A lot of "food"...

I was reading Psalm 37 this morning & wanted to share some things from it. It's a long psalm so I am not going to type it all out now but I would encourage you to read the entire psalm sometime. It has a lot in it.

"Do not worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong.
For like grass, they soon fade away.
Like spring flowers, they soon wither.
Trust in the Lord & do good.
Then you will live safely in the land & prosper.
Take delight in the Lord, & he will give you your heart's desires.
Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust him & he will help you.
He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
& the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.
Be still in the presence of the Lord,
& wait patiently for him to act.
Do not worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.
Stop being angry! Turn from your rage!
Do not lose your temper-it only leads to harm.
For the wicked will be destroyed,
but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land."
Psalm 37:1-9

"It is better to be godly & have little than to be evil & rich."
verse 16

"The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
He delights in every detail of their lives.
Though they stumble, they will never fall,
for the Lord holds them by the hand." verses 23-24

"Turn from evil & do good, & you will live in the land forever.
For the Lord loves justice, & he will never abandon the godly." verses 27-28

"The godly offer good counsel; they teach right from wrong.
They have made God's law their own, so they will never slip from his path." verses 30-31

"Put your hope in the Lord.
Travel steadily along his path.
He will honor you by giving you the land.
You will see the wicked destroyed." verse 34

"The Lord rescues the godly;
he is their fortress in times of trouble.
The Lord helps them, rescuing them from the wicked.
He saves them, & they find shelter in him." verses 39-40

How much longer???

I pray that everyone had a very blessed & joy filled Christmas. I will be posting a Christmas in review post soon but I just had to share this first. I think this devotion from Dr. David Jeremiah will speak to a lot of you. I know it spoke to me as I wait for the miracle in Shakira to be manifested & as I reflect on the waiting for children to come home that has come full circle.

How Long?
And coming in that instant [Anna] gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
Luke 2:38

Recommended Reading
Psalm 52:8-9

After several hours of packing, the family is finally on the road. After driving for no more than ten minutes, the littlest voice from the back seat asks the inevitable: "Are we almost there?"

That's what the games, snacks, and music are for, right? Long trips aren't easy for little people, so they have to learn patience. And Christians have a long trip to complete as well: the trip to our heavenly home. Sometimes the road seems long and bumpy, but we need to stay focused on the destination. That's what characterized the life of the prophetess, Anna, who had spent eighty-four years of her life in the temple praying and worshipping. The day she saw the baby Jesus she knew the trip of a lifetime was complete. Her focus on the promises of God was consummated by the appearance of the promised One.

If you are wondering "How long?" before God brings you through--be faithful and focused on the One who came and will come again.

Children's Christmas Program...

The Children's Christmas program at our church was Sunday evening. Phoebe was so excited because this year she got to play the part of Mary. Shakira was an angel & Samara & Caleb were lambs. I was afraid that Shakira would just stand there the whole time holding her neck because that's what she tends to do & what she had been doing during all the practices. I should have never prayed for her not to do that during the program! Because what she did instead was to take someone's oversized green purse, throw it on her shoulder, go skipping down the aisle & up to the altar, she then started clapping, hip shaking, & swinging the purse around. I have a hard time imagining the angel that appeared on Christmas doing that! And of course that distracted everyone else & Joseph & Mary had to work very hard to stop giggling. Other than that...it went very well.

One Life...

Stocking joy!

Randy & I hung up the stockings over the weekend. When Shakira, Samara, & Caleb saw them for the first time they thought they were very pretty but didn't "get" what they were for. The next day there was something in each of the stockings. I told them, "Jesus was here", & with that Phoebe took off running to the stockings while the other 3 just sat there. I said, "You may want to go with her," so they did & when they saw her pulling something out of her stocking, they immediately went to theirs & looked inside of it. They were so excited! These pictures are of them playing with their stocking gifts.

Waiting patiently...

