Farewell 2008

Dear Lord,
please give me…
A few friends who understand me and remain my friends;
A work to do which has real value,
without which the world would be the poorer;
A mind unafraid to travel, even though the trail be not blazed;
An understanding heart;
A sense of humor;
Time for quiet, silent meditation;
A feeling of the presence of God;
The patience to wait for the coming of these things,
With the wisdom to recognize them when they come.
Amen.
Anonymous

Happy New Year!!!

How Many Miles?

I read a quote today that said, "there is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream". How appropriate! I have to admit for the first time I really don't feel like running the race anymore.

I. am. tired. of. running.

Thankfully the Lord more specifically gave me Isaiah 40. Lord, help me to trust and understand.

Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars?
He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name.
Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.
O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles?
O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?
Have you never heard? Have you never understood?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.
Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:26-31

The Book of Isaiah

Do you ever get the feeling there's something you should do? You know, that nagging feeling that says, "do this".

Well, I've had that feeling all week. Everytime I pray about whether or not we are supposed to adopt "R", I keep hearing this little voice telling me I'm supposed to read the book of Isaiah.

Well, I did it - all 66 chapters! This book was written by the prophet Isaiah and is basically broken into words of judgment and words of comfort. My Bible says the first half of Isaiah brings the message of judgment to Judah, Israel, and the surrounding pagan nations. The second half brings a message of forgiveness, comfort and hope with the coming of the Messiah.

Would someone please tell me what this has to do with this little boy???? I am completely stumped. I am certainly no Bible scholar - not even close. All throughout the book it talked about sons, but it also talked about daughters of Zion.

I need time to let this sink in and maybe something will come to me. All I know is that the more I look at his picture the more I think I could completely fall for him...if I let myself do that. Please continue to pray that we receive clear confirmation on what God's plan is. We covet your prayers.

Jwaye Nowel

Merry Christmas friends! Our family has been so blessed by your love & prayers over the last few months and I'm asking you to not stop now.

We have been given the opportunity to adopt an adorable little boy. I have to tell you we really had no intention of adopting a boy, but at the same time we want to be open to God's plan - not ours. We are taking some time to pray about what God wants us to do. I ask you to join with us in prayer that God would give us clear direction (think flashing neon sign telling us whether or not this is our child kind of clear). We are also praying that our hearts will be open to whatever plan God may have because we know His ways are better than our own.

Please also continue to pray for Anchise. We are still praying for a miracle that she would be returned to Three Angels. That would certainly be the best Christmas gift I could think of!

We are looking forward to celebrating Christ's birth and spending time together as a family over the next few days. I pray your holidays are filled with many blessings.

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Luke 2:16-20

Yo prese ale, yo jwenn Mari ak Jozèf, ansanm ak tipitit la kouche kote yo bay bèt yo manje a. Lè yo wè l', yo tanmen rakonte sa zanj lan te di yo sou pitit la. Tout moun ki t'ap koute yo te sezi tande sa yo t'ap rakonte a. Mari menm te kenbe tout pawòl sa yo nan kè l', li t'ap repase yo nan tèt li. Apre sa, gadò mouton yo al fè wout yo; yo t'ap di jan Bondye gen pouvwa, yo t'ap fè lwanj li, paske tou sa yo te tande ak tou sa yo te wè a te dakò ak sa zanj lan te fè yo konnen.
Luke 2:16-20 (Haitian Creole)

Jingle Bells

A "Winter" Concert

We attended Keaton's "winter" concert last night at school. It irritates me that we can't call it a Christmas concert, but that's a whole 'nother post.

It was a great show! Keaton loves to sing and was very expressive on the stage which made for great entertainment. When I dropped him off in his classroom there was a little strawberry blonde haired girl that kept looking at him and smiling. I told Keaton how handsome he was and told him to sing loud and smile. She looked at me with a big goofy grin and said, "Keaton looks nice". As I exited the room she was talking near the door with some other girls and they were giggling about Keaton being cute...oy!

Keaton really wanted a red handkerchief for his pocket, but I didn't have one. I went downstairs and dug through my tote of extra fabric and found a small piece of red satin that I cut into a square and folded. When I tucked it in his pocket he looked at me with a big smile and said, "you're a good mom". Ahh, melt my heart. Keaton is my sweet sensitive boy and I am blessed to call him son.

A Special Ornament

There are many ornaments on our tree that hold special memories - each of the kids first Christmas or the one celebrating our first Christmas together. We've added another special ornament to our tree this year and each time we look at it we will remember a precious child and say a little prayer for her.

Candid

The assignment:

Take a picture of yourself right NOW!

DON’T change your clothes,

DON'T fix your hair… Just take a picture.

Post that picture with NO editing.

Post these instructions with your picture.

If you are reading this consider yourself tagged.

Leave me a comment if you are completing the tag.

I feel like I have an advantage because we are just getting ready to leave the house. Normally on a Saturday morning I would look completely horrible...thankfully you are being spared.

The Dream x 4

I've been having a recurring dream. In fact as of today, I've had the same dream four times. The dream basically consists of me having plans to travel to Haiti, but I get to the airport and I've forgotten to buy a ticket. Also, I've usually forgotten things to bring along like money & luggage or anything I might possibly need to travel to a third world country.

I never wake up feeling warm & fuzzy about the whole thing. I usually wake up feeling concerned and freaked out because who makes plans to go to Haiti and doesn't actually buy a ticket or pack anything? Strange.

Snow Day

We had a fair amount of snow last night and into today causing school to be cancelled. We had a fun day at home and the scenery outside was beautiful.

Daytime beauty

Nighttime lights

Our Christmas Tree

Strange Days...

Or should I say strange daze? It's been a weird couple of days with a dash of wonderfulness in the middle.

At the end of last week we received word that our nephew's dad had taken his own life. Yesterday we found out that my Grandma Eliza died. Two very sad situations for various reasons.

Saturday Jeff and I left in the morning and spent the whole day together (kid free) - we went Christmas shopping, went out to lunch, saw Fireproof (which was excellent), shopped some more, and reluctantly came home. We don't do much without the kids and it was so wonderful to spend a carefree day with the one I love. We definitely need to schedule time like that more often.

The Last Day

Here are two photos of Anchise taken on her last day at the orphanage. I have had them for a while, but finally feel at peace enough to post them. Her sweet, beautiful smile still melts my heart. We will love her forever. Please take a moment today to pray for her.

Born to Lead

As if we needed any more reasons to be proud of our girl! Delaney came home with a leadership award presented to her by her ESS teacher. This distinction was for her "community spirit and outstanding leadership". We love you and are so proud of you for being such an amazing young lady.