Picker Point
  • The Pickers
  • The Pickers
  • The Pickers
  • Josiah
  • Evelyn
  • Caleb

  • December31st

    2 Comments

    Farewell 2010

    Author: Mary Beth | Posted in: Home Life & Family

    The year of 2010 has been a year of incredible blessings for our family, but it’s also been a whirlwind of activity and change. It’s amazing to think that a year ago, we had not decided for certain if we were ready to pursue our second adoption. We didn’t even click “send” on our application to Holt until January 7, and here we are, less than a year later, with our baby girl who’s been home for nearly five months. What a completely unpredictable blessing!

    We are so thankful for Evelyn. We know that God hand-picked her for our family, and her beautiful smile and precious giggle bring us so much joy. And while, the process was not at all what we expected, we see God’s hand in it, providing for both her and us.
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  • December30th

    2 Comments

    Christmas with the Pickers

    Author: Mary Beth | Posted in: Home Life & Family

    Our Christmas was beautiful, loud, fun, crazy, sweet, overwhelming, and slightly out-of-control, all the things we’ve come to expect from life here at the Picker house.

    One of my favorite new traditions that we began this year was our Jesse Tree. The Jesse Tree was a great way to celebrate Advent with young children. Every night we read a story from our Jesus Storybook Bible . . . Read More

  • December23rd

    7 Comments

    No Room

    Author: Mary Beth | Posted in: Adoption, Living Radically

    “And she gave birth to her firstborn son

    and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger,

    because there was no room for them in the inn.”

    No room. I’ve been thinking of that lately. God reaches down and takes on flesh. The author of life wraps himself in skin and bones and becomes a baby because of His great love and mercy for us, but we didn’t have room. There was no room in Bethlehem, no room at the inn.

    It speeds past like a line from a children’s nursery rhyme. Sometimes I don’t even hear it . . . “no room.” On to the shepherds, on to the angels, we march, forgetting that there was a whole town sleeping nearby. A whole town, and not one room available.

    And I’m sure their lives were filled with good things, those people in Bethlehem. Cooking and cleaning, and raising a family. Earning an income, providing for their children. And yet there was no room, no time for what God was doing just around the corner.
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  • December22nd

    14 Comments

    Nine Years

    Author: Mary Beth | Posted in: Home Life & Family

    Nine years ago, three days before Christmas, I said “I do,” to an amazing man. People said we were crazy to get married that close to Christmas, only the first of a series of times that we would be told we were crazy. I hope we never quit hearing it.

    Our Christmas wedding was beautiful. It was chilly outside, but inside the church we were surrounded with love and warmth. My daddy gave me away, and Casey’s dad pronounced us “husband and wife.”
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  • December20th

    6 Comments

    It’s a Wonderful Life

    Author: Mary Beth | Posted in: Home Life & Family, Inspiration

    Last weekend my family came over to watch It’s a Wonderful Life together. It’s a family tradition to watch it every year. We’ve watched it so many times that we can quote almost every line, and we know all kinds of trivia, like which ear George was deaf in, what Annie is actually saying in her last line, whose portrait hangs in George’s study, and the name of Uncle Billy’s wife.

    So we piled in our living room and snuggled in to watch the movie, quite a challenge with five kids under five running around. It’s one of my favorite moments of the year. I love sitting close to my dad while we watch, since I’ve watched it so many times from his lap. He and this movie are so intertwined in my heart that I could never pull them apart.
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  • December18th

    3 Comments

    Fresh Look for Picker Point!

    Author: Casey | Posted in: Projects

    We’ve been needing an overhaul on our site for a while, but it’s so hard to find the time between work and life with three kids! We had our previous design on the site for almost two years, so it was definitely time for a change. Thanks to my friend, Zach Cheatham, for the amazing family photos that we’re using throughout the site.
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  • December7th

    1 Comment

    Well FUNDED!

    Author: Mary Beth | Posted in: Living Radically

    This a little late, but in case you didn’t hear . . . OUR WELL IS FUNDED! Go on over to our Charity:Water page and check it out! We had 3 months to raise $5,000, but we did it in just TWO MONTHS! Thank you, thank you to everyone who helped us. We were amazed at the response.

    Because of your help, we will now be able to provide clean water to a community of 250 people for at least 20 years. In the next year or so, Charity:Water will contact us with the location and coordinates of our well. We should also get pictures. We’ll be sure to share with you as soon as we hear.

    Now we’re moving on to bigger and even-more-exciting plans. More to come on how we’re continuing our quest to never be “normal” again!