I think is one of the hardest things to do, no matter what the situation is. I will say that out of all of the waiting I've done so far...and there is one thing I'm still waiting for & it's been 21 years...that waiting for my children to come home from Haiti was the hardest. I know that there are many of you out there in that situation right now. You've been waiting a long time, you're tired of waiting, tired of missing smiles, kisses, hugs, & milestones. Tired of hearing "tomorrow" & tomorrow turns into days, weeks, months, & even years.

I also know that the waiting gets more difficult at Christmas. It just does. Another Christmas without your little one(s) next to you. It's almost too much bare some days. I want to encourage all of you who are in this place right now to, "not give up", hang on tightly to the one who is holding you...and your precious ones in His hands.

Psalm 27:14 says, "Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave & courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord."

My footnote from The Life Application Study Bible says this, "Waiting for God is not easy. Often it seems that he isn't answering our prayers or doesn't understand the urgency of our situation. That kind of thinking implies that God is not in control or is not fair. But God is worth waiting for. Lamentations 3:24-26 calls us to hope in & wait for the Lord because often God uses times of waiting to refresh, renew, & teach us. Make good use of your waiting times by discovering what God may be trying to teach you in them."

"I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, & he turned to me & heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud & the mire.
He set my feet on solid ground & steadied me as I walked along.
He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see what he has done & be amazed.
They will put their trust in the Lord." Psalm 40:1-3

Random Pictures...

Christmas Tree...

We put our Christmas tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving. I think the "Haitian Trio" was mesmerized by the experience. Samara really enjoyed helping put ornaments on the tree.

Trials, Attitude, & a Shepherd...

As I was reading my Bible this morning & praying, I felt impressed to share some things. The first thing is about trials. Everyone goes through them at some point in our lives. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes our prayers help us to avoid them & sometimes they do not. It's the attitude we have when we go through them that is important. Things tend to turn out badly if we are filled with anger & bitterness, or complain & blame God. But if we go through our trials with thankfulness & praise to God, he will bring good out of them. The Bible says, "to count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience" James 1:2-3. Let God lead you through whatever trial you may be going through today.

"You have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, & glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:6-7

"Cast your burden on the Lord, & He shall sustain you. He shall never permit the righteous to be moved." Psalm 55:22

"As for me, I will call upon God, & the Lord shall save me. Evening & morning & at noon I will pray, & cry aloud, & He shall hear my voice. He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me." Psalm 55:16-18

"You, who have shown me great & severe troubles, shall revive me again, & bring me up again from the depths of the earth. You shall increase my greatness, & comfort me on every side." Psalm 71:20-21

The second thing comes from Psalm 23. I have read this psalm many, many times so far in my life...it's my favorite...but I never really thought about this before when I read it. Verse 2& 3 say this: "He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name." NLT

The footnote from my Life Application Study Bible, NLT, says this:
"When we allow God, our shepherd, to guide us, we have contentment. When we choose to sin & go our own way, however, we cannot blame God for the environment we create for ourselves. Our shepherd knows the "green meadows" & "peaceful streams" that will restore us. We will reach these places only by following him obediently. Rebelling against the shepherd's leading is actually rebelling against our own best interests. We must remember this the next time we are tempted to go our own way rather than the shepherd's way."

We can say that we are following God but if we are not living out the characteristics of God which are love, truth, humility, peace, & wisdom, we're just "trash talking" to cover up our real motives & selfishness. Let God, the "Good Shepherd" lead you today.

The road to confusion...

My maternal Grandmother was a very spunky & independent lady when I was growing up. As her oldest grandchild, I am blessed to have seen her in "her prime." My cousins however, have not been that fortunate. My Grandma as well as my Grandpa(who passed away last March) had retired & started having health problems by the time my Uncle Charles' children were born & growing up. They got to see the frail, grumpy side of my Grandparents. I want them to know...that they weren't always like that. They once were very vibrant, passionate people...who loved(s) them dearly.

