world is on their way to You but they're tripping over me.
Always looking around but never looking up, I'm so double minded-
A plank-eyed saint with dirty hands and a heart divided.

Jesus, friend of sinners, the one who's writing in the sand
Made the righteous turn away and the stones fall from their hands.
Help us to remember we are all the least of these.
Let the memory of Your mercy bring Your people to their knees.
Nobody knows what we're for only what we're against when we judge the wounded.
What if we put down our signs, crossed over the lines, and loved like You did?

You love every lost cause; you reach for the outcast,
For the leper and the lame; they're the reason that You came.
Lord, I was that lost cause and I was the outcast,
But you died for sinners just like me, a grateful leper at Your feet.

Oh Jesus, friend of sinners,
Open our eyes to world at the end of our pointing fingers.
Let our hearts be led by mercy,
Help us reach with open hearts and open doors,
Oh Jesus, friend of sinners, break our hearts for what breaks Yours.