  • November1st

    1 Comment

    Halloween and Well Update

    Author: Mary Beth | Posted in: Home Life & Family, Living Radically

    This year has to go down as the best Halloween ever, in my opinion. Of course, that’s not saying much because I haven’t had that many great Halloweens. I only remember trick-or-treating a few times as a kid, and I HATE scary stuff so that has made me kind of dislike the holiday, overall. But this year, we had SO much fun! We moved into our new house last December, so I didn’t realize how awesome our neighborhood is on Halloween. Our streets were filled with kids and families. There were hayrides, chatting with neighbors, greeting friends at your door, oohing and ahhing over sweet little kids in their adorable costumes, and, my favorite part, watching my cute Buzz Lightyear learn how to trick-or-treat. Since Casey was a trick-or-treating pro, he tutored Caleb a bit in the beginning; after that, we waited in the street while Caleb went up to each door. It was so funny to listen in on the conversation. Sometimes he would just stand there silently when they opened the door. Sometimes he would remember to say, “Trick-or-treat!” If they asked him who he was, he would say, “Caleb Picker.” It was so funny. The little kids got a lot of attention too for basically being the cutest kids on the planet.
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  • October11th

    9 Comments

    Why I’ll Never Be the Same

    Author: Mary Beth | Posted in: Living Radically, Spiritual

    My last several posts have sparked some good conversations with friends. I’m so thankful for that; I’m thankful for the friends that have called me and said, “Let’s have coffee;” I’m thankful for the ones who have said, “We’ve felt that struggle too;” and I’m even thankful for the ones who have said, “What on earth is going on with you?” Through some of these conversations, I’ve come to realize that I might need to back up a bit. One very close friend pointed out that the people that have known me the longest, not necessarily the best but the longest, are a little confused. I’m not very vocal in large groups, so unless we have a close, personal relationship, you may not have heard me talk about the things that have been on my heart, and thus the confusion. So here is my attempt to chronicle what God has done in my heart and why I’ll never be the same.

    I lay all the blame at the feet of three beautiful women, three women who have each, one at a time, turned my world upside down.
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  • September23rd

    6 Comments

    What Could You Sell For A Well?

    Author: Mary Beth | Posted in: Living Radically, Spiritual

    In the midst of our wrestling, we’ve been inspired to act. I mentioned in the last post that I am selling my wedding china and crystal. In looking for a good way to use that money, we’ve decided to fund raise for a well through Charity: Water.

    Yes . . . a well. As we’ve seen first hand in Ethiopia, the need for clean water is huge. Clean water can change the life of a village. From Charity: Water’s website, “Millions of women and children in developing countries walk over three miles every day to collect water. And sadly, often the only water they have is sitting stagnant in contaminated ponds and flowing through streams and rivers polluted by cows and human waste. Unsafe water and a lack of basic sanitation causes 80% of all disease in the world and kills 4,500 children every day. And the time spent collecting water keeps children out of school and women from pursuing economic activities. Clean and safe water is readily available in underground aquifers, freshwater springs or with the help of simple filters. It just needs to be properly collected and managed.”

    Clean water changes so much. For just $5,000 we can fund a water project in a developing nation. Just $5,000 and 250 people who do not currently have clean water will be able to drink clean water for 20 years. Isn’t that amazing? $20 provides clean water for one person for 20 years.

    We have been touched and changed by the beautiful people of Ethiopia. They are in our hearts forever. We want to build a well in their honor, and in honor of the precious birth families of our children.

    But even more than this, we seek to serve our God and answer his call to care for the poor. Matthew 25 inspires us to love Him by loving them:

    “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me . . . I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

    Will you help us? Our goal is to raise $5,000 by December 23 to build a well. Once our well is funded, it takes 12-18 months to build. Once it’s finished, Charity: Water will send us pictures and the GPS coordinates so that we can find OUR well on Google Maps. Hooray! I can’t wait.

    Like I mentioned, Charity: Water does amazing work. They’ve already built several wells in the community where Josiah and Evelyn were born. They build wells in Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Bangladesh, India, and Cambodia, also Haiti and Honduras.

    Here is our challenge to you: What would YOU sell to help us build a well? I’ve already committed to selling my china. I also found my Buffet Clarinet in my closet . . . it’s going. We’re also planning a garage sale for this fall. We’re hoping that, by selling our unneeded stuff, our family will be able to meet at least $1500 of our $5000 goal.

    What are you willing to sell? What is taking up space in your home that could be turned into clean water for people in desperate need? Please help us. Please take a step of obedience and give something up for people that need water.

    We’re asking you to pledge in the comments section what you will sell. Then, once you’ve sold your stuff, you can visit our fundraising page and donate your money.

    Again, our goal is $5,000 by December 23. With all the junk that we will be tempted to purchase for the holidays, surely we can make some small sacrifices to make a huge difference for people in need.

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