My Grandma started having memory problems about 15 years ago, with pretty significant memory problems starting about 3 years ago. It got even worse after my Grandpa died in March. The past 3 months have been really concerning to the family as she continues to live by herself & doesn't think she has a problem. To compound that, she can hardly see anymore but insists that she is able to drive. She hasn't been driving for the past month or so & she has been very unhappy about it. Over the past weekend she did some very concerning things...including hitting people. Division of Family Services is now in the process of having her committed to a hospital for evaluation & treatment.

Please pray for my family, especially my mother, Uncle Charles & Aunt Nancy who have to make the major decisions regarding my Grandmother's care. Pray that they will have wisdom & discernment regarding this, & that they will be filled with the peace that passes all human understanding. Please pray that I will be as helpful & supportive as I can "from a distance." Thanks!

My Friends...

I am so very thankful for all the friends that God has blessed me with! I had thought about doing some detailed thank you's but realized that would be like writing a very long book. So I'm going to shorten it & give a sincere, heart felt "Thank You" to all of my friends...you know who you are! Thank you for sharing in my joy & sorrow, laughter & tears, chocolate & sushi! Thank you for loving me as I am!

Drum roll please...................................

Yeah, I finally "gave in" & joined Facebook. Now that doesn't mean I'll be on there a lot...especially since I have no clue what I'm doing...but it's a start to at least join :o)

Polished & Protected...

Before kids, I rarely went more than a day not having my fingernails painted. Now I'm lucky if I get them painted once every month or so. My nails are brittle & if I don't have nail polish on them when they are getting long, they break off. As long as I have nail polish on them they do really well until the polish either wears off or I take it off & do not apply new polish.

So it is with prayer & Bible reading. As long as I stay in the Word & pray daily, I am protected. No matter what comes my way, I am able to stand strong in the Lord through his Word & through communication with him through prayer. As soon as I stop doing those things, no matter what the reason...sickness, overslept, etc., I am like an unpolished nail...brittle & prone to breakage. I am going to use my nails as a reminder to me to continually stay in the Word & pray.

"He guards the path of the just & protects those who are faithful to him." Prov.2:8
"May the Lord bless you & protect you." Numbers 6:24

Moo...

I am so thankful for my mother...aka: Moo to me & Moo Moo to the kids. My mom had the difficult task of raising me by herself. Although some of her ways were a little unorthodox...I know did she did the best with what she had at the time. No matter what we were going through...and there were some pretty difficult times...I always knew that she loved me. I am thankful for her love, kindness, & gentleness. I love you very much Moo!

The Gambler...

I still have more "thankful" posts to write but this just came out of "no where" tonight & I had to post it. I started humming the tune to a song...a secular song that I haven't heard in many years...it's an old song. I was a teenager when I watched the movie with my mom. As I was thinking about this song, it dawned on me that even though it's definitely not a Christian song it has some simple advice in it that we all should heed.

Caleb...

I am very thankful that God blessed us with this "little man." At times I find him odd...but that's because I'm use to girls. I am female...I know how to relate to me...most of the time :o) I don't have any brothers so I didn't get any "education" that way. Everyone said that little boys are very different from little girls...and they "ain't" lying! Other than that thing that they have down there that they are afraid to let go of, they just think so much differently. It's really quite mind boggling. I'm sure I'll get use to it someday :o)

Randy thought we were totally done with adopting after we committed to adopting Samara & Shakira. Logically it made sense to me but my heart was telling me different. It kept telling me that a third child (in the process) was yet to come. God then told me that we were going to get the little boy that we had been wanting. I must admit that I had mixed reactions. I was thrilled...but also somewhat concerned because that meant we would be adopting 3 children at one time...not to mention one of them being special needs. Are you sure God? This is really how it's suppose to happen? And of course we all know the answer to that question by now. Yes...yes it is!

