Serving With My Babies

Our youth group serves a free meal downtown a few times a year, and it is my favorite place to take my babies to serve.  It is a tangible way for them to understand that others don't have all that we do..abundant food, shelter, the love of the Lord are so lacking to so many in this world.

They feel so good that they can be a part of "working for the Lord", as my Anna Mei always calls it, to serve the poor.

It is always crazy having four littles in tow while trying to accomplish work, but it is so very worth it as they get to experience the Lord for themselves as they meet people and serve them.  It is so refreshing too that children have no barriers to just sitting right down to talk with someone regardless of how different they might look.  This time there were also many children at the meal, and to watch my babies sharing their toys and playing on the floor alongside those precious babes who came to get their bellies full when they otherwise might have been empty was so beautiful.  What a blessing being able to serve with this crazy crew during this meal has been to me!  I pray these times have a lasting impact on my little ones.

The First Snow

We got a wet, slushy snow a few Sundays ago, and Anna Mei couldn't wait to get out in it.  It was more like rain so she was soaked when she came in, but she was so so happy to see a bit of white in the sky.  Crazy Kid!

Daddy’s Bday

What a privilege to celebrate beside this man for the last twenty six years.

Crazy that God brought me to the man I would marry when I was 14 years old, but so grateful that together we have been able to do so much more for the Lord than I could have ever done without him.

Humbling to consider that He made this man for me all along, and put us together for this....

I couldn't ask for more.  Happy Birthday to our Dad!

Cinnamon Rolls with Jilly

Yesterday, Daddy thought it would be a good idea to reinvent the left over dinner roll dough in the fridge into cinnamon rolls.

Jilly agreed and was eager to help.  It still amazes me when she is next to me in the kitchen as she is able to execute every step.

Following directions and enjoying cooking is something I could only dream of when she was first home.

Now she is my big, big girl always eager to help her Momma with every cooking task.  I love having her help me too.

Playing in the Leaves

I didn't post these yet, and, because I will want to look back and remember 8, 6, and 4, these deserve some space.

Love, love these babies!

This Morning...

This morning I watched my six year old from across the world play lovingly with the Nativity on top of our cabinet.  That nativity has been displayed on top of that cabinet for each of the 21 years that I have been married.  Never did I dream that a sweet girl..my daughter.. with Chinese eyes would be playing with it.  My dreams were so small..and God's plans were so BIG.  I watched her position Jesus and Mary just right along with the shepherds, sheep, and angel.  I saw her stroke the baby Jesus' head, and kiss his sweet, porcelain cheek..and I was led into overwhelming gratefulness that the Lord would entrust me with the privilege of raising up these babes for Him.  Words to describe such a gift are so under whelming.  What a unimaginable miracle that this little girl is here in the United States growing such a gigantic heart for a Savior who has loved her in the darkest of times.  Darker times than I may ever know in my life, but as I watch God redeem each and every one of those dark, dark moments for Him I understand so much more fully what it means for me to be adopted myself by Him.  It is such an intense and incredible honor to be able to raise these girls, and be the one they call Momma.  I pray with an earnest heart that during my loudest, craziest days as I care for my girls-I will remember to give thanks that I have an opportunity to care for them.  I pray again and again that the gospel will be so real to them as they grow that they listen intently for God's voice, and use their lives to bring Glory to Him in ways I could never even dream for them.  I certainly never dreamed God would give me such an honor, but I praise Him for it.

Special Olympics Bowling

Because our baby girl is in third grade this year, she gets to participate in special olympics.  She has gotten to try her hand at bowling already, and it was such a joy to watch her.  I watch her..all grown up..and I can hardly believe this is the same girl that I was handed nearly seven years ago.

She is so confident, so happy, and so so big!

There were hundreds of bowlers.  It was packed, loud, and she did it!

She participated and bowled two games.  When it was done, we got her out of there as she was pretty spent, but she didn't mind having the afternoon off of school so it was a win for her!  I am so proud of her.  What a precious girl she is growing up to be!

Six Glorious Months with our Sweet Baby

Six months home for this incredible girl has come and gone.  These last six months have flown by.  Six months is so short, but at the same time it seems like forever, as I can't remember myself without her. I was snuggling her frame in my arms a few days ago, and I was overcome with grief that this sweet, precious gift had to wait two and a half years to know what it was like to be rocked by a momma.  Such a devastating loss my dear girl was handed shortly after her birth.  Yet from this loss has come such a beautiful family that is full to the brim with love, chaos, and crazy because of my girl's presence.

How I love this little one more than I could have dreamed when waiting for her.  When this girl was given to me six months ago, I had no idea that she loved avocados, music toys, or tickling.

I didn't know that she would crawl to the bathroom like a mad munchkin when she heard the bath running.

And I couldn't have dreamed that she would so perfectly compliment our family.  Good!  It is so good to love this girl as mine!  Happy six months home my treasure!

Here I am logged into this space knowing that I have about five seconds before someone screams, poops, or calls for me with a impatient voice.  There is so much to say..so much going on in my heart, and yet the space and time to process is so elusive.  Days are chaotic, loud, and demanding.  Quiet and peace escape me as moments run together at such speed that days, weeks, and months jumble together.  I wish I could just stop for a second to get out some of the very important things that God is planting in my heart.  I long to just drink in the beauty that is marbled with the hard as I journey through this life.  How I desire so much to just have some time to be soaking in the Lord.  Yet with twenty hours a week of medical appointments, tea parties, requests for "SWING ME!", and so much more that demands my attention..such time doesn't ever come.  Isolation, business, and tasks so numerous it is impossible to not be overwhelmed are the enemies that haunt me these days, and yet even in the hardest of times this great HOPE that I carry from knowing Jesus is such a comfort.  This is all so temporary..the crazy, the chaos, the overwhelming..will all pass away, but this glorious HOPE is mine for eternity.  This morning I praise my God that He chose me.  I am grateful to know His love.  As I was feeling particularly overwhelmed one day last week, He pursued me making sure that Matthew 6:25 came up three different times over a span of two days.  Three times I read or heard..

Do Not Worry

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Three times the God of the universe revealed Himself to me to provide comfort and reassurance just because He loves me.  And I feel so incredibly burdened for those who go through this life without Jesus because, while my moments can be overwhelming just like everyone else, I have this JOY that comes in the morning.  I have this one who carries me when I can't walk myself.  I have this one who is beside me..inside me..day in and day out.  I have this one who never, never leaves me..never lets me down..never forgets me.  One who reminds me daily that I am His.  Beyond grateful this morning for this HOPE only Jesus can give.

Pumpkin Sensory Soup

My girls love messy, sensory play!

Ok, I love it as much as they do.

So, the week before Halloween we set up our favorite station in the backyard.

Pumpkin soup making!

Everyone had there own pumpkin cauldron.

We had plenty of ingredients too.  Pumpkin guts, gravel, water, soap, vinegar, baking soda, and sand

to dump, stir, and add to our vessel!

Mostly, they just made a big mess,

but my was it fun to watch them.

They are growing up too fast,

and I just love how their minds work.

I know my days of playing are numbered

so I am determined to soak up every single moment.

Embracing the mess, chaos, and laughter here as this season will be gone too soon.