Even my hard to convince husband had a hard time "rationalizing" away Caleb's name...the name we had on hold for a little boy for 6 years. Then came the dreams & visions from friends. Yep...it was pretty clear. I am so thankful that he was not even born when we started the process with the girls because that gave us some extra time...meaning he was still developing in the womb & not growing up without us at the orphanage. He had just turned 2 months old when we said our first "Good bye" to him in Haiti. I am thankful for those baby moments with him then, & also at 7 months, 12 months with his Daddy to celebrate his birthday, 13 months which was totally not planned but necessary due to Shakira's foot injury, at 21 months & then to be brought home by Daddy 10 days before his second birthday.

Caleb has one of the best smiles I have ever seen...which of course will concern me greatly when he's a teenager :o) He also has the greatest giggle. I could listen to it for hours. He does have a sweet, tender side. He cracks me up when he thanks me for "everything"...and I mean everything except for discipline of course :o) He likes to take my hand & just hold it...for long periods of time. It's really sweet. In the past couple of weeks he has made huge strides in his English. We can actually understand a lot of what he's saying now. He has fully bonded with "Daddy" now & doesn't have to be with me all the time.

Emergency HBWD!!!

Okay...you must stop whatever you are doing right now & do a HBWD (Happy "Bottom" Wiggle Dance for those of you who don't know :o)!
Yesterday Shakira came home from school with a wet pull up. I was very frustrated because her potty training as literally went to "the pot" the past couple of weeks. She had been really doing well at school but she was even now having accidents at school on a regular basis.

It must have been a God thing because what I did next didn't make a whole lot of sense. I cleaned her up & then put a pair of underwear on her...the first time she has ever worn them. At the end of the evening...before bed...she was still dry. Praise God! I told her that I was going to put a pull up on her for night time but that she could wear her pretty underwear to school the next day.

This morning she put on a pretty pair of underwear & I sent an extra change of clothes in her back pack with a note to the teacher explaining what was going on. I didn't know if she would come home dry...I actually had my doubts but I prayed that she would.

And guess what? She did!!! She's been wearing "big girl" underwear all day! So that calls for a HBWD!!! I danced...she got sour spray...both of us are extremely happy!

Shakira...

I am thankful for our third child...who happens to be our oldest by date of birth...but currently is not that age developmentally...but she will some day...I just know it.

Shakira is an amazing girl. She was known as the "orphange greeter" in Haiti & is now the "school greeter." She's joy filled most of the time. She can smile from ear to ear. She also has an "interesting" pout that she has developed when things aren't going her way.

Shakira can bring out the best in me...and the worst in me. God is definetely using her to refine me...and vice versa. She has grown a lot in the past 6 months...not just physically but also socially, emotionally, mentally, & spiritually. She is now listening to devotions & Bible story time...and actually paying attention. Whenever she hears the word "pray", she folds her hand & bows her head.

I have no idea what the future holds for Shakira but God does...and I know that He is going to use her mightily. I am thankful that her birth mother loves her so much & took her to the orphanage instead of dumping her off somewhere to die, which unfortunately is the fate of a lot of special needs children in Haiti.

Samara...

I am so thankful for our second child. I know she's not the second in line age wise...she's actually the 3rd but she was the second child God chose to be a part of our family. She was 2 years old when we started the adoption process with her. The picture on the orphanage website just stopped me in my tracks. She looked just like Phoebe at 2...from the chin up anyway :o) She was also wearing a shirt that was just like Phoebe had at one time. I was hooked...I had to read her information. Are you kidding me? The same birthday as Phoebe except a year younger & she liked to do all the things that Phoebe liked to do.

Of course the true confirmation to us adopting her was when Randy picked her...not knowing that she was the one I had picked...and if you know us well enough...we don't always agree on things :o)

Sweet Samara...has a very tender & gentle spirit & gets her feelings hurt easily. She has adjusted well to being a part of our family. Her & Phoebe are true sisters. They either totally love each other...or not so much :o) Most of the time they get along really well & are very good for each other.

Samara has an amazing smile that can light up an entire room. I sometimes stare at her just so she'll start laughing & I can watch her smiling face & hear her sweet giggle. She loves to be loved on & is quite the snuggle bug...another trait shared by Phoebe :o)